CALUMET — The Calumet Theatre’s popular Musical Mondays Concert Series will be rockin’ on Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. as we welcome Blues sensation Shawn Pittman and his band.

Shawn Pittman is Texas-style Blues at its finest. Pittman has toured with Susan Tedeschi, and performed and recorded with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section, Double Trouble. This stellar guitarist, singer/ songwriter’s sound recalls the vintage tones and ambiance of the great blues recordings of the 1950s, ’60s, and more. Don’t miss Pittman’s return to the U.P. after burning up the stage at 2019’s Marquette Area Blues Fest!

The Calumet Theatre is currently operating under the State of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Phase 5 reopening requirements which allows “performance spaces” to reopen (as of June 10), but “Limits the number of people in the venue to 25% of its maximum capacity or to 250, whichever is smaller.” In accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-147, masks/face coverings are required for entrance into the Theatre and attendance at performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDty2Ys9dNo

https://shawnpittman.com/

Due to current events, performances and dates in the Calumet Theatre 2020 Performing Arts Season schedule are subject to change.

Tickets are $22. General seating. Historic Preservation Fee included in ticket price. Member discounts available. Tickets may be purchased by stopping by or calling the box office at 906-337-2610, Monday through Friday, Noon to 5 p.m., or online 24/7 at calumetheatre.com. For more info & updated Season Schedule go to calumettheatre.com

Shawn Pittman: Some Background

Although he’s often closely associated with the Lone Star State since originally taking up residence in Dallas in the early ’90s, vocalist/guitarist Shawn Pittman is actually an Oklahoma native. Pittman was born in the small town of Talihina and raised in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. At age eight he began taking piano lessons under the encouragement of his mother, but later began sneaking into his older brother’s room to play his drum kit. By age 14 he had switched to guitar and was soon introduced to the mysterious sounds of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters by Bracken Hale, a good friend and member of his middle school football team. Their friendship would prove significant as Hale would later collaborate with Pittman on writing material for several of his albums. A friend he met while playing basketball at the local ‘Y’; Ben Bigby, introduced teenage Pittman to his father Bernard in Little Axe, Oklahoma. Pittman recalls: “Bernard showed me Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, and Albert King. He also told me I need to learn to sing. I took his advice.”

After seven years in Dallas (1993-1999) and 14 years in Austin (2000-2013), Pittman moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma where he now resides closer to family. He also took time off to earn a degree in Information Technology. Pittman released his 11th album “Backslidin Again” in 2015. In January, 2018 Shawn recorded his 12th album “Everybody Wants to Know” with longtime friend and drummer Jay Moeller. The album was released on the European label CrossCut Records in the fall of 2018. Fast-forward two years to Spring, 2020: Pittman returns with “Make It Right,” in partnership with Netherlands-based Continental Record Services (CRS). As he looks past and forward, he shares, “I have had many obstacles on my road just like anybody that has embarked on this lifestyle, some self-inflicted, but through my failures I have learned invaluable lessons about life and people, and my strengths as well as my weaknesses. As an artist I feel like I am just beginning. The one constant I have had is the desire to be great at what I do. The late Clifford Antone told me “It’s all about making friends.” I combine that piece of advice with something B.B. King told me when I asked him his secret for longevity: “Treat people how you want to be treated, and remember everybody has a Boss.”