Alex Lopez with Crystal Shawanda
Friday, February 24th, 2023
6:30 doors | 8:00 Show
$15 Advance
$20 Day of Show
Coming to The Open Chord for the first time, Billboard chart topping blues/rock artist Alex Lopez and his talented band The Xpress perform a night of rocking British infused blues featuring his new ground-breaking album Nasty Crime. Critics are already calling this album one of this year's best. Friday February 24th at 8:00PM. Get ready to rock the blues at this concert event!
The soul of a singer/songwriter combines with the emotion of blues and the power of rock" - Alex Lopez is an acclaimed guitarist, prolific songwriter and emerging artist recognized for his electrifying live performances. Critics have said he is "capable of revitalizing the blues for a new generation" and he is quickly taking the blues/rock scene by storm.
Alex was born in the heartland of Rock n Roll Cleveland Ohio and started playing keyboards before becoming inspired by British blues/rock bands to master the guitar. Influenced by greats like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, Alex spent young adulthood performing in clubs and recording original songs in small studios while polishing his songwriting skills. Since his move to Florida to attend college, Alex spent years as the vocalist and lead guitarist of the wildly popular rock band Reminiscion before striking out on his own...
In September of 2013 Alex released the self recorded album "Back Bedroom Blues" a collection of all original blues and blues/rock songs on which he played all instruments and introduced his formidable skills as a blues guitarist and singer/songwriter. In 2015 Alex Lopez released his second CD "Is it a Lie" with his newly formed band "The Xpress" to excellent reviews. His third album, "Slowdown" achieved a new level of success with international recognition and critical acclaim rising up the blues, jam and Americana charts with worldwide airplay and earning Alex fans across the globe. The follow-up album "Yours Truly, me..." went to #6 on the blues Radio charts and clearly positioned Alex to continue his ascent in contemporary blues.
Alex's 2021 release written and recorded in the midst of the pandemic was the pure blues rocker "Rising up" which went to top ten on the Billboard charts...receiving outstanding reviews and recognition the album solidified Alex's position as blues rock force to be reckoned with and one of it's rising stars...
And NOW AVAILABLE, what's sure to be one of top the blues/rock albums of the year "Nasty Crime" This ambitious recording covers the spectrum of blues and its songs serve as a statement on our society today.
Crystal Shawanda
One of the most heralded voices in all of blues - Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) multi-award-winning Blues artist Crystal Shawanda. Crystal and her fabulous band(featuring guitar wizard Dewayne Strobel) hail from Nashville and are touring the country dazzling audiences everywhere in support of her new album "Midnight Blues" Reviews have compared her to icons like Etta James and Koko Taylor.
Juno Award-winning powerhouse Crystal Shawanda is back with her latest studio album, Midnight Blues, on True North Records. Her latest fiery blues collection showcases her full-throttle raspy voice, unmatched in today’s musical landscape, and an authentic appreciation for the genre dating back to her youth. Produced and engineered in Nashville by her husband and long-time collaborator Dwayne Strobel, Midnight Blues — her eighth studio album, and fifth since switching from a chart-topping career as a country artist — is a collection of original songs, such as the seductive-sounding rocker “Midnight Blues,” swampy dancefloor groove “Rumpshaker,” and gentler “Take A Little Walk With The Moon,” as well as covers of the Howlin’ Wolf classic “Evil” and her take on Celine Dion’s hit “That’s Just The Woman In Me.”
Crystal’s first foray as a professional singer was in country music, not blues. She was in her early 20s and had immediate success after signing a U.S. record deal with RCA Nashville. 2008’s Dawn of a New Day, featuring the single “You Can Let Go,” reached No. 1 on the Canadian Country Album chart and No. 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums, the highest charting album by a full-blooded Canadian Indigenous country artist (in the SoundScan-era).
The following year she left the label and created her own, New Sun Records. Her first release was the holiday album I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Her next country album was 2010’s Just Like You, which won a 2013 Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Album, before she made the change to the blues with 2014’s The Whole World’s Got The Blues. Two years later, in quick succession, came 2016’s Fish Out of Water and 2017’s Voodoo Woman, then recognition as a bonafide blues talent with 2020’s Church House Blues, which won the 2021 Juno Award for Best Blues album.