Posted on April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 by Jan Mittendorp

interview Boo Boo Davis with David Baerst (France)

here is the complete text of an interview Boo Boo Davis did wiht David Baerst last month before his show in Strasbourg (France):

Nda : Quelques jours avant l’entretien qui suit, Jan Mittendorp (le manager de Boo Boo Davis) m’a gentiment prévenu. Interviewer ce bluesman du Mississippi n’est pas une chose aisée, c’est une véritable aventure dont on ne peut jamais connaitre l’issue à l’avance. L’artiste ne suit pas règle précise et peut répondre par un sujet tout autre que celui sur lequel on l’a questionné.C’est donc avec une certaine appréhension que je me suis rendu à notre rendez-vous…
Là, je me suis retrouvé face à un être charmant, doté d’un grand sens de l’humour bien que marqué par de profondes stigmates, inhérentes à une existence pour le moins difficile. D’emblée, le bonhomme m’avertit lui aussi : « ce ne sera pas facile pour toi, je ne parle pas anglais…je m’exprime dans le langage des bluesmen du delta, un « dialecte » que seuls les gens tels que moi peuvent saisir ». Chose parfaitement compréhensible, tant la vie de cet artiste né en 1943, semble éloignée de celle que nous pouvons connaitre, aujourd’hui, en Europe. Travaillant dès son plus jeune âge dans les champs de coton, il a souffert de la ségrégation raciale et s’est réfugié dans la religion ainsi que dans la musique. Harmoniciste dès l’âge de 5 ans à l’église, puis guitariste et batteur se produisant au sein du groupe familial Lard Can Band (nommé ainsi car, ne pouvant se permettre d’acheter une batterie complète, le jeune homme s’exerçait sur des seaux métalliques contenant de la graisse de porc), Boo Boo s’est lancé dans une carrière d’accompagnateur avant d’être repéré par le fondateur du label Black & Tan. Depuis, il a signé (en tant que chanteur-harmoniciste) une bonne douzaine d’albums qui rendent grâce à son immense talent.
Quelques heures après notre entretien, sur scène, Boo Boo Davis a démontré à l’occasion d’un impressionnant concert qu’il était l’un des derniers représentants du blues originel…un diamant d’une rare pureté…
Continue reading interview Boo Boo Davis with David Baerst (France)

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Jan Mittendorp

Boo Boo Davis / european tour dates

March 24, Strasbourg (F), Au Camionneur
March 25, Aachen (D), Musikbunker
March 26, Rostock (D), Zwischenbau
March 27, Bad Brambach (D), Cafe Grenzland
March 28, Passau (D), Cafe Museum
March 29, Passau (D), Cafe Museum
March 31, Ulft (NL), DRU Cultuurfabriek
April 1, Friedrichsrode (D), Kunsthof
April 2, Koln (D), Torburg
April 6, Groningen (NL), Noise of the North @ de Spiegel
April 7, Rorschach (CH), Jazzclub
April 8, Thun (CH), Cafe Mokka
April 14, Deventer (NL), De Hip
April 15, Arnstadt (D), Rockjungfer
April 16, Döbeln (D), KL 17 Liveclub
April 19, Lublin (PL), Graffiti
April 20, Olomouc (CZ), Bounty Rock Cafe
April 21, Dobromierz (PL), Dobro Blues
April 22, Lodz (PL), Pub Keja
April 23 (afternoon), Chorzow (PL), Sztygarka (Bluestracje)
April 23 (evening), Suszec (PL), Gminny Ośrodek Kultury
April 24, Mikolow (PL), Miejski Dom Kultury
April 25, Ostrava (CZ), Klub Parnik

Boo Boo Davis

latest releases:

Music

Biography

… this how Mississippi blues sounds in 2018

boo boo davis

Boo Boo Davis is a survivor and belongs to the last generations of musicians that write and play the blues based on first hand experience of a hard life in the Mississippi Delta. He was born and raised in Drew, Mississippi in the heart of Delta. It was the richest cotton land in the South and the large amounts of field workers attracted the best musicians from the surrounding areas. The entire Delta region was rich with blues, but the town of Drew was a particularly fertile one. Charley Patton stayed near Drew for many years and several legendary performers spent time there. Sharecroppers sang loudly to help pass the grueling hours of work and without a doubt Boo Boo developed his loud, bellowing voice based on the singing he heard in the fields as a young boy. In fact, that voice, through the years has demolished many amps and speaker cabinets.

