Steve Arvey, Palladium Debut

Steve Arvey is a household name in many parts of the country and overseas, as well.  Steve Arvey isn’t your everyday musician.  He’s a bit like an eccentric genius, and you can see the “smoke” coming out of his ears when he’s deep in thought.  He’s like the Albert Einstein of the music scene all over Florida, and  in his home town of Chicago, and Steve performs seven days a week, almost all the time.  His fingers are in an array of pies every day.  He’s a man with a big heart, and lends his talents to fundraising for so many causes.  When you need someone to really do the job, rally folks together, and raise money, Steve is incredible.

Steve grew up in Chicago, born in 1957 and raised by a Mother with an unusual talent.  Her name was Celeste Ravel and she sang with the Wayne King Big Band Orchestra, so Steve grew up in music the way some people grow up in church.  Steve revered his Mom and has said she had a voice as sweet as silk.  His Dad met his Mom at a gig in 1955 and they shared a love of Jazz and Billie Holiday.  

The love of music led Steve to be a sideman to many great Blues and Jazz legends.  He is widely recognized at any blues club in Chicago and returns there often to take part in the Jazz Festival and catch up with his blues buddies.

A very strong and meaningful gift that Steve Arvey has given many singers in the local Sarasota Music Scene is his founding the Ladies Sing the Blues charity to help the community deal with their need for funds.  Steve is the man you give your sheet music to if you’re volunteering your time and voice to Ladies Sing the Blues.  He has the exhaustive job of coordinating as many as 20 ladies singing 3 songs each and has to keep things moving at a steady pace, as well as play various instruments, mostly guitar, to create a terrific benefit every time.  Steve also gave seminars to the local female singers and musicians, as well as being on hand to advise the newer people about material, videos and inspire them to create original music and lyrics.  I’ve seen Steve play the cigar box guitar and show his interest and respect for the roots of blues and jazz, while playing the mouth harp and singing, as well.

We are so excited that Steve will be playing at the Palladium Theatre on the Side Door Stage, a wonderfully intimate venue in St. Petersburg.  It begins at 8:00 pm on August 23rd,  and you’ll want to get there early to get a seat.   Steve will be presenting a musical collection of material from Mississippi to Chicago, and exploring the migration of blues music. Having grown up in Chicago, Steve learned the blues directly from the great country bluesmen from Homesick James and Honey Boy Edwards to the great Chicago blues masters Jimmy Rodgers ,Drywells, Hubert Muslin. Big Smokey Smothers, and a long list of other great artists Steve will be paying homage to at the Palladium.  This performance will trace the roots of Blues Music all the way to the modern current sounds of Blues and R&B, and Steve will be performing two 75 min. shows, starting with the raw country sounds of the delta and the pre war sounds of Chicago. Following will be a full electric band that will cover  the sounds of Chicago and popular  soul music and blues from the 60’s and 70’’s.  Steve has surrounded himself with a great line-up of musicians that have a deep sincere love of this style and are well versed at performing this music.

I believe this concert will be the most exciting and interesting musical event this year. This is a one-of-a-kind historic anthology of blues and jazz that you won’t want to miss.