Worth a Drive: The Chenango Blues Festival, August 20

The Nippertown website you’re scanning right now daily proves that New York’s Capital Region has an amazingly eclectic blend of music of just about every genre in existence. Not only are we able to see music of every possible description from local to international, but generally speaking the quality of the acts that perform is the envy of the editors I write for around the world. That this market is somewhere below the top 40 in size of all discrete markets in the country makes the stats on who performs here all the more amazing.

That said, it’s been almost two decades since the 518 area code had a genuine blues festival. The closest we come to a real deal showcase of blues artists that represent a cross-section of blues from contemporary to traditional, acoustic to electric, solo acts to big bands, is happening Saturday, August 20^th. The Chenango Blues Festival is about a two-hour drive down into the foothills of the southern tier. Trust me, it’s worth the drive. In 11 hours of constant music that seesaws back and forth from the main stage to a tent, you will get an overview of the entire blues genre by nine acts, all of which are A to A+ talents.

This 2016 winner of the Blues Foundation’s Blues Festival of The Year Award is run by Pam and Eric Larsen.  They’ve been doing this for almost two decades. You can set your watch by their scheduling. The sound is professional, the crowds next door friendly, and the vendors varied. 

This year’s lineup is amazing and offers an overview of the current scene that disproves those who claim the “real deal” scene is dead. I would expect to see this lineup only at festivals in Arkansas or Mississippi or in major markets, and even then to pack this many great acts into one day is unusual.

Here’s the lineup.

11:30 to 12:15 Misty Blues Band (main stage)

This western Massachusetts six-piece band under the direction of Gina Coleman for 19 years was good enough to have headliner Joe Louis Walker join them on stage last fall at Cohoes Music Hall. They made it into the finals of the Blues Foundation’s 2019 International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Coleman disappears into the group’s all-original numbers like a contemporary Bessie Smith living the lyrics. She is not just channeling the song. Her songs drive her, and she disappears into them like a vessel through which the music is revealed. Like Alexis P. Suter without the top hat, she is mesmerizing.

12:30 to 1:45 Annika Chambers (main stage)

Annika cites gospel great Shirley Caesar as an early influence. She honed her chops performing during two tours of duty in the Army with a band that performed in Kosovo and Iraq. She was nominated for a 2015 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist, and her sophomore release, Wild & Free, debuted at #7 on the Billboard Blues chart! She and her House Rules Band have performed at festivals around the world.

1:45 to 2:45 Corey Harris and Cedric Watson (tent)

Fundamentally a traditionalist blues guitarist, Harris mixes influences from New Orleans to the Caribbean. He studied African linguistics in Cameroon and has recorded for Alligator, Rounder, and Telarc Records. His 1999 album Greens from the Garden covered New Orleans funk, R&B, reggae, and hip-hop. 

2:45 to 4:00 Altered Five Band (main stage)

These blues rockers from the Midwest write original music with lyrics like “If your heart went public, I’d buy a hundred shares of stock.” They create hard-driving electric blues that pays homage to the music’s colorful past while referencing contemporary life. It’s a balancing act. “We make sure that everything we do in the studio we can do live and sometimes even cooler live when it’s stripped down,” says guitarist Jeff Schroedl. “I guess from an equipment standpoint we’re all trying to get the best sound.”

4:00 to 5:00 EG Kight Trio (tent)

Nicknamed “The Georgia songbird,” EG Kight is one of my favorite blues vocalists. This singer, songwriter, and guitar player recently told American Songwriter: “Blues is about capturing a genuine feeling and being real, rather than trying to get a lyric or phrase right.”  This 25-year performing veteran came to the blues through country music and raises goats on her property in Georgia.

5:00 to 6:15 Nick Moss wsg Dennis Gruenling (main stage)

Nick Moss is a 30-year American Chicago blues veteran who has mastered South and West Side Chicago blues guitar but is not above mixing it with rough and tumble rock and roll. He has released 13 albums to date, all on his own label, Blue Bella Records, and played with Buddy Scott, Jimmy Dawkins, Jimmy Rogers and the Legendary Blues Band.  He has partnered with harmonica player Dennis Gruenling since 2016.

6:15 to 7:30 Teresa James and The Rhythm Tramps (tent) 

This Texas-bred, L.A.-based songstress and her band, the Rhythm Tramps, were nominated for a Grammy in the Contemporary Blues Album category for their 2019 CD Here in Babylon. Her band consists of players that have toured or recorded with artists including Eric Burdon & the Animals, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Reed, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimmy Vaughan, Johnny Nash, Smokey Robinson, Tom Jones, and Tower of Power. This 23-year veteran is a staple of the L.A. scene.

7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Jimmie Vaughan (main stage)

A veteran of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie has lived under his more famous brother’s shadow for decades. In 2019 he told me. “I already was doing a different thing. So, if Stevie were here right now, it would be interesting to see how he played, but when you’re young and you’re out there having a good time and – ” 

He paused.

“This is not to take away from Stevie’s playing. I don’t want you to think that. I’m just trying to explain why he did all that.”

I spent an evening with Jimmie at the Tower of London shortly after his brother’s passing, but that’s another story. It was Eric Clapton that pulled him back on stage after his brothers’ passing. “I’m grateful that Eric got me to play ’cause I didn’t know what to do and how to handle a group at the time. I had left the Thunderbirds, and I was just in turmoil. Like, what do you do with all this information? Where do you put it? Where’s my place in it? You know what I mean? So, anyway, that was my first outing, and I’ve been playing ever since. So, I think it was good for me that Eric got me out of the house and away from myself.”

9:00 to 10:15 Southern Avenue (tent)

This five-piece blues and soul blues band from Memphis caused more buzz than any other act I can remember when they reached the finals in The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in 2016. Formed in 2015, they took their name from a street in Memphis running from the easternmost part of the city limits to “Soulsville”, which was the original home of Stax Records. To say that vocalist Tierinii (pronounced Tear Knee) Jackson was ready to cut loose when she left home in Memphis after high school would be an understatement. By the time she met Israeli native Ori Naftaly and formed Southern Avenue at age 25, she was simultaneously singing in seven different dance bands with names like Party Jammers and Soul Collective.

They are a spectacular live act!

For those who can’t wait that long, the action gets started on Friday night, with performances from The Hi-Jivers at 5:30, Angel Forrest at 7:15, and Popa Chubby at 9:00.