WHAT: Blues Roulette present the MGS Jam
WHEN: Sunday March 5 at 2.20pm
WHERE: Whammy Bar Level 2
Musician, promoter and booking agent Ben Wicks has spent the last 15 years forging his place in Australian blues. In 2015 Ben created ‘Blues Roulette’.
While based in the long standing traditions of blues jams, ‘Blues Roulette’ puts a unique spin on those traditions by placing Australia’s best known blues artists on the spot in front of the Roulette rhythm section to create a one time only performance based in the moment.
With humble beginnings at Melbourne venue ‘The Catfish’, the popularity of Blues Roulette and the nature of those ‘one night only’ performances have resulted in appearances at festivals and venues across the country, special themed events, national tours and CD recordings.
As an artist, primarily on Bass Guitar, Ben has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Dan Sultan, Lloyd Spiegel, Jeff Lang and Irish Mythen.
Through Roulette, Ben has become a sought after promoter and agent. His credits include tours for Geoff Achison, the Kings and Queens East Coast tour and The Three Gringos among others.
Expanding on his industry skills, he is currently producing albums for Australian blues artists and facilitating their branding and merchandise concepts. Throughout much of Blues Roulette’s journey, Ben’s partner in rhythm has been Melbourne blues drum stalwart Johnny Tesoriero.
Ben and Johnny played the last Melbourne Guitar Show in 2019 as US guitarist Dennis Jones’ backing band.