Big Road Trio in concert Friday at ICC Polk Center
Published 10:00 pm Tuesday, September 30, 2014
On Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. Big Road Trio with Peggy Ratusz, Duane Simpson and Joshua Singleton will serve up an evening of Blues, Americana and Jazz at Isothermal Community College’s Polk Center in Columbus.
The trio features Peggy Ratusz on vocals, Duane Simpson on arch top and acoustic guitars and Joshua Singleton on harmonica, vocals and acoustic guitar.
Big Road carries on the legacy of Delta Blues and Roots music with arrangements of Traditional and Modern Blues, Americana and 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s standards, matched by their original material. Award winning vocalist, Peggy “Chanteuse” Ratusz, “wrings the blues out of every syllable,” Duane Simpson on guitar, “is as long on style as his 6’6” frame,” Joshua “Harp Throb” Singleton, “brings new meaning to the mouth organ.” Though they formed in 2006 and played together regularly until 2010, 2014 has reunited them for this and other special concerts. Simpson and Singleton have recently reunited in a duo configuration and call themselves The King Zeros and have had instant success with this Blues-infused project. Ratusz and Simpson have been performing as a duo since 2007.
Some of their accolades as a trio include 2008 and 2010 semi-finalists in the 24th annual Memphis International Blues Challenge and 2007 winners of Piedmont Blues Preservation Society’s Blues Challenge. With the help of these two players, Ratusz has placed or been given top honors in the Mountain Xpress “Best Of” Reader’s Poll in the Blues category for eight years running. Big Road has opened for Tedeschi Trucks Band, Geoff Attchison, Bernard Allison, Taj Mahal, Denise LaSalle, Shannon Whitworth and Mac Arnold.
The concert is free and open to the public, offered as a public service to the community.