Ralph's got the Cross Creek blues | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

One of the country's top blues singers and guitarists Ralph (Blues) Bennett-Eades is to take centre stage at the Cross Creek Blues Club on September 1.

Bennett-Eades, who lives in Motueka, is touring the North Island with his band the Honey Badgers, which includes other big-name blues musicians Murray (House Truck) Wakeman on drums and Henry (Honey Badger) Te Tua on lead guitar.

Bennett-Eades is a singer and slide guitarist and has been playing the blues "ever since the world began," or more precisely since 1978 when he put together his first band, Fat'n' Sassy when living in Palmerston North.

Bennett-Eades later joined the House Truckers Road Band on summer tours, travelling with gipsy fairs, and recorded Just Another Bend in the Road.

His versatility was further demonstrated when he began performing solo and wrote songs for children in Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel as the QEII Arts Council's artist-in-residence.

Bennett-Eades has been master of ceremonies at many festivals, including Mountain Rock and Sweetwaters.

Since marrying and settling in Motueka he has put together a CD of South Island road songs.

Cross Creek Blues Club nights at the Tin Hut in Tauherenikau are gaining a reputation as the place to be on the Wellington region's music scene. Club members pay $2 at the door and visitors pay $5.