MN's Blues Man Big Walter Smith

by Doug MacRostie

Big Walter Smith is the lead vocalist with the Groove Merchants and has personified the blues in MN for 40 years. Winner of multiple MN music awards, his 300 pound presence and velveteen voice have graced nearly every blues and R&B stage in the Midwest and he joins us to talk about “Royal Blue Cadillac,” his new album with the Groove Merchants this week on Centerstage MN. He came to Minneapolis back in 1970 for a two week MC gig which lasted over a year and a half. He fell in love, both with MN and his future wife, and has been here ever since.

Big Walter Smith and Groove Merchants will be performing at the “Home is Where the Heart Is” dinner and Dance on Sat. Dec. 4th at the Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids starting at 5, music at 8, to benefit the GRACE House Homeless Shelter.

We'll also hear from Mason Jennings brand new album "The Flood" which came out this week. It's a return to his acoustic sound. It's a collection of unreleased songs that Mason re-recorded in March. On his website he says, "It was really fun looking through all my old tapes and finding these, some I hadn’t thought about for years."

All that and more this week on Centerstage MN.

Centerstage MN is Thursday evenings at 6, streaming live online at www.KAXE.org; or 91.7 Grand Rapids, 89.9 Brainerd and 105.3 Bemidji and can be heard again Sunday mornings at 6. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org. Centerstage MN is also heard on KSRQ in Thief River Falls Saturday nights at 11 & Wednesdays at Noon, and on WTIP in Grand Marais Thursdays afternoons at 4. Often featured on MNartists.org.