Dunedin pairs smokin’ blues with fine wine
John Lee Hooker Jr. to headline annual Dunedin Wines the Blues Festival
By LEE CLARK ZUMPE
| Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 |
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DUNEDIN – The Downtown Dunedin Merchants Association will host the 18th annual Dunedin Wines the Blues Festival on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14, in downtown Dunedin, on Main Street between Louden Avenue and Broadway, with music at the Pioneer Park Stage.
Event hours will be Friday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m.
The association has combined the annual festival with the Second Friday Dunedin Wine/Art Walk, making for a two-day event. Festivities will kick off Friday, 5:30 p.m., and will include entertainment sponsored by the Suncoast Blues Society.
Friday evening, guests may purchase a $10 wristband at select locations to take part in discounts and giveaways offered by more than 30 participating merchants in the downtown area. Some merchants will host wine tastings and art exhibits as well as food and entertainment. The Suncoast Blues Society will present blues jam with invited guests.
The main segment of the Dunedin Wines the Blues Festival will pick up on Saturday, 5 p.m., with a street festival boasting food and wine sold by local merchants, craft vendors, special wine promotions and smokin’ blues on the Pioneer Park Stage. Admission is free.
This year’s lineup features the Steve Arvey Horn Band, KathyJo and the Bluzification Band and headliner John Lee Hooker Jr.
John Lee Hooker Jr., whose father was an architect of modern American blues in the 1940s and ’50s with hits like “Boogie Chillen,” “I’m in the Mood” and “Crawlin’ Kingsnake,” has evolved into a formidable blues figure in his own right. He earned a Grammy nomination for Traditional Blues Album and a Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut for his 2004 release, “Blues with a Vengeance.”
Hooker made his debut with Telarc in 2006 with “Cold As Ice,” a rollicking, straight-to-the-gut recording. His most recent release, “All Odds Against Me,” generated a second Grammy nomination and is Hooker’s first effort to include only original tracks.
Considered one of Florida’s premier blues, rock and jazz vocalists, KathyJo is best known for her adaptability, her classic Janis Joplin covers and her intense vocals. She enjoys interacting with her audience, a trait that has secured her a loyal legion of fans.
In the past, KathyJo toured with Billy Hale and Sweetwater before forming the band KJ and Witness. With strong ties to gospel music, her first six-piece band shared the bill with many legendary country and gospel artists.
In 2002, the artist’s love of jazz, torch songs, classic rock and blues led her down a different path and KathyJo and the Bluzification Band came into being. Performing their first gig at the Leesburg Bikefest, the band delivered a mix of rock, blues, Joplin covers and originals that generated instant fans in the crowd.
“On A Run,” KathyJo’s new original CD, was recorded with veteran Bluzification musicians Thommy DeRosa on bass, Bud Pooton on percussion, Chris Linkous on guitar, and Clint Meier on harmonica.
Steve Arvey has been playing professionally since the age of 18. As a college student in Gainesville, he met and jammed with several other musicians who introduced him to some of the great country bluesmen such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Bukka White and Leadbelly.
Arvey was playing in the Robert Hunter Blues Band when they began backing for Bo Diddley.
Arvey eventually returned to Chicago, where he spent his formative years as a sideman on the Chicago blues scene, playing bass guitar, guitar and drums behind such blues legends such as Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Big Smokey Smothers, Homesick James, Andrew Brown and Lefty Dizz.
Through the 1980s, Arvey led the band West Side Heat, touring extensively and producing albums. Growing tired of the road, Arvey briefly performed a mix of rock, blues and Irish music for sponsor Harp Lager. Today, he’s back to his blues roots, playing gigs in and around Chicago and occasionally hitting the road to make a festival appearance like Dunedin Wines the Blues.
This year, the Dunedin restaurant community will be more involved in the event and will be providing wine, beer and spirits. Restaurants taking part in the festival will include Bellini Restaurant, Casa Tina’s, Kelly’s, Flanagan’s Irish Pub, Café Alfresco, Stirling Tropical Wine, La Maison Gourmet Wine Bar and Dunedin Brewery.
Visit www.dunedinwinestheblues.info.
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Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
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