7th Annual Reading Blues Fest

Berks Jazz Fest is presented by Berks Arts, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to Inspire, Engage, and Unite our community through the arts. Donations to Reading Blues Fest and Berks Arts make programs like this possible.

Schedule:

Bernard Allison and the Blues Reincarnation Project
10:30 AM - WXPN Welcomes Sunday Brunch
11:30 AM - Concert

BERNARD ALLISON totes the same smokin’ six-string shooter that his late father, Luther Allison, assaulted the blues with. He is blessed with his father’s soulful voice, spiritual devotion, and a musical freedom that experiments with the blues. Bernard listened to his dad’s influences like Magic Sam, Otis Rush, T-Bone Walker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and B.B. King. He also got into the next generation that followed, people like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, and Jimi Hendrix.

Bernard made his first appearance on record at age 13, when he played on a live LP his father recorded in Peoria, IL. One week after he graduated from high school, Bernard got a call from Koko Taylor asking to be her lead guitar player. He joined Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine for three years. “Koko and Pops Taylor taught me the do’s and don’t’s of the road. Bein’ really careful and watching people. They were like my mom and pops. It was a great education, I was able to tour the world and see different cultures. We backed Willie Dixon. Koko was the only group I played in besides my father.”

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