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>> LOCAL FAVORITES AND BLUES PIONEERS SAFFIRE-THE UPPITY BLUES WOMEN HAVE THEIR FINAL PERFORMANCE AT UMW
The members of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women reflect on their career of memories and accomplishments, as well as the band's legacy
Date published: 10/22/2009
BY ZACK SMITH FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR After 25 years of hard-knockin', no-holds-barred, sassy and unabashedly feminist acoustic-blues performances, Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women soon will be bringing down the curtain on their award-winning career. The end was actually hinted at several years ago (insert Brett Favre joke here), but Saffire's final performances will be Oct. 30 and 31 playing The Barns at Wolf Trap, and Nov. 7 with a farewell show at the University of Mary Washington's Dodd Auditorium. The group has been touring relentlessly since the January release of their 10th and final recording, "Havin' The Last Word," a video documenting their career titled "Hot Flash" and the release of their soon-to-be-viral video, "Bald Headed Blues," on YouTube. As twilight begins to fall on Saffire's musical odyssey, now seems to be a good a time to take a moment and have these soulful sisters of blues reflect on where they have been and where they will be going. One of the rewards of a music career is a treasure trove of special moments and memories. The best, said singer/guitarist Gaye Adegbalola, speaking from her home in Fredericksburg recently: "I gotta say that among my top memories--and there are a lot of them--would be the first time that we played at the Chicago Blues Festival, which is the world's largest free blues festival. People were as far as the eye could see. We were singing 'Wang Dang Doodle,' and the writer of the song, the inimitable Willie Dixon, joined us onstage. For anyone who is into the blues, Willie Dixon is probably the greatest songwriter ever--it was such an honor." Andra Faye, bassist and string player for the group, also relished one of the many tours from the last two decades: "I just think of us having a great time in Barcelona, Spain, as my favorite memory. That's at the top of the list of all the great places we have been able to travel--and we've been all over this darn world!" Some of those memories are not so great. "We were driving through Cleveland and there was a lake-effect ice storm," recalled Ann Rabson, resident barrelhouse pianist. "We skidded off the road--I was sure that we were going to be killed. A semi-truck jackknifed right in front of us."
Date published: 10/22/2009
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