By Linda Cain
Photos: Jim Summaria
L to R: Sheryl Youngblood, Lynne Jordan, Chuck Crane, Donna Herula, Peaches Staten, DuJuan Austin, Anne Harris
Leading Ladies of the Blues: Donna Herula Band with special guests Lynne Jordan, Peaches Staten & Anne Harris and Sheryl Youngblood Band
Oct. 19, 2024
Prairie Center for the Arts, Schaumburg, IL
By Linda Cain
The highly anticipated Leading Ladies of the Blues concert – starring Chicagoland’s Donna Herula Band with special guests Lynne Jordan, Peaches Staten and Anne Harris along with Sheryl Youngblood Band -- debuted at Schaumburg’s Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts on a balmy night in October. These five talented, versatile and dynamic women pitched a major Wang Dang Doodle of a show, giving the fans their money’s worth and then some. It was a night to remember!
WCDB’s radio host Leslie Keros served as emcee and kicked things off with her introductions and brief bios of the ladies throughout the evening. Little did she know a surprise awaited her later in the show (more on that later).
Donna Herula -- a guitar virtuoso, blues singer, and songwriter whose vibrant music draws on Delta and country blues, early Chicago blues, folk, and roots music – began the festivities with a classic blues song by Ida Cox (also covered by Georgia White) from 1924 titled “The Blues Ain’t Nothin’ But.”
The ace slide guitarist and Old Town School instructor was accompanied by bandmates: drummer Kenny “Beedy” Eyes Smith, bass player Marc Edelstein and guitarist and harp player Gerry Hundt. It should be noted that both Donna’s and Sheryl’s bandmates are each respected artists in their own right with long resumes; the gentlemen on stage that night are all first call side and session players with careers that have taken them all over the world. The same is true of all five of the ladies who have performed for blues audiences in countries such as China, India, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil, and all over Europe. Rounding them all up from their busy schedules to perform together for this one-time only show was nothing short of miraculous.
Donna’s second song was “Me and My Chauffeur Blues,” another 1920s classic; it was written and recorded by legendary singer/guitarist Memphis Minnie, who was a groundbreaking female artist who continues to influence blues music to this day. Donna’s sassy vocals and ace guitar chops paid a fine tribute to Minnie.
Special guest Peaches Staten was called up to sing one of her originals, “So Long Babe Bye Bye”. Her warm, soulful voice and exciting percussive excursions on the frottoir (a.k.a. rubboard) instantly captivated the audience.
She followed with “What Kind of Man is This?”, a song which Koko Taylor wrote for her husband that is a celebration of unconditional love between two people. Peaches’ rendition tugged at the heartstrings of the romantics in the house.
Peaches paid tribute to the most famous and best-paid blues singer of the 1920s, Bessie Smith, as she belted out “Lost Your Head Blues.” Violinist Anne Harris made her entrance, decked out in a shimmering silver gown with a slit up the side so you could see her matching sparkly silver high tops. She joined the band for a country blues version of the Bessie Smith classic, delighting the crowd with her string virtuosity and nimble, graceful movements. Peaches sang and played rubboard, Donna played dobro and slide, Gerry Hundt broke out his blues harp for a stellar solo, too.
Donna was next for her original song, “Movin’ Back Home,” from her most recent, highly acclaimed album Bang at the Door. The humorous tune was played in a rag time style, complete with Gerry Hundt on kazoo.
Donna then introduced her original, classic blues style song, “Whose Been Cooking in My Kitchen.” Featuring Donna on acoustic guitar and Anne on violin, the innuendos and double-entendres kept the audience amused.
And then it was time for the third special guest, Lynne Jordan, who made a grand entrance dressed in a flashy, full length, sequined gown. She wasted no time in giving instructions to the audience to cheer whenever she raised her arms in the “diva” pose.
Lynne’s set was also replete with humor and innuendo that kept the audience giggling. Her first number, by the late great Candye Kane, was “It Takes a Great Big Woman/Big Fat Woman” in which powerhouse vocalist Ms. Jordan sang about the virtues of being a large lady who can really show a man how to love -- and keep them plenty warm at night, among other perks. Peaches helped out on backup vocals, while Anne added her sensuous string bowing on the fiddle while she busted out some sexy moves. Gerry Hundt rocked the house at Lynne’s prompting with some killer guitar solos; the Diva got us singing and clapping along.
Next up was a Georgia White song from 1936 that Ruth Brown popularized in her Broadway show Black and Blue. Another number full of sexual innuendo – “If I Can’t Sell It (I’ll Keep Sittin’ On It)” was performed by Lynne Jordan who pulled out all the stops to give a burlesque-style salute to this classic blues tune about a chair (wink, wink) for sale in a resale shop and the cheap guy who won’t pay full price. Ms. Jordan played it up with some mighty butt wiggling, dress lifting and leg kicking.
