Sweethearts of the Blues: Smokin’ Sonny Hess and Annie O’Neill

You can’t have the heartache required of a lot of blues music without having some good love come first, and there’s definitely some love in the air for the Sweethearts of the Blues show being thrown by the Inland Empire Blues Society just in time for Valentine’s Day. Headlining is Smokin’ Sonny Hess, a Portland-based R&B powerhouse who, with her two-piece backing band, won the Cascade Blues Association’s Best New Act award in 2013. Opening up is Spokane native Annie O’Neill, now performing and teaching in Seattle, who will bring some original acoustic blues to get the evening started. Add some dinner to your evening and you have date night pretty much set.