Interview With Dave Kelly The Blues Band

Over 30 albums, 4,000 gigs and 20+ singles and EPs later, The Blues Band train is finally pulling into the sidings as they go out on a farewell tour.

As live entertainment finally steams out of Covid’s long, dark tunnel, there may be a few carriages missing. In music terms, survival has depended on the durability of the genre. Thankfully, no vehicle is as robust as the reliable goods waggon called The Blues Band.

It is now 42 years since five experienced musicians, no strangers to the pop charts of the 60s and 70s, decided they’d ignore the days of disco and the tail end of punk, and throw caution to the wind by returning to their solid roots – the Blues.

I spoke to Dave Kelly, brother to England’s renowned blues singer Jo Ann Kelly, from the band about the Farewell Tour.

The tour is going to be your farewell tour. Why stop now?

I think people in the band want to do a bit less. None of us are getting any younger. We were meant to finish in July but were offered a festival in September, so we are going to do that too. I suppose it is a bit like Frank Sinatra who kept saying he was not going to do any more live shows but kept on doing them.

Paul (Jones) and myself will still continue to do our solo tours together every January as we enjoy doing them. It is nice to get paid for something I enjoy doing. We have just done a tour this January playing smaller venues. The audiences tend to be very appreciative when we go to places off the beaten track.

What have been the most memorable moments of your career?

Quite a few! We loved the Dire Straights Gastronomic Tour around 30 years ago. Don Was (from Was Not Was) originally was the opening artist on the tour but had to go back to America to do some producing, so Dire Straights asked us to be the opening act on the tour. We had our own tour booked at the time, but when you get the opportunity to perform in front of 50,000 people most nights, you take it.

We also opened up for the Allman Bothers in Europe, too. When you hear Gregg Allman playing 'Someday Baby' on stage with you, that is a very memorable moment.


You have played with some greats such as Buddy Guy and James Burton. What was that like?

Yes, that’s right. I have played alongside a lot of the greats of Blues music. One of the most memorable was with Howling Wolf, who was such a sweetie. I was only in my twenties then. He was very paternalistic and he liked a whisky before he went on stage. But he offered advice to us by saying, “Keep off that weed”.

You are playing some iconic venues on the tour in the north.

We are looking forward to playing the City Varieties in Leeds very much. I used to watch The Good Old Days on the BBC back in the day. I used to like it when each act got introduced in glorious fashion before they came on stage. That would be good if that happened to us when we play there!

We play Lytham on the tour and are looking forward to playing there. When we tour we try to keep each show close together so we don't have to travel far between concerts. We do not have the expense of a big tour bus; we drive ourselves independently to venues.

Is it correct that you do not have a setlist when the band perform live?

We have not had a setlist for ten years now. We change things around each night to keep it fresh. We know when it is one of our turns to sing. We might do a slow song, then we follow it up with an up-tempo number. This way it keeps everyone on their toes. Plus, of course, it is spontaneous!

Have you any plans to work with Maggie Bell?

I have. We were speaking the other day. She is quite busy at the moment, going out on tour with The Animals on their farewell tour.

When will be your last show together as The Blues Band?

Our last show will be a festival appearance in the UK in September. Before that we have the February tour and Canada in the summer to play the Vancouver Island Festival. The guy who runs it is actually a fan of the band; he was probably a teenager when we first started. When he heard that we were splitting up, he contacted us to say he wanted us at the festival. It will be a good experience for all, I am sure. In the meantime, though, we are looking forward to seeing our northern fans on the UK tour, and hope to see as many there as possible.