The 2008 Summer of Blues

Festivals abound over the summer. Every weekend seems to have something going!

One new event in late June that was added to Big Cities calendar is Bernard Allison on Saturday June 27th. This will be a rocking time! More late June events: Stars and Guitars and The Rockin’ Rib Fest have joined forces June 26th to June 29th. Blue’s fans will especially enjoy Saturday’s events with Devon Allman’s Honeytribe and Dicky Betts and Great Southern.

MVBF is featured in the cover story. The following weekend is Bamfest; it is a Friday and Saturday event, July 11&12, at Belleville Community Park in Belleville, Wisconsin. The festival features Larry McCray, Wayne Baker Brooks, Eric Sardinas & Big Motor, Sonny Landreth, Robben Ford, and Jeremy Spencerthe Original Fleetwood Mac. Check it out at www.bamfest.net. Also on the 11th is Blues on Chicago, an annual Freeport IL event . This year it is featuring the Reverend Raven and the Cash Box Kings. 6 to 11 PM. Admission is only $3.

Nothing But the Blues Festival In Bloomington, IL is July 18&19 in Tri

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Lakes. Check it out at www.nothinbutthebluesfestival.com. Larry McCray, Janiva Magness, The Holmes Brothers and Thornetta Davis are featured there.

The next weekend is Prairie du Chein’s turn. Friday

-Saturday, July 25-26, 2008 is the Prairie Dog Blues Festival in Wisconsin. Check them out at www.prairiedog-

blues.com. Jason Ricci, Walter Trout, Nick Moss, Kilborn Alley, and Bernard Allison are but a few of their acts!

Charlottes’ Web has the Blues with Chubby Carrier July 13th at Klehm Arboretum and the Rockford Versus Beloit Guitar Shootout in Sinnissippi Park on July 25th.

The second annual Waukesha WI BluesFest, will be held August 8 and 9, 2008 at Naga

-Waukee Park in Delafield, Wisconsin. Doyle Bramhall headlines on Friday and Popa Chubby on Saturday. Check http://www.waukeshabluesfest.com/.

The Fargo Blues Fest is the next weekend., Friday and Saturday August 5 and 16. For complete, up to date information on this and all festivals, check out www.blues-festivalguide.com. It is a great on line resource.

Closing out the month of August is the 25th anniversary of On the Waterfront in Rockford. The festival begins with a Styx concert on the Great Lawn on Thursday the 28th, and goes into full swing Friday through Sunday. The Left Bank Stage features blues, and fans will love the headlining artists there this year. Tab Benoit will close out Friday evening the 29th with his brand of cajun blues. Saturday the 30th features the ever

-youthful and soulful Bettye LaVette. Bettye was honored with the Best Contemporary Female Artist ard at this years’ Blues Music Awards while Tommy Castro received honors as both the BB King Entertainer of the Year and for Best Contemporary Blues Alum. Tommy is featured on Sunday the 31st as part of the Legendary Rythym and Blues Revue, along with Deanna Bogart, Magic Dick and Ronnie Baker Brooks. It will be a wild finale to a great weekend of music! Barstool Bob Levis and his Band, New Orleans’ Trombone Shorty, Madison’s Westside Andy and a host of other acts will be playing over the weekend, too. Check it out at www.onthewaterfront. om.. It’s going to be a great summer of blues music!!!

Mississippi Valley Blues Festival July 3-5 Will Go On- Come Hell or High Water!

The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival is always a big a event for Crossroads Blues Society members. The relaxed atmosphere, the great music and great setting get our members out in numbers that are equal to (if not better than) some of our meetings! This year’s festival is over the 4th of July; it begins on Thursday evening the 3rd and runs through Saturday night the 5th of July this year.

The location of the festival is still being determined. With the flooding of LeClair Park in Davenport twice this year, the park may not be ready to support this year’s festival. Despite the flood waters rising, the festival organizers assure us that the fest will go on! Check out the Mississippi Valley Blues Society (MVBS) website for the announcement of the location: www.mvbs.org.

This year’s lineup is another great one for blues fans. The organizers from MVBS have done a great job getting a lot of great talent to perform. We appreciate their efforts to stay afloat and make this great event happen despite the regional flooding in Iowa and Illinois. Many members are going, so car pooling and room sharing opportunities abound! Come on out and have a great time and help keep the blues alive!

