Country blues, jug band music, swing, hokum, hillbilly ragtime and great originals: traditional music masters Eric & Suzy Thompson and Del Rey & Steve James deliver all this and much much more in an evening brimming with masterful moments on resonator and wooden guitar, red-hot blues mandolin duets, funky fiddling, powerful vocals and humorous repartee. Irresistible? You bet!

Two of the Bay Area's most versatile musicians, Eric & Suzy Thompson plumb the depths of classic and country blues, as well as French blues from Cajun country and Suzy's terrific hillbilly ragtime fiddle pieces. Stop & Listen, Suzy's most recent release on Arhoolie Records, features her powerhouse blues vocals and fiery fiddling, along with Eric's acoustic picking, which is famed for its purity of tone and soulfulness. Del Rey is also prominently featured on the CD, and Suzy appears on many of Del's albums as well.

Seattle-based Del Rey's virtuosic resonator parlor guitar playing embraces a host of old-time genres, including country blues, stride piano, classic jazz and hillbilly boogie. A first-rate blues musician and vocalist, she delivers complex guitar grooves, witty, literate lyrics and plenty of sly humor. Del's duet partner, Steve James, a songsmith and bottleneck guitarist from Austin, is a powerful exponent of American vernacular guitar-playing. For a number of years he and Del have been joining forces to make music exemplifying what they call "the hillbilly/smarty-pants/country blues aesthetic."