NORWICH – The 18th Annual Chenango Blues Fest will kick off Friday night with a pair of free performances and Chenango Blues Association President Eric Larsen predicts a strong turnout following the unprecedented success of this year’s Summer Concert Series.
Approximately 3,000 people, hailing from all parts of the northeast, are expected to attend the annual event, which features performances by some of the genre’s biggest names, including Main Stage acts Marcia Ball – who previously headlined the festival in 2006 – Watermelon Slim, Guitar Shorty, John Nemeth and the Asamu Johnson Project.
Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, E.G. Kight and Dom Flemons – who will perform from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, at Guernsey Memorial Library – will fill out the line-up with performances on the Acoustic Stage.
The festivities begin at 7:15 p.m. Friday however, with a free concert at the Chenango County Fairgrounds featuring Syracuse-based Los Blancos (they’ll also perform from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the Blarneystone Pub), and New Orleans’ own Honey Island Swamp Band, from 8:30 to 10 p.m.
“The Friday night shows are just great for the community,” stated Chenango Blues Fest Board of Directors Treasurer Steve Palmatier. “It’s a chance for people from all over to enjoy some great talent.”
Awarded the 2009 Best Emerging Artist award and Best Blues Album, for the bands first full-length release Wishing Well, by New Orleans’ Offbeat Magazine, the Honey Island Swamp Band features guitarist and mandolinist Aaron Wilkinson, guitarist Chris Mulé, bassist Sam Price and drummer Garland Paul.
“They’re great songwriters and great players, which isn’t that simple of a combination,” said Larsen. “They’re really talented and this is one of those bands people always enjoy, they bring something personal and unique to the stage.”
The band, who performed on the Main Stage at last year’s Blues Fest, has enjoyed growing success since the release of its 2007 self-titled EP and 2009’s Wishing Well, according to multi-instrumentalist Wilkinson, who added the group will be promoting and selling copies of its newest release, Good To You, Friday night.
“We love Norwich, love the festival, love the people and we’ve made some real friends there,” stated Wilkinson, who added he considered the new album a definite step forward for the band. “We really enjoy the hospitality and the enthusiasm, and it’s so weird and awesome that this little town, that seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere, appreciates the music so much.”
Although the group traces its roots to New Orleans, Wilkinson said the quartet actually met “separately and for different reasons,” in San Francisco, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Wilkinson, along with guitarist Mulé – the two friends were instrumental in writing and performing on Blues Fest-favorite Eric Lindell’s award-winning Low on Cash, Rich in Love album in 2007 – began performing at San Francisco’s legendary Boom Boom Room, host to “all kinds of New Orleans bands.” With the addition of Price and Paul, the ensemble was complete.
As to the group’s name, Wilkinson credited Mulé with its conception, and reported Honey Island Swamp is “an actual place about 45 minutes northeast of New Orleans on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi,” a place where the lines between musical genres such as blues, soul, swamp funk, country and rock begin to blur.
“They’re all such outstanding musicians and that gives them a great dynamic,” stated Larsen. “They create their own unique sound and they do a great job engaging the crowd, they’re just nice, genuine people.”
Los Blancos will take the stage from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m., Friday, followed by the Honey Island Swamp Band from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at the Chenango County Fairgrounds. For more information on the Chenango Blues Fest visit www.chenangobluesfest.org. For information on Los Blancos or the Honey Island Swamp Band visit www.casablancos.com or www.honeyislandswampband.com respectively.