Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters to bring the blues

NEWTON — Legendary Blues guitarist Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters will perform at the Newton Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 11.

One of the finest blues guitarists to emerge during the '80s, Ronnie Earl often straddled the line between blues and jazz, with touches of soul and rock. The Broadcasters are an exceptional contemporary blues band.

Ronnie Earl is a two-time W.C. Handy Blues Award winner as Guitar Player of the Year. He has served as an Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music, and has taught at the National Guitar summer workshop in Connecticut.

After picking up his first guitar at age 20, he learned the craft quickly and went on to stretch the boundaries of electric blues guitar, lifting hearts and souls a little higher as he did. He would eventually emerge into the New England blues scene as a budding young guitarist. He took a serious musical turn toward the blues after attending a Muddy Waters concert at the Jazz Workshop in Boston.

In 1995 Ronnie released Ronnie Earl: Blues Guitar with Soul, an instructional VHS tape that was then rereleased in DVD format in 2005. Earl’s discography includes albums on Stony Plain Records, Black Top, Bullseye Blues, Verve, and Telarc. His 1996 Bullseye Blues release, "Grateful Heart: Blues and Ballads," won Downbeat Magazine’s Blues Album of the Year, and in 2004 Earl’s "Hey Jose" won the Best Blues/R&B Song at the 3rd Annual Independent Music Awards. In 2008, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters celebrated 20 years as a band. In August 2010, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters released their album Spread the Love to wide critical acclaim. Their most current album, Just for Today, was released in 2013.

Ronnie Earl has played alongside such legends as Hubert Sumlin, Earl King, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band and many others.

Tickets for Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters are $34 for premium seating, $29 for orchestra and $24 for balcony. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the box office at 973-383-3700.

The historic Newton Theatre, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton.