ELVIN BISHOP, JANIVA MAGNESS, SMOKIN’ JOE
KUBEK PLUS
GRAMMY WINNERS STEVE RILEY & THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS
HEADLINE
24th ANNUAL
SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES MUSIC FESTIVAL,
SATURDAY-SUNDAY,
MAY 25-26
Los Angeles area’s largest Cajun and Blues festival, held over
Memorial Day weekend, features two stages, a Mardi Gras parade, kids’ stages,
crafts and dozens of food booths
SIMI VALLEY,
Calif. — The 24th annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival will rock over
Memorial Day weekend, May 25-26, at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park, 5005
Los Angeles Ave., in Simi Valley. The festival features two full stages for each
of its musical genres. Music will proceed non-stop each day from 12 noon until
7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 (adults 13+) and $15 (children) and are available
online at http://www.simicajun.org or at
the gate. Parking is ample and free. Fast-moving California Hwy. 118 (Ronald
Reagan Freeway) can be taken to the Stearns Street exit; the festival is four
blocks south.
Co-headlining
the blues stage this year, Alligator recording artist Janiva Magness and Elvin
Bishop will lead a Tribute to Finis Tasby.
Janiva Magness
received the coveted 2009 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of the
Year (she is the second woman to ever win this award; Koko Taylor was the
first). She also won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year for three
years. She has received a total of 22 Blues Music Award nominations to date,
including five nominations this year. Her album Stronger For It is her
tenth.
Elvin Bishop,
who will lead a tribute to ailing Texas bluesman Finis Tasby, a member of the
Mannish Boys, with John Nemeth and Kid Anderson, began his career with the
Butterfield Blues Band. He notched a #3 pop hit with the single “I Fooled Around
and Fell in Love” in 1976. His latest recording (and 18th album) is the live
Raisin’ Hell Revue on Delta Groove Records.
Meanwhile, on
the Cajun stage, Rounder Records artists and two-time Grammy Award nominees and
2013 winner Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, will headline both Saturday
and Sunday; Swampland star Teresa Russell, Southern California’s own Lisa Haley,
Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners, David Sousa & the Zydeco Mudbugs,
J Paul D. & the Zydeco Nubreeds and Andre Thierry & the Zydeco Magic
will create a Louisiana-style fais-do-do. A sizeable dance floor will be
built alongside the stage. The annual Mardi Gras Parade will take place both
days at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, back
at the blues stage (and festival goers are encouraged to go back and forth),
other performers include the Mannish Boys with guests Curtis Salgado, Kevin
Selfe, Peter Dammann, Otis Grand and Audrey Turner; Smokin’ Joe Kubek &
Bnois King with guests Bob Corritore, Rand Chortkoff and Big Pete; Sugar Ray
& the Bluetones, Andy T/Nick Nixon Band with Anson Funderbaugh; James
Herman’s Back Porch Revue; and the Delta Groove Harp
Blast.
The blues stage
also presents two young blues up-and-comers, redefining the genre for a new
generation: Nathan James & His Rhythm Scratchers and Kara Grainger. Nathan
James plays his self-invented washboard guitar, harmonica and kazoo. His 2012
What You Make of It album was called “one of the most original blues CDs
(and bands) to come along in a long time.” Of Australian-born Kara Grainger —
soon to release her Delta Groove Records debut album — Nashville’s
Tennessean newspaper noted, “There’s a whole lot of Bonnie Raitt in (her
songs) . . . Grainger’s alternately throaty and honeyed voice floats over a . .
. bed of bluesy accompaniment.”
The festival has
received national press accolades: “Everywhere you turned, there was something
exciting happening. Put this on your 2013 festival calendar,” wrote Blue
Revue editor Art Tipaldi, who made the trek from New England. The Blues
Blast writer enthused, “I attend many venues and festivals throughout
the year but the ones that seem to impress me the most are the ones that serve
the community in some way. I highly recommend you put this on your calendar for
next Memorial Day weekend.” And the music industry trade journal Hits
added, “As the last strains of (Candye) Kane’s set rang in our ears, we left the
grounds fully sated by music, food, drink and, as the saying goes, bon
temps.”
This
family-friendly event boasts a huge kids’ area with bouncers, rock walls.
specialty acts, crafts and talent shows.
The festival
boasts dozens of food booths featuring a variety of fare: authentic Cajun
creations and Southern BBQ as well as multi-cultural cuisine. More than 100
craft booths and retailers will be scattered throughout the festival
grounds.
Tickets may be
obtained online at http://wl.flavorus.com/rotaryclubofsimisunrise/cajunbluesfestival
Support of the
not-for-profit Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival has benefited dozens
of local community, national and international organizations a list of which may
be found at http://www.simicajun.org/2013/whobenefits.html.
Simi Valley
Cajun & Blues Festival web site:http://www.simicajun.org/2013/index.html