A Weekend with Rick Estrin and the Nightcats!

Sounds like fun, right? And it will be as multiple Blues Music Award winners (nominated for no less than 6 in 2025!!) take the stage at the ballroom of the Chateau Lacombe in downtown Edmonton October 17 and 18.

Rick Estrin was born in San Francisco, California in 1949, and grew up fiercely independent.. As a 10-year-old boy, he made his way to the tough Market Street area and befriended many of the neighborhood characters. When he was 12, his older sister gave him a copy of Ray Charles’ The Genius Sings The Blues, and he became infatuated with the music. Albums from Jimmy Reed, Champion Jack Dupree, Mose Allison, Nina Simone and others soon followed. By the time he was a teenager, Estrin had immersed himself in the urban, African-American culture surrounding him. He got his first harmonica at age 15, and by age 18 was proficient enough to begin sitting in at black clubs around the city. He first jammed with blues master Lowell Fulson and immediately was hired to open five shows for R&B giant Z.Z. Hill.

At 19, Estrin relocated to Chicago and worked with some of the city’s best bluesmen. He met and jammed with the legendary Muddy Waters, who told Rick, “You outta sight, boy! You got that sound! You play like a man!” Muddy wanted Estrin to go on the road with him, but Estrin missed Muddy’s phone call and it never happened. Estrin eventually moved back to the Bay Area, met guitarist Charlie Baty and formed Little Charlie & The Nightcats. With Charlie’s retirement from touring in 2008, Rick brought in guitar virtuoso Kid Andersen and formed Rick Estrin & The Nightcats.

An incredible party band that always fills the dance floor Rick Estrin and the Nightcats are no strangers to Edmonton Blues Festival audiences, having played the very first festival in 1999 and making many return trips including opening the 2023 event.

Joining Rick and the boys a pair of opening acts that are also Edmonton area favourites.