Mudcat band


	“Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck is an internationally known gospel and bluesman. Mudcat continues the traditions of the early blues pioneers while adding his own Mudcat edge, resulting in one of Atlanta’s greatest treasures. He regularly performs his Bayou-baked chicken-party revues at Atlanta’s premier blues club, Northside Tavern.” – Atlanta History Center

	Lil’ Joe Burton - trombone, vocals Joe began his career in 1964 with the late, great Junior Wells. Later, he toured with other greats such as B.B. King, Bobby Womack, Joe Tex, and Otis Clay. He has appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, Midnight Special, and Soul Train, and is well-known in Europe and the US for his heart-wrenching solos and high-energy performances. myspace.com/liljoefromchicago

	Eskil Wetterqvist - drums, washboard, Guitar, bass, vocals Playing drums and guitar by age 11, Eskil’s professional career began the next year. In high school Eskil won ‘The Distinguished Musician’s Award’ and ‘The John Phillip Sousa Award.’ In a career spanning more than 30 years, Eskil has collaborated as musician, performer and composer with the likes of Peter Case, Jerry Peek, Phil Ehart, David Ragsdale, Sue Wilkinson, Orange Hat and What the...? He has appeared on many distinguished stages, such as Little Steven's Underground Garage-A-Go-Go, and toured the UK, including Liverpool’s renowned The Cavern. Eskil has been drumming and vocalizing with Mudcat since 2001, touring worldwide and performing on many CDs.

	Shannon Kirk – Bass, Vocals Shannon started playing bass in 2005, starting with an upright. After discovering her love of jazz, she picked up the electric bass in 2007. She has been in All-State Orchestra for 4 years, both in Maryland and Georgia, and has played in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has filled in with Swagger, Highway, Solar Bears, The Electives, and has played with Chicago Joe Jones, Maddy Moneypenny, Lola Gulley, Emma Cooke, the Joe "Lee" Bush Band, Liz Lee, and Miss Junior. She learned how to pick out bass lines by ear and can read tab, tenor, treble, and bass clefs. She has been told she plays in the pocket but has a groove that's all her own. Shannon loves playing music ranging from jazz, blues, and funk, to rap, ska, rock, and reggae.

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	Dan Dan (The Healing Man) - rubboard, percussion, mandolin Dan Francis is from Dawsonville, Georgia. He has played percussion with many great bands, but says Mudcat is the best. Dan has played percussion with Mudcat for over a decade, mostly sitting beside Mudcat on Wednesday Nights at the Northside Tavern. Washboards, tambourines, and a snare drum on a potato box are his tools of the trade. Mud likes to say he buys his instruments at the best music store in town, Ace Hardware.

	Eddie Boyd – saxophone, vocals Eddie began his career at eight years old singing around the Tampa area with Charlie Bradley’s band; Ray Charles was the pianist. Beginning in high school, Eddie played saxophone on tour with Ruth Brown, Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Al Green, Rufus Thomas and many others. He performed on the Johnny Carson, Dick Clark, and Ed Sullivan shows, as well as at the Apollo. Eddie tours college campuses giving workshops to help young musicians.

	Hobo – Mississippi saxophone Hobo Creed comes from Florida where he started off playing the saxophone before finding the Mississippi saxophone. He hasn't put it down since. He played throughout Georgia and Florida for awhile until he settled in Atlanta, where he honed his tone to a sweet sexy sound. He has played with many of the top blues performers in Atlanta at many of the local joints. He always is satisfied when he plays with Mudcat.

	George Mitchell – oil drum bass In 1963 George Mitchell learned to make and play a one-string, oil-drum bass from one of the earliest masters of the instrument – Will Shade, head of the great Memphis Jug Band. The author/photographer of a number of books, including Blow My Blues Away, he is an internationally-recognized blues folklorist. Numerous albums of his field recordings have been issued over the past four decades, the most recent being “The George Mitchell Collection” on Fat Possum Records.

	Lola – Keyboards, trombone, vocals Lola got her start playing trumpet and drums in her father's funk band. After a switch to keyboards, she performed in local churches, where she was heavily influenced by gospel. A stint with the late Johnnie Taylor taught her first-hand how to work a crowd, a skill she honed while sharing the stage with The Pointer Sisters, Bobby Womack, and Chubby Checker. lolagulley.biz

	Lori Beth Edgeman – Vocal / Dance Lori Beth grew up loving to sing and dance and made the decision early on to pursue a career on the stage. Soon after leaving her hometown to pursue her dreams she also found a new love in acting and the love of the stage grew to include desires to be on the screen. While studying in Atlanta and beginning her professional career she stumbled upon one brilliant bluesman, Danny. "Mudcat" Dudeck, who shared her love of the stage. LB joined Mudcat for a number of years on the road and is known to still pop in from time to time at a gig or in the recording studio. She currently lives in Dalton, Ga where she's raising her precious daughter and living her dreams of working on the stage and screen.

	Keith Stewart - fiddle, mandolin Keith was exposed to bluegrass music early and bought his first fiddle at the age of 13 with money he earned from working the tobacco fields. He was raised in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp and ‘edumacated’ at Georgia Tech. He has traversed 30 countries touring with the USO. Keith stays busy fiddling with a wide range of bands, yet still finds time to spend with family and friends, sawing out a diverse range of tunes from bluegrass, blues, and jazz to country rock.

	Julea Thomerson – vocal, rubboard, banjo Julea is a singing pre-war country blues fanatic who claims The Allen Brothers, Ma Rainey, Lucille Bogan, and Robert Wilkins as her main influences in her music and day-to-day life. Julea got her start as a singer with Mudcat in 2007, and has since shared the stage with some of the finest performers in the Southeast while also teaching elementary school, working on her first solo record, and leading her all female honky tonk band, The Bareknuckle Betties. She still considers standing next to Mudcat on the Northside Tavern stage as her favorite place to be on the (almost every!) last weekend of the month.

	Eddie Tigner – piano, organ, vibes, vocals Eddie learned about the piano early-on from his talented mother, but didn’t begin playing until after he joined the Army in the mid-1940s. In the early 1950s Eddie performed with Elmore James, but was called upon to join the revised Ink Spots touring band, where he remained for almost 30 years. Today, he is a fixture on the blues scene, performing with the Music Maker Revue or with his many friends and colleagues throughout Atlanta. eddietigner.com

	Mico Bowles – Trumpet, Banjo Mico is a trumpet player that was privileged at a young age to play with Bobby O'dea's jam sessions in Macon GA. These sessions included many blues, jazz, R&B, Gospel and rock legions, many whom recorded around the corner of Capricorn Records. He has played and recorded with many bands in Atlanta and around the country but his heart is with New Orleans jazz and Atlanta gospel. He also plays banjo and in 2003 received an Associates in Jazz Performance from the London College of Music at Thames Valley University. Currently studying nightly at gigs with the bad ass musicians in Atlanta.