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Winter, Sardinas headline Sea-Blues Festival
By LEE CLARK ZUMPE
| Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 |
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| Coco Montoya says he gives all every time he plays. |
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CLEARWATER – There’s nothing like savoring seafood gumbo while listening to world-class blues, and that’s just what guests can do at the Inaugural Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24 and 25, at Coachman Park.
Known for its Jazz Holiday, the city has sponsored musical celebrations featuring just about every form of music except blues. The Sea-Blues Festival will debut with a long list of musicians including headliners Johnny Winter and Eric Sardinas.
Winter epitomizes the Texas guitar tradition. His legendary style is underscored by thick tones, aggressive attack and tons of technique. Sardinas’ signature brand of Delta dynamite challenges all genre-inherent boundaries with wild but ingenious innovations.
Kicking off the show on Saturday will be regional favorite Rent Money Band.
“It is definitely an honor and a privilege to be involved in this event at all, and opening the show just adds to the excitement for us,” said Johnny Greenwell, the band’s vocalist and lead guitarist, in a recent e-mail interview. “This will be like going back to school to be included on the bill with the legendary Johnny Winter. I also felt in viewing the lineup for both days that the organizers did an exemplary job in selecting truly blues-based entertainers of extremely high caliber.”
“I give all I have every time I play. You never know when your last opportunity to actually play might be,” said Coco Montoya, a veteran of both small clubs and major festivals.
Montoya said the size of the audience doesn’t influence how he plays.
“The immediate feedback from a live audience is always the reward, large or small,” he said.
The full lineup, subject to change, is as follows:
Saturday
Noon – Gates open
1 p.m. – Rent Money
2:45 p.m. – Jimmy Griswold Band
4:30 p.m. – Chris Beard
6:30 p.m. – Coco Montoya
8:30 p.m. – Johnny Winter
Sunday
11 a.m. – Gates open
Noon – Angels For Blues
1:45 p.m. – Damon Fowler Group
3:30 p.m. – Eric Lindell
5:30 p.m. – Tinsley Ellis
7:30 p.m. – Eric Sardinas
Served up along with the blues will be jumbo shrimp, crab cakes, oysters, lobster, blackened grouper, seafood gumbo and other kinds of Gulf Coast seafood cuisine.
Only time will tell if the Sea-Blues Festival will attract as much attention as the city’s annual Jazz Holiday. Rent Money Band’s lead guitarist and vocalist, though, offered a prediction.
“Since the beginnings of the blues, it has always been the people’s music, and in my mind, brings more to the table to solidify all people musically than any idiom ever,” Greenwell said. “I do think that the organizers of this festival are on the right track in all respects and will see the benefits of their hard work and insight. Proper promotion and diligence will be the key.
“Sun and seafood is a pretty cool added attraction, too,” he said.
Coachman Park is at 301 Drew St. Admission is free. Call 562-4839.
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Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007
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