BIG DADDY - Montana's Premier Blues Artist
Steve "BIG DADDY" Kelley picked up the guitar at the tender age of ten years old and turned professional at sixteen in 1964, playing rock & soul music. He was turned on to the blues by listening to the Rolling Stones and John Mayall. Checking into the authors of the tunes these bands were covering began a life-long research into blues tradition and an ensuing deep love of the music and culture.
BIG DADDY toured extensively in the late 1960's and 1970's, sharing the bill with many top American acts, including Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, James Cotton, and Steppenwolf. He put down roots in the Flathead Valley of Montana in 1977 with his wife, Mary Ann, to raise their children, as he continued to play locally and regionally. It was Madison Slim, long time harmonica player for the legendary Jimmie Rogers, who talked Big Daddy into touring again. They formed the Nightcrawlers in 1990 and tore it up for the next two years. Slim went back with Jimmie in 1992, and Big Daddy formed the Blue Notes, and has been knockin' em dead ever since.
Through the 90's, BIG DADDY and the BLUE NOTES built their reputation by touring the Northwest, playing upbeat Chicago style blues, firmly rooted in the tradition of the great masters of the 1950's and 1960's, such as MUDDY WATERS, MAGIC SAM, SLIM HARPO, LITTLE WALTER, HOWLIN' WOLF, and SUNNY BOY WILLIAMSON II. Out of this tradition, Big Daddy and the Blue Notes have fashioned their own style, a fusion of World music, Jazz, Zydeco, Rock and blues, or "Bluesion" for short. At a 21st century Blue Note show, anything goes, old school to no school, but one thing is for sure, you will be groovin'!
The band has played festival dates with Charlie Musselwhite, Duke Robbilard, Robert Cray, John Hammond, Curtis Salgato, Paul DeLay, Andrew "Junior Boy" Jones, Little Charlie and the Night Cats, and James Cotton, Sonny Rhodes, Terry Evans, Lisa Haley and Chubby Carrier, to name a few. Big Daddy has played club dates with Kenny Neil, Coco Montoya, Maxine Carr, Larry Garner, Cookie McGee, and Johnny Rawls, and has been guest artist with Studebaker John and the Hawks, Nigel Mack and Majic Slim.
These many festival and club appearances have put Montana on the map of the northwest blues scene. Steve is respected throughout the region as a performer, song writer, producer and promoter. His devotion to blues music has attracted national and regional artists to Montana. As founder of the FLATHEAD VALLEY BLUES SOCIETY, he has introduced national touring blues artists to Montana by networking with venues, acting as a source of information for agents, and producing concerts in the Flathead Valley. You could say he is the "Ambassador of the Blues" for Montana.The last couple of years Big Daddy and the Blue Notes have been concentrating on working in the emerging Montana music scene, which has been exploding since Montana has been "discovered" by the world.
The bands discography includes;" Nightshifter", released in 1995 and heralded rave reviews. To mark the band's Tenth Anniversary, the studio CD project, "Blue & White",was released in 2005. This is the band's third album following the 2003 release, CLUB SHOTS "the Truth", 69 minutes of live gems that capture the true energy of the band hard at work, "doin' the do". A new recording is in the works with a projected release date of Oct., 2008.
Big Daddy often calls upon the amazing talents of friends like," Missoula Phil Harmonica", or multi-instrumentalist David Griffith, to expand the sonic horizons, but the heart and soul is Big Daddy's power trio, with long time bassist Mark "Sparky" Meznarich and drummer Mark Miller. It all adds up to be one world class live music experience! TREAT YOURSELF TO MONTANA'S PREMIER BLUES BAND ...........
BIG DADDY And The BLUE NOTES.
thank you guys for everything =) ill be in touch, im sure i will see you this summer some time when i come visit cindy. the "marks" need a myspace too!!! lol =) get um big daddy!!!!!! "BIG HUGZ"
Thanks For The Add Fellas, It Was A Privlage To Jam With You Up At The "End of Summer Blues Fest" I Look Forward To Jammin Again Sometime...Thanks Again Guys