Mississippi Valley Blues Festival July 3-5

For twenty-four years, volunteers of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society have been organizing and presenting the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. The three-day festival is held each year over the 4th of July weekend in picturesque LeClaire Park on the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa. Through the care and attention paid in selecting performers to represent a variety of blues styles and the down-home non-commercial atmosphere of the fest, over the years the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival has become recognized as one of the finest blues fests in the country. This year’s edition will be held from Thursday, July 3 through Saturday, July 5. We hope you’ll join us for a great weekend of blues music!This site has information pertaining to the festival, from the line up to ticket and hotel information.


Advance tickets for the 2008 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival are now available at all IH Mississippi Valley Credit Untion locations, the River Center/Adler Theatre box office and through Ticketmaster®. A three-day pass for the Fest is available in advance for $40. The admission price at the gate will be $18 per day, so the three-day pass offers a significant savings. Mississippi Valley Blues Society and IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union members will also be able to purchase individual fest tickets in advance at a discounted rate of $15 each at all IHMVCU locations.
Ticket purchases through the RiverCenter/Adler can be mailed to you if you include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your check or money order. There is a handling fee for mail orders. The box office can also deliver your tickets to the Will Call table at the Ripley Street Festival Entrance.



Ticket purchases through Ticketmaster are subject to a per ticket service charge.
RiverCenter/Adler Theater Box Office
136 East Third Street
Davenport, IA 52801
(563) 326-8555
www.riverctr.com
mailto: boxoffice@riverctr.com
Ticketmaster® retail outlets do not accept phone orders.
Advance ticket holders will receive one half-hour early gate admission.

Barstool Bob CD Release Party at Leombruni's in Byron June 21st

More history to be made! Byron's first CD release party ever!

Barstool Bob Levis and his band will be in Byron on Saturday, June 21st at Leombruni's Italian Village. The show will be from 9:30 PM to 1 AM. Bob and the band are celebrating the release of their new CD, Barstool Blues and will be featuring selections from the CD and a host of great rocking Chicago-style blues tunes!

The evening will feature Bob and 5 band members playing in the restaurant area, so there is plenty of room for the show. Come out and enjoy a great musical experience and come early to have an authentic Italian meal before the show! Cover charge is only $5.


The new disc features dynamic guitar work from Mr. Levis, who has toured and recorded with blues greats like Lonnie Brooks and Otis Rush in addition to performing for seventeen years as a member of the house band at the Kingston Mines club in Chicago.

Levis is the consummate musician, admired by guitar players all over the world for his stellar rhythm guitar work. This recording is the first that focuses on Bob’s equally impressive skills as a lead player.

The disc was recorded at Fuse Productions in Rockford with many of the best blues musicians in the area including Steve Ditzell on guitar & vocals , Brother Dave Kaye on bass, Big Jim Johnson on vocals & harmonica, Link Leary on drums, Ted Lawrence on harmonica, Larry Pendleton on vocal & guitar and Dave Wood on guitar. Special guests include Westside Andy Linderman on harmonica, Jimmy Voegeli on keyboards and Marty Binder on drums. Lonnie Brooks is the featured vocalist on a stirring version of “I Can’t Hold Much Longer.”

"... the instrumentation—especially Levis’s playing—and choice of material is outstanding ..." - Karen McFarland for IllinoisBlues.com


Featuring thirteen tracks and over 73 minutes of hard-hitting Chicago style blues, this recording documents the outstanding talent in the Rockford musical community. Tracks like the brooding “Double Trouble” or the rousing instrumental “Barstool Breakdown” are sure to please blues fans all over the world.

"...thirteen tracks of very authentic, string-bending, blues-harp blowing, gut-shouting boogie and blues..."
- Bert Saraco for http://www.tollbooth.org/

The disc was produced and released by Big Paw Records, a new and upcoming blues record label. Copies of the disc are also available for purchase on-line at CD Baby.com.
Bob lives in the Rockford area and he has played before in Byron and in cities all over the world. For advanced tickets or more information, call Steve Jones from the Crossroads Blues Society at 815-234-3118. You can get more info about Bob at http://www.myspace.com/boblevis. Copies of the CD and information about the blues will be available at the show. This is a unique event and a show you do not want to miss!

