AN EVENING WITH DEACON BLUES FEATURING 3-TIME GRAMMY NOMINEE BILLY BRANCH

Deacon Blues are twelve stellar musicians, composers and educators based in Chicago, and they share a unique passion for the Becker/Fagen repository, better known to the world as Steely Dan. Under the musical leadership of Steven Kikoen & Thomas Linsk, the group reads as a “who’s who” of world-class musicians. Chicago luminaries and Grammy® winners include Howard Levy (Kenny Loggins, Paul Simon, Béla Fleck); Paul Wertico (Pat Metheny, Wertico, Cain, & Gray); Corky Siegel (Chamber Blues); Ben Johnson & Charles Heath IV (Ramsey Lewis); Wally Hustin (Phoebe Snow, Dave Mason, Mark Stern, David Benoit); Chuck Webb (Aretha Franklin, Ramsey Lewis, & Al Di Meola); Sugar Blue (The Rolling Stones); Billy Branch (The Sons of Blues); Khari Parker (George Benson, Destiny’s Child); Richard Patterson (Miles Davis, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs); and Bob Lizik (The Beach Boys; Brian Wilson) – and are either permanent members or featured special guests of the band. Original Dan session musician and legendary drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie appeared with Deacon Blues at several of their Arcada and Des Plaines Theatre shows. Deacon Blues has structured their live repertoire to encompass a wider range of the Dan’s prolific material––all the “hits” are there, but also include rarities as well as repertoire from the Dan’s 1991 reunion prototype––The New York Rock & Soul Revue. Deacon Blues has consistently played to sold-out audiences, and has appeared on regional and national television. In the words of legendary Chicago FM Radio personality Bob Stroud, “If you are a Dan fan, you owe it to yourself to see Deacon Blues, they’ve got all the right musicians with all the right chops, they are an incredible tribute to the music of Steely Dan!” Deacon Blues will perform The Dan’s timeless hits including “Reelin’ In The Years,” “Hey Nineteen,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Peg,” “Do It Again,” “FM,” “Kid Charlemagne,” and so many more! 

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Billy Branch is an Emmy Award winner, a 3-time Grammy Award nominee, and a retired Grammy Governor. He’s won multiple Blues Music Awards (B.M.A.), and Living Blues Critics’ Awards. Billy is a proud recipient of the B.M.A., and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards for his forty-year-old Blues in Schools program. In addition, Billy is on the Board of Directors of both the Blues Foundation and the Little Walter Foundation. Branch is also a recipient of an Addy Award for his on-screen commercial work. In addition to his numerous humanitarian awards, Branch is most proud of being a 2020 inductee into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame Museum in Memphis, where Billy’s musical legacy is honored and displayed in the Grammy Museum’s Woody Guthrie installation entitled “Songs Of Conscience, Sounds Of Freedom.” Branch’s touring career began in the late Seventies with his 7-year tenure as harmonica player in the Willie Dixon All-Stars. He has spent nearly fifty years presenting America’s rich cultural Blues heritage to audiences around the globe: from the Republic of Turkey’s Halls of Parliament to the beautiful countries in South America, Central America, and Mexico – to Europe, Australia, and the exotic countries of Asia, including Japan and the People’s Republic of China. Billy’s groundbreaking tours of China has literally introduced Chicago Blues to millions of young, educated Chinese fans. Billy is one of the last living bluesmen to have been mentored by the original blues giants such as Willie Dixon, Junior Wells, James Cotton, and Bo Diddley. He appears on over 300 recordings; fifteen under his own name. Billy Branch has recorded with such luminaries as Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Lou Rawls, Taj Mahal, Keb’Mo, Kingfish, Jim Irsay, and many others. He is the principle actor and narrator in the recently released epic audio drama “Moja,” a comprehensive historical narrative saga spanning five generations of the fictional Ellis family, chronicling African American music from Africa to present day USA. Check out the free downloads at www.mojasaga.com. Billy Branch is honored to be a member of the Jim Irsay Collection Band that features Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Vince Gill, Stephen Stills, Ann Hart, Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd (see more at www.jimirsaycollection.com).