Boo Boo’s father, Sylvester Davis farmed cotton and played several instruments. Musicians who he played with include John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and Robert Pete Williams. Boo Boo remembers these and other musicians dropping by and rehearsing at their house. At the age of five Boo Boo was playing the harmonica and singing in church with his mother. By thirteen he was playing guitar, and by eighteen he was playing out with his father and older brothers under the name of The Lard Can Band. This band travelled all throughout the Delta. In the early sixties he went north to St Louis and was around during the heyday of the St Louis music scene (Albert King, Ike Turner, Chuck Berry and many others). Together with his brothers they were the weekend house band in Tubby’s Red Room in East St Louis for eighteen years.

Even though Boo Boo moved north to St. Louis, he will always be a southerner at heart. When he is at home (and not performing) his favorite pastimes are hunting with his dogs and fishing. During Boo Boo’s childhood there was no time or money for him to go to school so he never learned to read and write. However that did not prevent him to travel all over the world. Following his guiding spirit (that he calls Dave) Boo Boo has found a way to deal with modern society. The blues helps him to keep his spirit high and survive day-to-day life. It deals with all the basic raw elements of life; good and bad, plain and simple.

His first European tour took place in April 2000 and since then Boo Boo is touring Europe at least twice a year. So far Boo Boo has released 5 CD’s on Black and Tan Records and all of them were very well received. Number 4 (DREW, MISSISSIPPI) was listed with the 10 best blues records of 2006 by MOJO Magazine (UK). In 2007 Boo Boo was invited to perform on the POCONO BLUES FESTIVAL, one of the biggest blues festivals in the USA and in March 2007 Boo Boo performed live on CBC Radio One, national radio in Canada.

What started as a crazy idea after the European tour of Boo Boo in October 2007 has turned out to be not too crazy at all. On the Spring Tour of 2008 they decided to leave out the bass and tour as a trio: Boo Boo Davis on vocals & harmonica, John Gerritse on drums and Jan Mittendorp on guitar. This trio has been touring Europe extensively; the last few years they did over four hundred shows in twenty three different countries including a lot of the big blues & jazz festivals (Montreux, Peer, North Sea Jazzfestival, Juan les Pins, Amal, Cazorla Bluesfestival, Olstzyn)

Releases

release	title	buy	itunes	spotify
	Boo Boo's Blues		itunes	spotify
	The Trio 2008 - 2019		itunes	spotify
	Drive		itunes	spotify
	Lowdown Dirty Blues (Rosé Sunset remix)		itunes	spotify
	Transatlantic Quarantaine Sessions		iTunes	spotify
	Bye Baby Bye Bye (Rosé Sunset remix)		itunes	spotify
	Killing Floor (single)		itunes	spotify
	Chicago Blues Covers EP		itunes	spotify
	Tree Man	buy	itunes	spotify
	Oldskool	buy	iTunes	spotify
]	Live And Almost Unplugged		itunes	spotify
	Boo Boo Davis Remixed		itunes	spotify
	Undercover Blues	buy	iTunes	spotify
	What Kind Of Shit Is This ?	buy LP	itunes	spotify
	Ain't Gotta Dime	buy	itunes	spotify
	Name Of The Game	buy	itunes	spotify
	Drew, Mississippi		itunes	spotify
	The Snake		itunes	spotify
	Can Man		iTunes	spotify
	East St Louis		itunes	spotify