Dublin Community Center will present “Dublin Does Da Blues” with Jon Shain and Bill Newton Thursday, Aug. 17, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the garden sanctuary behind Dublin Community Church, 1125 Main St., or inside the church in case of rain.
Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who learned directly from a number of North Carolina’s older blues players, and became a member of Big Boy Henry’s backing band. He is the 2019 winner of the International Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category. In addition, Shain was a finalist (along with FJVentre) in the 2009 International Blues Challenge, and won both the 2008 and 2018 Triangle Blues Society’s Blues Challenge and was the 2006 winner of NC’s Indy award for Best Folk Act.
Shain’s most-recent solo disc, “Gettin’ Handy with the Blues: A Tribute to the Legacy of WC Handy,” was released in January 2018. His newest album, “Never Found A Way to Tame the Blues,” recorded along with longtime collaborator Ventre, was released in 2021.
Bill Newton, who plays saxophone and harmonica, is a founding member of three Triangle musical institutions: Rebecca and the Hi-Tones, Bill Newton’s Big Blues Quartet and the Duke Street Dogs. He has recorded with the Indigo Girls and Big Mama E and the Cool, among others, and toured extensively with Shain.
The concert is free.