New site for Festival Preview

Hello festival-goers,

Festival Preview has recently gone through a major site upgrade and will now be posting festival news for all genres on the new beta version of FestivalPreview.com. The R&B section of the new site can be found here. Come sign up at the new site and join in on the fun!

Jessica Bailiff
Publishing Associate
Festival Preview

Jus' Blues Music Awards

In association with the Beale Street Merchants' Association, the Beale Street Development Corporation and the Memphis Convention & Visitors' Bureau, the Jus' Blues Music Foundation will host the Jus' Blues Music Awards Week in downtown Memphis.

The event runs from August 6th through August 9th, and features the Beale Street Blues Crawl and the Big Chitlin' Cook-Off and Blues Fest. Other parts of the Awards Week include the Awards Ceremony itself, which will recognize the work of great artists in the blues and soul genres and a technology conference focusing on how new technology can be used to promote, market and affect sales.

More information on the Awards Week can be found on the Jus' Blues Music Foundation's official site.

Renegade Reggae Festival

The Renegade Reggae Festival takes place at the Truckee Ampitheater on July 26th, with doors at 4:00 and music starting at 4:30. Featuring such artists as Prezident Brown, Mystic Roots, Pato Banton, Salvador Santana and Del Castillo, the festival should be quite a feast of enjoyable vibes.

Tickets for the festival are $25 in advance, simple as that. Fore more info and to buy tickets, go to the festival promoter, Renegade Presents's, official webpage for the festival here.

California Worldfest Not Affected by Wildfires

Contrary to what most of you are probably thinking with regards to the 1000+ wildfires that have been ravaging the forests and inland region of California, the California Worldfest, which takes place in the Sierra Foothills is still on.

Festival organizers confirmed that the festival will go on as planned on July 17th through the 20th at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds, and attributed the festival's viability to the work of local firefighters, suggesting that there may have been a serious chance of cancellation at one point. To find out more about Worldfest tickets and such, go here.

Mohawk Valley Blues Festival

The gates will open for the Mohawk Valley Blues Festival at noon on August 22 at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Utica, IN. A longtime fundraiser for various causes including aid for Hurricane Katrina victims and the Humane Society, the festival this year will donate some of its proceeds to Operation Sunshine, a coalition of various local branches of organizations such as the Salvation Army, the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts. The coalition brainstorms community service projects to be implemented throughout the Utica Area

The headline act for this year's festial is Magic Slim and the Teardrops, with supporters Darrell Nulisch, Sharrie Williams & the Wiseguys and Clarence Spady.

Tickets for the festival are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate, with children 16 and under getting in free.

To find out more about the festival, go to the event's official website.

Northwest Reggae Fest set for August 8-10

The Northwest World Reggae Festival will go down on the 8th, 9th and 10th of August in Marcola, OR, returning to Bob Russell's Ranch. The festival, whose organizers cannot stress the "no dogs" rule enough, features headliners Midnite, NOMO and Macka B, with supports Queen Omega, Warrior King and Fareed Haque.

Besides the mainstage live performances, there will be Dancehall Dome in operation throughout the night, wit Mt. Lion Hifi spinning tracks, and selectors on the festival's mainstage will include Trinity Soundz, Small Axe, Short Change and Kal-El.

Three-day passes including camping are $100, while tickets for just Saturday and Sunday with camping are $90 and tickets for Sunday without camping are $40. Three day and Saturday/
Sunday tickets are available on the 'net, at ticket outlets and at the gate, and Sunday-only tickets are available just online and at the gate.

For more info, go to www.nwworldreggae.com.

Reggae Summer Fest lineup announced

The Budweiser Reggae Summer Fest will start at 1 pm on September 7 in Washington D.C.'s RFK Stadium and will run through 10 pm. Headliners include Beres Hammond & the Harmony House Singers, Kymani Marley, I-Wayne, Turbulance and many more.

In between live sets, tunes will be spun by selektors Half Krazy, Amplex with Glamour G and DJ Chick and Rasta Punch/Teacha from local radio station WPFW.

Advance tickets for the festival are $35 or $65 fo VIP passes, while the gate price is $40 for regular access and $80 for VIP access.

