Ramsay Midwood is one of the coolest artists working today.  Somewhere between blues and folk and country, Ramsay is really his own genre altogether.  It isn’t likely that anyone is going to accuse Ramsay Midwood of being glossy or ultraslick anytime soon. Earthy, gritty, rugged, and soulful, Midwood is an Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter whose folk-rock, Americana, and roots rock owe a major debt to the blues — in fact, his songs are soaked in blues feeling. Midwood brings a variety of influences to the table. Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Levon Helm, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott have obviously had a major impact on his work; so have Bob Dylan and Tom Waits (especially Waits’ early recordings). There are traces of Bruce Springsteen in some of Midwood’s writing, and there are times when he brings to mind the darker, moodier side of bluesmen John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins.  For this gig Ramsay has hired Terry “Buffalo” Ware and two of his Shamble bandmates, Marlin Butcher and Ray Van Hooser.  It should be a great night of music.

Ian Moore has been coming to the Blue Door for years now, and it was here that he really started to become a mature singer songwriter, long removed from just being a blues guitar wizard.  Ian can play the blues as well as anyone, but he had more to say that that idiom could allow him .  Now he rocks when he wants and also plays quieter shows that while sometimes rocking are a more reflective side of him.  It’s always fun because Ian has a lot of friends around here and it always feels like home.