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| 1:00 Doors Open |
| 2:00 Big Road Blues It would not be a Festival without some good old stripped down traditional blues. That's where Asheville's Big Road Blues (www.myspace.com/bigroadblues) comes in. Winners of the 2007 PBPS Blues Challenge, this trio (which sometimes expands to a four piece band) is making a name for itself across the Southeast. Vocalist Peggy Ratusz, guitarist Duane Simpson and harmonica player Jill Fromewick (formerly of the Grit Pixies) play sinewy style of down-home traditional blues that impressed judges and fans alike at this year's International Blues Challenge in Memphis. |
| 2:45 Blues World Order It is amazing how fast a decade can go by. It seems like yesterday that four talented musicians joined together to form a quartet that personifies hard driving blues played with exceptional skill and verve. The year 2008 marks the ten-year anniversary of Blues World Order (www.bluesworldorder.com). It is only fitting that this auspicious occasion is celebrated by their very first appearance at the Carolina Blues Festival. Front man Mike "Wezo" Wesolowski has long been considered the premier harmonica player on the Triad blues scene. Bryan Smith's guitar chops have been honed and road tested to a razor's edge. Bobby "Wasabi" Kelly is perhaps the most accomplished bassist in the Southeast, having performed on over 50 recordings. Kelly Pace holds the foursome down with his powerful but fluid drumming. Their latest release, Live, captures BWO in their natural habitat: on stage playing the blues like there is no tomorrow. |
| 4:00 Chick Willis with the King Bees Based in Forsyth, GA, Chick Willis (www.chickwillis.com) has been serving up his raucous style of blues and R&B since the 1950's. Willis began performing in his late teens at the old Royal Peacock Club in Atlanta, backing up legendary singers like Jackie Wilson, Nappy Brown, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. He also joined his cousin Chuck Willis's band, and toured with that outfit until Chuck's death in 1958. Chick Willis emerged from this scene as an accomplished, versatile blues guitarist and performer. With no less than thirteen albums to his credit, including his latest release, I Did It All, Chick Willis still brings down the house touring blues clubs and festivals across America. In addition to being enshrined in the Blues Hall of Fame, Chick Willis was also named the "2006 Best Live Performer" by Living Blues Magazine. Backing up Chick Willis will be the King Bees (www.myspace.com/thekingbeesblues), from Todd, NC. The King Bees are a North Carolina blues fixture, fronted by guitarist/keyboardist Rob "Hound Dog" Baskerville and bassist "Queen Bee" Zamagni. They have backed up such blues legends as Bo Diddley, Billy Branch, Jerry McCain and Lazy Lester. |
| 5:45 Nora Jean Bruso As a child growing up in Greenwood, MS, Nora Jean Bruso (nee Wallace) (www.norajeanblues.com) would sneak out on Friday and Saturday nights and listen to blues singers who would perform at her grandmother's juke joint. She developed a life-long love for Howlin' Wolf and began singing professionally at age six. Nora Jean's big break came in 1985 when she joined the band of Chicago bluesman Jimmy Dawkins. She toured with Dawkins through the rest of the 80's, appearing on several of his LPs and at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1989. Bruso left the blues scene in 1991 to raise her two boys at home, but kept singing gospel in her church. She returned to the blues scene in 2001 and the rest is history. Bruso's debut CD was released in 2002, Nora Jean Bruso Sings The Blues, and later that year she again performed at the Chicago Blues Festival. The Chicago Sun-Times raved about her performance, calling it "show-stopping." Her latest CD, Going Back To Mississippi, was released in 2004 and featured 14 songs all written by Nora Jean. Today, Nora Jean Bruso tours the U.S. and abroad, bringing thousands of blues fans to their feet with her incredible vocal range and stage presence. |
| 7:30 Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience Zydeco returns in a big way this year at the Festival with the Grammy winning Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience (www.terrancesimien.com). Since his last appearance at the Carolina Blues Festival in 1995 at Castle McCulloch, Simien has become the standard-bearer of traditional and modern-day Zydeco music. He was born in the heart of French-speaking Creole country in Mallet, Louisiana, in St. Landry Parish. Simien's musical journey began at age 17. Since then, he has dazzled audiences world-wide with his incendiary live shows and diverse studio releases. In February of 2008, Terrance Simien made history as the very first recipient of a Grammy award in the category of Best Cajun or Zydeco Album for his hugely successful 2007 release, Live! Worldwide. |
| 9:15 Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials Chicago blues legends Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials (www.liledwilliams.com) will headline the 22nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival. Front man Lil' Ed Williams, who has been called the "king of the slide guitar," is among the last of the authentic West Side Chicago bluesmen. The nephew of the great Chicago blues guitarist J.B. Hutto, Lil' Ed and his raucous Blues Imperials have been touring and recording for 25 years. The Chicago Tribune raved, "Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to the raucous but pure Chicago blues." Ed Williams grew up in Chicago with his half-brother, James "Pookie" Young, who is Ed's bass player and co-founding member of the Blues Imperials. That band was formed in 1975; by day Lil' Ed worked at a car wash, and by night he and Pookie would play the blues clubs on the West Side. Eventually, Bruce Iglauer, owner of Chicago-based Alligator Records, signed them to a recording contract. Today, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials are one of Alligator's premier artists. Their latest in a long string of CDs for Alligator Records is entitled Rattleshake. As impressive as they are in the studio, this band is even hotter on stage. What with Lil' Ed's kinetic slide guitar, gritty vocals, acrobatic knee slides and leaps, it's no wonder the Boston Globe has dubbed the group "the number one houserocking band." |