Chris Beard grew up in a Rochester household where Buddy Guy and the late Matt “Guitar” Murphy came through the door because they knew his father. Joe Beard — who grew up on Beale Street in the 1950s and is now a Rochester Music Hall of Famer — gave his son the closest possible introduction to where the blues comes from: not from records, but from the people who made them. “When your father grew up on Beale Street and music was in your DNA,” Beard has said, “then blues is who you are.” On Friday, December 11, he brings that inheritance to Lovin’ Cup in Rochester.
About the Show
Beard was picking up a guitar by age six, playing alongside his father’s band and local R&B groups by 15, and eventually fronting his own group on the Northeast club circuit. His 1998 debut, Barwalkin’ on JSP Records, produced by Johnny Rawls and featuring Hammond B-3 organist Brian Charette, earned a W.C. Handy nomination for Best New Blues Artist. The nickname “Prince of the Blues” came with his 2001 release Born to Play the Blues. Subsequent albums, including Live Wire (2005, Northern Blues) and releases on his own Destin Records label, built a catalog that treats classic blues progressions as a foundation, blending in R&B and contemporary rock elements without losing the thread. He has carried the live show to blues festivals in New Hampshire and Canada in recent years, and remains a fixture on the Northeast club circuit.
His sixth album, Pass It On Down (Blue Heart Records, September 2023), brings the family thread full circle. Joe Beard appears on the record alongside collaborators Johnny Rawls, Mary Ellen Haden, and Kenny Neal. Beard has called it “undoubtedly my strongest recording to date.” As for performing it, he has described learning “one essential detail about the music he plays: play it live,” calling it “the core of pure blues.” The December 11 set runs 7:30 to 10:00 p.m.
Venue & Logistics
Lovin’ Cup Bistro and Brews is a bar-and-restaurant music venue at 300 Park Point Drive in Rochester, with a 250-person capacity. That scale keeps everyone inside the music; no section of the room is far from the stage. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The venue is in the Finger Lakes region, an easy drive from central and western New York.
Tickets
Advance tickets are $20; day-of tickets are $25. Buy tickets