By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item
May 08, 2008 08:14 am
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SUNBURY — Half a dozen of the finest blues music performers in the region, joined by two national acts, will tear it up at the third annual Spyglass Ridge Winery Blues Festival on May 17.
In addition to the great music, the event will feature wine-tasting and a muscle car rally and display.
Each of the regional bands has competed in the Billtown Blues Challenge, earning them high marks from area blues fans, and several of them won the challenge and have been to Memphis.
Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and settle in for the day for some fabulous live music. A large tent will keep the sun (or the rain) off, and there will be plenty of food and drink for sale, along with wine tasting. Tickets for the festival are $13, which includes a wine glass to taste the wines.
Things will get rolling at 11 a.m. with a performance by Williamsport’s Jonah Gregory, who opened the 2006 Billtown Blues Festival after winning the annual Billtown Blues Festival audition contest.
At high noon, the Burgess-Mitchell-Seal Trio takes the stage with their mellow, piano-driven sound and vocals by Greg Burgess. The trio performs regularly in Lewisburg, Williamsport and Bloomsburg.
Nate Myers and the Aces, a Harrisburg-based band fronted by Nate Myers, formerly of Selinsgrove, is next on stage around 1 p.m.
Nate and the boys won the Billtown Blues Challenge a couple of years ago and made the trip to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge.
The incredible Trace Baker, singing with Bluesmoon, will take the stage at 2 p.m.
Baker’s red-hot blues chops, backed up by a highly talented band, are favorites at Spyglass Ridge.
Following Bluesmoon at 3 p.m. is the Ann Kerstetter Band. Kerstetter, who got her start with the famed Crosstown Bus group 40 years ago, has assembled an outstanding band to back her. Their collective talent was recognized in March, when they won the Billtown Blues Festival audition contest, and their appearance at Spyglass is a warm-up for their opening set at the Billtown Blues Festival next month.
The power trio known as the Blind Chitlin Kahunas will be on at 4 p.m. Outstanding guitar work by Chris Bovard and the powerful vocals of bassist Kimbo Reichley have propelled the Kahunas to the top tier of local bands, and they’ve made the trip to Memphis twice.
The Deb Callahan Band from Philadelphia is the first featured band, taking the stage at 5 p.m. Callahan is a frequent performer in the Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington area and tours extensively in the South and West.
Wrapping up the festival is Tom Larsen, final act at last year’s festival, back again by popular demand.
Larsen’s powerful performance last year just knocked the socks off everyone who saw and heard him with his back-up band.
Larsen, of Ocean City, Md., performs regularly at a number of venues at the shore and has a number of CD’s to his credit.
For more information, go to www.spyglassridgewinery.com
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