Elvis-Meets-Marvin Acrobatics: Rising Star Dwayne Haggins @ Bull Run

Feast one’s eyes and ears on the “fusion of Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye.” Massachusetts’ own Dwayne Haggins wows with his vocal and musical acrobatics at the Bull Run on April 15.

Dwayne Haggins has been described as “the love child of Hank Williams and Otis Redding.” “The John Legend of rockabilly.” And even, “the ‘what-took-you-so-long?’ fusion of Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye.”

Dwayne Haggins has shared the stage with acts such as Keb Mo, Joe Bonamassa, Ronnie Earl, George Thorogood, Eric Gales, Shemekia Copeland and Suzanne Santo. Dwayne and his band put out a record in July of 2022 titled “Call Me Boston” that’s getting noticed all over the east coast. The album was recently ranked in the WERS “favorite albums of the year” list with bands like the Tedeschi Trucks!

At every performance, whether in a venerable metropolitan concert hall or a grimy dive in an anonymous strip mall, Dwayne Haggins is always at work. Adding new subtleties to an obvious melody line. Reinterpreting a time-worn lyrical cliché to imbue it anew with genuine feeling. Unleashing a gentle cascade of vocal acrobatics when least expected (and hence most effective) – never for show alone, but always to express a likewise unanticipated nuance of feeling: a whisper of love, a curse of anger, a groan of pain, a whoop of joy that feels, paradoxically, both surprising and inevitable at the same moment.

Since early 2017, Dwayne has been on a quest to make a living playing music, leaving his mark on dozens of bars, restaurants and clubs scattered across eastern and central Massachusetts. His distinctive sound, which delivers a new take on the traditional country-blues and soul that he loves, has generated a rare sense of excitement and possibility throughout the area’s musical community.

*This show is in the Ballroom, which is NOT wheelchair accessible*