American bluesman Guy Davis performs tonight at the Pumapungo Theater

Award-winning acoustic blues artist and actor Guy Davis performs tonight at 7:30 at the Pumapungo Theater. According to Davis, the Cuenca performance was added to his itinerary at the last minute following a series of shows in Quito.

Blues Artist Guy Davis

“I have friends in Cuenca who were able to make the arrangements,” Davis says. “My manager has visited the city twice, and fell in love with it, and suggested I come,” he added.

Matthew Hart will open the show as Davis’ special guest. Hart has played across the United States and South America, blending his original blues and country styles, playing with bands and performing solo.

Called the “Ambassador of the Blues” by a Guayaquil journalist during his first tour of Latin America in 2011, Davis has recorded over a dozen albums which have earned nominations for Best Blues Album, Best Blues Song, and Best Acoustic Blues Artist by the Blues Foundation. In addition to his musical career, he also won the Keeping the Blues Alive award as an actor for his portrayal of Robert Johnson in the Off-Broadway play, “Trick the Devil”.

Following the debut of his first album, Stomp Down Rider on the Red House Records label in 1995, Davis has played all over the world. On a 2014 tour, he performed for the queen of Denmark when she visited a children’s home in Greenland. He has appeared on the Conan O’Brien and David Letterman television shows and has given radio performances on Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, World Cafe, Woodsongs Radio Hour, and E-Town.

“I’m really happy to be back in Ecuador, where I meet some of the friendliest people in the world, and I am amazed at the love they showed me,” Guy says. “I was on a quasi-U.S. State Department financed tour, put together by our Ecuadorian friend, back in 2011. On that tour I even got to play two shows in the Galapagos Islands, the first ever sponsored there by the Ecuador Ministry of Culture. We didn’t get to play in Cuenca on the tour, but my manager convinced me I should do it on this visit.” he added.

In tonight’s concert, Davis will perform several songs from his latest album, Kokomo Kidd, as well as a number of his old favorites. He accompanies himself on on six- and twelve-string guitars, and harmonica. “I didn’t bring my banjo,” Davis says. “The airlines´excess baggage fee was so much I could almost buy a new one with the money!”

Hart, the show opener, is a Cuenca expat who has spent 25 years mixing blues, folk, hip-hop, jazz and soul. His music is an Amercana mix with literary lyrics that inspires lots of toe-tapping and hand-clapping.

Tonight’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Pumapungo Theater, Calle Larga y Avenida Huayna Capac. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the theater beginning at 6:30 p.m.