NOTICE FROM WEBMISTRESS (D.D. ROCKER) - OCT. 29
Since Yahoo! Geocities has closed down all of their free websites as of October 26, this is the only site I now run. I maintain it on a volunteer basis, with no revenue being generated from paid advertisers (nor do I seek any).
However, due to time constraints, I have decided to discontinue posting notices received from sources who choose not to place a reciprocal link to this site on theirs. I believe in "free trade" (in the literal sense), but it IS A two-way street, not a one-way dead-end.
D.D. Rocker
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2009 Blues Blast Music Awards
Texas Slim - Driving Blues
The 27th Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival
Despite a lower attendance and wishy-washy weather that went from Thursday’s sunshine and upper 80’s to 50’s with rain by Friday and Saturday, The 27th Annual Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival was nonetheless still a success. Then again, when have a little mud, rain, threat of a tornado, loss of sponsorships, and economically depressed times ever stopped true die hard blues fans? We traveled not only from neighboring cities, states, regions, and extreme left and right coasts but also from all over the world - and will continue to do so. And when your festival location is in a little tiny town in the heart of the Delta where a once-thriving cotton and blues music industry made Helena the place to be in the 30s and 40’s, you know to expect at least one good thing that’s still in Helena if nothing else: the best blues to be found any where in the entire world today. There is no other geographic substitution for the Delta birthplace of Modern American Music, and so the festival began again this year on Thursday, October 8th. 
The Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage Thursday line up included:
And that, folks, is just an example of the kind of crazy fun mix of head spinning blues line ups you can expect year after year over the three day festival. And I’m glad for it. There’s nothing more boring than a music festival where the producers don’t know how to line up the great talent they’ve booked in order to keep the audience ebbing and flowing in a groove. That wasn’t the case here. 
Our very own, festival producer, local favorite Sterling Billingsley with Clarksdale guest Stan Street on harp gave us the thrill of stealing the show. My Clarksdale friend and songwriter/producer Gary Vincent of Vincent Productions says, "he’s one of my favorite guitar players this side or the other side of the big river". Performing a range of blues from traditional to Chicago to funk to southern rocking rifts, Sterling and friends set the stage and had you shaking your head, saying, ‘wow, right when I thought it couldn’t get any better and it’s only Thursday’. And so the show goes not only for this first night but also every other day and night as the festival increased and expanded to it’s fullest attendee potential—the weekend. 
From Greek food to street food to corn dogs, blooming onions, funnel cakes, pulled pork sandwiches to ribs and corn on the cob, the county fair-like atmosphere of Cherry Street made you almost forget there was a main stage and fields of blues fans. But not for long! Mosey on past the food kiosks into the clothes, jewelry and merchandise vender’s blocks to see the latest in true bluesman (and women) street performers as you make your way down to the more intimate ally-way acoustic stages. One man shows, homemade instruments, and the young and old rendered their heartfelt mix of signature blues complete with open-guitar ‘tip’ cases and tip jars, hoping for some tip love in the street. In fact, I ‘ran’ into Clarksdale’s very own true street man, Tater, the local urban legend celebrity who’s a celebrity because he’s simply ‘simple man’ "Tater" with a speech impediment that disappears the minute he steps off his bicycle to start belting out classic blues ballads like he’s been singing on stage his entire life (wait a minute, did Tater ride his bike all the way from Clarksdale to Helena?).
Behind the street carnival and music scenes were all the barbeque teams, as many as 20 teams competing from the regional tri-state area. I had the good fortune of getting invited to the 14-member tent of team Boss Pit, who’ve kept the barbeque competition tradition going for 32 years, yes, that’s 32 years! They were the 2008 Grand Champion team, winning a very coveted Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival musician-autographed guitar, with their 1st placement in shoulders, 1st in sauce and 3rd in ribs. I was lucky to get a sneak peak and several plates of their famous award winning grub. This year, they cooked an 80 lb. hog, 70 lbs of ribs, 90 lbs of shoulder, 35 barbeque pizzas, 25 lbs of chicken quarters and 3 gallons of barbeque spaghetti, whoa! And that’s just one team’s chow and not including the slaw and other fixin’s, or their famous Bloody Mary recipe, served up by Reg, their very own bartender! These folks had it going on! This year they placed 3rd in shoulder, 4th in whole hog (their first year in entering whole hog, so not bad), and 5th in ribs. "I guess the alcohol took over our 1st", says Jimmy, one of the Boss Pit team members. So to Jimmy, Reg, Dan, Cindy and all the gang who were so good to Blues Blast and me for having us in your ‘pit’, we give you a loud and heartfelt blues shout out! Thanks again for the great food and hospitality; and we’ll see you again next year!
Liz Brown and The TomCats
Woodbrain - Swimming in Turpentine
Big Pete Pearson & The Rhythm Room All Stars - Finger In Your Eye
