Jake Kershaw is is the 18-year-old guitar slinging, blues/rock singing teenager out of Southern Michigan that everyone is talking about. He started playing the guitar when he was 9 years old. Jake Kershaw has won a “Jammie” award from Western Michigan’s WYCE radio for “Listener’s Choice Best Album by a New Artist” and “2018 Emerging Artist of the Year”. He recorded his first album, Piece of Mind, in 2017 when he was just 16 years old. Also that year, he was endorsed by Heritage Guitars as a Young Artist. 

Through all of this, he has maintained a 4.0 GPA, taking honors and advanced placement courses, is a member of the National Honor Society, Symphonic band and marching band. He will soon begin recording his second album. 

Toronzo Cannon earned fame in 2016 with the release of his debut album with Alligator Records, The Chicago Way. Since the debut, he burst onto the international stage as one of Chicago’s – and the world’s – most acclaimed next-generation bluesmen. His songwriting is inspired by his deep, homegrown Chicago roots, his years observing the public while working as a city bus driver on the West Side and his own battles and triumphs. He writes about shared experiences with a keen eye for detail.

Cannon has played the Chicago Blues Festival on nine separate occasions, either as a sideman, a special guest, a band leader or more recently, as a main stage headliner. He’s battled his way to the top of the ultra-competitive Windy City blues scene. He’s earned his place through charismatic talent, long hours, hard work and his burning desire to succeed. 

Wayne Baker Brooks is “considered one of today’s top guitarists who’s signature style combines powerful vocals with liquid fire guiatr playing that honors his rich blue heritage yet effortlessly expands the boundaries of the genre.”

The youngest son of Chicago blues legend, Lonnie Brooks, Wayne Baker Brooks was born into the blues. He released his debut album, Mystery, in 2004 and it draws on blues, blues rock, soul, funk and beyond. 

Forming in 2002, the Altered Five Blues Band has dared to be different. In 2008, they signed a recording contract with Cold Wind Records, the Minneapolis blues label. Their debut album featured the band’s penchant for putting an earthy spin on number. Their third album, Cryin’ Mercy, reached #3 on the iTunes blues store, #1 on the Roots Music Report blues album chart and won Best Self-Released CD at the 2015 International Blues Challenge. It also earned the band two Blues Blast Award nominations and five WAMI Award nominations, including Artist of the year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year. 

They have performed live on three television morning shows and honed its sound playing regular club, festival and concert dates. 

Scotty Bratcher began playing the guitar at age 2 and since then, it has become second nature to him. He started to get on stage at open mic nights in the Cincinnati area at age 11 and within the next several years, Scotty would sit with various bands. He entered into the National Jam with Kenny Wayne Shepherd Contest in 2000 and received first runner up. He has recorded with many blues, rock, country, gospel, funk and heavy metal artists.

His album, All and Nothing More, was released in 2013 and featured many new original songs and a few covers featuring legendary Southern rocker, Jimmy Hall.

Gary Hoey has a collection of 21 albums and is listed as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time. His first break came in 1987 when Ozzy Osbourne liked Hoey’s tape enough to fly him to LA for an audition and encouraged him to move to the West Coast. He was signed with Reprise Records in 1990 and released a solo album in 1993. He released Dust & Bones in 2016, which displays an exuberant fusion of blues and rock. His ability to mix feeling, phrasing, technique and ton is the true mark of a master guitarist. 

Chicago guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Nick Moss is a bona fide bluesman down to his soul. He is a 30-year veteran of the city’s take-no-prisoners blues scene. He paid his dues gigging in Chicago’s rough and tumble West and South side blues clubs under the tutelage of some of the city’s greatest blues luminaries. 

His 9th album, Here I Am, was released in 2011 and was nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2013 in the Rock Blues Album category. His 10th album, Time Ain’t Free, was released in March of 2014 and was voted by the editors at Guitar World magazine as One of the Top 50 Albums of 2014. 

Davy Knowles is a blues guitarist from Isle of Man. He first became interested in music when he heard Dire Strait’s “Sultans of Swing” in the car radio. He was formerly with the blues-rock band, Back Door Slam, for a short period of time but now tours as a solo artist. He released his first solo album, Coming Up For Air, in 2009. His second album, The Outsider, was released in 2014, that features a cover of the Woody Guthrie song, “Pastures of Plenty”. His third solo album, Three Miles From Avalon, featured 7 original songs and reached number 5 in the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in it’s first week of release.

Albert Castiglia is an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist from Miami. He joined the Miami Blues Authority in 1990 and was named the “best blues guitarist in Miami” by the Miami New Times in 1997. His first solo work, Burn, was self-released in 2004 and was followed by Bittersweet Sessions in 2006. In 2014, he signed a recording contract with Ruf Records and his 7th album (first with Ruf Records) was Solid Ground.

He has worked alongside acts such as Junior Wells, Melvin Taylor, Phil Guy, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Otis Clay and more.