Next featured artist is Corky Siegel is known internationally as one of the world's great blues harmonica players, and is a celebrated composer, blues pianist, singer, songwriter, band leader and author.
Along with the likes of John Cage, Steve Reich and Meredith Monk, he is the recipient of a Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest Commissioning Program for New American Music grant for chamber music composition resulting in his Chamber Blues ensemble's popular Aunt Lila""s Suite; he has also been honored with the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for Music Composition, the Chicago Music Awards"" Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.
Born Mark Paul Siegel in Chicago in 1943, Corky's professional music career began when he founded the now legendary Siegel-Schwall Band in Chicago in 1964 with guitarist Jim Schwall. The group was a major component of the young generation of white blues artists—also including Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg, Nick Gravenites and Michael Bloomfield.
Corky played with all these greats at Siegel-Schwall's first steady engagement, in 1965 at Peppers, Chicago's internationally renowned blues club. They were soon signed to Vanguard Records, with blues luminary Samuel Charters producing. Their first album, The Siegel-Schwall Band, was released in 1966, and with it the group made San Francisco a virtual second home: There the likes of Janis Joplin, Santana, Steve Miller and Joni Mitchell opened for them (Siegel-Schwall actually produced Mitchell's demo tape); the band would record three more classic albums for Vanguard up through 1970, then five for Wooden Nickel/RCA through 1974 before going on hiatus.
Tickets for the August 6, concert are available online at www.endlessmountain.net/box-office or at the Troy Memorial Auditorium the evening of the performance. Adults tickets are $25.00 and all students are admitted free!
The Endless Mountain Music Festival thanks their donors and supporters who make programs like this available. This event is sponsored by the Wellsboro Gazette.