MV Blues Society Presents The Dig 3 Live at The Gypsy Highway

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society & The Gypsy Highway present Chicago Blues Band, The Dig 3, Sunday August 18. This will be an outdoor show weather permitting, or we’ll bring it inside. Unfettered by convention, blues superheroes Andrew Duncanson, Ronnie Shellist, and one-man-band Gerry Hundt unite as Dig 3. Whiskey vocals, masterful harmonica, and keen original songs stay tethered to grooves only possible when the rhythm section is one person. Walking the tightrope between urgency and ease, Dig 3 creates roots music with power and subtlety – perfected by decades of house-parties and honky tonks.
Outdoor seating is first come, first serve, or feel free to bring a lawn chair to set out by the stage on the grass. Let all your friends know, The Dig 3 is coming to town! $10 Cover at the door.

The Dig 3 includes Gerry Hundt, the wizard of blues and purveyor of older times music, the personification of an adaptable artist, someone who is equally adept in the role as a full bandleader or sideman, in aggregations ranging from full-size groups all the way down to duos. Where Hundt has also proven his extreme talent and skill is in his one-man band format, where his multi-instrumentalist proficiencies are laid bare, though he is a genuine sensation, no matter what the format, plying his trade on guitar, mandolin, bass, and unique percussion tools. Hundt exercised his broad skill set with Nick Moss & The Flip Tops for six years, and has contributed to the Corey Dennison Band, playing with the band and appearing on the group’s self-titled 2016 release on Chicago’s famed Delmark Records.

Andrew Duncanson, who most blues fans will know from The Kilborn Alley Blues Band, has a voice that reflects the stirrings and authorities of Bobby “Blue” Bland, Bobby Womack, Andrew “Big Voice” Odom, and Jimmy Johnson. His poignant singings assure any listener will fully understand the lyrical topic-at-hand, as his ability to convincingly convey those emotions makes him stand out high on today’s blues scene. Duncanson’s extensive guitar efforts have brought acclaim and a loyal audience following to The Kilborn Alley Blues Band, as they rightfully should.

Ronnie Shellist brings his two decades plus experience as a blues harmonica artist and teacher to The Dig 3. He began his performing career in the American musical hotbed of Austin, TX, where departed blues harmonica virtuoso Gray Primich mentored Shellist; he also worked with Hugh Fadal.

Shellist took his music to Colorado, where opportunities to play with local artists and refine his craft, eventually allowed him to open shows for blues titans such as B.B. King, Robert Cray, and Charlie Musselwhite, among others. In Chicago, Shellist has worked with Kenneth Kinsey, Eric Noden, The Kilborn Alley Blues Band, Gerry Hundt, and Corey Dennison, amidst others. He also teaches blues harmonica in workshops, and is a Hohner Music artist and endorser.

The Dig 3 is a collection that is simply awe-inspiring in its breadth of quality and devotion to taste and substance over the averageness that, at times, passes for recorded blues output today. Upon a cursory first listening of The Dig 3, the listener will hear echoes of John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rogers, Walter Horton, Hammie Nixon, Sonny Terry, and Little Victor, amongst others. Yet, this output is no slavish homage. For a three-piece outfit, there is more top-tier musicality dispensed and constructive interplay than found on many of today’s offerings with larger aggregations. The listener will want to swear there are more than a trio of artists at work here. The three participants can create a racket, but a highly-satisfying one, at that. This band is locked-in so tightly as to be immovable.