Buckeye Randy
Senior Member
Who: Ghalia Volt
Where: Kent Stage (Kent, OH)
When: August 23, 2026
I first became aware of Ghalia Volt when she appeared at a tribute show for Thomas Ruf and Ruf Records. Who and what are Thomas Ruf and Ruf Records? Thomas Ruff started an independent record company in 1994 and his record label (Ruf Records) is dedicated to all things blues. The international twist is that Thomas and his record company are located in Germany.
He signs old blues acts (Canned Heat, Mitch Ryder) and new blues acts (Samantha Fish) and even promotes blues artists from Europe including Ana Popovic (Serbia) and Ghalia Volt who is from Belguim. Hats off to Thomas Ruf for dedicating himself to American roots music.
The ticket sales for this show are sort of unusual. The first eight rows are general admission and everything behind is reserved seating. So even though I have tickets waiting for me at ‘will call’, I need to arrive early to try and score a seat up front. I’m one of the first five in line so I feel confident about being in the first row.
Earlier in the day there are severe weather warnings forecast for the area. All is clear when I arrive but the sky goes from light cloud cover to pitch black within minutes and this is 20 minutes before doors open. There is some cover provided at the entry and under the marquee but not much. The lone ticket taker decides to open the doors and let us in early, that’s nice of her. The first few people flash their phones with electronic tickets and enter. This all sounds good until I tell her I have ‘will call’. She points to a nearby table and tells me to go there and wait. She mentions nobody is at this table yet to help me since she opened the doors early! I see dozens of people scan their tickets and walk right by me into the venue surely to grab prime seating.
She finally comes over and hands me my tickets which I’m only using one of since I apparently have no family or friends that want to spend an evening with me, I enter the venue solo. I walked toward the front which had quickly filled up save for one single seat front and center between two old dudes. Justice is served not only because I’m where I should be sitting but because I look extraordinarily young between these two guys!
Opening the evening is Kent Burnside and all you blues aficionados will certainly ask; is he related to Cedric and R.L. Burnside? The answer is…yes; why yes he is! He is a cousin of Cedric and a grandson of R.L. Burnside. The common denominator besides blood is all play ‘hill country blues’.
Kent and his accompanying drummer played a lively set of hill country blues. This brand of music lends itself to the minimalist approach and tonight it was crisp and clean. He seemed genuinely happy to be in a town bearing his name on a Saturday night. After the show, he climbed down from the stage and walked through the crowd exchanging handshakes and stopping for photos. It was a nice gesture and a sure fire way to build a fan base.
Ghalia Volt and her two piece backing band (bass, drums) took the stage and quite honestly it surprised me. The first time I saw her she was a one woman band. She performed seated playing both bass and snare drums with her feet while playing guitar and singing. That was what I anticipated but on this evening it was all about ratcheting up the energy!
The band kicks into the show and the first thing that you notice is how animated Ghalia is with her body language and facial expressions which are an extension of what she is playing. Some people wear it on their sleeve; she wears it on her face. (smiling)
Speaking of wearing, let’s talk wardrobe. Ghalia was sporting an all-black outfit highlighted by black shorts and patterned black stockings. I guess you could say she knows her crowd which was mostly elderly males who may or may have not been there with lecherous thoughts. To clarify, I am not elderly and I was there for music.
It’s not a problem per se but I’ve noticed at blues shows I’m the only one not receiving retirement or disability benefits and at punk shows I’m the only one with seven grandkids. No golden middle in my current concert life.
The set list was a heaping helping of her latest album which included my two favorites, “No Ice Please” and “Burn Down The House”. At some point she explained how she wasn’t on Apple music so her playing these songs is the only way we could hear them. She played a couple from previous albums and also several blues standards. Her between song banter was as good as it gets because it was natural and interactive with the crowd. There were three guitar changes and she made everybody smile when she explained her favorite guitar was a no name piece of shit that nobody else would want but she loved it. She then connected the dots and applied that philosophy to relationships.
My favorite song of the night was probably “Reap What You Sow” which highlights not only Ghalia’s guitar work but her raspy vocals. I will say that as she went through the setlist a case could be made for each and every song being my favorite of the night. The last song of the evening was an unrehearsed jam with Kent Burnside with them doing the R.L. Burnside classic, “Going Down South”.
It was an overall positive evening and it finished with a trip to the merch table which was being run by Ghalia herself. I made a purchse and had her sign my ticket. Can’t wait to see her again, Well Done!
