Peachy keen performance planned for Saturday at Billy's

On Saturday night, Chicago Blues diva Peaches Staten will be performing live at Billy’s Lounge at 9 p.m. as the final performance of the Cabin Fever Blues Series. Every February for nearly a decade, WYCE- a branch of the Community Media Center- and the West Michigan Blues Society have brought in some of the greatest musical talent from around the country for four nights of blues music at Billy's Lounge in Eastown.

The Mississippi Delta region of the United States is known as the birthplace of modern blues and jazz. As important as that region is to music history, blues hotbeds were sprouting up all over the country during the early nineteenth century. One of those hotbeds happened to be Chicago, Illinois. Legendary blues artists Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters all used Chicago as a stepping stone to music prominence.

While the Chicago blues scene is far past its heyday, there are a few artists that strive to bring the blues tradition back to prominence. Peaches Staten is one of them. A native of the Mississippi Delta region herself, Staten was raised in the Chicago blues tradition her whole life. 

Over the course of her music career, Staten has shared the stage and recorded with some of the best in the business such as Katie Webster, C.J. Chernier, Johnny B. Moore, the late Buddy Scott, Billy Branch, Carl Weathersby and many more.

The Peaches Staten Band offers a "thrilling mixture of gritty vocals and explosive guitar playing, harmoniously delivered in her music deeply rooted in blues and soul with a splash of funk. Real R&B well supported by a very tight band."

This will be Staten's first time performing in the Grand Rapids area. Tim Richards, newsletter editor of the West Michigan Blues Society, feels Staten and her band are the perfect end to this year's Blues Series.