It hardly seems a year ago Sonny Landreth tore up the
Old Capitol Blues & BBQs stage with his blistering slide guitar work,
but here it is time for another action-packed blues night in downtown
Springfield. Now in its fifth year, the annual blues bash is nearly an
institution with no end in sight and that’s a good thing. The 2008
show runs from noon to about midnight on Saturday, August 23, somewhere
around the Old State Capitol. Don’t worry you’ll find it. This
year’s lineup looks to be much more diversified than previous years,
running the gamut of Chicago electric, old-time/country, sacred steel, and
classic blues.
Dave Herrero, featuring Felix Reyes, opens the
main stage show at 4 p.m. with a blast of Texas-style blues by way of
Chicago. Herrero cut his blues teeth in Austin, Texas, the live music
capital of the world, while touring with Archie Bell, the soul legend out
of Houston known for his late ’60s hit, “Tighten Up.” The
guitarist moved to Chicago a few years ago and when not churning out
classic blues tunes works with his brother doing mysterious musical things
for Oprah Winfrey. Together with co-bill Felix Reyes—better known to
blues aficionados as Uncle Fe of Felix and the Cats—these guys lay it
on the line playing a classic mix of Texas and Chicago-style electric
rockin’ blues. For a special pre-show extravaganza, check out Dave
and Felix on Friday night at the Brewhaus for an evening show from 7 to 10
p.m.
Next on the bill is a band I’ve gushed about
several times in this column, the Tarbox Ramblers. Led by the brilliant
Michael Tarbox, the group performs many songs from the public domain
catalogue, which dates them as just slightly younger than dirt, along with
original tunes that sound like they were dug from the same pile. They are
one of those bands people either hate or love—either you get it or
you don’t want to get near it. That being said I think they’re
grand. With primitive beats, raucous slide guitar, and growling vocals,
Tarbox and company strip away all but the bottom layer of the blues, baring
the best part of the most basic of popular music.
For those who missed the Lee Boys several weeks ago
at Marly’s, here’s another chance to experience the sacred
steel sound, this time from Calvin Cooke. The music stems from the adoption
of the electric steel guitar by the House of God church as the instrument
of choice to play during worship. Yep the rest of us got an organ and these
guys rock out on pedal steel—go figure. For an added treat,
Cooke’s wife Grace belts out beautiful vocals in a powerful gospel
style in a unique blend of sacred steel and singing.
The show wraps up with Howard and the White Boys, a
Chicago-based blues group mentored by the legendary Buddy Guy. During their
20-year history the band has also performed with the likes of Koko Taylor,
Lonnie Brooks, Luther Allison, and BB King, just to give you a very good
idea of where their blues are coming from.
From noon to 4 p.m. don’t forget our Illinois
Central Blues Club hosts the second annual Blues Challenge, open to any
band with a member belonging to the club. The winning group gets $1,000 to
spend representing the ICBC at the 2009 Blues Foundation International
Blues Challenge in Memphis.
In a kids-who-have-the-blues note, the Irwinites, in
electric format, play the Children’s Area from 2 to 4 p.m. featuring
blues songs, old rock-n-roll, and original tunes. I used to be in that
band! Rock on dudes.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2008.
