DELTA WIRES

      

The DELTA WIRES is a big, high-energy harmonica and horns blues band from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area. They were Finalists out of 100 band representatives from blues societies all over the world, in the Blues Foundation's 2008 International Blues Challenge held in Memphis TN, and were voted "BEST BAND" Oakland/East Bay in Oakland Magazine's annual readers' poll, and also by the East Bay Express. The DELTA WIRES were inducted into the California Blues Hall of Fame in December, 2012.

The DELTA WIRES have recorded 6 CDs, with their latest "Anthology", debuting in the top 25 of the Living Blues National Radio Airplay survey in 2013. They have appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Russian River Blues Festival, the Monterey Bay Blues Festival 8 times, headlined the Shasta Blues Society’s Redding Blues by the River Festival, have played Crescent City Blues Festival, Central Valley Blues Festival, Oakland Blues and Heritage Festival, Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee, and many others.

The DELTA WIRES have toured or played with many noted artists including Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, The Neville Bros, Dr. John, The Doobie Brothers, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Boz Scaggs, Bad Company, The James Gang, Elvin Bishop, and numerous others…

                 

                

                Delta Wires - Booking: anthony@deltawires.com

Delta Wires - Band Bio

A living history of the San Francisco West Coast blues, Oakland's own for more than 30 years, The DELTA WIRES is a high-energy harmonica and horns 7-piece band dedicated to modern blues while paying tribute to the blues origins of the Mississippi Delta. Brainchild of band leader, vocalist, and harmonica player Ernie Pinata, were voted best band by the East Bay Express and Oakland Magazine, and were inducted into the California Blues Hall of Fame. They have performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival, Russian River Blues Festival, and the Monterey Bay Blues Festival, among others, and were International Blues Challenge Finalists in Memphis, Tennessee. The Delta Wires have toured or played with many noted artists including Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy. In 2017 the band is releasing its seventh album "Born in Oakland" and has been invited to perform for ten days at the prestigious Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy.

DELTA WIRES

Ernie Pinata - Bandleader, Lead Vocals, Harmonica

Tom Gerrits - Bass Guitar, Vocals

Richard Healy - Guitar

Tony Huszar - Drums

Gerry Jonutz - Saxophone

John Christensen - Trumpet

David Bowman - Trombone

The DELTA WIRES is a big, high-energy harmonica and horns blues band from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area.  They were Finalists out of 100 band representatives from blues societies all over the world, in the Blues Foundation’s 2008 International Blues Challenge held in Memphis TN, and were voted “BEST BAND” Oakland/East Bay in Oakland Magazine’s annual readers’ poll, and also by the East Bay Express.  The DELTA WIRES were inducted into the California Blues Hall of Fame in December, 2012.

The DELTA WIRES have recorded 7 Albums, with their latest “Born in Oakland”, receiving rave reviews and national and international airplay. They have appeared at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia Italy, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Russian River Blues Festival, the Monterey Bay Blues Festival 8 times, headlined the Shasta Blues Society’s Redding Blues by the River Festival, have played Crescent City Blues Festival, Central Valley Blues Festival, Oakland Blues and Heritage Festival, Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee, and many others.

The DELTA WIRES have toured or played with many noted artists including Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, The Neville Bros, Dr. John, The Doobie Brothers, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Boz Scaggs, Bad Company, The James Gang, Elvin Bishop, and numerous others…

(for a more comprehensive list of where DELTA WIRES has appeared and with whom, click here)

The DELTA WIRES name was derived from the image of a band with modern, “electric” instrumentation, playing a style of music born in the Mississippi “Delta”. What began as a college project and anthology of blues music from the Mississippi Delta to the South Side of Chicago, inevitably evolved into a band which has become known for its originality, versatility, and crisp, tight, exciting sound.