Mavis Staples at the Blues tent at 6PM . . . WOW! Harvest fans were schooled by the elder stateswoman of Chicago blues. At 79 years young and with 62 years in the business, there isn’t much she hasn’t seen or done. She held the packed audience in the palm of her hand . . . she owned the room. Here soulful blues is interspersed with real life stories going all the way back to the Freedom march with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1962. Her musical heritage goes all the way back to The Staples Singers. Again . . . WOW!
Had some time to burn before headliner Sturgill Simpson at 10pm . . .
took in most of MonkeyJunk’s set at the Mojo. Saw them last night . . .
different set tonight. I could listen to Steve Mariner for hours. I
really like this band and I’ll keep their music on the front burner for a
while. Then about twenty minutes of The Legendary Downchild Blues Band.
These veterans have been here a handful of times over the years . . .
they still have it.
Sturgill Simpson at the Blues tent at 10pm. He is currently among the handful of top festival draws in North America and the reason becomes apparent quickly. He plays as a four piece band (including Hammond B3). His guitar work is relentless. His songs are sometimes country-like, sometimes rock, and sometimes a psycho combo of both. I first saw him on the Tonight Show, and his performance stuck with me. Got to admit, they were loud . . . but I guess that’s why I bought the tuned ear plugs . . . highly recommended. It was inevitable that Harvest would eventually net Sturgill Simpson. It was a lightning bolt out of the blue that they were able to sign him on short notice in the wake Nathaniel Ratliffe’s unfortunate cancellation. Rateliff has committed himself to the 2019 Harvest, so this ends up being a good news story all round . . . the two biggest draws in two consecutive years . . . bonus!
Caught some of Ross Neilsen’s late show at the Mojo, then closed the night with a bit of the Downtown Blues Band at Blues Court. Ross is a must-see whenever he's in town and I have to see the DTBB every year at Harvest . . . just because. The DTBB has played all twenty-eight Harvest’s. The weather was perfect tonight and the streets were packed . . . literally jammed. Having lots of fun . . . seeing lots of friends . . . and cousins . . . yep, lots of cousins. Always a nice feeling to see family. Good Night.
Sturgill Simpson at the Blues tent at 10pm. He is currently among the handful of top festival draws in North America and the reason becomes apparent quickly. He plays as a four piece band (including Hammond B3). His guitar work is relentless. His songs are sometimes country-like, sometimes rock, and sometimes a psycho combo of both. I first saw him on the Tonight Show, and his performance stuck with me. Got to admit, they were loud . . . but I guess that’s why I bought the tuned ear plugs . . . highly recommended. It was inevitable that Harvest would eventually net Sturgill Simpson. It was a lightning bolt out of the blue that they were able to sign him on short notice in the wake Nathaniel Ratliffe’s unfortunate cancellation. Rateliff has committed himself to the 2019 Harvest, so this ends up being a good news story all round . . . the two biggest draws in two consecutive years . . . bonus!
Caught some of Ross Neilsen’s late show at the Mojo, then closed the night with a bit of the Downtown Blues Band at Blues Court. Ross is a must-see whenever he's in town and I have to see the DTBB every year at Harvest . . . just because. The DTBB has played all twenty-eight Harvest’s. The weather was perfect tonight and the streets were packed . . . literally jammed. Having lots of fun . . . seeing lots of friends . . . and cousins . . . yep, lots of cousins. Always a nice feeling to see family. Good Night.
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| Ross Neilsen |
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