PERFORMANCE TIME: 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26
One of the two Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival newcomers in 2014 is Blues Hall of Fame guitarist Skip Frye and his band.
“This is our first one,” Frye says. “We love the venue — who wouldn’t? Great place to play. The people like us; we like them.”
It’s just one part of a busy month for Frye: The festival will be the band’s first big show since playing at Daytona Bike Week, and Frye also has done a few prison dates in Ocala with Fort Lauderdale-based Solid Rock Ministries.
Frye has been playing professionally since 1969. Before he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012, Frye dabbled in different styles with many bands. He toured with Those Muvin Brothers in 1970 and got to open for Jerry Lee Lewis, among other artists. Also in the early 1970s, he joined a rock band called Hough and got to open for acts such as Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. In the 1990s, Frye played with jazz outfit Free Time, which backed up legendary cornet player Nat Adderley.
Frye has just one album of his own, for which he formed a band called Jabbok. The band recorded the self-titled album in 1998 but never released it on a record label. Frye says he only recently submitted it to an Internet blues radio site.
The Skip Frye Group is currently a three-piece: Frye and Southern rocker Steve Mack both play the guitar, and Frye’s wife, Nancy, sings backup. All three, though, contribute on the microphone.
In addition to Frye’s signature blues tunes, the band has been known to move to other sounds. Mack, for example, brings a Lynyrd Skynyrd-inspired Southern rock background to the group.
“He knows every single Skynyrd song,” Frye says. “Good singer, good player.”
The group also likes to cover The Beatles.
“Last time we played at Keel and Curley, we did a whole hour of Beatles music,” Frye says.
Frye plans to get back in the studio to make another album over the summer. But, for now, he’s just excited to get back to the winery.
“We’re looking forward to playing some good music, having a good time,” Frye says. “Keel and Curley always has a great crowd when we play there.”