For more info on the festival, call (202) 340-6399 or go to the festival's website

15th annual Tremblant International Blues Festival starts on (U.S.) Independence Day

The Tremblant Internaitonal Blues Festival, held at the Mont-Tremblant Resort in Quebec, is off and running today. The festival really gets going tommorrow, with Johnny Winter headlining, and then just takes off from there.

On Monday, the festival will hold an acoustic mini-festival of sorts, the Acoustic Summit, which will feature Ryan Leblanc, Steve Marriner, Hot Toddy, Dawn Tyler & Paul Deslauriers, Trever Finlay and Steve Strongman.

Tuesday consists of a tribute to the late Jeff Healey with his blues band performing, while Wednesday will see Los Lobos with opener Ana Popovic.

Friday is another mini-festival celebrating women in blues-- it's titled "Grandes Dames du Blues"-- featuring Dawn Tyler Watson, Shakura S'Aida, Angel Forrest and Nanette Workman.

Saturday sees Bill Walsh, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith will close out the festival with Pinetop Perkins, who will be celebrating his 95th birthday.

A final plus is the green initiatives the festival has taken, using recycled paper whenever possible, urging volunteers, artists and visitors to do the same, and avoiding products that are non-recyclable or hard to recycle.

To get more info on the festival go to the resort's website.

19th annual BBQ & Blues in Auburn, CA

The 19th annual BBQ & Blues is set to kick off at 1:00 p.m. on July 12 at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn, CA. Headliners of the festival are Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine, as well as Coco Montoya and Cole Fonseca and the Rattlers. Besides the awesome lineup, the festival has another thing going for it-- it helps fund the Placer County SPCA, which in turn helps homeless companion animals throughout the County.

At the 1:00 gate time, festivalgoers will get access to hot local talent as well as more than 35 vendors selling food, arts and crafts, jewelery, and, in spirit with the festival's cause, pet-related items.

Tickets cost $25 if bought in advance and are $35 at the gate. Tickets can be obtained through the Placer SPCA either online or by calling either of two numbers, (916) 782-7722 ext. 102 or (530) 885-7387 ext. 102.

MVBF quickly switches venues to Davenport

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society has decided to move the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival from its former LeClaire Park location to downtown Davenport, IA. Because of its being right on the banks of the Mississippi River, the Park has been deemed too dangerous a venue to hold the festival in the midst of the massive flooding that has gripped Iowa in recent weeks.

The festival, which brings an economic benefit of $2.5 million to the Quad Cities area, will utilize the streets of downtown Davenport as well as the city's Adler Theater for its activities. While considering LeClaire Park the festival's "home location," festival spokesperson Karen McFarland sees the event as potentially serving a major purpose this summer no matter where it is held, stating, "By the holiday, people will be needing a break from cleanup efforts, or looking for a festival to attend because of their hometown festival cancellations. We Welcome everyone to come to the Quad Cities and enjoy three great days of world-class music, great food and lots of fun with family and friends."

Some of the cancelled local events McFarland referred to included Burlington's Steamboat Days, Cedar Rapids' Freedom Festival, and Cedar Falls' Sturgis Falls events.

Featured performers at this year's Blues Festival include Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, Denise LaSalle, Otis Taylor and the Black Banjo Project, Billy Boy Arnold with Jody Williams and The Homes Brothers.

Advance three-day passes for the festival are $40 while one-day passes are $15 at the gate. Children 14 and under get in for free. To find out more go to the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's website.

Martha's Vineyard Festival expands in second year

By Dan Ruby

Continuing its busy summer of producing new, expanded and reprogrammed festivals, Festival Network announced plans for a more ambitious but still single-day Martha's Vineyard Festival on August 10.

Unlike last year when the program was a Boston Pops concert with special guests, this year supplements a Pops program featuring Gladys Knight with individual performances by The Neville Brothers, Steel Pulse, piano sensation Minami Morita, and three Vineyard-based performers, Willy Mason, Kate Taylor, and Entrain with Phil DaRosa.

