The Cape Fear Blues Festival  By Lan Nichols

The Cape Fear Blues Festival celebrates its 13th year as the musical centerpiece of Wilmington’s summer season, initiating a new location for its Saturday Festival Concert and continuing a tradition of bringing popular local blues artists to its many diverse venues and events.

The Cape Fear Blues Cruise will sail on Friday, July 25 at 7:30 pm featuring an authentic Cajun dance hall party, courtesy of Mel Melton and the Wicked Mojos from Durham NC.  It’s their second stint as cruise headliners and they’ve been known to throw down some wicked Louisiana blues for the entire duration, leaving our audiences spent and satisfied.  The Dynamic Therm-O-Tones and Charlie and Rose Lucas will be entertaining listeners with their trademark rhythm, blues and soul on the upper decks of the Henrietta III.  As a special treat, Spider Mike Bochey will play live blues on the dock before boarding begins.  Catered heavy appetizers will be served and cash bar will be available.  This is a sellout event and tickets will move fast.

The Rusty Nail is again featured as our “after hours” location for exciting blues performances in an authentic juke joint setting.  The Post-Cruise Party on Friday, July 25 at 9:00 pm will showcase the award-winning blues of Tommy B. and The Stingers.  Prepare to dance all night long to their infectious originals and shufflin’ fatback favorites.  Listeners crowd The Nail for this affair, so showing up early (and staying late) is highly recommended. 

Finkelstein Music will host the Cape Fear Blues Workshop on Saturday, July 26 at 11:00 am.  Wilmington blues performers Michele and the Midnight Blues will be on hand to share their music, stories and influences with a capacity crowd of eager blues listeners.  This is a great opportunity to learn how this band has worked hard to achieve success, on stage and in the studio.  Everyone is welcome for this free and educational festival event. 

Beautiful Bobby Blackmon and The B3 Band form Leesburg, FL return to Wilmington as the headline artists for the Saturday, July 26 Festival Concert at Legion Stadium, beginning at noon.  Long heralded as the hardest-working bluesman in the Sunshine State, Bobby’s live show is renowned for its power, depth-of-soul, and crowd-pleasing intensity in noted Florida venues like The Bamboo Room and the House of Blues.  A festival favorite, he’s shared billing and stage with everyone from Buddy Guy to Deborah Coleman, and reigns supreme among blues artists as a first-call house band at B.B. King’s newest club in Orlando, FL.  A consummate blues artist, count on Bobby to “knock ‘em out” during festival weekend.  Opening act and noted Memphis, TN quartet, Delta Highway, will be rolling into Wilmington from a festival and club tour of Italy and Washington, DC.  Conjuring up images of Beale Street and the Mississippi hill country, this band has an infectious contemporary twist to their sound and an electrifying live stage presence that pleases the most demanding festival audiences.  Make no mistake - Delta Highway is the next generation of authentic blues.  Theresa Lindstrom and Nel Nichols team up for an inspiring set of acoustic blues, featuring six-string guitar, chromatic and diatonic harmonica, and jaw-dropping vocals.  Our audience will also get a dose of down-and-dirty rockin’ blues from The Cape Fear Blues Band, a guitar-driven, powerhouse trio that delivers the blues with a vengeance.  Also appearing will be The Chickenhead Blues Band, recent winners of the Cape Fear Blues Challenge and participants in the 2008 International Blues Challenge in Memphis. They are adept purveyors of greasy electric blues and slurpy slide guitar mixed with traditional African rhythm.

The Saturday Post-Concert Celebration on July 26 at 9:00 pm will have Wilmington’s newest blues quartet swingin’ and jumpin’ all night long!  Ten Dollar Thrill will be on stage at The Rusty Nail for your listening enjoyment, featuring awesome harp and guitar and plenty of blues for all!  This is the place to be after the Festival Concert.

The entire festival will be focused on Legion Stadium for the All-Day Blues Jam on Sunday, July 27th at noon.  The area’s finest blues musicians will gather for spontaneous sets of live blues with plenty of room for lawn chairs and blankets under the big top tent.  Admission is free.  Musicians should call 910-383-1247 to reserve a performance slot.  At 6:00 pm we’ll draw for the winner of the Guitar Giveaway, featuring a Fender Highway One Stratocaster donated by Finkelstein Music.  Buy tickets for the raffle at Finkelstein Music, The Rusty Nail or any Cape Fear Blues Jam.