(NEWTOWN, PA) -- The ZLOCK Performing Arts Center (Zlock PAC) in proud partnership with the Bucks County Blues Society presents on Friday, April 7th a unique evening of blues music with the national, the award-winning harmonica master, songwriter and vocalist Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Estrin’s opening music act is local Mikey Junior and his band for the much-anticipated, annual blues concert starting at 7:30pm.
This wildly fun, musically fearless and bursting with bravado, 2018’s Blues Music Award- winningBand of The Year Rick Estrin & the Nightcats has seemingly created one of the blues’ most instantly recognizable sounds and no-holds-barred type of style. The concert will feature the world-class talents of harmonica master, songwriter and vocalist Rick Estrin, as The Nightcats serve up sharp and incisive original blues and gritty roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll. With his wily and unforgettable original songs and his hipster, street-smart vocals, it's clear no one on the blues scene writes or sings like Rick Estrin. Concert-goers will note that no one looks like him either, as Estrin is always dressed to the nines, sporting his trademark pencil-line mustache and pompadour haircut.
“Blues in Bucks County is amazing and we are thrilled to bring national Award-winning San Francisco Bay-area blues artist Rick Estrin and to spotlight our own local Bucks Co Blues musicians Mikey Junior and Mark Margolies. Partnering with the Bucks County Blues Society and bringing the community together over this great genre of music is a total honor and pleasure for us here at the Zlock Performing Arts Center,” stated Zlock PAC’s Director Peter Chiovarou.
Rick Estrin was born in San Francisco, California in 1949, and grew up fiercely independent. As a 10-year-old boy, he made his way to the tough Market Street area and befriended many of the neighborhood characters. When he was 12, his older sister gave him a copy of Ray Charles’ The Genius Sings The Blues, and he became infatuated with the music. Albums from Jimmy Reed, Champion Jack Dupree, Mose Allison, Nina Simone and others soon followed. By the time he was a teenager, Estrin had immersed himself in the urban, African-American culture surrounding him. He got his first harmonica at age 15, and by age 18 was proficient enough to begin sitting in at black clubs around the city. He first jammed with blues master Lowell Fulson and immediately was hired to open five shows for R&B giant Z.Z. Hill. He worked five nights a week for almost a year with guitar legend Travis Phillips in a band fronted by famed pimp/bluesman Fillmore Slim (who was the centerpiece of the acclaimed Hughes Brothers documentary American Pimp).
Tickets are $20.00 for General Admission and $30 for Premium Reserved seats, which includes a drink ticket at the bar and a reserved seat in the front two rows in the theater. BCCC students receive freeadmission when a current student ID is presented. For more information visit: http://www.bucks.edu/tickets. For group sales, call 215-968-8469.
The Zlock Performing Arts Center is located inside the Gateway Center building on campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, PA. Parking is free. The theater is equipped with audio-loop technology for the hearing impaired.
The Kevin and Sima Zlock Performing Arts Center hosts musical and theatrical performances, business conferences, and educational events throughout the year. The Zlock Performing Arts Center offers exceptional staging, lighting, and acoustics in an intimate 339-seat theater. The venue is located on the Bucks County Community College Newtown Campus, just 45-minutes north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1971 and upgraded in 2000, the Zlock Performing Arts Center is also available for rent on a limited basis to external for-profit and non-profit groups and organizations.