Besides more music, the festival introduces an arts component with an exhibit of "Tribal Art on the Vineyard," showing August 2-3 at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. The festival is also featuring a new film, Zeb - Schooner Life, which will screen all summer at several island locations.

The festival is in Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs MA. Gates open at 1:30 and the music program begins at 3 pm. General admission is $75. A portion of the fee goes to benefit local community organizations. For ticket information and details, visit the festival website.

Festival Network is smart to be growing this festival year over year, integrating it with local activities and choosing an eclectic musical format ranging from classical to folk to R&B. In future years, this could be a full-blown multiday event that would be embraced by the island's year-round and summer residents as a homegrown cultural institution.

By contrast, Festival Network jumped right into two-day festivals with its two new festivals in Jackson Hole WY (August 16-17) and Whistler BC (July 19-20). All three events share a common theme in their siting in resort destinations and eclectic musical lineups.

Pitchfork fest to host discussion about seminal Public Enemy record

Announcement by Future of Music Coaltion

On Thursday, July 17, an important piece of hip-hop history gets its due. Future of Music Coalition is teaming up with the Pitchfork Music Festival to host a discussion about Public Enemy's seminal album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The free event – which features members of PE's production team and music media experts – will take place at 3 PM at the Chicago Cultural Center's Claudia Cassidy Theater.

When Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in 1988, it sounded like nothing else at the time. The album's sirens, squeals and squawks were met by fluid beats and frontman Chuck D's unflinchingly observant rhymes. Twenty years later, the record is still considered one of hip hop's finest achievements. It Takes a Nation fused politics and music in unprecedented ways, creating a dense sound collage of rhythm, noise and the voices of 20th century black leaders.

The in-depth discussion taking place in Chicago will explore the making of It Takes A Nation, as well as the cultural events that helped shape its message. The event takes place one day before Public Enemy reunites to play the album in its entirety at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Hank and Keith Shocklee — one half of Public Enemy's production unit, the Bomb Squad — will reveal how they fashioned their powerful world of sound. Harry Allen, journalist, activist and onetime PE "Media Assassin" will join the members of the Bomb Squad in a lively conversation led by documentary filmmaker Kembrew McLeod (Copyright Criminals).

The discussion will take place at the Chicago Cultural Center's Claudia Cassidy Theatre, beginning at 3 PM. Admission to the event is free, but those interested in attending must reserve spots by emailing rsvp@pitchforkmusicfestival.com.

Monterey Bay Reggaefest 2008 (artists not announced yet)

Photo Credit: Monterey Bay Reggaefest

Though the lineup is TBA, the Monterey Bay Reggaefest's 13th annual edition is shaping up to be as excellent as all that came before. Peripheral enjoyments include a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, beer garden and an entire Rastafarian Arts & Culture Museum onsite. 

The festival's also ideal for bringing the kids, as there will be an "fun zone" including face painting, jump houses and other activities. Though camping space is only reserved for RV's, the Monterey County Fairgrounds venue, located about a mile from downtown Monterey, should make the event pretty accessible for campers and non-campers alike. The festival is set for Friday, August 29th, Saturday, August 30th, and Sunday, August 31st.

To find out more about Reggaefest, click here.

Bear Creek Bluesfest in two weeks

The Bear Creek Blues Festival will run through its 5th edition in Slater, Missouri on June 28th, according to the festival's official website. Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials are the main headliners, with other outfits including Lew Jetton & 61 South, Doghouse Daddies, Mr. Fletcher & Scott McCullough.

One relative bonus of Bear Creek over most blues festivals is that free camping will be offered on a first come, first serve basis on the night of the festival, though a one-night festival such as Bear Creek also wouldn't necessitate camping as much as, say, Ottawa Bluesfest or Bonnaroo.

For more info about the 5th edition of the Bear Creek Blues Festival, go here

Program Announced for Sandy Beaches Cruise #15

Ringmaster Delbert McClinton will once again assemble some of the best in reggae, zydeco, blues, southern rock and Americana for his 15th Sandy Beaches Cruise, set to push off from San Diego on January 17, 2009. Clinton's boat of choice, Holland America's luxurious ms Oosterdam, will take fans on an eight-day journey, stopping at the scenic and (indeed) very sandy beaches of Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo on Mexico's Pacific Coast along the way, returning to the original Southern California port on the 24th.