Where: Kent Stage (Kent, OH)
When: August 23, 2026
I first became aware of Ghalia Volt when she appeared at a tribute show for Thomas Ruf and Ruf Records. Who and what are Thomas Ruf and Ruf Records? Thomas Ruff started an independent record company in 1994 and his record label (Ruf Records) is dedicated to all things blues. The international twist is that Thomas and his record company are located in Germany.
He signs old blues acts (Canned Heat, Mitch Ryder) and new blues acts (Samantha Fish) and even promotes blues artists from Europe including Ana Popovic (Serbia) and Ghalia Volt who is from Belguim. Hats off to Thomas Ruf for dedicating himself to American roots music.
The ticket sales for this show are sort of unusual. The first eight rows are general admission and everything behind is reserved seating. So even though I have tickets waiting for me at ‘will call’, I need to arrive early to try and score a seat up front. I’m one of the first five in line so I feel confident about being in the first row.
Earlier in the day there are severe weather warnings forecast for the area. All is clear when I arrive but the sky goes from light cloud cover to pitch black within minutes and this is 20 minutes before doors open. There is some cover provided at the entry and under the marquee but not much. The lone ticket taker decides to open the doors and let us in early, that’s nice of her. The first few people flash their phones with electronic tickets and enter. This all sounds good until I tell her I have ‘will call’. She points to a nearby table and tells me to go there and wait. She mentions nobody is at this table yet to help me since she opened the doors early! I see dozens of people scan their tickets and walk right by me into the venue surely to grab prime seating.
She finally comes over and hands me my tickets which I’m only using one of since I apparently have no family or friends that want to spend an evening with me, I enter the venue solo. I walked toward the front which had quickly filled up save for one single seat front and center between two old dudes. Justice is served not only because I’m where I should be sitting but because I look extraordinarily young between these two guys!
Opening the evening is Kent Burnside and all you blues aficionados will certainly ask; is he related to Cedric and R.L. Burnside? The answer is…yes; why yes he is! He is a cousin of Cedric and a grandson of R.L. Burnside. The common denominator besides blood is all play ‘hill country blues’.
Kent and his accompanying drummer played a lively set of hill country blues. This brand of music lends itself to the minimalist approach and tonight it was crisp and clean. He seemed genuinely happy to be in a town bearing his name on a Saturday night. After the show, he climbed down from the stage and walked through the crowd exchanging handshakes and stopping for photos. It was a nice gesture and a sure fire way to build a fan base.
Ghalia Volt and her two piece backing band (bass, drums) took the stage and quite honestly it surprised me. The first time I saw her she was a one woman band. She performed seated playing both bass and snare drums with her feet while playing guitar and singing. That was what I anticipated but on this evening it was all about ratcheting up the energy!
The band kicks into the show and the first thing that you notice is how animated Ghalia is with her body language and facial expressions which are an extension of what she is playing. Some people wear it on their sleeve; she wears it on her face. (smiling)
Speaking of wearing, let’s talk wardrobe. Ghalia was sporting an all-black outfit highlighted by black shorts and patterned black stockings. I guess you could say she knows her crowd which was mostly elderly males who may or may have not been there with lecherous thoughts. To clarify, I am not elderly and I was there for music.
It’s not a problem per se but I’ve noticed at blues shows I’m the only one not receiving retirement or disability benefits and at punk shows I’m the only one with seven grandkids. No golden middle in my current concert life.
The set list was a heaping helping of her latest album which included my two favorites, “No Ice Please” and “Burn Down The House”. At some point she explained how she wasn’t on Apple music so her playing these songs is the only way we could hear them. She played a couple from previous albums and also several blues standards. Her between song banter was as good as it gets because it was natural and interactive with the crowd. There were three guitar changes and she made everybody smile when she explained her favorite guitar was a no name piece of shit that nobody else would want but she loved it. She then connected the dots and applied that philosophy to relationships.
My favorite song of the night was probably “Reap What You Sow” which highlights not only Ghalia’s guitar work but her raspy vocals. I will say that as she went through the setlist a case could be made for each and every song being my favorite of the night. The last song of the evening was an unrehearsed jam with Kent Burnside with them doing the R.L. Burnside classic, “Going Down South”.
It was an overall positive evening and it finished with a trip to the merch table which was being run by Ghalia herself. I made a purchse and had her sign my ticket. Can’t wait to see her again, Well Done!
