Ain’t nothing but the Blues
Once a year the city of Rockland comes alive with the sound of the Blues. For the past 16 years in a row, for two days in July, the blues can be heard everywhere you go in Rockland. Every kind of Blues imaginable with each act bringing something special to the stage.
Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12, our own local award winning blues promoters, Paul Benjamin of Rockland and Jamie Isaacson of Wayne brought some of the best blues available to the city for the 16th time for the North Atlantic Blues Festival.
Kenny Neal
While Saturday was a day of some different sounds, a mixture of soul, blues, R&B and a little rock as well, Sunday was a day of the blues.
Saturday started out with the Homemade Jamz Blues Band and this young group got things rolling in the right direction and were warmly received by the early morning crowd. Young Taya Perry stole the hearts of most everyone in attendance with her drumming and magical smile.
Eden Brent
Harper introduced everyone in attendance to a new instrument called the didgeridoo. It is part of his music genre that he describes as world-blues fusion. An Australian born musician, Harper is capable of playing many different types of festivals. Saturday he played the blues in his own unique style much to the delight of the audience.
James “Super Chikan” Johnson took the stage next and laid down an exciting brand of Mississippi blues that had people up out of their chairs and dancing everywhere they could.
For many the highlight of the day was the farewell appearance of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women. These ladies have traveled the world playing their own brand of the blues for many years and are in the middle of their farewell tour. Andra Faye (mandolin, violin, upright bass), Ann Rabson (keyboards) and Gaye Adegbalola (guitar, harmonica) along with their superb vocals and stage presence had the people’s attention from start to the all to soon finish. The Uppity Blues Women will be missed, but never forgotten by the thousands and thousands of fans and friends they have made over the years.
Zac Harmon is another Mississippi born musician that brings that southern Mississippi blues sound to the stage with passion and presence that few can match. Harmon rocked the crowd with uptempo blues played flawlessly with feeling, just the way it should be.
Taya Perry
The final act of Saturday was the legendary Bobby Rush, which this writer/photographer was unable to see due to previous engagements. However I was told by many backstage that Mr. Rush put on the type of show that one would expect from a headline act ready to close out the first day of one of the top blues festivals in the country.
Sunday morning came quickly and for anyone expecting to ease into the day they were in for the surprise of the festival when Eden Brent took the stage and proceeded to give everyone a solid wake up call. Brent on keyboards and vocals along with a bass player and drummer just turned up the heat with some outstanding boogie-woogie blues that set the tone for the day. Listening to Brent was like listening to Nora Jones jamming with Janis Joplin all wrapped up in one little package. For anyone that has not heard this young lady I highly recommend her latest CD “Mississippi Number One”. This CD has been playing on my computer almost non-stop since the festival.
As one can tell the theme of this years festival seemed to be Mississippi blues and the act that followed Brent was the incredibly talented Mississippi Heat. The difference is this band brought the Chicago Blues to the forefront like no other band all weekend. Pierre LaCoque on harp and vocals along with Carl Weathersby on guitar and vocals, with the rest of the Heat got the crowd up and dancing non stop.
That led to the Gunslinger, Jim Thackery, taking the stage, but no prisoners as he blazed through his set with his trio members The Drivers. Thackery, best known from his many years with The Nighthawks, is a guitar players guitar player. Blazing licks that he makes look so easy one would not believe the sound he is capable of producing. Thackery set the bar pretty high for the remaining acts to play the festival.
Joe Louis Walker took the stage and the crowd under his spell the minute he walked up the steps to the microphone and picked up his guitar. Walker has been around, from playing the blues early in to many years as a gospel singer before returning to the music he so dearly loves, the blues. Walker plays with such a passion and sings with his heart on his sleeve. A true blues man, Walker is a living legend that every blues fan should witness at least once.
The final act of the festival was the return to Maine of the incomparable Kenny Neal. Mr. Neal played the Strand Theatre in Rockland last year in the Harmonica Blowout and just stole the show. Sunday night at the New England Blues Festival would be no different. Neal, who has such a presence about him that makes people just want to listen to what this man has to sing about is amazing. I believe that Kenny Neal could play any form of music he chose and the people that heard him would become fans immediately.
Neal brought a large contingent of family members with him to perform in the Neal Family reunion. Each member of the family brought a new segment of the rich history of the Neal family to the stage. This is a family rich in musical history and Kenny is doing everything he can to preserve and add to that history. Again this is and act that every blues fan has to see. If you missed the NABF this year, find a place to see Kenny Neal. You will not be sorry.
Click here for the photo galleries of 10 acts from this years NABF
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