Best Blues Band/Performer
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37.08% Pop 'n' Fresh*
Others with Votes:
* On the Ballot
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Pop ‘N’ Fresh, the veteran blues and R&B band, is a family affair, and that’s where the pops and the fresh come in.
Ted Brown plays with his son, Travis Brown, and Jim Sells plays with his son, Travis Sells. After years of listening to their pops play the music, the sons
decided they’d like to join in, and by the late 80s the pops declared the next generation was ready to enter the local music scene. The band also includes Steve
Jugloff and a couple of saxophone players who sit in, Dick Gambrell and Paul LeClair. Mother Pamela Brown also is an important member, joining in on
autoharp. ("without me, there’d be no Fresh," she pointed out.) In its present form, Pop ‘N’ Fresh has been together about five years, and eight years total as a
band.
Ted Brown, on guitar and vocals, is as well known for his natty attire as for his musical talents. At the Best of 2000 Awards Show, Brown sported a black suit
and black bowler hat.
"Blues is something I’ve listened to all my life," Brown said. "I used to stay up late at night in Fort Wayne to hear WLAC-AM in Nashville after my brother
turned me on to it."
Brown even lived in Nashville for 10 years, playing "the chittlin’ circuit" with other blues musicians he admired and learned from, including Johnny Jones, who
played with Bobby Blue Bland and Jimi Hendrix.
Pop ‘N’ Fresh plays for the joy of the music, trying to book one or two shows a weekend in Fort Wayne’s burgeoning blues scene. You can catch them in the
various clubs that are blues-friendly, and at a weekly jam session at The Hot Spot Tavern on Fairfield Avenue in Fort Wayne.
As for Brown, when he’s not playing the blues, he’s imparting a different kind of knowledge, as a substitute teacher in Fort Wayne Community Schools.
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