I may not be very smart ...... and I've been told that on many occasions, but I've proven the saying "You can't teach an old dog news tricks" is totally not true. In my mis-spent youth I was always under the mistaken impression that "bigger was better." Well when it comes to blues festivals, that's not necessarily true. I've been to the Chicago Blues Festival, Pocono Blues Festival, San Francisco Blues Festival, Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The Heritage Blues Festival and the list goes on. But I'm finding that the smaller, town backed festivals are more enjoyable to attend: the Madison Ribberfest in Madison, Indiana, Michigan festivals including the Kalamazoo Blues Festival, the Flint Blues Festival, Old Town Blues Festival in Lansing. And now I can add the Bonita Springs Blues Festival to this list. This was our first visit to this festival, and I can tell you it won't be our last.

The city of Bonita Springs, Florida is not large by any stretch, but with a population of almost 44,000 it's not small town USA either. Nestled in between Naples and Ft. Meyers, it's become known as the "Gateway to the Gulf." But it has small town sensibility and supports its causes. A group of friends went to a music festival at Pine Island and, because of a random comment made there, the Bonita Springs Charitable Foundation was born. And from that came the Bonita Springs Blues Festival.

A bold move in less than ideal economic times, this festival celebrated its fifth year and is still growing. What I really like is that 100% of the proceeds from the festival are donated to worthy causes. This year's recipients were the Bonita Springs Assistance Office and Music for Minors. On top of that they had 50/50 drawings each day and raised over $1,800 for the Wounded Warriors Project. I mean c'mon, how much cooler can you get than that! The saying at the bottom of their festival ad says it all: "It's all about the fun!"

Friday was nothing but sunny and according to my wife, cool and windy. I was in hawg heaven running around in a short sleeve shirt all day while she was bundled up in her fleece jacket. After leaving the Michigan winter behind, 68 degree temps seemed downright balmy to me.

Kicking off the festivities Friday was local blues band Marty Stokes and the Captiva Band. Guitarist and vocalist Marty was backed by saxophonist and vocalist Jennifer Mazziotti, Michael Baer on keyboards, while doubling on vocals and percussion was Tracy Cole, and they were all guided by the rhythm section of Todd Haut on bass and Carv Clauson on drums, both also sharing vocal duties. They eased us into the day with a nice blend of originals and covers including the classics Walkin' Blues andGot My Mojo Workin'. Nice choice for openers!

Following the Captiva Band were locals Tommy Lee Cook and the Boys from Buckingham. This mouthful of a name has more meaning than you know. For one, the Buckingham Blues Bar in Ft. Myers is owned by Tommy Lee Cook, and this band was a conglomeration of talented musicians that regularly play at the club. At one point, onstage were four guitarists, a bass player, a drummer, a trumpeter, and a keyboardist and most of them sang! Players shuffled on and off the stage throughout the set, and if you didn't pay attention you got lost quick. The backbone of the band was Tommy Lee Cook on vocals and guitar, Patrick O'Neal on drums, Scott Kamener on guitar, Nathan Kamener on bass, and Terry Gable on trumpet. Once again, the band wove its way through a nice blend of originals and covers including a tricked out version of Tennessee Ernie Ford's 16 Tons sung by Danny Shepard. I think they had a revolving door some place on that stage because every time I looked up, there was another musician. All of a sudden, I heard the unmistakable sound of a violin and found Zack Brown had joined the band for a couple of songs. Guitarist Rex Bongo was smokin' some strings on his originals. The performance definitely kept your attention just keeping track of who was doing what!

Joanne Shaw Taylor is steadily gaining the respect of fans and musicians alike as she continues to tour behind the release of her new CD Diamonds in the Dirt. People aren't quite sure what to make of this slight blond girl with the British accent, especially when they see her strap on a guitar. From the first chord of the instrumental opening song, the crowd started making its way to the front of the stage. Every time I see her she gets better; she's more relaxed and her playing just intensifies. Superbly backed by Paul Lamb on bass and the diminutive dynamo drummer Layla Hall, Joanne pulled songs from her first release White Sugar and her latest plus several covers. Coupled with blazing guitar riffs, her alto vocals and two other musicians that were on the same wave length, her set flew by and before you knew it she was kickin' out the song made famous by Jeff Beck, Goin' Down.But the crowd would have no part of her leaving the stage and made a ruckus heard in Ft. Myers to get her back. And back she came with a stunning version of Jimi Hendrix's Manic Depression. If anybody had any doubts of her ability, they were erased after hearing that.

