Central Florida Blues Challenge

Sea Blues Festival

Event: Annual Sea Blues Festival
Venue: Coachman Park
Date: February 24-25 2018











 All I can say is wow ! Each and every year the Sea Blues Festival continues to get better and better! The weather this February was picture perfect, the food was tantalizing and the Blues was epic! Hats off once again to the organizers and the volunteers who make this event one of the very best in the entire country. Amazing job!
I am going to focus on one day at a time, So Saturdays program began with some classic acoustic blues from Mr George Worthmore- a veteran of the New York City Music scene. Anyone who has played with Screamin' Jay Hawkins has got my attention. George is a one man band, as well as a proverbial fountain of music knowledge and experience. I really enjoyed the way he interacted with the audience as he shared his songs and stories of his life. He brought out his National Steel guitar and entertained us with some classics. I really got into his rendition of Taj Mahal's "Fishin' Blues.
     Next on the agenda, from Chicago; the Steepwater Band found center stage. This four piece group is a serious, extremely tight blues/rock band that has been around since 1998. Their set was reminiscent of British Blues bands of the 60's  (Cream, King Crimson, Yardbirds) with a little bit of Southern Rock thrown in as well. They played material from the recently released recording; Shake Your Faith and it was well received by the festival goers. Guitarist / vocalist  Jeff Massey and Eric Saylors lit up the crowd by dueling on lead guitar with some ear-catching riffs and progressions. Enjoyed their energetic set.
     Every once in a while, you swing and miss on a group that you think may be a good fit for a Blues Festival. I am a lover on many genres of music besides blues, but Super Doppler in my humble opinion was s super dud. Enough said.
     However things got a 100% better when Greyhounds made their way to the stage. From Austin Texas, this three piece band played their unique style of eclectic music that hit the whole spectrum of music styles. Keyboardist Anthony Farrell and guitarist Andrew Trube both share vocals and on stage they feed off each other to produce some extraordinary music. Greyhounds have opened and played with some great bands throughout the years including JJ Gray & Mofro, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gary Clark Jr. Check out their music catalog on itunes as they get ready to release a new recording in April:Cheyenne Valley Drive.
     ZZ Ward graced the stage as the sun was going down. Her smooth vocals and stage presence was second to none as her set ended way too soon for many of us. She played electric, acoustic guitars and added some harp to the mix. Ms Ward has collaborated musically with Gary Clark Jr, Robben Ford and others through the years and played an outstanding set at the Festival. So glad I was able to see her as many others were as well.
     Kenny Wayne Shepherd was the festival headliner for Saturday night. It has been a number of years since I have seen KWS, but his guitar work is  still some of the best in the business. Noah Hunt handles lead vocals on the majority of their songs but Kenny Wayne is stretching his wings and vocal chords to take on the entire payload of certain songs and he is shining in the process! Having a larger catalog of songs to choose from, The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band can easily fill up a hour & a half set. His show was indeed the highlight of the night.
     As is customary, I had in my possession,  the trusty Nikon and was able to document the days activities. Hope you enjoy.

   
   
   
     

Danielle Nicole Band

Venue: The Alley
Location: Sanford, FL
Date: December 8th 2017


The good folks at The Alley continue to raise the bar with the talent they are attracting right in our backyard of Central Florida. It will just keep getting even better in the new year as some of the best names in the blues have already been booked. Keep up the great marketing and booking strategy!
So it doesn't come as a surprise that one of the best kept secrets in blues rock played the Alley on a hot Friday night a few weeks ago in December. Danielle Nicole Schnebelen formerly of Trampled Under Foot with her brothers Kris and Nick Schnebelen, put that project on hold and is forging ahead with her own Kansas City creation; The Danielle Nicole Band formed in 2015. Her Debut recording; Wolf Den was released in September of that year, and ended up in the #2 Billboard Blues Album Charts. The Grammy award winning Danielle and the band have steadily been touring during that time. She has teamed up with Branden Miller on guitar, who is a top notch professional, showcasing his diversity with various tones and styles on electric, acoustic guitars and you guessed it -mandolin. Then, there is Danielle Nicole who is without question on the upper echelon of  blues talent today. Her range of vocals is simply phenomenal as is the variety of her repertoire which is amazing- from Led Zeppelin to Etta James and everything in between. Add to that her total mastery of the bass guitar which is off the charts as she plays effortlessly all the while directing the three piece, sometimes four piece touring band!  Yet another amazing musician rounded out the three piece on this night - Rodd Bland on drums - son of the legendary Bobby "Blue" Bland. His precise rhythms, shuffles and backbeat filled in so well with this band. Rodd of course played with his father and also another legend: The great BB King. So he knows his way around a drum kit.
The Danielle Nicole Band played two sets mixing in originals and their own takes on classic blues standards. A standout was Willie Dixon's stellar song: Spoonful. They also did plenty of acoustic material from the Live At The Gospel Lounge CD which I was able to get my hands on after the show! The Danielle Nicole Band was one of the best shows of 2017 at the Alley - I'm giving it 4 stars! I did have my trusty Nikon with me and was able to record a few frames. Enjoy those along with a video from Danielle Nicole's new CD to be released in February: Save Me. The title song downloadable now on Itunes features Kenny Wayne Shepherd on Guitar.

                                                                               

Bradenton Blues Fest 2017

This year's totally sold out blues extravaganza at beautiful Riverwalk park in Bradenton Florida had the entire crowd already thinking and planning for next years festival!
The perfecto Sunshine State weather always adds clout to the fact that this is one of the premier annual festivals in the entire country.
Florida's own Sean Chambers took the stage a 11 AM! His latest recording; Trouble & Whiskey is his best yet and he and his stage band delivered a stellar live set from this recent album of originals and covers. Great stuff from these guys from start to finish!
It seems every Bradenton Blues Fest has a surprise diamond in the ruff you didn't see coming! This year I got blind sided by Vanessa Collier who had the crowd wrapped around her little finger with her music that cleverly combines blues, funk, rock & soul! Vanessa has the "It" factor and she exudes confidence on stage that rivals performers twice her age. The new album Meeting My Shadow played well live on the Festival Stage. Her hour long set ended way to quickly! All good things come to an end and off stage, Vanessa spent the next entire hour and a half meeting, greeting, taking pictures and signing her CD. Enough said.
     Great Chicago Style blues was up next as the award winning Nick Moss Band was front & center. Nick through the years has served as an incubator for all kinds of talent that takes off on their own under his tutelage. Case in point Michael Ledbetter guitarist and unique vocalist that has recorded with several other blues greats (Ronnie Earl, Monster Mike Welch) For quite some time now Nick has featured Dennis Gruenling on harp and vocals front and center. It is a plus for the live band as it adds some depth and diversity to their Chicago Style sound. Their set was exhilarating and had the crowd just wanting more and more.
     Next up was a trip down to Cajun Country NewOrleans with Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. Chubby and company had the audience dancing and singing along. Veterans of blues festivals around the world, Cajun Music speaks to everyone.
     Sugar Blue with his serious harp attack followed. Curtis Salgado and Joe Louis Walker rounded out the day and we will feature them on another edition of East Coast Blues News.
     As is customary, I had my trusty Nikon with me in one hand and a Photo Media Pass around by neck, so was able to get a few frames for your viewing enjoyment. See you soon.