BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.3.5//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:812@wnyblues.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230331T213000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230331T234500 DTSTAMP:20230303T181806Z URL:https://wnyblues.org/events/the-fabulous-thunderbirds-3-31-2023/ SUMMARY:The Fabulous Thunderbirds 3-31-2023 DESCRIPTION:THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS\n\n\nFor over 30 years\, The Fabulous Thunderbirds have been the quintessential American band. The group’s di stinctive and powerful sound\, influenced by a diversity of musical styles \, manifested itself into a unique musical hybrid via such barnburners as “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up”. Co-founder Kim Wilson\, the sole or iginal member\, still spearheads the group as it evolves into its newest i ncarnation.\n\n \;\n\n“We started as a straight blues band”\, voca list and harmonica player Wilson says. “We now incorporate a mixture of a lot of different styles. We’re an American music band and we’re much higher energy than we were before.”\n\n \;\n\n“To be in the T-Bir ds\, you need to understand the different styles of music and different wa ys of playing\,” Wilson comments. “You have to be willing to adopt a m ore contemporary style. The guys we have now are able to do that.”\n\n&n bsp\;\n\nThe band continues to tour extensively\, in both the U.S. and Eur ope. Wilson is currently writing songs on his own\, with band members and other writers.\n\n \;\n\n“I’ve primarily been a solo songwriter\, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with the guys in the band\,” Wilson says.\n\n \;\n\nThe thread throughout the T-Birds career has be en the respect the group commanded for its peerless musicianship and devot ion to the sounds of blues\, R &\; B and rock ‘n roll. In fact\, Mudd y Waters called Wilson his favorite harmonica player and vocalist. “Mudd y Waters was very good to me\,” Wilson says. “He almost adopted me. I ’ll never forget him.”\n\n \;\n\nFor Kim Wilson\, the musical jour ney started in Goleta\, California. At 17 he began playing the harmonica. His influences included Little Walter\, George “Harmonica” Smith\, Laz y Lester and James Cotton. At the same time\, Wilson began singing and was deeply impacted by Bobby “Blue” Bland\, B.B. King\, Otis Rush\, Jimmy Rodgers and Muddy Waters. In search of other musicians who shared his lov e of the blues\, Wilson headed to Minneapolis. He stayed there for a year and a half\, playing locally\, before moving to the burgeoning music scene of Austin\, Texas. It was there that he met Jimmie Vaughan and they found ed the T-Birds in 1974. The band developed a reputation as a compelling li ve act and subsequently signed a record deal with CBS/Epic Records.\n\n&nb sp\;\n\nIn 1979\, The Fabulous Thunderbirds released their first self-titl ed album. Primarily blues influenced\, it became a cult classic. “Things were wide open back then\,” Wilson recalls. “There were hundreds of s tages where bands could show what they had.”\n\n \;\n\nIn subsequent releases\, the band started to incorporate more Cajun\, rock ‘n roll an d soul influences. The album “T-Bird Rhythm” marked a creative turning point for the group as it collaborated with noted producer Nick Lowe. In 1986\, The Fabulous Thunderbirds reached a commercial peak with the album\ , “Tuff Enuff”. The single of the same title as well as the singles “Wrap It Up” and “Look At That”\, all went top 40. The song\, “T uff Enuff” was featured in the film “Gung Ho” starring Michael Keato n.\n\n \;\n\nFor the remainder of the ’80s\, the band continued to r ecord and tour\, and released the album\, “Powerful Stuff”. Jimmie Vau ghn left in 1989 but Wilson kept the group going\, incorporating keyboards into the guitar-driven sound. Kim moved back to California in 1996\, cont inuing to cultivate the T-Birds music.\n\n \;\n\n“The thing about th e T-Birds is that we can play both blues festival and rock venues\,” Wil son comments. “We’re a diversified band now and everybody’s on the s ame page.”\n\n\nTickets: https://events.eventgroove.com/event/The-Fabulo us-Thunderbirds-72863 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://i0.wp.com/wnyblues.org/wp-content/upload s/2023/03/Kim-Willson-Thunderbirds-3-30-2023.webp?fit=620%2C413&ssl=1 CATEGORIES:Live Blues Music LOCATION:Fanatics\, 7281 West Main St\, Lima\, NY\, 14485\, United States GEO:42.904931;-77.612755 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=7281 West Main St\, Lima\, NY\, 14485\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Fanatics:geo:42.9049 31,-77.612755 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20230312T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR