The Baton Rouge Blues Festival and the Fabulous Thunderbirds seem made for each other.
As 225 details in a feature in the new issue, singer-harmonica player Kim Wilson—the T-Birds’ leader and co-founder—uses Louisiana blues and R&B as his template. His influences include Baton Rouge blues men Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Lightnin’ Slim and Buddy Guy. And during his formative years, Wilson further schooled himself via blues from Memphis, Mississippi and Chicago.
Wilson, along with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1974. They launched during Austin’s exploding music scene, becoming the house band at Antone’s Nightclub, a blues hot spot where they often backed the stars who inspired them.
“The Thunderbirds are a fantastic band now, with seasoned, great musicians who can play it all,” Wilson tells 225. “I can’t wait for the people of Baton Rouge to hear us.”
The band will play the Foundation Stage at 8:15 p.m. Saturday night at the Baton Rouge Blues Festival. Clarke Gernon Jr., the festival’s programming chair, says the band is a natural fit for the blues festival and perfect to close out the Saturday lineup.
“The Fabulous Thunderbirds and especially singer-harmonica man Kim Wilson have been students of the swamp blues since the early ’70s,” Gernon says. “So much of what they do has the spirit of Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester in it. With such a love for Baton Rouge’s heritage music, it will be a real thrill to see them play again in the town that has given them so much.”
