An audience favorite at the 2005 Cityfolk Festival, the Jackie Payne-Steve Edmonson Band plays hard-rocking west coast blues and southern R&B like a great Stax single from the 1960s come to life—calling up the spirit of such greats as Otis Redding, Albert King, Solomon Burke, Little Milton Campbell and Percy Sledge. The pride of the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene, the award-winning band is fronted by ace guitarist Steve Edmonson and deep soul singer Jackie Payne, a 15-year veteran of the Johnny Otis Revue. Together since the mid-1990s, the Jackie Payne-Steve Edmondson Band has played the major blues festivals from San Francisco to Sweden and recorded a pair of highly acclaimed CDs, Partners in the Blues and Master of the Game, delivering what’s been called “blues, soul, and vintage R&B with a rare fusion of elegance, musical dexterity, and hot-blooded passion that’s become all too rare” (Living Blues).