THE MUSIC RAMBLER

Chicago Blues Festival This Weekend June 5 - 8, 2008

The free Chicago Blues Festival takes place over four days this weekend in Grant Park. Highlights include the following performers:

Thursday, June 5:  Johnny Winter will make his first appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival since the inaugural event in 1984.  He'll be part of the opening night celebration of Muddy Waters on Thursday, June 5th, sharing the spotlight with "Superharp" James Cotton and others.

Friday, June 6: The Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine headlines on Friday night, along with a set by Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater. There will also be a tribute to the past with a set featuring Ruby Andrews, Cicero Blake and Jackie Ross.

Saturday, June 7: Buckwheat Zydeco will headline on Saturday. The 60-year-old accordionist will bring one of the classic sounds of New Orleans to the stage. Also appearing that night will be Chicago favorite Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials.

Sunday, June 8: The legendary B.B. King makes his first appearance at the festival in over 20 years. Other headliners on the final night include keyboardist Little Willie Littlefield, guitarist Bobby Parker and vocalist Karen Carroll, who performs with Charlie Love and Lurrie Bell.

Full schedule below

Also see: Chicago Blues Guide

New Orleans Jazz Fest Kicks Off This Thursday (April 25th)

The 39th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off tomorrow and will continue throughout the weekends of April 25-27 and May 1-4, 2008. Headliners include New Orleans legends The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint with Elvis Costello. Plus, non-New Orleans crowd pleaser's such as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall, Keyshia Cole, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and The Raconteurs (Jack White's band).

New Orleans Jazz Fest Website

Beale Street Music Festival Lineup

The Beale Street Music Festival will take place at the riverside Tom Lee Park in downtown Memphis on May 2-4, 2008. This year's lineup is an impressive mix of big name crowd pleaser's ( Fergie, Santana, My Chemical Romance) and the great soul, blues, and rockabilly musicians who call Memphis home. A three day pass costs $63.50 and day pass is $27.50.

Friday lineup: My Chemical Romance , Sheryl Crow, The Roots, Keb 'Mo', Richard Johnston, Hellogoodbye , Jonny Lang, Ben Folds, Charlie Musselwhite, Robert "Wolfman" Belfour, Flyleaf , Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Project Pat, Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, Lord T & Eloise, Amy LaVere, JJ Grey & Mofro, Lurrie Bell

Saturday: Santana, Disturbed, Matisyahu, Bettye LaVette, Richard Johnston, Lou Reed, Seether The John Butler Trio, Pinetop Perkins & Hubert, Sumlin W Billy Gibson, Blind Mississippi Morris, Buddy Guy, Simple Plan, Arrested Development, Watermelon Slim, Cat Power, The Whigs, Colbie Caillat, Back Door Slam, Duman, Saving Abel, Tegan and Sara, Kenny Neal, Muck Sticky, Oracle and the Mountain, Al Kapone, Preston Shannon, Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Sunday: Fergie, Michael McDonald, The Black Crowes, Doyle Bramhall, Richard Johnston Finger Eleven, Aretha Franklin, O.A.R., Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Robert "Wolfman" Belfour, Gavin DeGraw, Jerry Lee Lewis, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Nick Moss & The Flip Tops, Rue Melo, Duman (from Turkey), Umphrey's McGee, Samuel James, Carney, Billy Lee Riley, Pete Francis, Calvin Cooke

The Beale Street Music Festival Website

The Virgin Mobile and The All Points West Music and Arts Festivals Announce Lineups

The increasingly crowded music festival scene adds two more to the ever expanding list with The Virgin Mobile and The All Points West Music and Arts Festival both taking place on the second weekend in August.

The inaugural All Points Festival will take place on August 8, 9 and 10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey with Radiohead headlining the first two nights and Jack Johnson doing the honors on Sunday. Other acts include Underworld, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cat Power, The Roots, The New Pornographers, Youssou N'Dour, and Animal Collective. Single day passes are $89 and three-day passes are $258. A portion of the event's proceeds will benefit "Friends of Liberty State Park"

Nine Inch Nails, The Foo Fighters,  Stone Temple Pilots and Jack Johnson will headline the Virgin Mobile Festival at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course on August 9 & 10th. Full lineup and ticket prices have not been announced.

The All Points Music and Arts Festival Website

Virgin Mobile Festival Website

Clarksdale Mississippi's Juke Joint Festival

If you have ever wanted to experience the genuine down-home blues of the Mississippi delta than you will have a hard time finding a better experience than Clarksdale's Juke Joint Festival taking place April 19th,2008. This is far from a one day affair as there will be related events all weekend starting on Thursday the 18th and continuing until late Sunday night. The official live music part of the festival will will take place on a half-dozen stages around town on Saturday until about 6pm. And that's just the beginning, after dark there will be live blues at close to another dozen venues, including actor Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero and the legendary Red's Lounge.

Juke Joint Festival Website

The Music Rambler in the coming weeks will be posting a music guide and travel information about Memphis and the Mississippi Delta.

San Fracisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival Announces Lineup

Radiohead, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Jack Johnson are the headliners of the inaugural Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival which will take place in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on August 22, 23 & 24, 2008. General admission 3-Day festival ticket will cost $225 and go on sale March 30th at 10AM. There will be over 60 acts performing on five stages. Some of the other acts include Beck, Wilco, Widespread Panic, Steve Winwood, and Steel Pulse.

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival

New Orleans Jazz Fest Announces 2008 Lineup

The 39th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will take place on the weekends of April 25-27 and May 1-4, 2008. Headliners include New Orleans legends The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint with Elvis Costello. Plus, non-New Orleans crowd pleaser's such as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall, Keyshia Cole, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and The Raconteurs (Jack White's band). Tickets are on sale now and if you are definitely going, it pays to get them in advance, because you can save $10 a day.

New Orleans Jazz Fest Website