Nashville-native, dread-locked jazz-vocalist Sellick has performed and recorded with most of her heroes (including Joey DeFrancesco, Bela Fleck and Mark O' Connor), enjoyed stardom in her hometown and toured nationally and internationally. But perhaps her best quality is the organic sincerity she exudes from the stage, hooking an audience into the stories of the songs she sings.

Rounding out the duo, Annie's husband is as versatile a harmonica player as he is a guitarist. Pat Bergeson moved to Nashville upon Chet Atkins' request to join his band and has performed and recorded with a long list of chart toppers like Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Michael McDonald, not to mention tours with and cult favorites Lyle Lovett, Madeleine Peyroux. Together, Sellick and Bergeson cover much musical ground with jazz standards, soulful originals and cabaret classics.

The pair brings a high level of skill, confidence, ease and charm to each show gaining fans and followers wherever they perform. The music is jazz-based with acoustic guitars, harmonica and some percussion but draws upon many styles creating a show that grooves, soothes and tells stories.

In Chicago, a city overflowing with unrivaled blues talent, world-renowned Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials have been standing tall for almost 30 years. The band’s big sound, fueled by Lil’ Ed’s gloriously rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending, along with his rough-edged, soulful vocals, is as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor.”

Lil’ Ed Williams comes to the blues naturally. His uncle, Chicago slide guitar king and master songwriter J.B. Hutto, taught him how to feel, not just play the blues. Nine albums and thousands of performances later, Lil’ Ed is now universally hailed as a giant of the genre. Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials—bassist (and Ed’s half-brother) James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton—have remained together for nearly 30 years (an extraordinary feat for any group), the band fueling Ed’s songs with their rock-solid, road-tested, telepathic musicianship.

The Big Sound Of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials is the musically electrifying, emotionally intense and downright fun new album from the band Guitar Player calls “a snarling boogie-blues machine...they blow down the walls.” The CD features Lil’ Ed’s incendiary playing and playful, passionate singing, with the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cooking like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of authentic, deeply rooted Chicago blues. Williams wrote or co-wrote all but two of album’s 14 songs, the other gems written by Uncle J.B. The Chicago Reader says the band’s music “is a soundtrack for dancing and celebration infused with a sense of hard-won survival. Williams attacks his lyrics like he attacks his guitar: with bare-bones intensity that makes each word sound like a matter of life or death.”

Artist information and videos are available at www.alligator.com/artists/Lil-Ed-and-The-Blues-Imperials

Admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Students 18 and under are admitted for $5.

Tickets are available in advance at Art Beat of Hayward, 15845 W. 2nd Street (Cash or Check Only) or may be purchased ONLINE.