Guy Davis - American Roots at its best + very special guest Dave Speight

Guy Davis is a two-time, back-to-back Grammy nominee for Best Traditional Blues and one of today's most compelling torchbearers of the Blues tradition. A powerful singer, guitarist, banjo player, and songwriter, Davis delivers the Blues as it was meant to be heard: raw, human, and deeply rooted in lived experience.

Drawing from the lineage of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lead Belly, Blind Willie McTell, and Mance Lipscomb, Davis fuses traditional acoustic Blues with elements of folk and roots music, using story-driven songs to confront history, social injustice, and the hard truths of everyday life. His music carries both weight and grace—unflinching when it must be, and quietly redemptive when it can.

Songs like "God's Gonna Make Things Over," inspired by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and "Welcome to My World" showcase his gift for narrative Blues, shaped by a lifelong background in theater and storytelling. Whether fingerpicking guitar or banjo, Davis commands the stage with an earthy intensity that stands in stark contrast to modern commercial music.

Influenced early by Pete Seeger, Guy Davis has performed across the United States and around the world, sharing stages with B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', John Hammond, Levon Helm, Dr. John, Bruce Springsteen, and many others. He is a recipient of the Keeping the Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation, recognizing his role in preserving and advancing the genre.

While Davis is also an accomplished actor and playwright, the Blues remain the backbone of his artistic life. His live performances blend original songs with classic Blues, delivered with authority, soul, and a deep respect for the tradition—music that doesn't just entertain, but bears witness.

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Dave Speight is Blues carved by mileage. A British Blues Hall of Fame inductee and declared a National Treasure by Blues in Britain, Speight has spent more than 60 years on the road, carrying the Blues from smoky clubs to festival stages, night after night, because that's where the music belongs.

His first idol was Big Bill Broonzy, and those songs went straight into his bones. Nearly six decades later, Speight still plays Broonzy numbers like "Willie Mae" and "5'7" with authority earned the hard way. The repertoire has widened over the years, but the foundation never shifted: honest Blues, played straight, with nothing hidden and nothing wasted.

His recordings mark the passage of time like road signs: Blues from the Aire Delta (1982), North Country Blues (1997), Blues Around Midnight (2017), Last Chance Blues (2019), and Seam of the Blues (2021). They document a player who understands that Blues isn't about how fast the fingers move—it's about what the years put into the voice. The hands may have slowed, but the truth comes through stronger than ever. At this stage of life, it still matters—deeply—to be able to stand up and sing "Woke Up This Morning" and mean every word.

Speight has played anywhere a crowd would listen: bars, back rooms, clubs, concerts, and festivals. These days you'll find him where the atmosphere is right and the audience knows the difference—club stages and festival tents where the Blues can breathe. As the years have piled on, something else has happened: the applause lasts longer, hits harder, and carries more weight. Recognition, not nostalgia.

Inducted into the British Blues Hall of Fame in 2017, and later named a National Treasure, the honors came late—but right on time. Dave Speight is proof that the Blues doesn't fade, doesn't retire, and doesn't slow down just because the road gets longer.

Spend 48 hours with him and you'll see it clearly: little sleep, too many cigarettes, stories stacked like empty glasses, and the Blues running nonstop. Dave Speight doesn't play at being Blues. He's still out there, still showing up, still telling the truth—one song at a time.