Blues legends from Mississippi and Texas highlight the line up for the 18th Annual Carolina Blues Festival to be held on Saturday, May 8th at the new Center City Park, at the corner of Elm and Friendly in downtown Greensboro.

Big Jack Johnson, who honed his unique blues style in the Mississippi juke joints with the Jelly Roll Kings, will make his first Carolina Blues Festival appearance. W.C. Clark, considered by music critics as the Godfather of the Austin, TX blues scene, is also making his debut appearance at the annual blues event.

Also performing will be Ronnie Baker Brooks, the son of Chicago blues great Lonnie Brooks and a successful national recording artist in his own right; blues guitar virtuoso Cyril Lance of Carrboro; and acoustic delta bluesman Waymon "Buttermilk" Meeks, winner of the 2003 PBPS Talent Showcase.

The PBPS is joining forces for the first time with an outside arts group. This year's festival will be in conjunction with the Piedmont Jazz Festival, which is produced under the auspices of the Eastern Music Festival (EMF). The Carolina Blues Festival will be held during the two-week Piedmont Jazz Festival. As such, this year's collaborative event will be renamed The Piedmont Jazz & Blues Festival.

The 18th Annual Carolina Blues Festival welcomes back an old friend this May: the big tent! Hauser Rentals joins the event as a festival sponsor and will erect a 60x130 foot tent to house the stage and protect festivalgoers from any inclement weather.

In our efforts to continue to educate children about the blues heritage, the PBPS has added a kid's area, made possible with a grant from the United Arts Council of Greensboro, the NC Arts Council and the Grassroots Arts Program. The kid's area will include storytelling and performance, face painting and instrument making. Note that there's free admission for kids 12 years old and under.

Bank of America joins the Carolina Blues Festival as the official stage sponsor for this year. The Weaver Foundation has also supplied the PBPS with a grant for this year's festival. They join longtime Festival sponsors Rock 92 and WNAA. Other festival sponsors will be added as they come in. SMORBORD Creative, another of our Festival sponsors, will provide festival artwork for the forthcoming brochure, poster and t-shirt.

Check out this website for more information on this event, or call (336) 275-4944.

The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society is a non-profit all-volunteer organization dedicated to keeping the blues alive.