Red’s Blues

Red’s Blues has a finger-poppin’ attitude—straight outta the afore-mentioned golden years when blues, R&B and swing all meshed together and dance floors every night were filled with snake hips and slow drags. Beth, with her sensual, southern voice and classy behind-the-beat phrasing is more a Julie London or Bobbie Gentry-styled singer: smoky with languid, sexy sophistication. She can swing too, just check out the big fun on “Why Don’t Ya Stop It.” This rich nightclub feel is missed on too many modern singers. The yearning confidentiality, the wise heart that Beth brings to her true-life stories reveal tales of youth seen through grown up reflection.
RW, who has not lost his hometown Rome, Georgia accent has this quality also. Upright bass never had a better companion—it’s no wonder that RW has anchored the doghouse rhythm for Mark Hummel’s legendary Harmonica Blowouts for ten years. Together, Beth & RW have a rare and beautiful combination of poetry, humor and groove in their music. What other couple in more recent music memory had this? Could they be the blues Sonny & Cher? Johnny & June? Whether up-tempo or ballad, this makes for a great live show —part juke joint, part nightclub. They are uptown and lowdown.

Red’s Blues has a finger-poppin’ attitude—straight outta the . . . golden years when blues, R&B and swing all meshed together and dance floors every night were filled with snake hips and slow drags. Beth, with her sensual, southern voice and classy behind-the-beat phrasing is more a Julie London or Bobbie Gentry-styled singer: smoky with languid, sexy sophistication. She can swing too, just check out the big fun on “Why Don’t Ya Stop It.” This rich nightclub feel is missed on too many modern singers. The yearning confidentiality, the wise heart that Beth brings to her true-life stories reveal tales of youth seen through grown up reflection.
RW, who has not lost his hometown Rome, Georgia accent has this quality also. Upright bass never had a better companion—it’s no wonder that RW has anchored the doghouse rhythm for Mark Hummel’s legendary Harmonica Blowouts for ten years. Together, Beth & RW have a rare and beautiful combination of poetry, humor and groove in their music. What other couple in more recent music memory had this? Could they be the blues Sonny & Cher? Johnny & June? Whether up-tempo or ballad, this makes for a great live show —part juke joint, part nightclub. They are uptown and lowdown.
Beth, thanks to her older brother, grew up listening to Huddie Ledbetter, Muddy Waters and Mississippi John Hurt records and as a kid, learned from and sang songs at home with her Mom-- “ Summertime,” “God Bless the Child,” and "St. Louis Blues.” Across the street in her hometown of south Santa Barbara though, the shy 7 year old redhead was bold enough to go perch on the neighbor’s porch listening to a Cuban salsa band rehearse, and from that learned to love the rhythms, the bass and percussion in particular. She and RW met through the local Santa Barbara blues scene years later in 1977, and have lived in his home state of Georgia and then Texas before heading back to sunny Sacramento, California in 2006.
2014 Grammy-nominated and Blues Music Award (BMA) winner bassist RW Grigsby has been playing since he was 14 years old, and began his professional career when still a teenager. He's toured the U.S., Canada and Europe since the '80s, and currently juggles playing with Red's Blues, Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors and The Golden State/Lone Star Blues Revue. He played and recorded with Texas blues stars Gary Primich and Black Top Records’ Mike Morgan and the Crawl in the 1990s. RW is the bassist on the 2014 Grammy-nominated and BMA-winning CD, Remembering Little Walter. He was nominated for a BMA “Best Bassist” Award in 2017.
Red’s Blues draw their audiences into a grown-up music world—southern music with downhome simmer, dance floor fun and stellar, sophisticated players who know they have no need to blast at earsplitting volumes to make the biggest impact.
– Bio by Mindy Giles, © 2017

If we are playing outside, we need shade and a stage or platform. If a platform is not possible, a flat location that has a rug, shaded and has power. I do not want to stand on dirt to perform. We prefer that sound be provided. We have our own gear, but it is always going to be easier if sound is already set up and a person to run the sound. If we need to bring our own PA, then we can load it up, load it in, set it up and tear it down and load it out, which adds to time. We have a 600-watt PA, monitors, and I always bring our own mics and stands. There needs to be either ample natural light or stage lighting so the band is visible when performing. If it is really hot, a fan is helpful.