The T-Bone Walker Blues Fest will be held June 3-4 in the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center in Longview. Headline artists appearing at the 11th annual Blues Festival will include three-time Grammy Award winner Keb’ Mo’. The visionary roots music storyteller’s recent album, “BLUESAmericana” was awarded the Blues Music Association’s Best Contemporary Blues Album of 2015. Keb’ Mo’ and his three-piece band will headline the Friday night program June 3rd.
Opening for Keb’ Mo’ on Friday night will be Toronto, Ontario blues guitarist, singer, music historian Danny Marks. Marks may be known to local blues fans as the host of an acclaimed documentary series “Cities in Blue” that featured stories of numerous blues musicians, including many from Texas.
A fan favorite from the 2015 festival, The Eric Gales Band, will be returning for both Friday and Saturday night performances. Other returning artists, from the 2014 and 2015 events, will be Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Buddy Flett, Matthew Davidson Band, the Ally Venable Band, and Jimmy Wallace and the Stratoblasters.
Artists new to the festival this year are Roy Gaines and his Orchestra “Tuxedo Blues,” Andrew “Junior Boy” Jones with Kerrie Lepai, Gary “Whitey Johnson” Nicholson, Edwin Holt’s Red Clay Roadhouse, Miss Marcy & Her Texas SugarDaddy’s, and Robin and the Mystics.
A number of artists who played the festival during its years in Linden, prior to 2014 when it moved to Longview, will return for 2016. They include Mel Davis & the Blues Specialists, A. J. and the Two Tone Blues Band, Rafael Espinoza Band, and Big Gus and Swampadelic.
The T-Bone Walker Blues Fest is named for the iconic musician Aaron Thibeaux Walker, who was born in 1910 near Linden, Texas. He was a transformational figure in blues and rock music development, and is a member of both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The festival is a fundraiser for the nonprofit corporation whose mission is to showcase contemporary blues musicians and promote a strong future for ‘The Blues’ genre. Ticket information and music performance schedules are available at the website www.T-BoneWalkerBluesFest.com. News and information about the festival and blues artists can also be found on the festival’s Facebook page.
