| When
it comes to the blues, Dennis McClung has been called a force of nature,
the real deal, and the genuine article. Playing the blues McClung
says is like speaking a language: the greater your vocabulary, the
more you can say. The blues is, according to McClung, the language
of the Truth. The fire, passion and soulfulness in his playing and
the intensity in his voice
show that he has plenty to discuss............., and it is, all the
truth!!!! This
past Friday, July 22 we opened up for "Guitar Shorty"
at Snowshoe, WV. It was a pleasure to warm up for one of the blues
guitar greats! After the show I was talking to him when he gave
me a great compliment. He said, "You sound good man, you play
with a lot of soul." Considering that Guitar Shorty started
out playing with Ray Charles and has played with damn near everybody
including his brother-in-law Jimi Hendrix, his compliment is something
very special. It's certainly a nice compliment to receive.
The
Dennis McClung Blues Band has opened for A.J. Croce, Deanna Bogart,
Georgia Satellites and John Raitt. Recently they added Debbie Davies,
Corey Harris, Guitar Shorty, and John Mayall to the list. They have
shared the stage with Sandra Hall, Cotton Candy & So Many Men,
Skeeter Brandon, as well as B.B. Coleman and blues artists formerly
of the Junior Wells Band.
The
release of their debut CD Prisoner of the Blues roused enthusiastic
reviews from Blues Revue magazine and Blues Wax magazine.
The
band is proud to be the 1993 and 1995 winners of the Marietta Ohio
Blues Society's blues band contest, the only band twice to be so
honored.
In
1995 the band earned the distinction of becoming the only West Virginia
blues band ever to have performed at the New Daisy Theater and WC
Handy Park on Beale Street in Memphis.
Dennis
once spoke with Chicago Blues Legend Jimmy Rogers and recalls of
the meeting, “Jimmy really was kind to me and I’ll never
forget his smile. The most important thing he told me was, ‘There’s
always room.’”
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