Mr. Sipp the Mississippi Blues Child
and
Victor Wainwright & the Train
Headline
Big Steam Blues &Roots Music Festival 2024
Back for year three, Big Steam Blues & Roots Music festival will feature huge names in the Blues, Roots and R&B genre, with
Mr. Sipp and Victor Wainwright & the Train
as the headliners. Big Steam will take place in Hill Wheatley Plaza in beautiful downtown Hot Springs on September 27 - 28, 2024. The festival will be free to attend, but VIP tickets are available for purchase which include reserved seats and other perks.
Castro Coleman - Mr. Sipp
2024 Grammy Winning artist, Mr. Sipp is the alter ego of gospel guitarist Castro Coleman. One of the hottest new names in the blues world, Mr. Sipp made his debut on Malaco Records in 2015.
Malaco Recording Artist, Castro Coleman a-k-a Mr. Sipp, was born August 25, 1976 to Johnelle and the late Vera Coleman in the small town of McComb, MS. He began playing the guitar at the tender age of 6. Through hard work and perseverance, Mr. Sipp has become a Delta Blues Force to be reckoned with! Being recognized for his amazing vocals, songwriting ability, musicianship, ability to produce records and entertain Fans with an upbeat, outlandish show all make Mr. Sipp “The Total Package.” Above all of that, Mr. Sipp is a God fearing family man. With over 125 recording credits to his name, Mr. Sipp has played on over 50 national recordings with several Grammy ® nominated projects. He is well traveled and ready to come to play for you and spread his great gift of music to the World.
Mr. Sipp is the 2014 International Blues Challenge Winner by way of The Vicksburg Blues Society as well as the 2014 Gibson Best Guitarist Award Winner. The same year Castro was given the Bobby Rush Entertainer of the Year Award by the Jus' Blues Foundation. In 2015, he won several Jackson Music Awards including International Male Blues Artist, Blues Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the year.
He was the BMA Best New Artist Album winner 2016 and The Spirit of Little Walter Award 2016. The same year, Castro was the first blues artist to have his handprint inducted into the Wall of Fame in Fredrikshavn Denmark. For the 25th Annual Living Blues Awards, he won the Best Blues Album of 2017 New Recordings award (Contemporary Blues) with "Knock a Hole In It," and in 2018 he won the National Blues Artist of The Year award at 44th Annual Jackson Music Awards.
In 2014, Mr. Sipp was cast in the James Brown movie, “Get on Up”, in 2016 he was casted as the young B.B. King on three episodes of the CMT series “Sun Records” and in 2021 he was casted as a blues singer and musician in the movie “Texas Red” performing one of his original songs from his new album “Sippnotized” with special arrangements for the movie.
Mr. Sipp’s favorite quote, “I’m living to love the life that I live, Music!!!!”
Mr. Sipp spent more than 25 years in the Gospel Music Business as a Recording Artist and a Producer! Since his BIG WIN at The International Blues Challenge in 2014 and the release of his debut Blues CD, “It’s My Guitar,” the music community has been a Buzz and welcomed him with open arms! He fills venues, theaters and festivals all over the world with his second Malaco multi award winning album “The Mississippi Blues Child” (2015). In 2017, with "Knock a Hole In It' he shares his music all over the planet from France to Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, and USA... and in April 2021 he “Sippnotized” the world in the middle of the pandemic.
2024 Grammy Award winner of the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album with the Count Basie Orchestra for the album Basie Swings The Blues.
Going into 2024, Mr Sipp is a force to be reckoned with and one of THE Top performers on the Blues and Roots scene. A must for Festivals
WAINWRIGHT IS A GRAMMY NOMINATED AWARD WINNING MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER IN THE WORLD'S
ROOTS MUSIC SCENE.
Though his career began over a decade ago with genuine rock n’ roll honky-tonk, Wainwright has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the roots music world. His insatiable interest in music discovery, sheer love for entertaining and curiosity have led him all around the world, and the resulting perspective is a reflection of his passion for entertaining and creating progressive roots music in an effort to move the art-form forward. Composer, producer, vocalist, and award wining entertainer and piano player; Victor Wainwright is a raucous high-octane, dynamic performer and crowd pleaser with soul to spare.
The name of Victor Wainwright's band - and the sleeve image of their albums - is also the most fitting of metaphors. In music folklore, the train might have associations with the freight-hopping bluesmen of yore, but with this restless boogie-woogie innovator stoking the furnace, Wainwright is a charging locomotive - surging forward, crashing through boundaries of genre, sweeping up fresh sounds and clattering headlong past the doubters.
As the man himself hollers in the ivory-pounding track, The Train: "If you wanna boogie get aboard the train/Get yourself a ticket or get out of the way..." At a sweet-spot in his career, where most established stars would rest on their laurels, Victor Wainwright & The Train instead rips up all that has gone before, pricking up ears in a sterile music industry and stretching the concept of roots in bold directions.
"I believe that for roots music to grow, and reach out to new audiences, we have to push it forward,” Wainwright explains. The result is original music that walks a tightrope between scholarly respect and anarchic irreverence. You'll hear Wainwright twist boogie-woogie tradition on barrelhouse thrillers driven by his visceral piano style. But you'll also hear him fearlessly explore the gamut of genre, from Latin flavors and New Orleans piano to near-psychedelia. It's a musical cocktail served up by Wainwright's inimitable gravel-flecked vocal.
On this white-knuckle ride, only The Train could keep the music on the tracks. "I ended up with a hit-squad of downright amazing musicians that shared my curiosity for all corners of the roots genre. We wanted to capture how we feel performing, right smack-dab on the records we make, and I believe we've done that. Now I just try to keep up."
In truth, Wainwright has always been an artist that sets the pace. Born into a musical family in Savannah, Georgia, the formative influence of his father's vocals and grandfather's rolling boogie-woogie piano compelled him into a life of music. By 2005, he'd announced his talent with solo debut, Piana' From Savannah, while his central role in Southern Hospitality and partnership with Stephen Dees in WildRoots has seen him ignite stages and stereos for over a decade.
Among his numerous accolades: Wainwright has won six total Blues Music Awards, charted #1 on the Top 10 in the U.S. Billboard and was Nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY.
"Looking back on your career is a tough thing to do," he says. "Challenges are many, and frequent, but when you get it together, it can also be extremely rewarding." A man of many talents, Wainwright is a composer, producer, vocalist, piano player and award-winning entertainer. A long-standing leader of the boogie-woogie pack, he could refer you to his BMA and long list of Blues Blast trophies, or a catalog that has repeatedly hijacked the Billboard Top 10. But rather than dine out on past glories, this questing artist would rather you joined him for the ride ahead. "Of course, I still play and write songs that are just about kicking ass and taking names," he laughs. "But if you listen, what I'm really saying is, we got to get on the train and move forward with our love of roots music, together.”
Dozens of volunteers will be needed and, of course, sponsors as well. Anyone interested in being a part of this great event to
keep the blues alive in Hot Springs should contact:
Mary Zunick at mzunick@hotsprings.org
or
Joe Powell at info@bigsteammusicfestival.com
