Down in Froggy Bottom

Heads up to all Mississippi Hill Country blues fans in the Midwestern United States (& beyond!): The second annual Deep Blues Fest is a go for the weekend of July 18th. I had last year’s event at the top of my docket, but a convergence of extenuating circumstances precluded my participation, something I still regret given the audio-visual evidence of what went down assembled on YouTube.

This year’s line-up looks every bit as appealing as last with a horde of delegates from the grittier and grimier side of the blues continuum converging on the Washington County Fairgrounds, a change in venue’s from last year’s storied Golf Course/Country Club hit. Looks like there’s a film festival component this time out too. Full schedule & specs viewable here. Among the headliners I’m itching to witness:

Elmo Williams & Hezekiah Early [caught these two in late ’98 opening for R.L. Burnside @ a Madison, WI tavern. They tore the roof off with a primal collision of amped-up boogie guitar and jackhammer cans]

T-Model Ford [see here]

Juke Joint Duo (feat. Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm) [don’t know Malcom, but Cedric’s lit rhythmic bonfires on a number of choice Fat Possum platters]

Dex Romweber Duo [unclear why Dex isn’t operating under his usual Flat Duo Jets sobriquet, but odds are his stage show will still be a gas]

Bob Log III [I last saw this helmet wearing one-man-band hedonist last in Tucson, summer of ’96, curious to hear how & if his cracked speaker stack sound has evolved]

Luther the Devil [never heard or heard of him, but hell, the name can’t help but give me hope]

Only downside is that Willie Nelson is playing a gig at a Hinckley, MN casino the same weekend and a date with the Red Headed Stranger is damn hard to break.