Legendary Downchild Blues Band coming to Massey Hall in May feat. Natalie MacMaster, Daniel Lanois and Kenny Wayne

TORONTO, May 5, 2023 – The Legendary Downchild Blues Band are thrilled to be returning to Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall for a rare hometown performance on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 8:00 pm. For this extraordinary show, Downchild will be joined by very special guests, 7X Grammy Award winner, Daniel Lanois, world renowned Cape Breton fiddler, Natalie MacMaster and legendary boogie woogie piano master Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne.

3X Maple Blues Award nominee, Jenie Thai will open the show with her band.

Downchild is of course the inspiration for Hollywood stars Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s hit film The Blues Brothers. In fact, two Downchild songs “I Got Everything I Need (Almost)” and “Shotgun Blues” are found on The Blues Brothers smash album Briefcase Full of Blues.

It was just announced that, leader and co-founder, Donnie Walsh, often called the ‘Father of Canadian Blues’, will be inducted into the Kitchener Blues Festival Hall of Fame on August 11, 2023 and receive the Mel Brown Award to join past recipients, Buddy Guy, Holger Petersen and David Wilcox. Donnie is a member of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside some of the greatest songwriters of our time, like Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

The Legendary Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues institution with an international reputation. They have shared the stage with American blues icons B.B. King (at Massey Hall), Buddy Guyand John Lee Hooker to name a few and have performed around the world, leaving fans thoroughly entertained wherever the go.

Not only a brilliant musician, Daniel Lanois is one of the world’s most renowned producers, who has produced such stars as U2, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. Downchild has a long history with Daniel, who worked on their albums Road Fever and But I’m On The Guest List at his studio in Hamilton, Ontario back in the day.

Cape Breton native, Natalie MacMaster has had a 40 year career in a music industry that has taken her from Japan to New Zealand, Slovenia to Antarctica. She has garnered Juno Awards, CCMA’s, ECMA’s, among countless others and a Grammy win for collaboration on YoYo Ma’s Songs of Joy and Peace CD. With various TV specials, sharing stages with Alison Krauss, Michael McDonald, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw, Carlos Santana among others, she was one of the youngest to receive Canada’s highest civilian distinction, the Order of Canada. This was all done through her fiddle! Natalie continues to record and perform with her husband, fiddler Donnell Leahy and their 7 fiddling children.

When it comes to appreciating Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne it is readily apparent that the artistic make-up of this performer covers an impressive scope of talents and expertise. Wayne’s musical journey began with him soaking up the sounds of gospel music, as his Dad was a preacher. From there it was into jazz and latin music, before the doors opened to R&B and soul. Living in Los Angeles, long before he would move to Canada, Wayne continued to wade into a variety of sub-genres including swing, bebop, standards and dance music. “Gospel is the foundation for this gumbo. Venturing down different avenues was what I did,” states Wayne as he points to Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Cal Tjader as major influences. “Ray Charles could do it all so incredibly well, and soulfully. I also credit my dad for instilling in me, that: if you are going to do something, be successful at it. The musical gumbo that Wayne refers to has simmered and marinated for a long time, with all the elements complimenting each other perfectly.

by Eric Alper

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