“The Blues was there when the world was born”

John Lee Hooker 1917-2001

22 acts performing 44 gigs over the weekend in 11 venues

The 15^th edition of this 3 day festival is dedicated to “the Blues”, the music that gave birth to Rock n’ Roll. We pay homage to the Blues by keeping the music of its founders alive while showcasing the talents of today’s torch bearers. This music is constantly being re-discovered and this is evident by Golden Globe winning actor Hugh Laurie recording a Blues album which is due out later this year. Our very own Golden Globe nominated actor, Cillian Murphy has been moved by the Blues with his recent discovery of Elmore James’s music (1918-1963), one of the Blues greats. As Rory Gallagher (1948-1995) said of the music: “Blues is the most demanding form of music because it goes deeper, it goes beyond technique, because it’s spiritual, it drains the artist.”

Previous performers at the festival include Bobby Rush, Van Morrison, Honeyboy Edwards, Gary Moore, Philip Walker, Guitar Shorty, Eric Bibb, Johnny Dyer, Peter Green, Earl King, Melvin Taylor, Luther Allison, Byther Smith, Long John Hunter, Phil Guy, William Clarke,

Coco Montoya, Tommy Castro & Walter Trout.