Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp

The popular Tampa Bay duo has been performing together since 1983 in the U.S. and in Europe. Liz Pennock sings and tickles the ivories despite being born with only 3 fingers on each hand, and Dr. Blues accompanies on guitar & vocals. The Ohio natives have appeared with artists including Diamond Teeth Mary, Pinetop Perkins, John Hammond, Marcia Ball and Leon Russell. The duo has seven CDs to their credit. Also known for their songwriting, Liz & Doc released their seventh album Quirky Boogie in 2016 featuring a new batch of original songs plus some covers. Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues are in the Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame.

Chicago native Daryl Davis graduated from Howard University, with a degree in Jazz.  Outside of school, he was personally trained by legendary Blues, Boogie Woogie and Rock’n’Roll pianists Pinetop Perkins and Johnnie Johnson who both claimed him as their godson and praised his ability to master a piano style that was popular long before he was born.  In addition to being a pianist and vocalist, Daryl is also a professional actor, author, and lecturer, now residing in Maryland.

Apart from leading The Daryl Davis Band, he has worked with Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, Chuck Berry, The Legendary Blues Band, Percy Sledge, Sam Moore, Nappy Brown and many others.  Daryl’s CDs have received rave reviews from leading music magazines, and he has won several WAMA (Washington Area Music Association) Awards for Best Artist in the Roots and Blues categories.  Daryl has tours nationwide and internationally. His Greatest Hits CD is his latest release.

A man once told Daryl, he’d never seen a Black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis.  Daryl explained, they both learned from black Blues and Boogie Woogie pianists.  The man found it hard to believe in the black origin of the music but became a regular fan of Daryl’s.  Turns out, he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  This experience led to Daryl becoming the first black author to travel the country interviewing KKK leaders and members.  His experiences are detailed in his critically acclaimed book, Klan-Destine Relationships and the award-winning documentary Accidental Courtesy.   His upcoming new book, The Klan Whisperer will be released soon.

As an actor, Daryl has appeared on the stage, the big screen and television.  He also played a role in the critically acclaimed and awarded television show The Wire.

He is the recipient of numerous awards for his music and work in race relations and is often seen and heard on cable and network television, radio and print media as a race relations expert.

Every artist has their influences, but Josh Christina is one of the few who can say he’s won a seal of approval from the peers of his heroes. The throwback phenomenon is leading a rock n’ roll revival that’s been praised by some of the genre’s founding members.

In 2015, Christina caught the ear of famed producer Kent Wells (Dolly Parton), and his sophomore project Good Old Love—featuring the radio charting single “Kayla Ann”—served as his official introduction to Nashville.

Following the release, Josh Christina toured overseas and made his international television debut on Ireland’s Late Late Show.

Josh Christina ended 2019 with more than 130 tour dates under his belt and kicked off 2020 with the release of his single and video “Rockstar”, available now on all platforms.

Born and raised in Middletown, CT, Ethan Leinwand began taking piano lessons when he was 8 years old. Far from a rigorous classical education, his teacher provided a well-rounded selection of piano music that ran the gamut for a beginning and intermediate pianist. Ethan began composing his own music around the age of 12 or 13. It was here that his passion for piano truly took root. Though he quit formal lessons at 14, he had formed a personal relationship with the piano that was only gaining strength. As a teenager, Ethan steadily composed piano music, writing thematic pieces and dreaming of being a film composer.

He attended Wesleyan University (‘05) – a liberal arts college in his hometown – where he majored in music. Piano and composition remained constant, but mostly private pursuits. Getting good at the piano was never the goal. Top priorities were always self-expression and proving to himself that he was an artist. Ethan’s major musical breakthrough in college came as he gained the confidence to improvise original music, developing into something of a minimalist composer….. For academics, Ethan focused much of his learning on ethnomusicology and European classical music history. It was here that Ethan discovered his love of music history, which would later drive his passion for studying barrelhouse blues.

In college, Ethan first heard blues piano being played by a close friend, Joaquin Cotler. To a young pianist with little chops and no ability to improvise, it was magic. Though he didn’t attempt to play it yet, the seed was placed. The seed sprouted in 2007, when Ethan moved from Connecticut to New Orleans, LA. Ethan took a job at Arden Cahill Academy, teaching music to children in pre-K – 2nd grade. Every class ended with “Freeze Dance,” and so Ethan began developing his blues playing. With these dancing children as his muse, the precious and private act of playing piano was finally turned outward. He mixed the sounds he was hearing in New Orleans with what he had seen from his friend, Joaquin. He didn’t know it at the time, but he was learning to play boogie-woogie.

After a year in New Orleans, Ethan moved to Brooklyn, where he could be closer to family and friends. After much soul searching, at the ripe age of 26, Ethan decided that he should focus his energy on piano, and actually try to get good. A fateful night on YouTube led to the “discovery” of boogie-woogie, and Ethan was hooked. In this music, he found the sound he had been searching for a left hand focused purely on rhythm and a pianistic music that, like a Chopin Nocturne or a Schubert Impromptu, was a complete statement for solo piano. Thus began Ethan’s journey of learning this music. The obsession grew as it mixed with his love of history. Ethan began to track the music backward, studying every pianist he could discover, determined to get inside their grooves, and always searching for a deeper and more complete understanding of the music. Over a dozen years later, the journey continues….

Back to 2009, Ethan was at a party. There was a piano, and working up the courage for the first time in his life to “be that guy”, he sat down and played. It was a decision that changed his life. The folks seemed to love it. Smiles and joy all around, and he was in heaven. He learned that night that this was what he wanted to do with his life. Little did he know that there was a woman at that party who was planning on opening a piano bar! A few months later he was contacted by her. He played their soft-opening, and the next thing he knew, was working 4 nights a week at “The Manhattan Inn” in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It was his “break”, and he’s been a working musician ever since.

Ethan visited St. Louis, MO in the spring of 2014. It was love at first sight. The city’s rich blues history was everywhere. The knowledge of piano blues was deeper than he’d ever encountered. The legacies of Henry Townsend, Roosevelt Sykes, Johnnie Johnson and James Crutchfield shined bright across the city. He found a community of like-minded traditionalists, and at last, people who he could talk to about the music he loved. He quickly packed up his belongings and moved to St. Louis Embraced by his adopted city, he has been given a platform, and the confidence, to share his passion for this amazing piano music.