THE CHRIS BERGSON BAND WITH ELLIS HOOKS

It's BB King meets Steve Cropper meets Wilson Pickett meets Otis Redding...Chris Bergson and Ellis Hooks are a modern day Sam and Dave. This is as BADASS as soul-blues music can get!

CHRIS BERGSON
Chris Bergson is an internationally acclaimed American born guitarist, singer, and songwriter. “Chris Bergson plays the kind of guitar you can build a house on – it’s B.B. meets Steve Cropper meets John Scofield.” (ROLL Magazine) Hailed as “the New York street poet with a blues soul” (MOJO) and “one of the most inventive songwriters in modern blues music,” (All Music Guide) Bergson is best known as the leader of the Chris Bergson Band. Elmore Magazine calls the Chris Bergson Band “one of the most talented bands playing today,” whose soulful blend of American Roots music encompasses “blazing rock to funk to soul to Delta blues and all that’s in between.” Bergson is also an accomplished sideman who has performed with luminaries across a wide range of genres including Norah Jones, Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Bernard Purdie, The Blues Project, Al Foster and Annie Ross. The Chris Bergson Band’s 2007 album Fall Changes, recorded at Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock, New York, was named MOJO Magazine’s Number One Blues Album of the Year in 2008. Bergson was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Blues Artist in 2015.

ELLIS HOOKS
Ellis Hooks is an American soul blues and electric blues singer and songwriter, who has released eight albums to date. The AllMusic journalist, Thom Jurek, noted that Hooks " touches upon Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding, but feels like one of the gritty New York streets Hooks has busked upon. Chris Bergson heard and met singer Ellis Hooks for the first time when the two artists shared a bill at Joe’s Pub. Jim Hynes of Glide Magazine has noted that “Bergson and Hooks have become a modern-day blues-infused Sam and Dave.” “Laid Up (With My Bad Leg in Lenox),” another funky number co-written by Bergson and Hooks with the horns arranged by Jay Collins and Dave Keyes featured on piano, “makes you feel like you’re at one of Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles up in Woodstock,” Ross said. (Both Bergson and Collins played in Helm’s band for a time.) Summer 2024 saw Bergson and Hooks performing at France’s celebrated Cognac Blues Passions Festival.

THE BAND
Joining these two monumental performers is a veritable ALL-STAR band featuring Bruce Bears on Hammond organ and piano, Jesse Williams on bass and Mark Texeira on drums...yep, that,s Jimmy Vivino's backing band when he plays The Fallout Shelter and bands don't get any better!

The Fallout Shelter is an all ages performance venue welcoming worldwide, world class music in an intimate setting. Our studio audience attends to watch the creation and production of the music television series The Extended Play Sessions. The Fallout Shelter events are immersive experiences for both audience and performers alike...a live music experience like no other. We are fully ADA compliant and have wheelchair access. We have a wide selection of beer and wine for your adult beverage pleasures and each show comes with a free commemorative event poster. Our doors open at 6PM. Seating is General Admission. We recommend you arrive at the time the doors open.