Dark Season Blues proudly presents two new artists for this year's festival program. John Primer, one of the last living blues legends from Mississippi, and Quique Gómez, the soulful harmonica master from Madrid. Get ready for real, raw blues in the sparkling polar night!
John Primer (US)
John Primer, born in 1945 on a sharecropper’s farm in Mississippi, is today one of the last living blues legends. Work in the cotton fields and his family’s gospel music contributed to his early love of music. At the age of 18, he moved to Chicago, where he got his first steady gig on Maxwell Street and was eventually recruited by Willie Dixon to the Chicago Blues All-Stars. In 1979, Muddy Waters brought him into his band, where Primer learned to perfect the slide guitar and toured the world. After Waters’ death, he moved on to Magic Slim & The Teardrops, before forming The Real Deal Blues Band in 1995. With over 100 recordings, multiple Grammy nominations and a place in the Blues Hall of Fame, he keeps real Chicago blues alive.
Quique Gómez (ES)
Born in Madrid, Quique Gómez started playing the harmonica at the age of 18 and was quickly captured by the raw energy of the blues. With his first band, Juan Bourbon, Juan Scotch & Juan Beer, he toured Spain for over a decade before traveling to Chicago in 2008 for his international breakthrough. There he met legends like John Primer, Eddie C. Campbell and Jimmy Burns, which inspired concerts on five continents and his own band, Quique Gómez & His Vipers. In 2018, they released Dealin’ With the Blues, followed by 2 Hombres Wanted with Johnny Burgin and Cooking at Greaseland with Kid Andersen and Little Charlie Baty. With soulful vocals and passionate harmonica, he preserves the authentic power of the blues.
