Roy Book Binder
Roy Book Binder, brings his raggy, East Coast country blues and his thoroughly entertaining stories to the Mainstay in Rock Hall on Friday May 3 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Roy Book Binder has been on the road and playing country blues for audiences since the blues revival of the 60s, when he was a student of Rev. Gary Davis. With all of that traveling and performing, he’s had a lot of time to perfect his stage routine, deadpanning his way through a bunch of droll one-liners and telling stories about his mentor Davis and his discovery of older nearly forgotten blues artists like Pink Anderson. His reminiscences and stories link his songs together into a surprisingly cohesive set piece.
Although his official address may be in Florida, Book Binder practically lives on the road, driving his camper to gigs at coffeehouses, small clubs, performing arts centers and blues festivals across the country. A master fingerpicker who plays a vintage small-bodied Gibson, his sets are an eclectic mix of blues, country tunes, bluegrass, folk, and popular songs that originated on Tin Pan Alley.
Andrew Mullins in an online review said, “Book Binder’s guitar style is deceptively simple-sounding at first but has lots of fine, subtle picking with quick-moving riffs, chord partials, and embellishing bends, snapped strings and hammer-ons. It’s a great trick to be playing that much and sound so relaxed.”
An accomplished songwriter, several of his originals have been recorded by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane.
Book Binder has hosted the blues stage for the past 16 years at North Carolina’s prestigious Merlefest, has appeared numerous times at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, and at the Chicago Blues Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the King Biscuit Blues Festival. He has appeared on TNN’s “Nashville Now” more than 30 times and has toured nationally with Bonnie Raitt, JJ Cale and Hot Tuna.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.