Roddy Barnes and His Piano at WTA’s Gateway

Kevin Chisnell has booked Roddy Barnes for a “rare and exclusive “evening at WTA’s Gateway on Saturday, February 16, at 8 pm.  Chisnell says the evening will have “some of the sweetest blues piano you’ve ever heard.  It will be the toe tappinest, hip shakinest, and back beatinest Mojo Saturday Night ever.”

Roddy Barnes is a blues/jazz performer and composer whose songs have been recorded by Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women on Alligator Records. Trained as a classical pianist, he made the transition to blues and jazz during study in France and graduate work in jazz at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.  He then moved to New Orleans where he absorbed the roots of American music and then relocated to Austin, Texas, joining one of the most exciting music scenes in the USA.  Now living in Virginia, Barnes has released six of his own albums through Monkfish, CandyJack, and Hey Boo Productions. He has been featured on a variety of radio programs, and has performed in several countries.  His musical compositions have been recorded by many notable performers including Gaye Adegbalola and Ann Rabson, individually as well as their group Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women.

Blues Blast Magazine gave one of the best summaries of Barnes talents.  It said, “Barnes demonstrates that he is a multi-layered talent indeed, someone from whom one desires to hear more: an able songwriter whose songs are often laced with ironic wit; an expressive vocalist with a strong, clear tenor; and a masterful piano player who can romp with the boogie and play the blues.”

Kansas City’s The New Times called Barnes “the Bruce Springsteen of boogie woogie . . . He’s a man in the grips of a sensual hankering that hardly allows him a breath between the long, languid lines of his blues . . . He keeps stirring up desire until it builds to the emergency condition of “Call 911,” as deadly humorous a boogie as any Long-Tall You-Know-Who ever put down.”

Chisnell has the last word when he says, “Listen to me now and thank me later. . . Clear your calendar for February 16 and buy your ticket now.”

Tickets for Mojo Saturday Night with Roddy Barnes are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.  They are available online (www.wtagateway.com) or by calling the box office (540-943-9999).