The Mike Eldred Trio Wishes sometimes do come true. Just ask local bluesman Mike Eldred, who was hoping his trio would get an invite to participate in this year's Blues Blast and wound up getting exactly that after PBS president Jim Crawford saw him perform last year.
Eldred was invited on the spot, which thrilled the musician to no end. "Man, I wanted to play at Blues Blast," he says. "I moved to Chandler eight years ago. I'm excited so people can hear my type of blues."
The trio performs alternative blues and use resonators along with slide and acoustic guitars to come up with a harder sound. According to Eldred, it's a way to reach out to younger blues fans. "We wanted to go for a younger crowd and have them question the music so they look back to the originals," he says.
And the trio did some of that themselves in 2012, when they released Elvis Unleaded a 20-song album that reworks the King of Rock 'n' Roll's hits into bluesier and boozier versions. Expect to hear a few of these when Eldred and company take the stage on Saturday.
