Musicians in town keep a busy schedule, but the title of hardest-working performer might go to bluesman Chet Cannon. A gifted singer and harmonica player with a keen sense of humor, Cannon performs both with his band, The Committee, and plays host to blues jam sessions. On stage more often than not, the next week sees him playing seven gigs at six San Diego venues, including three in the area; May 5 at the Point Loma Sports Grill (7:30 p.m.), May 9 at Humphrey\u2019s Backstage Lounge (7 p.m.) and May 10 at The Harp (7 p.m.). Raised in New England, Cannon came to San Diego in the late 1970s, drawn by “the usual things: the sun, the beach and the great weather.” “It\u2019s beautiful here,” he said. Though best known as a frontman, Cannon started out as a drummer, inspired by his father, a musician in a local country band. The reason for his switch was pragmatic. “The one instrument I\u2019ve been able to afford and carry with me is my voice,” he said. “I\u2019ve always wanted to be a singer, ever since I was a little kid and my grandma would make me go to church and sing. For years, I would say, \u2018One of these days, I\u2019m going to start a band. One of these days, I\u2019m going to sing the blues.\u2019” Now, Cannon is the host of several jam sessions around town, it was his introduction to a blues jam in Lemon Grove that gave him confidence to pursue music as a full-time endeavor. “I had a good time,” he said. “Everybody enjoyed it, and after that there was no looking back.” It was a meeting with legendary bluesman Muddy Waters that set Cannon on the path he\u2019s been following. “I\u2019d been in a couple of bands,” Cannon recalled. “I mostly sang along to the radio and in church when I was a kid. It wasn\u2019t until my later years that I decided to do this.” Their meeting at the now-defunct Bacchanal nightclub in Clairemont was brief, sharing a bottle of champagne over 40 minutes of conversation \u2014 but its effect was “inspirational.” Today, Cannon\u2019s regular set includes Water\u2019s tune “Evil,” as well as other classics like “Messin\u2019 with the Kid” by Junior Wells and “Who\u2019s Been Talking” by Howlin\u2019 Wolf and originals. Cannon said there isn\u2019t any particular tune that can bring the house down. “It depends on the show, as each tune takes on a life of its own,” he said. “We play all of our songs like they\u2019re showstoppers.” Now a seasoned veteran of the local blues community, Cannon has released two albums to date, with production on a third, “Chet Cannon\u2019s Blues Party,” under way. The majority of his time is spent overseeing several jam sessions, nurturing the local music scene. “It can be frustrating, but it also can be very enlightening,” Cannon said. “I\u2019ve met some very talented friends through jams and am constantly inspired by them.” He said he keeps the basics for these events simple. “My concept of a jam is an opportunity for live people to play live music with other live people,” he said. “Live music is an animal of its own, not like playing to a favorite CD. We just never really know what\u2019s going to happen next.” He said the area\u2019s blues scene is healthy \u2014 up to a point. “There are lots of talented musicians and great bands, but there are limited resources for them to perform, both clubs and audiences,” Cannon said. After three decades of making music in San Diego, Cannon said he looks forward to his time on stage, though not just for musical reasons. “I can\u2019t afford a therapist, so this is a way I get to work out a lot of my angst,” he said. Chet Cannon performs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 5 at Point Loma Sports Grill, at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 9 at Humphrey\u2019s Backstage Lounge and at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10 at The Harp, www.chetcannonblues.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Musicians in town keep a busy schedule, but the title of hardest-working performer might go to bluesman Chet Cannon. A gifted singer and harmonica player with a keen sense of humor, Cannon performs both with his band, The Committee, and plays host to blues jam sessions. On stage more often than not, the next week […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":280255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Cannon organizes gifted \u2018Committee\u2019 at area\u2019s venues","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}