In a night celebrating the blues from coast to coast, Canadian trailblazers , The Legendary Downchild Blues Band won the big award as “Entertainer of The Year” at the 2020 Maple Blues Awards in Toronto.
Fittingly, the band are in the midst of celebrating their 50th Anniversary with a yearlong tour that kicked off with a bang at the Toronto Jazz Festival last June to over 10,000 people, when they shut down Bloor Street for a show for the ages for fans, featuring special guests Dan Aykroyd, Paul Shaffer, David Wilcox, Kenny Neal, Gene Taylor and Erja Lyytinen (Finland).
Downchild is founded by bandleader Donnie “Mr. Downchild” Walsh and his late brother Richard “Hock” Walsh and are of course the inspiration for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s world famous Hollywood film The Blues Brothers.
Donnie wrote the band’s song “I’ve Got Everything I Need (Almost)” that was just inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, at a sold out show in November at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where he joined some of the greatest songwriters of our time, including Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohn. http://themusicexpress.ca/downchild-blues-bands-ive-got-everything-i-need-almost-to-be-inducted-into-canadian-songwriters-hall-of-fame
Downchild is a Canadian blues institution with an international reputation. They have shared the stage with blues icons B.B. King, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker to name a few and have performed around the world, leaving fans thoroughly entertained wherever the go.
A constant throughout, DONNIE "MR. DOWNCHILD" WALSH, the leader and founding member of the band, has kept the music live and alive in the world of blues today. Downchild band members include some of the most well respected musicians in the country, who have performed together for over 25 years. This includes silky smooth singer and harmonica player CHUCK JACKSON, tenor sax player PAT CAREY, MIKE FITZPATRICK on drums, rhythm captain GARY KENDALL on bass, and former American super-group rocker MICHAEL FONFARA (of Rhinoceros fame) on keyboards.
50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
26/03/20 Meaford Hall Meaford, ON
27/03/20 River Run Centre Guelph, ON
23/04/20 Capitol Theatre Moncton, NB
24/04/20 Harbourfront Theatre Summerside, PEI
25/04/20 deCoste Centre For The Arts Pictou, NS
26/04/20 The Playhouse Fredericton, NB
28/04/20 Imperial Theatre Saint John, NB
30/04/20 Rebecca Coen Auditorium Halifax, NS
07/05/20 Richmond Hill Performing Arts Centre Richmond Hill, ON
For more visit www.downchild.com