Fabulous Show Slated For Sept. 27th

Lake Area Blues Fans get ready for the 27th. Many great artists Like Jimmie Stotts, Bob Murphy, Charlie White, Rick Gardner, Herb and Rita Taylor, Tommy Armstrong, and many many more will be playing at the DownTown Blues Jam this Saturday.  Bring your own gear and sign up next to the stage. All are welcome to play 4 songs and rotate back on again if time permits. Drums will be provided.

Friends and family bring your own chairs and help celebrate Rita’s Birthday. Cake will be served.  Don’t miss this show the music will be Rockin dowtown this weekend.

NO MUSIC SATURDAY THE 28TH

Hey all! in light of the Labor Day weekend it has been hard to get enough players in town for the weekend to play. So stay tuned and we will reschedule later in the month a new date.
From Me and Rita have a safe  Happy Labor Day Holiday. Helena is coming soon so check out the site for the new lineups on all nights.

Blues Session at the Warehouse July 12th 7′ PM

Guys it’s time to play!! All blues men and women are welcome to join us at the water warehouse. July 12th, 1101 W. Main St. Suite A at 7:00 P.M. Bring your gear and tune it up. Sound system will be set up. Will be a little hot, the shop is not A.C.’d

See you there. Feel free to bring refreshments and the kids.

Herb & Rita attends the Ft. Smith Blues Festival

photos by Herb

Ft. Smith Blues Society has been bringing the best blues acts from around the world for 18 years now and this year was no exception.After over 100 water deliveries on Friday we made it in time to check in at the hotel and get in our seats by the time Ruthie Foster opened the show. Ruthie’s blues, gospel modern sound was an inspiration to Rita and set a cool tone for the rest of Friday nights show. We missed The Belairs but got to meet them in a coffee shop Sat. morning downtown on the way to the workshop.

Westside Chicago’s best bluesmen Lil Ed and the Blue Imperial’s were the nights headliners and stood up to all the hype. These guys could jam and set the crowd on fire. With the experience of over 25 years playing together, the band was extremely tight and well rehearsed. My Friday night favorites. Unfortunately we were unsure if we could take any cameras in so we did not get any Friday night pics. Cameras were cool and Saturday was filled with great music and fun.

Saturday arrived with great anticipation because the line up and weather was ideal. Seth Freeman from Russelville, Ar. opend up with his young band and was very impressive with his older than his years blues rock chops. Great showing and good luck to a a local blues star. The show had it’s usual fill in cover bands like The Cabbageheads and Grey Street but the performances where professional and listenable. But up next was one of the acts I wanted to see. Larry McCray from Magnolia, AR. was up. Rita and I saw him open for Al Green in Little Rock last year and he was truly professional and a blues master with his high energy 80’s type guitar play. Backed by his brother’s and cousins from Saginaw, MI. Their long set consisted of crystal clear guitar and great foot tapping high brow blues.

Ana Popovic arrives next, a stop on her Still Making History Tour 2008. Ana was high energy and quite the guitar slinger. Rocking Blues at a fever pace. Her Bass player was a show in himself with a very hot solo. Nice band from The Netherlands. Real T-Bone Walker Fans.

The evening ended with Johnny Lang on about just in time. The crowd was very reay but we were all disappointed a bit because they show admin’s decided not to run the stage lights and J.L played in the complete dark. They stated it was because the bugs were to bad. They were, some kinda hatch along the river. So next year start the show earlier before dark .

 

 

 

Next Blues Jam Nights July 26th. Moving to Once A Month

Hello Everyone. There has been a change to talk about with our Blues Jam Scheduling. There have been many requests for the stage on Saturday Nights and Rick has a big heart for us all so, so we have moved the Blues Jam to once a month starting July 26th 2008. We will then meet the last Saturday of the month . Since it has been a while coming expecting some great blues. Bring your gear and tell a friend and let the Blues Rule !

Red River Begins Construction of Outdoor Soundstage

Red River Music has recently began the construction of it’s new outdoor SoundStage just in time for SpringFest activities. Jason and crew has done and excellent job working there way thru a lot of rainy weather to keep things on schedule . Should be ready in time for our weekly Jam Session on Saturday night during the SpringFest that day. Contact Rick at the store and get your time block to play soon or be left out. This stage is a must see and play. It is pleasantly placed so that all downtown traffic at the four way will get an ear full of the blues.