Harpdog Brown is coming back to Red Deer with a show slated for Wild Bill’s on May 18th.

Show time is 9 p.m.

Having been in the biz for more than 30 years, Brown has shared the stage with such greats as Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy, Pinetop Perkins, The Powder Blues Band, Jack de Keyzer and the late Dutch Mason to name a few.

He’s got a new release slated for this spring which was recorded in California.

Recording took place utilizing equipment from earlier eras – what would have been cutting edge in the mid-50s in some cases – to help capture that sizzling early electric Chicago blues sound.

His last CD, 2014’s What It Is – was placed at number 20 by Roots Music Report in their worldwide Top Blues Albums that same year. Last year, Brown & the Travelin’ Blues Show also landed a whirlwind cross-Canada tour with Little Victor.

He also won Harmonica Player of the Year from the Toronto Blues Society and their Maple Blues Awards last year and in 2014.

Originally from Edmonton, Brown can indeed be described as a gifted singer and an imaginative harp player who brings traditional blues into the 21st century.

Back in 1995 his Home is Where The Harp Is won the coveted Muddy Award for the Best North West Blues release, from the Cascade Blues Association in Portland.

As to his early days, he started playing instruments before he even really knew what they were. As a youngster, his mom would plunk him down with a lap steel guitar and he would come up with all kinds of stuff. In his late teens he landed his first gig as a guitarist with a singer. Next up he joined a rock band which further solidified his love for touring.

“It’s a good healthy distraction if I do say so myself,” he said of his shows, which sizzle with vibrancy. “For people to forget about their stuff for a little while.”

Check out www.harpdogbrown.com.

– Weber