Anthony Gomes plays Bridge Street Live Nov. 17

COLLINSVILLE — Anthony Gomes, a #1 Billboard Blues Artist, is bringing his high energy blues rock show to Bridge Street Live in Collinsville, Connecticut on Friday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.

Gomes has been creating virtuosic, burning blues since his recorded debut in 1998. 12 releases and numerous awards and ecstatic accolades later, his latest album, Electric Field Holler, crackles with bare wire passion. The aptly-named, riff-laden Electric Field Holler has received highly acclaimed recognition; reaching #1 on both Roots Music Report's Blues Rock Chart and ReverbNation’s Global Blues Chart as well as earning several nominations for Blues Rock Album of the Year.

Gomes, joined by bassist Carlton Armstrong and drummer Freddy Spencer Jr., will showcase songs from his latest release as well as performing fan favorites from past albums. Gomes sings and plays with integrity and deeply felt emotion oblivious to fortune and fashion. The resulting music is a blazing cathartic experience radiating therapeutic heat for body and soul.

Believing that music can inspire the human spirit, Gomes founded the Music Is the Medicine Foundation in 2010. This non-profit organization is dedicated to changing the lives of others through the healing power of music. Through private donations and winning sizable grants from State Farm Insurance and CVS Pharmacy, the foundation has funded songwriting scholarships, offered music education programs, and donated musical instruments to those in need.

Born in Toronto, Canada to a Portuguese father and a French-Canadian mother, Gomes began playing guitar in his early teens and was drawn to the blues sounds of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. He relocated to Chicago in the late '90s to learn from the blues masters. During his brief stint as a sideman for Magic Slim and the Teardrops, Gomes put together his own group and won the first annual Buddy Guy’s Legends “Best Unsigned Blues Band” competition in 1998. Later that year, Gomes released his debut CD, Blues in Technicolor, which introduced him as a guitar-slinger loaded with impressive firepower.

For tickets and information on the Nov. 17 show at Bridge Street Live, call 860-693-9762 or go to 41bridgestreet.com.

To learn more about Anthony Gomes, go to anthonygomes.com.