Lynne quieted down for Nina Simone’s 1920s classic blues tale of lust and longing, “Little Sugar in My Bowl.” Ms. Jordan is acclaimed nationally for her sell-out Nina Simone tribute shows and this number showed us how she has a special affinity for the legendary Simone.
It takes guts to cover an Etta James torch song and be able to come close to the emotions of the original, but Lynne Jordan was up to the task. Her rendition of “I’d Rather Go Blind,” held the audience spell bound as she expressed the heartbreak of the song’s protagonist and then built the dynamics up to a crescendo which displayed the full range of her magnificent voice. She was honored with a standing ovation.
The mood then shifted as Peaches, Anne, Donna and Lynne assembled onstage for the first set finale: Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s uplifting gospel-styled number “Up Above My Head, There is Music in the Air.” The ladies traded verses, and engaged the audience to sing and clap along on the joyful tune. Peaches gave her rubboard a rhythmic work out as Anne coaxed some joyful noise from her fiddle. Sister Rosetta is credited with being an inventor of rock ‘n roll music due to her rollicking guitar stylings and high energy; in keeping with that precedent, Donna Herula and Gerry Hundt treated us to some rousing guitar work.
The audience stood and cheered as the song ended and the ladies took their bows. And that was only the first set!
During intermission, the pumped up audience hit the bar and expressed praise for what they had just witnessed as they posed for selfies with the blues women in the lobby. Many Chicagoland blues cognoscenti, who hailed from all parts of the city, suburbs and beyond, were in the house that night, too.
The first set was a tough act to follow, but Sheryl Youngblood was undaunted as she took the stage, backed by her quartet: Chuck Crane (a.k.a. Chuck-A-Luck) on guitar, drummer DuJuan Austin, bassist John Caldwell and keyboardist Dave Holloway.
Dressed in a bright red sequined outfit, Sheryl started her set with an original, “Love of Mine.” She quickly followed with an upbeat version of B.B. King’s “To Know You” and she instantly won the crowd over with her commanding stage presence, a strong, soulful voice and her 100-watt smile. Another great original “I’m Okay” was followed by a medley of “Stand By Me” and “Dock of the Bay,” on which she got the crowd singing along, nostalgically. She even threw in a few verses of Sam Cooke for good measure.
Another well-done medley followed: Sheryl’s country meets soul mashup of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” into Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.”
Sheryl spoke of the late Chicago blues man Jimmy Johnson and paid tribute to him by passionately belting out one of the last songs he recorded: “Every Day of Your Life”. Sheryl moved about the stage to the pulsating beat as she looked out into the crowd and beseeched us to “live every day of your life as if it were your last.” The audience cheered its approval of this positive message.
Sheryl kept the party going with a medley of Etta’s “Tell Mama” mixed with other songs, followed by Wilson Pickett’s funky “Midnight Hour” and into Aretha’s “Respect”. And then Sheryl hit us with an octave-scaling cover of Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade.” Sheryl’s soaring, powerhouse vocals, high energy dancing and clapping kept us bopping in our seats throughout her breathless set. She also gave the boys in the band time to solo and the crowd cheered them on too.
Sheryl is a first rate drummer, but she left the drumming to groove master DuJuan Austin. But the rhythm in her couldn’t be denied and she grabbed a pair of drumsticks to turn her mic stand into a percussion kit for a show stopping performance. The audience whistled, cheered and hollered their approval of her skills.
Sheryl started her musical career in church; and she always brings that high energy, inspirational Sunday service celebration to her secular stages.
Sheryl likes to say that her mission is to reach out and touch every person in the audience and to send them home feeling elevated and happy. And that she did in abundance, as evidenced by the standing ovation, and nonstop cheering and applause she was given.
As good as we were feeling, it wasn’t over yet. Sheryl beckoned the other ladies back to the stage as the band kicked into “Wang Dang Doodle.” Donna Herula, Lynne Jordan, Peaches on her frattoir and Anne with her fiddle emerged to trade verses on Koko Taylor’s most famous song about one hell of a party.
Sheryl called our emcee Leslie Keros onto the stage and Peaches quickly strapped her rubboard onto the surprised radio host. Even though it was her first time, Leslie proved to be a fast learner as she strummed and clicked along with the beat.
The camaraderie and joy among the leading ladies was palpable; they clearly were having the time of their lives and their happiness spilled over into the audience too. Everyone was on their feet clapping and singing along, pitching a Wang Dang Doodle in Schaumburg! Sheryl sang farewell to us with the tune that comedian Carol Burnett used to sing at the end of her TV show each week: “I’m so glad we had this time together. Just to have a laugh or sing a song…”
Backstage in the dressing room as the ladies congratulated each other on a job well done and changed back into their street clothes, Peaches declared: “We are all different in our styles and our approach but when you put us together we fit so well and sound incredible! Let’s take this show on the road!”
Stay tuned and visit Chicago Blues Guide to find out what’s going on in Chicagoland’s blues scene.
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Linda Cain is the Managing Editor/Founder of Chicago Blues Guide
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