Carol Bean to guest star at Tin Hut

Lady of the blues Carol Bean will star as guest artist at the upcoming Cross Creek Blues Club monthly show at the Tin Hut.

Bean learned some of her guitaring skills at the feet of American roots music luminary Ry Cooder while she was living in Los Angeles, where he taught her how to Travis pick, and play Ma Rainy songs, says club publicity officer Rod Lawrence.

He said Bean, who was born in England and raised in Canada and California, had drawn upon the musical genres bubbling under in the City of Angels to create her own style.

"I drove between LA and San Francisco so often - at one stage I was Mike Bloomfield's chauffeur - to see musicians like John Fahey, Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and Paul Butterfield," she said.

"Those trips influenced my song-writing more than anything else."

Bean's versatile and vibrant style encompasses original songs of swampy blues, zany alt country tunes and introspective stories from west coast America and New Zealand "delivered with an earthy quality that makes you want to listen over and over", Mr Lawrence said.

Liz Barry, radio presenter and NZ Musician Magazine music reviewer, described Bean as being "amongst our finest women of rock".

"Sassy, seductive rock 'n country blues at its best. Blues rock is in her blood from teenage years in LA listening to blues musicians like Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt at the legendary Ash Grove venue."

The May 7 monthly show for the Cross Creek Blues Club starts at 7.30pm with music from Wairarapa performers raising the curtains and Bean playing from around 9.15pm.