October 29 Issue
as part of the Sound Advice Blues Festival Review

Slick Ballinger, 8:30 p.m., Back Woods Acoustic Stage: Country-blues stomper Ballinger, 19, is as raw as an onion, his
impassioned growl somewhere between a wheedle and a wail. Maintaining an unshakable groove, he accompanies himself on acoustic or National steel guitars, furiously snapping strings and buzzing them with a slide. Although he has yet to
record an entire album, a five-song demo fairly combusts with promise.

Hailing from North Carolina, Ballinger fell under the thrall of the blues just a few years ago. Already he has performed with blues greats such as T-Model Ford, Pinetop Perkins, Algia Mae Hinton and Buttermilk Meeks. He also spent a summer with the late Mississippi fife master Otha Turner, absorbing musical and life lessons as the two tended Turner's farm by day and rocked the jukes by night. Ballinger also plays the festival's Blues Corner 12:30 p.m. Saturday and will perform a free show 8 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth. Call 561/585-2583.