Big Hank has his “Ho Ho working” and the highly regarded,
veteran bluesman and bandleader is certain “it’s going to work
on you.”
Big Hank has been touring his Blues Christmas show for a
number of years now and this unique, variety filled program of
blues-basted Yuletide tunes is one that has left audiences
drenched in the Christmas spirit and coming back for more
when the next holiday season rolls around.
Touring from Vancouver Island to the snowbound prairies of
Alberta, this Christmas show has consistently tied together a
variety of classic blues styles, some r&b and a touch of
soul. Blues Songs of Christmas is a show where every song
puts a different spin on the season and everything that goes
with “the most wonderful time of the year.”
He’s armed with a muscular voice, one that can be as warm as
the hearth surrounding a well-stoked winter fire, and one that
can alternately rattle the rafters and shake the snow off a 30
foot Christmas tree.

This refreshing take on holiday concerts finds the singer and his
talented, veteran band rolling through music that includes tunes
going back a century to Christmas blues tunes that have been
favourites of the boomer generation that grew up listening to
B.B. King and Eric Clapton.
Tunes from the books of Big Joe Turner, Charles Brown, Etta
James and Louis Jordan also find their way into the festive mix
that has received rave reviews.

It’s been quite the road for Big Hank originally from Stettler
Alberta who cut his teeth on the Edmonton bar and cabaret
circuit early on in his career. He immersed himself in the blues
with two of the best blues bands to have come out of Western
Canada in the seventies and eighties, those being the
Edmonton-based Hot Cottage and Victoria’s Uncle Wiggly’s Hot
Shoes Blues Band. The latter group signed with RCA, sold an
impressive number of albums and opened for the greats like
Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield and
Koko Taylor.
His love of blues has also been the foundation of acts like The
Toasters, A Fistful of Blues and The Kingpins that were also
regional favourites.
"The Big Hank Christmas Blues show has been one of the most
unique seasonal roots music shows on the road,
and it gets more impressive with each passing year. It's a hot
show for the coolest season, and most wonderful time of the
year."
Peter North
Roots Music Journalist

The Band are:
Big Hank Lionhart - Vocals / Steve Cross - Guitar / Mick
Woodhouse - Bass / Matt Pease - Drums / Steve Ranta - Keys /
Paul Wainwright - Sax / Jerry Cook Sax

Some of the previous concert halls and venues over the
years:
Mary Winspear Charlie White Theatre - Victoria BC
Festival Place - Sherwood Park AB
The Old Bailey Theatre - Camrose AB
The King Eddy - Calgary AB

The Ironwood - Calgary AB
Performing Arts Centre - Stettler AB
Dream Cafe - Penticton BC
First United Church - Salmon Arm BC
Heritage Theatre - Gibsons BC
Horizon Stage - Spruce Grove AB
Vernon Jazz Club - Vernon BC
Hermann’s Jazz Club - Victoria BC
Alex Goolden Performance Hall - Victoria BC
Sid Williams Theatre - Courtney BC
Blue Frog Studios - White Rock BC
Some of the songs on the set list:
Lonesome Christmas Blues - Blind Blake
Cryin Christmas Tears - Eric Clapton
Please Come Home for Christmas - Charles Brown
Blue Decorations - BB King
I Told Santa - Fats Domino
Good Mornin Blues - Room Fun of Blues
Christmas Date Boogie - Big Joe Turner
Santa Claus Santa Claus - Louis Jordan
Christmas Comes But Once a Year - Amos Milburn
Everyday will be like a Holiday - William Bell
Please Let me be your Santa Claus - William Clarke
Merry Christmas Baby - Etta James
Plus a number of original songs

Video Links
She’s a Keeper Blue Frog 2021 the Kingpins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTx0mzWLGGI
Christmas Comes But Once a Year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sly1602mVDM
Santa Claus Santa Claus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWu9GzWWRcI

Christmas in Jail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNnRkJOElk
I Told Santa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF7tyy2qv18