The Killer Cane Cutters

The Ouachita River Blues Society’s open Blues jam hits Enoch’s this Thursday night at 9pm!!

ORBS is proud to announce that our spotlight artist this month is none other than harmonica virtuoso, Dave P. Moore!!

In an era where lots of players that call themselves blues players are influenced by the generation of rock and rollers who cultivated the catalogues of the true bluesmen for their next hit. David Paul Moore, or P Mo, or Dave P, has a spiritual and physical link to the true delta blues, as well as to the southern rock and jam bands that influenced him in the south.
Born in Okinawa Japan in 1967 to parents serving in the Air Force, his journey as a student of the blues began when his mom gave her sickly child a Marine Band harp at the hospital to keep his mind off his ailments. Later, he would sit in with his dad and uncle, who played country harp, in family jams around the house. From his mom, he learned about the big band sounds she loved and from his sister 1970’s rock and roll. But it was in high school that he got a Muddy Waters record that electrified him and sent him in search of the blues. He learned everything he could learn about the harp playing of Little Walter, which led him in turn to seek examples of other harp players like James Cotton, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and others.
After moving from Louisiana to Montgomery in 1984, he started a band with classmates called Bootleg that played blues covers at house parties and social events. A short time later, a classmate’s brother opened the now legendary Ten Forty Eight Jazz and Blues Club in Montgomery, and from 1988 to 1992, Dave worked the door and tended bar at the club and met such greats as Wynton Marsalis, Hy Bromberg of Billie Holiday’s band, the Holmes Brothers, and Duke Ellington’s nephew Steve Ellington. From each performance he witnessed, he took something musically and performance stylings as his own. Eventually, he began sitting in on harp with artists that played the club like “Bugs” Henderson, Terrance Simien, and “Smokin’ Joe” Kubek.
From Bootleg he formed a more serious band in 1989 that would take him around the country for thirty years and counting. The band got a major boost in popularity after they added a virtuoso Tuscaloosa college kid, John Mark Turner, on guitar. For 15 years the band toured heavily throughout the south, becoming a college favorite and sharing stages with the likes of Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton, Dave Matthews, Hootie and the Blowfish, and other popular southern bands of the era. The band, having gone through numerous road miles and lineup changes, continued to play frequently together and celebrated their 30th year together with a series of shows in Montgomery and Birmingham in August 2019. The band recorded a self-titled full length album in 1994 and in 2001 and a 5 song EP that included the Blues Old Stand fan favorite “Mule.” Fans of the band recall fondly the exciting chemistry on stage between Moore’s harp and Turner’s guitar to this day.
During his Montgomery days, Dave P. met Kent Duchaine from Aces Straight and Shuffles in Minneapolis who had come south in search of the elusive Johnny Shines, Robert Johnson’s traveling partner, who had settled down in Alabama. After Duchaine coaxed Shines out of retirement. Dave P spent many hours playing with the pair and even more time relaxing with them by the lakeside where they frequently parked Duchaine’s RV so that Shines could fish.
Moore has since moved back to his family home in Fort Necessity, Louisiana and has become a fixture in the Northeast Louisiana music community.

His debut solo endeavor, Fort Necessity, is available now on all music outlets!!

https://www.offbeat.com/music/dave-p-moore-fort-necessity-la-818-music/

Big news! The monthly Blues Jam at Enoch’s is now to be held under the auspices of the newly-christened Ouachita River Blues Society (ORBS). The jam will proceed as it always has with one important addition…Each month, we will feature a different blues artist as our Spotlight artist!! This month’s featured artist is D.K Harrell!!

D.K. Harrell is a 24 year old, emerging Blues artist from Ruston, Louisiana. In 2019, he performed at the B.B. King Symposium and was given the honor of playing one of B.B. King's signature Lucille guitars. He competed in the 2022 International Blues Challenge and finished in 3rd place out of over 200+ international Blues acts. D.K. has shared the stage with some of the Blues' most recognizable contemporary artists; Gary Clark Jr. Mr. Sipp, Kenny Neal, and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. He is the Jus Blues 2022 B.B. King, King of the Blues award recipient. Harrell made his international debut in Brazil November of 2022 at the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival.
As a Blues artist, D. K. Harrell is dedicated to the preservation of the Blues created and performed by B.B. King and the great Blues artists. D.K. is an artist who wants to bring his perspective of the Blues to the world while honoring and preserving the music and style of B.B. King and other great Blues artists. D.K. was also featured in the November 2022 edition of the Living Blues Magazine. Currently, D.K. is touring domestically and internationally.

Tomorrow night!