Featuring two of the most fascinating voices in modern Delta blues,—Corey Harris and Cedric Watson—”True Blues” is a very special show. Corey is a MacArthur Grant recipient, and Cedric is one of Louisiana’s foremost purveyors of Creole music and culture. True Blues chronicles the extraordinary living culture of the blues in an evening of music and conversation. Guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, bandleader, and MacArthur fellow Corey Harris has carved out his own niche in the blues tradition. He has performed, recorded, and toured with many of the top names in music such as B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, R.L.Burnside, The Dave Matthews Band, Tracy Chapman, and Wilco, among others, and was a featured artist and narrator of the Martin Scorcese 2003 film “Feel Like Going Home,” which traced the evolution of blues from West Africa to the southern U.S. Corey shares the stage with one of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, creole and zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade, Cedric Watson—a four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist, and songwriter with seemingly unlimited potential.

Iowa bluesman Kevin Burt and his band, Big Medicine, make their Ark debut with a new release, Thank You, Brother Bill: A Tribute to Bill Withers. Kevin and Bill Withers have a connection deeper than their voices. A song by Bill Withers, says Kevin, “instantly attaches itself to my soul.” The late Bill Withers “told me in a roughly two-hour conversation we had many things that (pardon the pun) lean on today. One of those nuggets of insight was to ‘tell the stories that make me feel most vulnerable, that’s what people connect with.’ I hope to someday have an impact on someone else’s world the way Mr. Withers has had an impact on mine."