Mulebone, a partnership of multi-instrumentalist John Ragusa and roots music specialist Hugh Pool, performs Friday, July 24 at the Sunflower Theatre in downtown Cortez.
Doors and cash bar open at 6:45. Tickets $15, available at sunflowertheatre.org and at the door. The Sunflower Theatre is located at Main and Market Street in Cortez, Colorado, next to KSJD Community Radio.
The launching pad for Mulebone’s musical expression is traditional blues. Equally at home in the worlds of Blues, Folk, and Roots music, Mulebone breaks new ground with an original sound that is soulful, agile and adventurous. Sometimes the Duo plays close to the source, at other moments they seem to float above it and take a new look as one seeing their home for the first time from a distant land.
Mulebone’s repertoire includes original songs that are poetic, hard driving and entertaining, slide guitar boogies and country blues of all shapes and colors.
Hugh plays National Steel, electric, acoustic and cigar box guitars, harmonica, stomps on a boot-board, and sings lead vocals – all with a mouth full of whiskey and a giant heart. John plays all manner of flutes, fifes, tin whistles, cornet, conch shell, jews harp, and chimes in on the harmony vocals – with a sound all his own that transcends his instruments.
Opening for Mulebone is Reverend Freakchild, who evokes the great “blue-eyed soul” vocalists of past decades, like Leon Russell. But he’s also like John Hammond Jr., a student of traditional acoustic blues guitar. He also brings jazzy, but not flashy, touches to his playing, like a humbler version of Leo Kottke.
For more information go to www.sunflowertheatre.org.