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Crosstown Arts presents blues musician R.L. Boyce with Ryan Lee Crosby and Shaun Marsh in The Green Room.
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
R.L. Boyce is a Grammy-nominated American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist born and raised in Como, Mississippi, United States. He is a protege of Hill country blues musicians, including R L Burnside, and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Boyce began his career in the early 1960s playing drums for his uncle, the fife and drum performer Othar Turner. Later, he was the drummer for Jessie Mae Hemphill and is featured on her 1990 album Feelin’ Good.
His debut full-length album, entitled Ain’t the Man’s Alright, was released when he was 52 years old and featured musicians including Cedric Burnside, Luther Dickinson, and Calvin Jackson.
His second album release, Roll and Tumble, was released on September 8, 2017 on Waxploitation Records. The album included the father and son double drumming team of Cedric Burnside (R.L. Burnside’s drummer and grandson) and Calvin Jackson. The album was produced by Luther Dickinson (of The Black Crowes and North Mississippi Allstars fame) and David Katznelson.
Ryan Lee Crosby is a Boston-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, and music teacher. His sound pays tribute to the Bentonia and North Mississippi blues traditions, centered in 12 string guitar, lap style dobro, dynamic vocals, and a driving foot stomp.
For six years, Crosby toured Europe annually, developing his sound before making the pilgrimage to Mississippi to meet Jimmy “Duck” Holmes in 2019. Since that first meeting, Crosby has returned to Bentonia four times to learn about the style directly from Holmes at the Blue Front Cafe and to perform at the Bentonia Blues Festival. Crosby recently recorded a new album, Winter Hill Blues, with renowned producer Bruce Watson (Fat Possum/Big Legal Mess Records) at his Memphis studio, Delta-Sonic Sound.
