Laith Al-Saadi

On September 6, Windsor Hall hosts a performance by Laith Al-Saadi, Guitar Center’s “King of the Blues” 2006 Finalist.

Laith Al-Saadi has been a staple of the Detroit music scene for most of his adult life. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI, this talented 30 year old began singing at age 4 and began playing guitar at 13. At 15 years old Al- Saadi formed his first blues band, "Blue Vinyl". By the time he was 18 years old they had opened for Blues greats like Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, Son Seals, and Taj Mahal and toured the Netherlands.

After graduating from High School, Al-Saadi attended the University of Michigan where he recieved a degree in Jazz Guitar and Bass. During his college years, Al-Saadi was a member of the Johnny Trudell Orchestra and freelanced with many of Detroit's greats like Thornetta Davis, Jocelyn B, The Reefermen.

In 2004 Al-Saadi was the lead singer/guitarist of the Detroit Lion's pep band. Since 2000, Laith Al-Saadi has enjoyed growing success as the Detroit area's premier singer and guitarist. Working relentlessly around town, Al-Saadi generally can be found playing at least 5 nights a week. This determination has led to recent opening slots for artists like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Leon Russell, Robben Ford, Johnny Winter, Hubert Sumlin, Olu Dara, Ten Years After, Mountain, The Yardbirds and - most notably- BB King at the House of Blues in Chicago (June 8th, 2006).

In 2006, Al-Saadi was crowned "King of the Blues" for the Northern Region of the United States by Guitar Center. This makes him one of the top 4 Blues guitarists in the Country. In GUITAR WORLD magazine (Nov. 2006) Al-Saadi was heralded as sounding like "Danny Gatton and Buddy Guy at their best". His current release, "Long Time Coming", is a collection of original songs that has recieved rave reviews by the Ann Arbor News, Metro Times, Current Magazine and the Detroit News. The album has been enjoying airplay at home and abroad. Al-Saadi hopes to have a new release in 2008. As for the Music... let it speak for itself. (At this writing, Laith is in the recording studio finishing off his new CD… ready to deliver at Windsor Hall!)

Laith on lead guitar & vocals, along with Theodore Ribbens on bass and Mark Damian on drums, will be performing live at Windsor Hall at Town Center in Cumberland on September 6. The concert begins at 8PM; doors open at 7PM. Tickets to the performance are $15. Table seating for parties of 4 or 8, and individual tickets can be reserved by visiting Kauffman Music located at 45 Baltimore Street in downtown Cumberland or by calling 301-724-6800. You can also purchase tickets at our new location at Main Street Books, 2 E Main Street, Frostburg, MD. This event is a production of Queen City Performing Arts Development, Inc. - QCPAD.

You can listen to Laith’s music on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/laithalsaadi and at CDBaby, http://cdbaby.com/cd/laithalsaadi. And here’s Laith featured at Guitar Center’s King of the Blues 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeSJlZRO-rg .

For more information on Windsor Hall, please visit them online at their new website, http://www.windsorhall.org.


Reviews: AWESOME!!!
author: tcbluz.luvr “Laith is a raw, pure talent...refreshing and new! His vocals are pure and his guitar playing equally impressive. I was lucky enough to see him perform live at the Mid-North Michigan Blues Society Blues Challenge. He would have won by a landslide if he had not gone over the allotted 30 minute time limit. Thing was, no one wanted him to stop!!! Really, really worth checking out. You will NOT be disappointed! This is a talented refreshing artist!”

author: Rushtrails “As a music fan for years, this is one of the most refreshing new artists I have heard for some time. Laith Al-Saadi does it right with the blues on this CD and you can hear the guitar experience come through on songs like Everything and Mystified for starters. The CD opens with Breathe and that's a great impression of what's to come through the rest of the CD. I have heard his band live and when he is not doing the blues he can rock just as well (for all you RUSH fans out there he does a mean Working Man)! If you get a chance give this CD a listen and you won't regret it -rock on!”