I recieved a number of press releases from the City of Chicago dealing with the upcoming Chicago Blues Fest. I will post them over the next few days. The Chicago Blues Festival is one of the great blues festivals in the United States, so make your plans now to attend.
Winter and Cotton Go Together at the
25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival
June 5-8, 2008 in Grant Park
Chicago is setting the stage for the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival, a lakefront tradition in beautiful Grant Park, June 5-8, 2008, with opening night headliners that honor the city’s first blues festival.
Just as in 1984, opening night pays tribute to Muddy Waters featuring headliners Johnny Winter and James Cotton, performing Thursday, June 5 at the Petrillo Music Shell.
Winter hasn’t performed at the event since the very first Chicago Blues Festival, creating a much anticipated and exciting show! For more than 30 years, the native Texan has been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in the rock and blues scene. His trademark sound shifts between simple country blues, to all-out electric slide guitar blues-rock. Winter has been nominated for several Grammy® awards, and most recently earned a W.C. Handy award.
Mississippi-born harmonica player James Cotton is a Chicago Blues Festival veteran. In 1954, Muddy Waters was in need of a harp player, introduced himself to Cotton and hired him for his band. Breakin’It Up, Breakin’ It Down is a recently released album featuring James Cotton, Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter during a brief tour. This evening’s set will reprise the one performed at the inaugural blues festival.
In 1984, the very first Chicago Blues Festival took place in Grant Park, paying tribute to Muddy Waters, who passed away the year prior. The three-night festival included performers such as Winter, Cotton, Bobby Rush, Buckwheat Zydeco, Billy Branch, Willie Dixon, Magic Slim, Sunnyland Slim, John Lee Hooker, and more.
Pinetop Perkins, Honeyboy Edwards and other blues luminaries in the Muddy Waters vein are scheduled for this year’s Chicago Blues Festival, while up-and-coming blues performers such as Fernando Jones and the Columbia College Blues Ensemble pave the way for the future of Chicago blues.
The festival has grown tremendously, and now features more than ninety performances on six stages and extended hours of 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Chicago Blues Festival is known world-wide
as one of the biggest and best Blues events on the planet, drawing hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to Grant Park, year after year.
Celebrating twenty-five years will be a memorable experience for people of all ages, with many exciting acts and programs featured, including larger seating areas, a children’s program, folk art from Mississippi, and more! Stay tuned for more headliners to be announced in the next few weeks!
Chicago Blues Festival is sponsored by 93XRT, Chicago Tribune, CLTV-Chicagoland’s Television, Dominick’s, Hinckley Springs, U.S. Cellular, WGN-Television and more generous sponsors to be announced. For more information, visit www.chicagobluesfestival.us or call 312/744-3315. For hotel information, visit www.choosechicago.com
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