Organizers have tapped Michigan’s Larry McCray as the headliner for the inaugural Detroit Bourbon & Blues Festival in the Eastern Market district, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 27.
McCray, 63, knows a thing or two about the blues. Born in Magnolia, Arkansas, and now living in Bay City, McCray has earned international acclaim for his take on blues music, mixing acoustic Delta and electric Chicago styles along with his soulful voice. In his life he’s worked as a farmhand and later on a General Motors assembly line; his 1991 debut Ambition was recorded in a friend’s basement in Detroit, launching a music career that would see him share the stage with the biggest names in blues.
He hit a bit of a slump in the early 2000s, however, and in 2013, he was diagnosed with cancer. His marriage soon fell apart. But he got a second act when fellow bluesman Joe Bonamassa invited McCray to make new music for his Keeping the Blues Alive Records, releasing Blues Without You in 2022. It’s McCray’s first new music in 15 years.
McCray will headline the Detroit Bourbon & Blues Festival’s “Blues Street,” an outdoor performance space at Eastern Market’s Shed 5. McCray hits the stage from 4:45-6:15 p.m.; following acts Miller and the Other Sinners at 2 p.m. and Niecie at 12:30 p.m.
The free concerts are accompanied by a ticketed bourbon tasting event inside Shed 5 where attendees can sample whiskeys and bourbons, with tickets for tasting sessions starting at $60 for 10 tasting tickets. VIP tickets are also available for $85, which include a “Bloozy Brunch,” early access, 15 tasting tickets, and a commemorative glass.
Tickets can be purchased at detroitbourbonandblues.com, where more information including the full schedule of events is also available. (Metro Times readers can use the promo code “METRO10” to get $10 off on ticket purchases through Saturday, Aug. 26.)
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