The Ladies Shoes Blues Revue

Sue Palmer & Laura Jane +8 take on Gator

“The only time we’ll all be together is the actual gig.”

Sue Palmer, San Diego’s reigning Queen of Boogie Woogie, was in the middle of gushing about the all-female group she’s assembled for Gator by the Bay when she dropped that little tidbit.

(l to r) Deejah Maria, Missy Anderson, Sue Palmer and Laura Jane will front the 10-strong Ladies Shoes Blues Revue with their powerful voices at Gator by the Bay (Courtesy Laura Jane Willcock) — (l to r) Deejha Maria, Missy Anderson, Sue Palmer and Laura Jane will front the 10-strong Ladies Shoes Blues Revue with their powerful talent at Gator by the Bay (Courtesy Laura Jane Willcock)

With 10 musicians coming together, from both in and out of San Diego, it’s no wonder they’ve had to practice in sections in advance of the upcoming four-day festival. While they haven’t managed to rehearse as a group, they’ve all dedicated countless hours to bring The Ladies Shoes Blues Revue to life.

The idea for the show started when Peter Oliver, producer of Gator by the Bay, contacted Palmer about performing.

“[Oliver] asked me to do something different this year,” Palmer explained. “He wanted something big … with a horn section and several lead singers … so then we had to figure out who, and that was an interesting process.”

Bringing together members of Palmer’s own band, known as the Motel Swing Orchestra, along with other local and out-of-town talents, she ended up with a group she’s very enthusiastic about. The lead singers include Missy Andersen, Laura Jane (The Tighten Ups and ThunderLux), and Deejha Marie, who each bring with them bits of rock, soul, and R&B.

Local drummer Sharon Shufelt is also part of the 10-women line-up. (Courtesy Sue Palmer)

“The three singers have been practicing together with harmonies,” Palmer said. “And it’s sounding fabulous.”

San Diego locals April West (trombone) and Elizabeth Meeker (trumpet) are joined by award-winning multi-instrumentalist Deanna Bogart (saxophone) to comprise the horn section. Palmer enticed Oakland-based Carmen Getit (guitar) to join by having Oliver book her band Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums to play the festival. And local powerhouses Jodie Hill (bass) and Sharon Shufelt (drums) round out the rhythm section.

Palmer herself will serve as bandleader and pianist, and may have other tricks up her sleeve.

Once all these celebrated players were in place, the next step was to choose what songs to perform.

“It’s kind of a Mardi Gras/New Orleans-y kind of festival,” Palmer said. “So I try to slant my material to that side of my repertoire. We’re doing some songs I would normally do with my band and then I asked everybody to suggest songs.

“It’s all working and they all selected songs that we’re really excited about,” she said.

While Palmer is keeping the song choices under wraps, she explained that through the process she had to go out of her own wheelhouse and learn some new numbers. Since musicians have different ways of playing the same song, the ladies also had to get on the same page regarding how to play certain selections.

Oakland-based Carmen Getit (Courtesy Sue Palmer)

All the hard work and careful attention to detail should pay off as this ensemble of talents comes together for a truly special event.

“I’ve played [Gator by the Bay] at least 10 times … it’s got that spirit of New Orleans,” Palmer enthused. “I pretty much block off the whole weekend so that I can go to it too, not just when I’m playing.”

She plans to see what she considers “all the best bands” of rhythm and blues, country, swing, Cajun, zydeco and other genres all in one place.

“It really makes me proud of my city,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful way to start out our summer season.”

Of course, what Palmer is most passionate about is having The Ladies Shoes Blues Revue come together for the event.

“I’m really excited about this project because everyone is really talented and every time we have a rehearsal, it adds a new element,” she said. “I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.”

Gator by the Bay will be held Thursday through Sunday, May 8 – 12 at Spanish Landing, located on Harbor Drive across from the San Diego International Airport. Catch the Ladies Shoes Blues Review when they perform on Saturday, May 10 at 2:20 p.m. on the Mardi Gras Stage. For tickets and the full lineup, visit GatorByTheBay.com.

—Jen Van Tieghem is a San Diego native who covers all genres of music around town. Her bucket list includes playing tambourine on stage with any band that would have her, creating a local music festival called Jenerated Sound, and finding the perfect Moscow mule. Email her at [email protected].