JazzFest 2012 Performers Back In Town Saturday

I still remember getting the Sena Ehrhardt Band CD in the mail in the summer of 2011 from Blind Pig Records. From the very first notes of 'My Bad' through the final cut, 'Fool Out of Me', I loved the CD. I started reading the liner notes and found out that she and her band were from my native Minnesota and I liked it just a little more.

Flash forward a couple of months to January 2012 when the Sena Ehrhardt Band played in front of an enthusiastic sold out crowd at Old Skoolz here in Sioux Falls and during that set, I realized I was seeing a band on the rise. I contacted Rob Joyce at Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society to recommend them (again) for JazzFest, only to find out that they had already been booked.

They opened the show on Friday night this past summer and in my opinion (and most everyone else who was there) felt they absolutely STOLE the show that evening. Now, we get the treat of having them back in town this Saturday and back at Old Skoolz in front of an intimate audience (capacity is only about 70!) Tickets are just about gone at $16, but you can get all the details and check on ticket availability here.

I had a chance to Facebook back and forth with Sena last week to talk about some of the highlights of 2012 and what's on tap for 2013.

They were nominated for multiple awards:
2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist Debut
2012 Blues Blast Music Award for Best New Artist Debut (They WON!)
2012 Blues Blast Music Award for Sean Costello Rising Star Award
2012 Blues 411 Award for Best New Artist Debut Recording

Sena and her guitar playing father also spent some time late last year in Memphis, recording the follow-up to 'Leave The Light On' with multiple Grammy Award winning producer Jim Gaines (he has produced Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, Huey Lewis, Journey, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Ana Popovic, Joanne Shaw Taylor and MANY MANY wonderful contemporary blues artists) The new CD will be released this March!

They were featured in Blues Revue, Downbeat Magazine, Living Blues, Blues Blast Magazine, Blue Monday Monthly, Elmore Magazine, Chicago Blues Guide and reviewed/interviewed in close to 100 publications/blogs etc. for their debut album and those interviews and reviews are just going to continue to grow!

The Sena Ehrhardt Band will be my in studio guests this Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm. They'll play Old Skoolz at 9pm this Saturday. Click the link above to get your tickets before it's a complete sell out.

I've been fortunate enough to spend a little time with the band over the past year both here in Sioux Falls and Minneapolis and I can tell you they are genuinely as nice as they are talented and I wish nothing but continued success for this Minnesota Blues Band that continues to gain popularity across the country and eventually around the world. Pretty cool to see them come back to Sioux Falls!

I had Sena and Ed on the air with me last July when they were at JazzFest. Here's the interview, plus the pair doing a cover of Humble Pie's "Thirty Days In The Hole". Enjoy.