Backtrack Blues Band

Backtrack Blues Band plays the New Tampa Performing Arts Center on Saturday, November 14, from 8 PM to 10 PM. They're a five-piece from the Tampa Bay region, and they've been playing original music since 1980, making them Florida's longest-running blues act. The set is electric blues in the Chicago tradition, led by guitarist Kid Royal and harmonica player Sonny Charles.

On stage with them are rhythm guitarist Little Johnny Walter, drummer Joe Bencomo, and bassist Steve Vitale. The band has toured festivals and theaters around the world, from the Tampa Bay Blues Festival to the Notodden International Blues Festival in Norway, and they've shared stages with B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Gregg Allman, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, and John Lee Hooker. They've released eight albums of original music, won a national songwriting contest for best blues song, and taken home three Tampa Bay Music Awards for Best Blues Band. Downbeat magazine once named one of those records the best blues album of the year.

One detail worth knowing: an independent producer rented the theater for the show, so it's not produced by the New Tampa Performing Arts Center itself. The concert runs from 8 PM to 10 PM on Saturday, November 14, at 8550 Hunters Village Road in Tampa.