Carnival of Soul

John Mayall, who is regarded as a pioneer of blues music and tagged with the title of “The Godfather of British Blues,” will visit Bay City on Saturday, July 27. Special guest Larry McCray will join him. The concert is set for Arbeitoer Hall, 1304 S. Wenona St., Bay City.

Mayall’s music has shaped some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Dave Navarro, Walter Trout and more, according to his Facebook page. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2016, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 from Blues Matters!, a British blues magazine.

A new studio album, Nobody Told Me, was released in February.

McCray, a native of Saginaw, is a singer, guitarist, bandleader, songwriter and heir apparent to a lineage that includes personal influences and heroes such as B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, all who he has played with. He’s been awarded with the Orville H. Gibson Male Blues Guitarist of the Year award as well as the Top Guitarist prize in International Blues Matters’ 2014 writer’s poll.

His latest release, The Gibson Sessions, is a 12-song set featuring some of his personal favorites by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, ZZ Top, Gregg Allman, the Doobie Brothers, the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and others

“The blues is my favorite, for sure,” he has said. “I get more out of it, feeling-wise, but I’ve always been a rock ‘n’ roll fan and I’ve always tried to write music that was rock ‘n’ roll friendly. I always try to move forward and remember where I came from. This album is a way to do these songs I love and maybe get them heard by people who like that music already, but do it in my own way so I can have some of my personality and self-identity within the music.”

Doors to the Bay City show open at 5 p.m. Music begins at 7 p.m. Admission is $30. Tickets, BrownPaperTickets.com