May 29 - 30, 2004 (20 years ago) Aptos Village Park Aptos, California, United States
Saturday’s lineup JONNY LANG - Popping out of the plains of North Dakota like a rose out of cornfield, guitarist Jonny Lang only seems like he’s been around a longtime. A blues-guitar prodigy who at 15 could flat-out shred, Lang is just 23, but has a smoky, world-weary heat to his music that suggests he’s carrying over from a previous life.
SHEMEKIA COPELAND - If Etta James is ever ready to hand over the Greatest Living Female Blues Singer crown, she might look in the direction of Johnny "Clyde" Copeland’s little girl. Shemekia is all about the deep-blues tradition of Etta and Koko Taylor. Possessed of a potent voice and striking stage presence, she’s equally adept at bringing off uptempo horns-and-swagger numbers and soulful, heartfelt slow blues. BERNARD ALLISON Walking the same road his daddy Luther traveled for so many years, guitarist Bernard Allison has been conjuring up the mojo since he was 8 years old, hanging out with Luther and pals Albert King and Muddy Waters. Now in his late 30s, Bernard already has a lifetime of guitar behind him and his crisp, organic sound continues to mature. Angela Strehli & Tracy Nelson "First time I heard the blues on the radio," sings Angela Strehli, "scared me half to death." Veteran blues fans need no introduction to either of these fine blues singers, both icons of the West Coast blues circuit. Strehli has a strong strain of her native Lubbock, Texas in her blood, but honed her blues chops in Austin. Nelson caught the blues virus in Chicago thanks to a productive partnership with Charlie Musselwhite. Jon Cleary - This British born blues pianist has taken to New Orleans like a Krispy Kreme to coffee. Having discovered the same magic Crescent City elixir Dr. John has been drinking all these years, Cleary and his crackin’ band the Absolute Monster Gentlemen specialize in saucy Nahr Leens party music, using the blues for a base in a tasty stew that includes funk, Afro-Cuban and blue-eyed soul with a dash of street-corner doo-wop tossed for flavor. Sunday’s lineup BUDDY GUY & DOUBLE TROUBLE Now that Muddy Waters is jamming in another sphere, the larger-than-life Buddy Guy can reasonably be called the greatest living Chicago bluesman. Everything about Buddy screams style and distinction from the wild exorcism of his singing voice to his blistering, almost spooky guitar style to his unbelievable on-stage energy. Here, he’s jamming with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s former backup band as part of a unique tour. Buddy’s as much a fixture in Chicago as Wrigley Field and crooked politicians. COCO MONTOYA - The famous SoCal left-hander came to the blues rather late; his career started as a rock drummer. But now that Coco has discovered the blues, he’s making up for lost time. Fond of blistering guitar fills that speak the blues better than his big, hearty voice can ever hope to, Montoya learned his craft from mainly from Albert Collins and John Mayall and is now one of the most talked-about bluesmen on the West Coast. Tommy Castro - This veteran Bay Area bluesman is as familiar to Santa Cruz blues audiences as morning fog. Castro is soul singer at heart and a rocker in his soul. Steeped in blues tradition, he knows how to crank up a swampy, R&B-inflected sound that is catnip to rockin’ blues fans. Nothing fancy, just the blues version of meat-and-potatoes. MICHAEL BURKS - The man behind the Flying V guitar has been working the guitar since the age of 5. Burks, now in his mid-40s, plays electrified blues for grownups, an intense, supercharged sandbag of sound. Influenced deeply by Albert King, Burks is fond of soaring, string-bending solos that give his music its distinctive flavor. Holmes Brothers -Sherman, Wendell and Popsy aren’t going to fit easily in any categorization. The Holmeses were performing for years in Harlem before their ‘discovery.’ Their music is an irresistible mix of Saturday night blues and Sunday morning gospel harmonizing which somehow makes a virtue of Sherman’s bone-shaking baritone, Popsy’s falsetto and Wendell’s gritty, been-around-the-block-a-couple-of-times voice. Sure to be a festival highlight.
Uploaded by Lk Way
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