Of note this particular year are five new additions to Sandy Beaches' already robust traditional artist roster: Geoff Achison, Tab Benoit, Tom Hambridge & the Rattlesnkes, Cyrill Neville & Tribe 13 and Seth Walker.

There are various price levels for accommodation on the cruise, though all must put down a $500 deposit to make a reservation (for individuals or multiple travelers), with a refund of $150 until the 91 days before cruise kick-off. For more info on Sandy Beaches #15, go here.

Main Announcements for Long Beach Bayou Festival 2008

The 22nd annual Long Beach Bayou Festival has been set to run from June 21st to 22nd at Rainbow Lagoon Park in Long Beach, CA. Festival programming puts a heavy emphasis on zydeco this year, including a couple Grammy nominees within that element's ranks, while maintaining a sizeable helping of blues performances to complement the zydeco sets during the two days.

One of the Grammy nom's, accordion maestro Terrence Simien, will be teaching kids the ABC's of Creole music and culture as part of one of the festival's non-musical attractions, the festival

's Lagoon Stage's Cultural, Educational Music Workshops. Other non-aural delights include multiple crawfish eating contests throughout the day, rock climbing, free dance lessons and free arts and crafts for kids.

With major performers including Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band and Simien & The Zydeco Experience, the festival's Cajun and blues performers total a lineup of 21 performers, all of whom can be seen for an advance sale price of $30 or $35 when bought at the gate. For those who want reserved seating as well as backstage access to two of the festival's stages, a VIP option will do the trick for $60. Kids aged 12 and under can come to the festival for free. For more info on the festival, go to its official website.

NW World Reggae Festival 2008 announced

The dates and lineup for the Northwest Reggae Festival's 2008 edition have been released by the festival's organizers. Headliners include The Mighty Diamonds, Macka B and Sister Carol. Other notables include Midnite, Katchafire and Queen Omega.

Organizers have also announced that the festival has moved to a new site, located 20 miles north of Eugene, Oregon and providing camping adjacent to the music area. A three-day pass (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) w/ camping (for Fri. and Sat.) is $110, a two-day pass w/camping for one night (Sat.) is $90 and a Sunday day-only pass is $40.00.  More info on the festival can be found here. 

Midwest Reggaefest set for August 8-10

The Midwest Reggaefest has announced its line-up and dates for its 17th year. The festival is to be held at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Garrettsville, Ohio from August 8 through the 10th. 2008 will be the second year at the Nelson Ledges venue Billed as "3 days of roots reggae, camping, swimming, nature and more," the event will be headlined by Beres Hammond, Midnite and Culture, with Yellowman, Shinehead and Marty Dread as main supports.

$75 buys fans a three-day pass (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) that includes camping for both Friday and Saturday nights, $65 gets a two-day pass (Saturday and Sunday) with camping for Saturday night only, and $25 gets a music-only pass for Sunday. For more info on the festival, click here.

Summer Jam 2008 Videos

The New York hip-hop radio station Hot 97 has just compiled a remarkable list of videos by main stage performers, amateur MCs battling it out and a montage of the most beautiful people seen at Summer Jam 2008. Numbering 9 in total, the official videos can be seen here.

Lineup Announced for 13th Annual Russian River Blues Festival

The initial list of performers for this year's Russian River Blues Festival, set to take place on Johnson's Beach in Guerneville, CA on June 13th and 14th, has been announced. As always, there are some deviations from what the "blues" part of the title may lead one to expect as far as the festival's programming goes, but it only leads to some nice surprises. Case in point: Los Lonely Boys and Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. 

Once thing to note about the venue: it's literally right on the Russian River. So if you want to watch the festivities from the comfort of an inner-tube, then this is your party. There will also be 3 wine-tasting sessions, featuring various selections from the famous Northern California wine country. Two-day passes for the festival will be $80, with $45 for a one-day ticket in advance. Single-days can be purchased at the gate for $50. For more info, go to the festival's website.