Smokin’ Joe Kubec and Bnois King

Live and Smokin’

June 13th, 9 PM Big Cities Lounge

$15 cover

A Rosemary Production
For more info contact Joe Geraghty at joeygiii@att.net for info

Barstool Bob CD Release Party March 1 at Big Cities

History will be made at Big Cities on March 1st. Barstool Bob Levis will release his first ever CD with him leading a band! This is an event not to be missed. This will be the first opportunity to purchase the CD, and you can be among the first to buy this monumental musical achievement and to listen to the artists live!

This is the first release for Big Paw Records whose logo is featured below. For those of you who have see our illustrious Society President Mark Thompson in a tank top, you will understand why this logo exists. Otherwise, you will have to ask him yourself. Mark and Bob produced the CD and it features a host of talent helping out on the recording.

Check out the official CD review inside this issue. CDs are $15 each and will be available at the party. Come on out for this show– you will not want to miss it! This is another Rockford first in the blues music world and you can be a part of the action. Special guest– Lonnie Brooks!

Bob Levis Interview by Dave Stine

I sat down with Bob Levis at Big Cities during the belated Crossroads Blues Society Christmas Party/meeting and Reverend Raven gig to talk with him about his upcoming CD, Barstool Blues.

At first Bob was a little hesitant to talk to me, since I’d recently become somewhat of the Simon Cowell of blues reviewing for newsletter. He said I was pretty “brutal” to Grady Champion, Charles Burton, and even Howlin’ Wolf. I told him, I just call ‘em as I see ‘em, but that he didn’t need to pre-worry. (NOTE: Wolf did call me from beyond the grave to ask “how many more years” was I gonna wreck his life!)

Anyway, about the CD. First, for those of you who don’t know--and I can’t imagine who you’d be--Bob was guitarist for both Lonnie Brooks and Otis Rush back in the day. You’ll see his name pop up on Cold Day in Hell, Live at Kingston Mines, and other albums that may be floating around library. He moved to Rockford a few years ago, and he hosts a Wednesday night blues jam at Big Cities as well as adding guitar to Ernie and The Po’Boys.

I asked Bob how the CD came about and he said some things happen; some things you make happen; and some things just seem to happen on their own. He is very thankful that all the various things DID come together at one time: a financial backer (Mark Thompson), some great players (see below), a studio (see below), and the opportunity to combine all these things. Locals should recognize all the players on the CD. Bob had been in Chicago when Steve Ditzell was with Koko Taylor and Junior Wells. They knew of each other but had never played together. Steve also transplanted to Rockford over 10 years ago. Hanging out at Big Cities allowed Bob to hook up with Steve and Dave Kaye and some of the other players on the CD. Bob doesn’t sing so put out the call to people like Steve, who he knew could help him with the project. His old friend Lonnie Brooks contributes a song, as does Larry Pendleton from Ernie and the Po’Boys. Big Jim Johnson, another local icon, sings and plays harp on the disc as well. The rhythm section is Dave Kaye and Marty Binder (mostly). I can’t even begin to mention with whom both of these men have played--the list is too long. Other players on the CD include Westside Andy and Jimmy Voegeli from the Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band, Teddy Lawrence from Johnny and the Boomers and Cross Eyed Cat, and Dave Wood from????

Bob warned me that the CD breaks no new ground: it’s just a blues album. He wanted a CD of blues played “the way it should be played” and nothing more. He picked people to play whose style he knew would fit with what he and Mark wanted to do. There were no band rehearsals, just various players in the studio, live, who he told to “play what you know.”

Bob and Mark used Miles Nieslen’s The Fuse studio and appreciated to care that Miles, and Chris French took with the project. (NOTE to Tricksters--dad Rick dropped by during the Lonnie Brooks recording.)

Mark Thompson acted as executive producer and Bob as producer. I don’t know what these titles mean, but I think that means Mark had the final say. Arrangements were simply talked out. Most songs were complete in 1 or 2 takes.

The gear head in me wanted to know what guitar(s) Bob used, but I already knew the answer. Although this isn’t an Otis Rush tribute, Bob relies heavily on his mentor’s tone, so he used his red Epiphone Riviera.

I told Bob that I am a HUGE Otis Rush fan, that I was familiar with most of the players, and really look forward to hearing the CD (I got a pre-release copy that night).

