Post by Mr. Neighbor on Sept 14, 2009 3:21:19 GMT -6
13th Annual Greater Ozarks Blues Festival Sept. 11 & 12, Springfield, MO
Last year was great with Tommy Castro, JJ Grey & MOFRO and John Mayall among others. In recent years they've had Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Leon Russell, North Mississippi Allstars, and Buddy Guy. Mark your calendar for next year, this is a great festival to catch.
DAY ONE
Josh Garrett and the Bottom Line opened the BluesFest on the second stage both days. They played two sets each day. Great band, lots of energy. Looking forward to their upcoming cd.
Nathan Keck and the Underground Blues Division. Local band from down near Branson. They won the local Blues Society competition to go to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, which also gets them the opening slot on the main stage. Seen them a couple times, great live band and their debut cd is pretty good too. You can check 'em out at www.myspace.com/ubdband
Up next was Kelley Hunt. She was good but kind of hit and miss for me.
Closing out the first night of the bluesfest was Tab Benoit. Hadn't seen him live before and he was awesome. Definitely hope to see him again and will be picking up his cds.
Can't really make him out in this pic, but on the right is Josh Garrett sitting in towards the end of Tab's set.
Afterparty at a bar down the street from the bluesfest where they host a blues jam. Tab Benoit stopped in and played drums and hung out for awhile.
Josh Garrett also stopped in and jammed for a bit. That's our friend Jon with him and Tab, it was a great night for him.
DAY TWO
Spent the first four hours Saturday volunteering for the Blues Society, so we got to stand under a canopy in the shade for the hottest part of the day and sell drinks with a good view of the stage, plus we got in free both days. Not a bad deal at all.
The Cate Brothers, not bad, kind of a regular at the bluesfest.
Reba Russell spent years singing backup for B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others before she went out on her own. I was very impressed. Hadn't seen her before and we really enjoyed her set.
Kenny Neal. This guy has really lived the blues. His dad passed away recently, his sister was murdered and he has battled liver cancer and won. While going through treatments he wrote the title song from his newest release "Let Life Flow", which he played for us. Really great performance. All the members of his band except the drummer are family members. On keys on the right is his nephew. He played a couple songs on Kenny's guitar. I thought it was pretty interesting when he strapped on a right-handed guitar and played it left-handed. I asked Kenny about it later and he showed me a picture of his nephew playing like that when he was really young and said that's how he learned to play.
Up next was Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam. Awesome. I've liked Davy since we saw them open for Gov't Mule last year. New backing band now but I don't think it had a big effect. I was pretty impressed with the new drummer. They did a lot of covers (wonder if they got that from touring with the Mule?) but my favorite was a killer version of CSNY's 'Almost Cut My Hair'.
Closing out the second night, Ronnie Baker Brooks. Lonnie Brooks is his dad. I hadn't heard any of his stuff but about 3 weeks before the festival I heard one of his songs on the radio and it was great. So I was really excited to see him and he did not disappoint. He played a club here a few months ago and after seeing him play his set I really wish I would have gone.
Jellybean Johnson (drummer, guitarist, producer, etc. for The Time, RBB and others) on the left, special guest the last 30 minutes or so of RBB's set. Nice cover and jam of 'Superstition'.
Kenny Neal also joined in at the end of the set on harmonica.
Afterparty night two. Stewart Mann & The Statesboro Revue stopped in and played a couple songs. They played a set on the second stage but I didn't get a pic at the festival. Josh Garrett and his band also stopped in and jammed some more. Kenny Neal showed up and hung out but we left shortly before closing and he hadn't played yet. Davy Knowles was supposed to come by but he ended up not showing.
Last year was great with Tommy Castro, JJ Grey & MOFRO and John Mayall among others. In recent years they've had Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Leon Russell, North Mississippi Allstars, and Buddy Guy. Mark your calendar for next year, this is a great festival to catch.
DAY ONE
Josh Garrett and the Bottom Line opened the BluesFest on the second stage both days. They played two sets each day. Great band, lots of energy. Looking forward to their upcoming cd.
Nathan Keck and the Underground Blues Division. Local band from down near Branson. They won the local Blues Society competition to go to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, which also gets them the opening slot on the main stage. Seen them a couple times, great live band and their debut cd is pretty good too. You can check 'em out at www.myspace.com/ubdband
Up next was Kelley Hunt. She was good but kind of hit and miss for me.
Closing out the first night of the bluesfest was Tab Benoit. Hadn't seen him live before and he was awesome. Definitely hope to see him again and will be picking up his cds.
Can't really make him out in this pic, but on the right is Josh Garrett sitting in towards the end of Tab's set.
Afterparty at a bar down the street from the bluesfest where they host a blues jam. Tab Benoit stopped in and played drums and hung out for awhile.
Josh Garrett also stopped in and jammed for a bit. That's our friend Jon with him and Tab, it was a great night for him.
DAY TWO
Spent the first four hours Saturday volunteering for the Blues Society, so we got to stand under a canopy in the shade for the hottest part of the day and sell drinks with a good view of the stage, plus we got in free both days. Not a bad deal at all.
The Cate Brothers, not bad, kind of a regular at the bluesfest.
Reba Russell spent years singing backup for B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others before she went out on her own. I was very impressed. Hadn't seen her before and we really enjoyed her set.
Kenny Neal. This guy has really lived the blues. His dad passed away recently, his sister was murdered and he has battled liver cancer and won. While going through treatments he wrote the title song from his newest release "Let Life Flow", which he played for us. Really great performance. All the members of his band except the drummer are family members. On keys on the right is his nephew. He played a couple songs on Kenny's guitar. I thought it was pretty interesting when he strapped on a right-handed guitar and played it left-handed. I asked Kenny about it later and he showed me a picture of his nephew playing like that when he was really young and said that's how he learned to play.
Up next was Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam. Awesome. I've liked Davy since we saw them open for Gov't Mule last year. New backing band now but I don't think it had a big effect. I was pretty impressed with the new drummer. They did a lot of covers (wonder if they got that from touring with the Mule?) but my favorite was a killer version of CSNY's 'Almost Cut My Hair'.
Closing out the second night, Ronnie Baker Brooks. Lonnie Brooks is his dad. I hadn't heard any of his stuff but about 3 weeks before the festival I heard one of his songs on the radio and it was great. So I was really excited to see him and he did not disappoint. He played a club here a few months ago and after seeing him play his set I really wish I would have gone.
Jellybean Johnson (drummer, guitarist, producer, etc. for The Time, RBB and others) on the left, special guest the last 30 minutes or so of RBB's set. Nice cover and jam of 'Superstition'.
Kenny Neal also joined in at the end of the set on harmonica.
Afterparty night two. Stewart Mann & The Statesboro Revue stopped in and played a couple songs. They played a set on the second stage but I didn't get a pic at the festival. Josh Garrett and his band also stopped in and jammed some more. Kenny Neal showed up and hung out but we left shortly before closing and he hadn't played yet. Davy Knowles was supposed to come by but he ended up not showing.