Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Downchild Blues Band’s popularity seems high as ever this summer as it plays festivals in Edmonton, St. Catharines, Kitchener and, on Sunday, Sept. 7, Port Credit. The band will hit the Memorial Park Main Stage to close out the 10th annual Southside Shuffle.
“It’s pretty great,” says guitarist and founding member Donnie Walsh. “At the Kitchener Blues Festival, we got a standing ovation; I couldn’t believe it.
“We did an autograph session for maybe an hour. I must have signed 10 albums, from 30 years ago.”
Taking their name from a Sonny Boy Williamson song, Walsh and his (late) brother and vocalist, Hock, surely had no idea that when they launched Downchild in 1969, the band would be going strong four decades later.
“I always thought that,” Walsh says, offering a different take. “Blues is one of those things you play forever. I knew that I was never going to grow out of my Spandex. I played blues because I loved blues. Some more luck.”
Over the years, DBB has shared the stage with greats such as B.B. King and John Lee Hooker, collected 26 awards and served as template for the Blues Brothers (whose 1978 album, Briefcase Full Of Blues, covered two Downchild songs, and remains the biggest-selling blues album ever).
And by Walsh’s own account, the band has been through more than 120 players, and made 32 cross-Canada tours – by van.
Today’s long-standing lineup might be the best. That includes local singer Chuck Jackson (the Shuffle’s founder and artistic director), keyboardist Michael Fonfara, saxophonist Pat Carey, bassist Gary Kendall and drummer Mike Fitzpatrick.
Downchild does the perfect music for a blues festival. It’s party music. It’s instantly familiar.
“We always have a good time with the audience,” says Walsh, who splits his time between Burleigh Falls (near Peterborough) and his winter home in Costa Rica. “And Chuck’s really got a great rapport.”
For their 40th anniversary, they’re planning a cross-Canada tour and are working on another record.
But after all these years, is their sound evolving at all?
“Oh yeah, you always evolve when you keep writing,” Walsh says. “You get different themes, if you will. And Chuck writes a few songs, and that brings in a different feel.
“But it’s still the same Downchild sound. People hear that sound and they know it’s us. Downchild has had the same sound since we started. Pretty lucky.”
But can he still keep up the pace?
“What pace is that?” he jokes. “Let me put it this way. I’m having a good time, but I couldn’t do what I did 25 or 30 years ago. We were on the road all the time.”
Downchild hits the Re/Max Main Stage at 7 p.m. They'll be preceded by Loco Zydeco (1 p.m.), Anthony Gomes (2:30 p.m.), Carlos del Junco (4 p.m.) and Jeff Healey’s Blues Band (5:30 p.m.).
Admission to Main Stage entertainment is $10 on Sunday, and $40 for a weekend pass. Tickets are available online at www.southsideshuffle.com or along the Lakeshore at Impressionable Gifts, Ladybug Harbour and Ric’s Recollections.
For more information, call 905-271-9449.
onlinenews@mississauga.net
