Playing a mix of danceable blues with a nod towards swinging jazz and an eclectic selection of rock and pop tunes, the Willie Painter Band consists of four veterans of the Triangle music scene. Willie Painter (guitar) and Craig Dittmar (bass) were members of the Boomers, who played for over 20 years in the Triangle and eastern North Carolina. They have performed in the past with Lightnin’ Wells and the Real Gone Cats. Currently they also play with the Pigz Brothers, Mike Hamer and the Rhinoceroses, and the Tommy G Experience. Painter wrote a monthly music column for the Urban Hiker from 1999 to 2004.

John Hanks (drums) currently plays with the NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra and the Gregg Gelb Swing Band and has performed with Mose Allison, Mary Lou Williams and many others. He has been a musician with the American Dance Festival for years, and teaches at Duke University, where he is a Guest Lecturer. Bill Newton (saxophone, harmonica) is a founding member of two Triangle musical institutions: Becca and the Hi-Tones and Bill Newton’s Big Blues Quartet. He has recorded with the Indigo Girls and Big Mama E and the Cool, among others.