If you want to find live music in Newton on the next four Monday nights, just look for the blues.
Beginning with Monday’s performance by JJ Express, an annual four-show series called “Blues Under the Blue Roof” will feature some Iowa blues artists, with other blues-related items on display as well.
The multimedia experience is also set to include projections of great blues artists. The series is presented by the South Skunk Blues Society, the Newton Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Newton Public Library.
Performances are in the library’s meeting room and are free and open to the public. All four are set for 6:30 p.m. Mondays, beginning next week with JJ Express and continuing on Feb. 15, 22 and 29.
JJ Express is a band well-known in Newton and throughout Jasper County. Johnny “Juke” Mattingly and Jimmy “Sticks” Robinson of Newton, established the bluesy band five years ago, with both playing multiple instruments. Additional vocals, harmonies and multi-media elements are provided by Elaine Mattingly.
The band also plays in a full-band configuration (adding guitar and bass to the trio). Learn more about the band on its website or its Facebook page.
The Feb. 15 duo, Cindy Grill and Alan Smith, met in 2006, recorded and released the album “Hot Off The Grill” and have played the central Iowa blues circuit as “Hot Tamale and The Red Hots.” There promotional material says they have a “blues and boogie feel-good sound.”
Smith has expanded into more acoustic country, playing slide guitar at times. He is British, while Grill is from Minnesota.
The Feb. 22 act, Jeff Banks and Justin Appel, is a unique duo.
Appel is blind, plays keyboards and is involved in several ongoing creative projects. The Grundy Center native tours with several musicians on a regular basis, records in the studio and plays piano and organ in every imaginable style. There is also an independent film being made about Appel and his music.
Banks is a songwriter, singer and guitarist who has shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, The Doobie Brothers, Fishbone, Double Trouble, Robert Cray and Los Lonely Boys.
He tours with Shannon Curfman Band, Mother Ship Blues Band and has his own “Jeff Banks Band.”
The final act, Feb. 29, will be Del “Saxman” Jones. Anyone who has been to more than a few central Iowa blues festivals has probably heard or seen the saxophonist.
The Des Moines native and Drake University graduate spent two years each on world tours with James Brown and Tina Turner. Jones was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com