Buddy Guy with son Greg, daughter Carlise, and Mark Maddox of the NuBlu Band at the Blue Gate Performing Arts Center in Shipshewana, IN, as part of his BG90 tour to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Carlise Guy & The Nu Blu Band are having a remarkable summer. The Chicago blues singer and her band have been taking their music to major stages across North America, with a particularly significant series of appearances alongside blues legend Buddy Guy during his 90th-birthday celebrations.
The high point came July 25 at the historic Chicago Theatre, where Carlise Guy & The Nu Blu Band opened for Buddy Guy as part of the Buddy Guy 90 tour. The concert brought the celebration home to Chicago, the city where Buddy Guy arrived from Louisiana in 1957 and became one of the central figures in the development of modern electric blues. Carlise and Nu Blu’s presence on that stage added another dimension to the occasion: a new generation of Chicago blues musicians performing alongside one of the music’s defining masters.
The Chicago Theatre appearance was part of a much broader run for Carlise and the band. During July they joined Buddy Guy for a series of major engagements in the United States and Canada, including performances in Toronto, Buffalo, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Shipshewana, Indiana. At several of these concerts, Carlise not only opened the show with Nu Blu but returned to the stage during Buddy Guy‘s set, sometimes alongside her brother, guitarist Greg Guy.
The performances have also been attracting attention on their own merits. Reviewing the July 20 concert at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Local Spins singled out Carlise Guy’s powerful voice and reported that she and The Nu Blu Band had the audience up and cheering. It is the kind of response Chicago audiences have become accustomed to: Nu Blu is a hard-driving contemporary blues band, and Carlise is an increasingly commanding frontwoman whose singing combines the power of the Chicago blues tradition with a personality unmistakably her own.
Carlise Guy & The Nu Blu Band are Delmark Records artists, adding their own chapter to a label whose history has been intertwined with Chicago blues for more than seven decades. Their first Delmark release, the digital single “A New Day” (Delmark 884-8), shows another side of the group. Written by Carlise Guy and guitarist Marcil Maddox, the soulful, reflective song carries a subtle Latin tinge and showcases both Carlise’s expressive vocals and the band’s versatility. The recording features Maddox on lead guitar, Dan Henley on drums, Michael Sterling on bass, David Holloway on keyboards and Joe Rendón on congas, with Delmark artist Mike Wheeler adding guitar.
And the band’s busy summer has not been limited to the Buddy Guy tour.
Last may the band had a Brazilian tour, including their presentation at the Bourbon Festival in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro.
On August 15, Carlise Guy & The Nu Blu Band appeared at the Williamstown Blues & Roots Festival in Massachusetts, following other club and festival dates during the summer. The schedule reflects a band increasingly at home both on the Chicago blues scene and on stages well beyond the city.
The family connection to Buddy Guy is, of course, impossible—and unnecessary—to ignore. Carlise is Buddy Guy’s daughter, and the blues has always been a music transmitted personally as much as professionally, from musician to musician and from one generation to another. But what audiences have been seeing this summer is more than a famous musical family sharing a stage.
They are seeing Carlise Guy & The Nu Blu Band building their own story: a Delmark blues act working constantly, reaching new audiences and earning enthusiastic responses wherever they play. Sharing major stages with Buddy Guy during the celebration of his extraordinary 90 years makes this summer especially meaningful.
Among other performances, Nu Blu will be featured at the Chicago Live series, Chicago Navy Pier, September 19th, and at the NAACP in October, in Milwaukee.
Carlise Guy and Nu Blu are demonstrating something equally important every night they perform—the Chicago blues tradition is not simply something to celebrate from the past: it is still being made.
-Elbio Barilari, Delmark Records-
https://www.thenubluband.com/
CHECK OUT a live version of Carlise’s hit single, released on Delmark – “‘A NEW DAY!”
Recorded live on 07/24/26 at The Factory in Chesterfield, Missouri during Buddy Guys 90 Birthday Tour
NuBlu featuring Carlise Guy – A New Day – DOWNLOAD NOW!!
DIGITAL SINGLE – Released August 2024
NuBlu featuring Carlise Guy – A NEW DAY
Delmark 884-8
Digital Single
A New Day – NuBlu featuring Carlise Guy
“A NEW DAY” (Delmark 884–8) is a gorgeous song written by Buddy Guy’s daughter, Carlise, and Marcil Maddox. This digital single is their first release for Delmark Records. NuBlu is a high energy, six–member group that pairs a tight rhythm section led by Marc Maddox on guitar and Dan Henley on drums, with the powerful vocals of Carlise Guy. They perform a wide range of genres including Blues, R&B, Pop, and Motown. Their soulful sound is enough to make any audience get up and dance. it’s always a party when NuBlu is on stage! The band can be reflective and even philosophical, as they are in this sensuous ballad with a Latin tinge. They’ve performed and delighted audiences across the country and around the world, from huge outdoor festivals to intimate nightclubs in Chicago. As Carlise says in this song: “Now, listen”
CARLISE GUY vocals
MARCIL MADDOX lead guitar
DAN HENLEY drums
MICHAEL STERLING bass
DAVID HOLLOWAY keyboards
JOE RENDÓN congas
MIKE WHEELER guitar
Recorded at BLU26 and Delmark Riverside Studio
Photo Dan DuVerney
CARLISE GUY, Lead Vocalist
DAN HENLEY, Drummer
MARK MADDOX, Lead Guitarist
This high energy 6 member group pairs a tight rhythm section led by Mark Maddox on lead guitar, Dan Henley on drums, with powerful vocals of Carlise Guy, the dynamic daughter of the Legendary Blues eight- time Grammy award winner, Buddy Guy.They perform wide range of genres; Blues, R&B, Pop, and Motown. Their soulful sound is enough to make any audience get up and dance. It’s always a party when NuBlu is on stage. They’ve performed across the country and around the world, from huge outdoor festivals in Brazil, FL, Ohio, & IL to intimate nightclubs in Chicago
CARLISE and her dad, BUDDY GUY
upcoming shows!
September 17/18, 2026
Little Bear Saloon
28075 CO-74
Evergreen, CO
September 17/18, 2026
The Oriental Theater
4335 W 44th Ave
Denver, CO
AugustA
7:00pm
September 19, 2026
Navy Pier Live Beer Garden
600 E Grand
Chicago, IL
OcOctober
8:00pm
October 29, 2026
Legends Halloween
700 S Wabash
Chicago, IL
5:00pm
November 15, 2026
Legends, Private Event
700 S Wabash
Chicago, IL
G Funk Solomon
Mark Maddox and Carlise Guy at Broad Street Blues and BBQ Festival. Photo Howard Greenblatt
Carlise Guy & Nu Blu at Broad Street Blues and BBQ Festival.in Griffith, IN
