While the festival itself will once again take place at its usual venue of the Pavilion in Laxey Glen Gardens – on Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2 – the launch event is in Peel on Saturday, March 13 and will feature the Boyd Small Band with support from local blues musicians the Big Wheel Blues Band.

Tickets for the launch, priced £10, go on sale today (Friday) via the Centenary Centre website and will also be available from Thompson Travel, Port Erin, Celtic Gold, Peel, Peter Norris Music and Mostly Manx, Douglas and Shakti Man, Ramsey.

The Boyd Small Band are flying over from Holland to play at the gig which starts at 8pm.

Musical phenomenon Boyd Small was a local hero in the Portland area as singer/drummer of the Terraplanes for 11 years. His musical expertise earned him a Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame induction in 1993 after winning the award for best drummer three years in a row. His presence is still felt in the Portland music scene through the musicians he influenced both as an instrumentalist and as a songwriter.
Boyd Small's international performance credits while living in the USA included tours with Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Jimmy Rogers, Hubert Sumlin, Guitar Shorty and Pinetop Perkins.

Since relocating to Europe, besides fronting several successful projects under his own name, Boyd has toured with Black and Tan recording artists Byther Smith, Big George Jackson and Billy Jones as a consummate side-man.

As an active member of Europe's roots music scene, Boyd co-founded the Amsterdam-based alternative roots and modern blues label Cool Buzz.
During his tenure there, he co-produced several CDs for American and Dutch artists including Monti Amundson, Jim Wallace, Drippin' Honey and The Cuban Heels.

The headline acts for the Big Wheel Blues Festival itself are Larry Garner with the Norman Beaker Band, who will play on May 1, and Ana Popovic, who will perform on May 2.

More artists will be announced next week and festival tickets go on sale from Thursday, January 28.

The festival's new partner sponsor is Peter Norris Music and the event also receives support from Cains, the Isle of Man Arts Council and Visit Isle of Man.

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