Blues News...from Rags

The Eureka Springs Blues Weekend lineup is FINALLY confirmed! I wish we could have relased it sooner, but we had a couple of offers rejected due to tour cancellations and had to come up with alternatives when our first choices weren't available. Then one of the artists was tied up in a family emergency, and I didn't get confirmation on them for a week! On top of that, we moved and held an Open House during all the contract negotiations, so please forgive us getting the lineup out here earlier. BTW, I checked, and previous lineups for ESBF were announced at the end of February, so hopefully we aren't very far behind...

Also, we are breaking the news here FIRST... to our beloved fellow Geekfesters!

Finally, thanks for the comments. I hope you will agree WE LISTENED to your concerns... Here is what I heard constantly about past ES Blues Festivals- too expensive and too many repeat artists. Well, we'll have a far more diverse lineup, including several artists who have never appeared in Eureka Springs. Also, there will be a lot of FREE music in Basin Park and around town, so the weekend can be very affordable. We haven't set the ticket prices for the major shows, but we are working very hard to keep the costs down so we can pass on the savings to you Blues Lovers.

The 2008 Eureka Springs Blues Weekend will be held on May 29, 30, 31 and June 1. Headliners at The AUD include the Queen of the Blues Koko Taylor on May 29, and Native American Blues Wonders Indigenous on May 30.

Opening for Koko Taylor will be 2008 International Blues Challenge winners Trampled Under Foot, featuring siblings Danielle, Nick and Kris Schnebelen. They bested some 100 bands from around the world at The Blues Foundation's annual battle of blues bands in Memphis last month. Danielle was the talk of Beale Street, wowing people with both her bass playing and her amazing vocals, and Nick won a new Gibson guitar and Category 5 amp for the Albert King Award for Most Promising Guitarist.

Opening for Indigenous will be acoustic guitar virtuoso Rory Block, and a 100th Birthday Tribute to Arkansas' own "Juebox King" Louis Jordan, featuring Phil Berkowitz and The Sean Carney Band. The Sean Carney Band was the 2007 IBC winner. For those who aren't familiar with Louis Jordan, he was born in Brinkley, Arkansas in 1908, and went on to chart 57 Top-40 hits (54 Top-10), including Let The Good Times Roll, Caledonia, Saturday Night Fish Fry, and Choo Choo Ch' Boogie.

Jordan's recordings were 1 Billboard hits for an amazing 28 weeks, and he still ranks in the top five R&B artists of all time. And we'll be throwing Louis a 100th birthday party as part of our little "Blues Celebration"!

Rory Block's recent album was an amazing tribute to Robert Johnson, so come prepared to hear lots of true blues from this awesome acoustic guitar-playing lady.

We'll also have major acts appearing in The Barefoot Ballroom in the Basin Park Hotel. Friday will feature Blues diva LZ Love and Baton Rouge Bluesman Larry Garner. LZ Love is an amazing vocalist and songwriter who has backed greats like Billy Preston and Mary Wells, and was featured on the compilation San Francisco Bay's Best Blues. Larry Garner is best known for his hit "Juke Joint Woman", and has appeared at festivals and Blues clubs around the world.

On Saturday evening The Barefoot Ballroom will feature the one and truly only Candye Kane, and Arkansas' own Michael Burks. Candye Kane has a huge, very diverse following, and gets a lot of airplay with her hit "White Trash Girl". Michael Burks will be touring to support a new Alligator Records CD, which will be released next month. Both artists and their bands are known throughout the world for high energy shows that get everyone up and boogieing from "can until can't"! Also, LZ Love will perform two club sets in the hotel's Ozark Room on Saturday.

Basin Park will host bands throughout the weekend, ending late Sunday afternoon. Acts appearing in Basin Park will include some of the bands playing in the clubs, as well as area artists eager to share their music with you and our visitors. Also, clubs across Eureka Springs will be featuring Blues artists, and some have really kicked it up a notch, bringing in some excellent regional acts.

Acts appearing in Basin Park and at the various clubs around Eureka Springs include The Ariels, Rich Berry, Geri 'Black and Blues', Delta Highway, The Eureka Street Buskers, Full House, Joe Geils and The Homewreckers, Scott Holt, Anna Horton, Gary Hutchinson Duo, Jones Van Jones, The Jug Band, Karian, Kosmik Debris, Jeff Lee, Brian Martin, Oreo Blue, Oysters Rockefeller, Joe Pitts Band, Patrick Sweany Band, Penelope and The Unusual Suspects, Pope County Bootleggers, Rockin' Jake, Spent, Stella Blue & Maddog, The Tablerockers, Lil' Dave Thompson, Underground Mafia, Vance Orange Project, Dayton Waters, as well as other acts still to be announced by a couple of venues!

We're still working on a new web site, and will send an announcement when it is up and running. We'll have schedules, ticket info, artist bios and info, area maps, club and restaurant listings, the works there as soon as possible.

Also, www.eurekasprings.org will have info on the Blues Weekend, so check there in the near future.

Just think... we have gone from having this festival "officially cancelled" just over a month ago to a stellar lineup that includes the QUEEN OF THE BLUES KOKO TAYLOR and one of the hottest young Blues acts today INDIGENOUS!

We have totally revamped the way the weekend has been done in the past, so we know some will be disappointed to not see shows in The AUD on Saturday, but we are working with a fraction of the talent budget they have had in the past. We'll crawl this year, hopefully walk next year, and then keep running and never look back! We are lucky to be Keeping the Blues Alive in Eureka Springs again this year, so please, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell everyone you meet- The Eureka Springs Blues Weekend is going to be a "True Blues Treat"!

Many thanks to Janet Alexander and the staff of the AUD for their help in putting this all together, Jack Moyer and the Basin Park and Crecent Hotels for their sponsorship and support, Jim Williams and the CAPC for their help and advertising support, the City of Eureka Springs for working with us to reduce the cost of security and keeping the trolleys running later, the clubs and venues for bringing dozens of acts to town, the Blues Foundation & area Blues Societies for their promotional support and volunteer help during the festival, and all the Blues fans who took the time to pass on their suggestions and concerns to make this weekend even better.

Of course, as with all musical endeavors, all artists, times and dates are subject to change!

The 2008 Eureka Springs Blues Weekend.... so much Blues that it will take four days to get it all played!