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Curtis Salgado

Curtis Salgado

December 7, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Glorious and memorable… Salgado’s voice is center stage just as it should be. Highly recommended” – Blues & Rhythm UK

Salgado’s vocals are soulful beauty. Fresh, unexpected, authentic, percolating…perfectly executed… simply delicious” – Living Blues

Salgado inspires chills. Upbeat and original…poignant and wise with a great sense of humor” – Blues Music Magazine

In total, Curtis has won eleven Blues Music Awards, including the B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. DownBeat calls his songwriting skills “an impressive gift.” Billboard says Salgado’s music is “inspired and powerful.”  Now, Salgado is back with Fine By Me, the latest evidence of Salgado wielding his impressive songwriting and vocal skills to a wide variety of styles. His music has dashes of blues, gospel, R&B, jazz, funk, rock ’n’ roll and soul at any given moment.

By his early 20s he was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene, first as the vocalist/harmonica player of The Nighthawks, and later as co-leader of The Robert Cray Band. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf.

In 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House. During downtime from production, Belushi caught a typically ferocious Salgado performance and introduced himself during a break. Once Salgado started sharing some of his blues knowledge, a fast friendship grew. Salgado spent hours playing old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi soaked up the music like a sponge and used his new awareness to portray “Joliet” Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers, first as a skit on Saturday Night Live, then a best-selling record album (which was dedicated to Curtis) and finally as a major motion picture (Cab Calloway’s character in the film was named Curtis as an homage).

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