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Steve Arvey
 
Local singer/songwriter and bluesman, Arvey got his start when he was 17 busking on Maxwell St. In the 70's, he moved to Florida and played bass for Bo Diddley. Eventually moving back to Chicago (what bluesman doesn't?), Arvey played bass, guitar and drums with most of the local legends including: Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Carey Bell, Eddie Clearwater, Sugar Blue, Junior Wells and many others.

During the 80's, he led his own band, West Side Heat, and toured most of planet Earth with them. That band broke up in '91 and since then Arvey has spent some time on the Harp Lager tour playing Irish folk music and getting back to his blues roots.

He released an album in '97 with long time local blues/folk singer Kraig Kenning. Arvey and Kenning have played together informally for several years, including a number of legendary 10 to 12 hour sessions at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. The album, Pass the Hat Acoustic Blues is a fantastic collection of covers of blues classics as well as a number of original tunes. As the title suggests, the album is mostly delta style acoustic blues, though there are a number of more Chicago-style electric numbers. All in all it is a fantastic piece of work from two local blues stalwarts.

Most recently, he has performed at the Chicago Blues Fest 'Best Buy Stage' now from 1999-2005, 7 years in a row. His latest CD "Freerange" was released in 2005. Arvey travels extensivly to Australia, Ireland, England and Scotland

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