Local favorites join Kirkwood student ensembles in Ballantyne Auditorium
The roots of much modern music get center-stage attention for the 9th Annual Blues Concert at Kirkwood Community College. Local standouts Dennis McMurrin and Dan Johnson will lead a quartet through blues standards and original material September 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Ballantyne Auditorium.
The McMurrin-Johnson Band will share the stage with several Kirkwood student ensembles and the CR Jazz Big Band. All Kirkwood groups are directed by Instrumental Music Director Dr. Timothy Feldkamp.
Dennis ‘Daddy-O’ McMurrin (guitar) and Dan ‘DJ’ Johnson (bass) have regularly played 100-plus shows a year in the Corridor and throughout our region. They have entertained at Bluesmore, numerous BBQ Roundup appearances, Freedom Festival activities, Jazz Under the Stars, Hiawatha’s Concert in the Park, Greene Square, KCCK-FM programs, plus charitable and political events. McMurrin & Johnson have opened for Johnny Winter, Bo Diddley, the Wild Blue Women, and performed with U2 keyboardist, Terry Lawless.
McMurrin still plays solo occasionally and shares the stage with his “old band” from the 1980s, The Demolition Band. Dan Johnson still plays more than 250 dates per year with the Daddy-O, Billy and Bryce Janey, D-Dog and the B-Bits and 4BOXOROCKS.
The other members of the current McMurrin & Johnson Band are Iowa Blues Hall of Fame keyboard player Tom ‘T-Bone’ Giblin and Michael ‘Butchie’ O’Connell on drums.
Tickets for the Sept. 27 Kirkwood Blues Concert are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with current ID. Kirkwood faculty, staff and students are admitted free. Tickets are available through Kirkwood Student Life office in Iowa Hall, (319) 398-5578.