Date: May 20 & 21, 2000

Blues News - Festivals, Festivals, Festivals!

What a great way to begin the festival season at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival! I treated myself and the band boys to an extra day of festival fun, arriving on Saturday afternoon, just in time to hear Shemekia Copeland kick off her set. As she is both Johnny's daughter and my "little sister" in the blues, I just adore Shemekia. She is so special with such a big, big talent, and always blows the crowd's mind with her giant voice and powerful performance. What a great band, too! Kudos to Shemekia for putting another powerful female blues artist in her band; Doña Oxford on keyboards and vocals. Arthur Neilsen is a great blues guitar player and can go from low-down traditional blues guitar to uptown urban blues in the wink of an eye. And it's so cool to see Barry Harrison on drums, after years of backing up Shemekia's poppa! This young lady, all of 21 now, is such a major source of inspiration for me! Ah... the future of the blues is in good hands!

Next up was Otis Rush. He was on, folks. I'm so lucky to have only witnessed Otis at his best every time I've seen him. One of the few living legends we have left, and a personal early guitar hero of mine. I am blessed!

Roomful Of Blues took the stage by storm and I couldn't wait. Hadn't yet seen their new singer, Mac, and he is so soulful! With a great rhythm section setting the pace, (Marc Greenburg on drums, and Marty Balou on bass), they are one high-energy, good-time, soulful blues big band!

There were no gaps in this festival lineup folks; Taj Mahal took the stage sporting his band of 5 years with all of my old California home boys backing him up: Joe Sublett on Sax, Daryl Leonard on trumpet; Denny Freeman on guitar, Tony Braunnagle on drums... I remember seeing Tony back up Bonnie Raitt for several years there and he does some great work on Coco Montoya's latest release. Many of you may remember Joe & Denny from that Austin music scene of the late 70's, early 80's; the years that spawned the fabulous Thunderbirds and the one and only Stevie Ray Vaughn! Joe played in one of Stevie's first bands, the Cobras! Let's face it; Taj has so much stage presence. all he has to do is shake his sips and he's got the crowd in the palm of his hands! But fortunately for us he's one of the blues' finest, and deeply rooted musicians.

Saturday was a pretty chilly day, and I felt bad for the crowd enduring damp and cold and a slight drizzle all day. As the sum set, the temperature dropped even more and the breeze brought an extra chill off of the bay. But Eastern Seaboard folks are tough and most of them hung all day, and about half into the night when Robert Cray took the stage. Robert's long time band is now so tight they are loose, if ya know what I mean. In nothing but a short sleeve shirt, Robert's guitar is on fire from the git go! I was thinking that I don't know if I could've gotten my hands to even move in that weather! But Robert's a bad boy!

We were up as the second act on Sunday, and luckily, though still overcast, it was a warmer day! What a great festival! From the previous day's dose of musical inspiration, and the combined vibe of back stage hospitality and audience energy, I felt so pumped for my set! I could have played for hours! But of course we had to make way for Bobby Parker, one of my long time favorites. Many of you know that I recorded Bobby's tune "Watch Your Step" on my Blind Pig Release, "I Got That Feelin." He's a great artist with a great band, so catch him if you can!

Bernard Allyson has to be today's blues-rock ruling king! With chops for days and an absolutely kick-ass quartet that includes Luther Allyson's old keyboard player, Mike, he takes no prisoners!

Little Milton was next and though I was disappointed that he didn't have his traditional big band of horns and singers, he is still one of the greatest and most soulful blues men of our time. Another living legend.

And little did I know that I would get my dose of big band for the day and much, much more from the legendary Godfather of soul, James Brown!! James Brown!! James Brown!! I never thought that in my lifetime I would see him perform the quality of show that he became famous for in the 50's and 60's. Basically before my time, of going to hear and see live music being performed. Check it out: 14 piece band including 2 drummers, 2 bass players, 3 guitar players, 4 to 5 horns the piano player doubled on horn, a B-3 player, James sometimes on keyboards, a percussionist, and 4 girl singers, two female go-go dancers, an emcee, a bodyguard,... and the show... as kickin', as tight and as exciting as it gets in show biz folks! We're talking 5,000 people on their feet and boogie'n. He did all the hits, his voice was sounding great and James Brown has the coolest moves and the tightest buns in showbiz! At the age of 72!!