BLUE BLOODS DISCOVER THE UNDISCOVER
VIRGINIA AND THE SLIMS
ED
www.virginiaandtheslims.net
Virginia and the Slims is a jump blues and swing band from Asheville, NC, started in Summer of 2013. They write and have recorded bluesbased songs suitable for dancing in the style of the swing tunes and jump blues of old. As a matter of necessity, Swing met its baby sister, Jump Blues, in the era of World War II when there was a shortage of brass players and horn parts were put into the guitar, keyboard, and sax lines, thus making the band size smaller. In the spirit of that configuration, the band today stands strong with Joanna Best on lead vocals, James Kamp on saxophone, Charlie Mojo Rapp on bass, Charles Singletary on keys, Howie Neal and Kim Eiring on Guitar and John Barrett on drums. During the pandemic, the band, with its unstoppable energy, shifted momentum to record an album of 10 originals, all vibrant and with vintage vibe, titled Busman’s’ Holiday. With a name inspired by a brand of cigarette with ties to the band’s home state of North Carolina (and named after the first lead singer of the band), the band recently celebrated the history of those ties with a tour across the state and down into NC’s vanguard tobacco regions. Their music calls up the spirit of hard work and connection to the elements (Push on Through), the comradery and conviviality of community life (Your Money’s No
Good)-- and specifically to New Orleans (Take Me to the Mardi Gras)---and of course the ins and outs of love lost and gained (Let It Go, Trace, When Will I Find Him, Sugar Baby, It Ain’t The Way I Walk, I’ll Be Back Again). Hallmarking the spirit of positivity, Shine closes the CD and commands feet on the dance floor! Conveniently harkening to Virginia and the Slims’ Asheville location, adjacent to are The Seven Sisters, a locally well-known, much-beloved mountain range only about three and a half miles long. It is comprised of seven neatly ascending “sisters” leading to their “father,” Graybeard Mountain) An analogy that encapsulates the music is that the Seven Slims (which includes Virginia) embody the seven sisters of Blues (jump blues, swing, rhythmand-blues, rock n’ roll, rock-abilly, country swing, and big-city), leading to their “father,” the Blues which strikes a chord! It is then fitting for a band in the southern region of the United States so to do as well! Virginia and the Slims keeps an active performance schedule, often with pre-show dance instruction provided. Check out our website www.virginiaandtheslims.net and visit us in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Let’s jump, dance and swing!
BLUESMATTERS.COM
ISSUE 124
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