The South Skunk Blues Society's Home Page

Welcome to our home on the web. The South Skunk Blues Society is made up of blues music fans and musicians located in east central Iowa, near the South Skunk River in the Newton, Baxter, Kellogg and Grinnell areas.

The South Skunk Blues Society is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving and cultivating Blues music. The Society promotes public performance opportunities for Blues artists, and seeks to increase the exposure to and appreciation of Blues music by the general public.

News and Info

2013 Bowful o' Blues preview!

Mark your calendar for Saturday August 31 (Labor Day Weekend) for the 21st Annual Bowlful of Blues that will be held at the Maytag Park in Newton. The South Skunk turns 21, we are almost legal. The entire Board of the South Skunk Blues Society has been busy getting this lineup selected, its a group effort. The Bowlful of Blues will kick off at noon with the Poppa Neptune Band featuring Detroit Larry Davison. This band includes guitar slinger and Newton native (and South Skunker Nick Knudsen). At 2 PM the Terry Quiett Band from Wichita rocks the stage. http://www.terryquiettband.com/ At 4 PM Walter Trout will mesmerize the audience with his ferocious blues guitar licks. Walter is recognized worldwide for his guitar playing and is nominated for the Blues Foundation 2013 Blues Music Award for his Blues For The Modern Daze as Best Rock Blues Album. Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to relocate to Los Angeles where he became a sideman for Percy Mayfield and Deacon Jones. He also worked in the bands of John Lee Hooker and Joe Tex. In 1981 he became the guitarist for Canned Heat. This led to an invitation to play in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers where he shared the stage with fellow guitarist Coco Montoya. He left the Bluesbreakers in 1989 and formed the 'Walter Trout Band'. http://www.waltertrout.com/. Our former South Skunk President, Denny Fowble, will be smiling down on us as Walter was one of the bands he always dreamed of getting for the Bowl.

At 6 PM we will welcome our Iowa (Cedar Rapids) native back home when the Shaun Murphy Blues Band takes to the stage at the Maytag Bowl. Shaun is currently touring as the vocalist for Bob Seger, as I write this they are on stage in Detroit (playing for the hometown crowd). For more than 15 years, she was an integral and dynamic force in Little Feat. Shaun didn’t become a singing sensation with Little Feat. She had already accomplished that with Eric Clapton, the Moody Blues, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby, Meat Loaf (as part of the duo Stoney & Meatloaf) and Bob Seger. http://www.shaunmurphyband.com/

At 8 PM Blues man John Primer brings us the 'real deal' Chicago style blues. John is nominated for Blues Music Awards in two categories this year: Acoustic Album - BLUES ON SOLID GROUND and Traditional Male Blues Artist. As the title of his critically acclaimed Atlantic Record CD suggests, Grammy Award and Handy Award Nominee, John Primer is truly 'The Real Deal.' At eight years old, John borrowed his first guitar and stated to strum. With the sounds of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Little Milton, Elmore James, B.B. & Albert King reverberating through his Grandmother Laura Nell’s tube radio, John was instantly hooked. He was fascinated with Blues music and set forth on a life long path of becoming a musical force. Early inspiration came from his family steeped in spiritual, gospel, and church, and went on to play at house parties and fish fries in and around his hometown of Camden, Mississippi. By any yardstick, John Primer has paid his dues. Prior to making The Real Deal album in 1995 Primer spent 13 years as the ever-reliable rhythm guitarist with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. Before that, he filled the same role behind Chicago immortals Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. All that grounding has paid off handsomely for Primer. His sound is rooted in the classic Windy City blues sound of decades past: rough-edged and uncompromising and satisfying in the extreme. He's one of the last real traditionalists in town. http://www.johnprimerblues.com/live/

Check out some pictures from the 2012 Bowful o' Blues !

Blues Under The Roof at the Newton Public Library.

Check out our Coming Events page. See what's coming up!

Board Members! The South Skunk Blues Society's board members.

Memberships  
Are you into the blues? Why not join The South Skunk Blues Society? Please click on the link below to print a copy of our membership form. Fill it out and mail it off! Or come to the General Membership Meeting and join in person. If you have Paypal, you can join online. Send your contact information, along with your payment, to ssbs@southskunkblues.org
Your memberships help make the Bowlful of Blues possible!
Printable Membership Form!

ssbs@southskunkblues.org