Danielle Nicole and her band, Kevin Burt, Big Medicine and Soulful Femme put on a fantastic night of blues at Retro Live in Plattsburgh on Saturday, April 20.
Danielle Nicole headlined the show as part of her 2024 tour throughout the US and overseas and in support of the recent release of “The Love You Bleed”. Nicole wrote all but four of the songs on that project and co-wrote the remaining four with Brandon Miller. The album hit number one on the Billboard, iTunes and Spotify charts. Nicole performed cuts from both her new release and prior albums.
With a powerful voice, skillful musicianship, and dynamic stage presence she gave the packed crowd just what it came for – blues that reaches your core. Switching between two four string electric bass guitars, and together with Brandon Miller on electric guitar and vocals and Go-Go Ray drums, she blew the roof off the place, bringing the diverse crowd to enthusiastic dancing and cheering.
Grammy nominated in Contemporary Blues, inducted into the Kansas City Hall of Fame, recipient of multiple Blues Music Award, and charted on the Billboard Blues Charts, it’s no surprise that she has logged over 10 million streams on Spotify.
Nicole’s set included a stellar guitar solo by Brandon Miller alternating between fingerpicking and flatpicking on a Les Paul and a killer drum solo by Go-Go Ray, both of which found the audience screaming with excitement.
Kevin Burt and his band Big Medicine preceded Nicole’s performance with an excellent set comprised of Burt’s own songs and covers of songs by Bill Withers and well-known blues artists. Burt is a triple first-place winner of the International Blues Challenge and nominee for Best Acoustic Artist at the Blues Music Awards.
With his big voice, excellent guitar skills, blues harp and warm stage presence, Burt delivered a compelling performance of blues and soul music, backed by guitarist Ken Valdez. He performed in support of his newly released album, Thank You Brother Bill, A Tribute To Bill Withers, with all but Burt’s song “Thank You Brother Bill” being performances of some of Wither’s most recognized, and not so well known, songs, which reached the top of the Billboard charts.
Between songs, Burt touched the hearts of his audience when he spoke of his recent experience teaching music in a local school when it went into an active shooter lockdown, as well as his work to bring music to young people and musical instruments to youth who cannot afford them.
Soulful Femme, a duo consisting of Stevee Wellons on vocals and Cheryl Rinovato on guitar, opened the show with a captivating mixture of Rinovato’s skilled guitar playing and Wellons’ vocals.
Drawing upon influences as varied as Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye the pair presented a unique sound with elements of blues, rock and soul. The pair performed in support of both their current East Coast Tour thorough May and their recent album release ATTITUDE, with all but one of the songs written by Wellons and by Rinovato.
Following Danielle Nicole’s set, she and her band were joined on stage by Kevin Burt and his guitar player Ken Valdez, where the combined forces did a fantastic rendition of Bill Withers’ “Use Me Up”, sung by Burt with guitars by Valdez and Brandon Miller.
The event was put together by Plattsburgh Blues & Jazz, a non-profit organization which brings world class blues and jazz musicians to the Plattsburgh region of Northeastern New York, hosted at Retro Live, a relatively new, and up and coming music venue that is very much a regional North Country jewel.
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