So, with no further adieu . . . see the review on http://crossroadsreviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/barstool-blues-reviewed-by-david-stine.html

Crossroads Blues Society News and Notes by Steve Jones

In addition to the Bob Levis CD release party on March 1, we have a lot of other stuff to report on. We are a busy club and things are happening every month.

We are working on the remainder of the Spring semester BITS programs. At press time we had no specifics, but look for the Spring to be all local acts supporting our programs. We have a lot of strong BITS acts in both Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, and we intend to use them! Stay tuned for more info.

Wednesday March 26th at Big Cities is a big night. We are sponsoring a show entitles “A Tribute to Little Walter.” Harp players Dennis Gruenling and Steve Guyger with guitar player Doug Deming will be featured that night starting early at 8 PM. Dennis is releasing a CD entitled “Just Keep Lovin” Him: A tribute to Little Walter” and this will be one of the stops on the CD release tour. It will be a great show so get there early to get a good seat!

We got some good press in the Rockford Register Star and Rock River Times for Pistol Pete’s BITS shows, but then a larger scale article in the RR Star came out on February 2nd as part of the Black History Month Celebration which was entitled “Blues Survival: Has modern music forgotten its roots?” by Edith Webster of the Register Star. Mark Thompson and Crossroads get quoted and mentioned in the well-done piece.

And lastly, the RAMI Awards! Don't forget to vote in the RAMI Awards - Crossroads is nominated in the Musical Outreach Organization category. It is free to vote and you can help our club get recognition that may elp us to get more funding and grants so we can do more to keep the blues alive. Check it out and vote at:
http://www.ramiawards.com/

March and April will be busy months. Come on out and support the blues and

Presidents Corner by Mark Thompson

In January, The Crossroads Blues Society received confirmation that the Rockford Area Arts Council had awarded us a $1,000 grant to help fund our 2008 Blues in the Schools programs. The Arts Council has been supporting our efforts since we started BITS. We thank them once again for their confidence and support of our programs. Please consider signing up for an individual membership to the Arts Council. A one year membership starts at $25. They certainly deserve our support !!
We also want to thank several people who made recent donations of CDs to the Crossroads CD Library.
- member David Stine donated about ten discs from his personal collection, including several Duke Robillard discs
- Member Kevin Becker contributed 45 promo discs from Borders Books in Rockford. Most of these titles were not currently in the library. Kevin manages the store that has a Blues cd section that is #1 in sales in the company !!!
- Karen Howard of Charlotte's Web contributed several new releases from the Blind Pig label - Poppa Chubby, Webb Wilder live and Nappy Brown.

Thanks to their generosity, the library is chock full of great stuff for your listening pleasure !!

Remember that any current member can check out up to five CDs from the library at one time. The library is available at each Crossroads general membership meeting.

BITS Programs with Pistol Pete are Another Huge Success for Crossroads Blues Society!

On January 16th our Crossroads Blues Society presented Blues in the Schools (BITS) with Pistol Pete. We presented the program to about 620 students. Approximately 400 students at Nashold Elementary school attended and about 400 of them shook Pete’s hand or hugged him after the show. We also had about 120 music students at Lincoln Middle School attend the BITS program. The middle school students were into music and asked numerous questions, including, “What is your favorite color?”. For the record, purple is Pete's color of choice.

Pete did a fine job of performing and explaining the history of Blues and the value of getting an education. He also had to put up with Harmonica Joe on stage. It took little to no coaxing to get Joe up there; for those of you who know Joe this will not come as a surprise. Actually, Pete would probably had to forcibly restrain Joe from playing as it is believed that Joe arranged this as part of Pete’s agreement to work with us.

In all seriousness, Joe did a great job arranging the programs and escorting Pete around. It was also good to have other Society members attend the shows. Pat Reilly , Mark Thompson and Rick Hein attended at least one of the BITS programs. We would like to give a special thanks to Rick Hein for all his help with BITS.

Both the Rockford Register Star and Rock River Times showed up at Nashold School to cover Blues in the Schools programs. The Register Star article featured a picture of Pistol Pete, another of the students and a nice article about the program. The Rock River Times also featured the programs in a fine article with pictures.

At Lincoln MS, Joes’ granddaughter Aubrey got to be on stage with Pete and was also thanked by the Band Director for getting her Grandpa to bring BITS to Lincoln. A good time was had by all.

BITS trivia: Pete really likes the new Kentucky Fried Chicken hot wings.