Slick Ballinger To Perform At South By Southwest

"Slick isn't just a player, that young man is an entertainer keeping the blues moving forward while respecting the past."—BB King

Oh Boy Records has just announced that 21-year-old blues prodigy Slick Ballinger will be performing two shows at the South By Southwest Music Conference next month in Austin, Texas. On Thursday, March 16, Ballinger will be showcasing his old-school Delta Blues chops with an in-store at Waterloo Records, 600 A North Lamar, at 4 p.m., and on Friday, March 17 he will be performing at the BMI Brunch on the lawn of the Four Seasons Hotel at 1:30 p.m.

Ballinger recently signed with Nashville-based Oh Boy Records, home to legendary singer/songwriter John Prine. Ballinger’s Oh Boy debut, Mississippi Soul, is being released on March 14 and was produced by Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Thorogood, Steve Miller Band, Journey, John Lee Hooker), who was able to capture the raw energy of Ballinger’s live sound.

Before he turned eighteen, Ballinger was honored to share the stage with the likes of Othar Turner and Pinetop Perkins, and more recently with the legendary BB King. During the summer of 2002, a 94 year-old Turner took the young Ballinger under his wing and taught him how to live and breathe the blues, in a house with no electricity or running water. The young Ballinger could never have imagined a better education, though he is truly humble and does not see himself as a prodigy. “Everybody does something well,” he says. “For me, it’s playing the blues. I can make the people of Mississippi jump up and shout, and they know something about the blues.”

Ballinger also won the Albert King Award in 2004 for “Most Promising Guitarist” at the 2004 International Blues Challenge.