Closing out the evening was Savannah born Victor Wainwright and theWildroots. He was a blank slate for me; I'd never seen him live, only heard his latest CD Beale Street to the Bayou and I liked what I heard. But I wasn't ready for him live: that's a whole new ball game. The twenty-something pianist doesn't play the keys as much as tickles and caresses them, then suddenly pounds out a funky New Orleans rhythm with offbeats from the rhythm section. The band itself is as tight as any I've seen and instinctively knows which direction Victor is going. Normally Victor tours with a four piece band, but for this occasion he pulled out all the stops and added a horn section. Laying down the funky rhythm was drummer Brian Kelly, and I think he was joined at the hip by bassist Stephen Dees. Lending the final accents to Victor's piano was guitarist Greg Grumpel and the horn section of Patricia Ann Dees on sax, harmonica, vocals and keyboards and Ray Guiser on sax and keyboards. They were channeling Dr. John, Professor Longhair, Jon Cleary and Allen Toussaint all blended into a style unique to the band. What a great way to end the day!

Saturday was again sunny with less wind and temps in the lower 70's. When I think that it was in the 30's and snowing when we left Michigan, it just makes me all warm and fuzzy to be here.

The Certified Band doesn't limit its musical scope to just blues. They have blended in reggae, jazz, funk, R&B and Motown that is guaranteed to keep the crowd in a toe tapping frenzy. With Candice on vocals, Justin on guitar, Steven on drums and August on bass (please forgive me, I didn't get your last names) the band breezed through covers of Etta James (Damn Your Eyes) Susan Tedeschi, the Allman Bros. (Whipping Post) and others. The band settled into a comfortable groove that was perfect to start the festivities.

JP Soars and the Red Hots was another band I'd never heard live but knew of his reputation through reading about him online and his victory at the 2009 IBC competition in Memphis. Well, I see now why he won. The man smokes a guitar. This three piece power trio has laser precision and a pristine sound that drives the people to dance, hoot and holler. Now you know why he won the Albert King Award at the 2009 IBC. He can stroke, persuade, bend and stretch notes from places other guitarists haven't even heard of. The band was right on target and rock steady as JP (stands for John Paul) tore up the stage. With Don Gottleib on bass and Chris Peete on drums, this trio took no prisoners. Coming from Boca Raton, JP has his share of fans and they mobbed him once his set was over. Not only can he play the hell out of a guitar, but he strapped on a two string cigar box guitar and just lit it up. Simply amazing.

Having the unpleasant task of following JP Soars was the Josh Garrett Band. But the Louisiana native was up for it and just kept stoking the fire started by JP. Guitarist, vocalist Josh Garrett has his own style, and it's a pleasant blend of LA Blues, New Orleans funk, and good old Rock n' Roll. Keeping the bottom line together was bassist Scott Jackson along with drummer Kyle Sharamituro, and for those who need some brass, their needs were filled by trumpeter Mark Levron. Pulling from his new double live CD entitled Live on Printer's Alley, Josh led the band through the 90 minute set like a pro, giving all he had but leaving the crowd wanting more.

Next up was a band that I'd heard 6 or 7 years ago and, to be honest with you, I wasn't all that impressed then. Boy, now I'm going to have to eat those words.Hamilton Loomis just took control of the music, the crowd and the band, and for 90 minutes was master of this universe. The Texas native has come a long way since I first heard him. Even he admitted that he had upped the quality of his band, and I pointed out to him that they had in turn forced him to up his own level of playing. And the band was on fire. They never second guessedHamilton and on every song brought 110%. All veteran musicians, the band was comprised of drummer Ryan Cortez, bassist Kent Beatty and double threat on sax and keyboards Stratton Doyle. With the stinging guitar, harp and vocals of Loomis, the master blend of music was complete. Loomis isn't one to just stand in one place and play. He jumped off the stage and ran from spot to spot in the crowd and then jumped back over a fence and back on the stage. At one point the band with, the exception of the drummer, was jumping up and down together. Fun stuff! High energy music coupled with an innovative sound.

The night was topped off with Chicago Blues legend Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang with Eddie's son Eddie Vaan Shaw Jr. playing a triple neck guitar. Eddie Shaw is a link to the original Chicago sound made famous by Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf, for whom he was personal manager for five years until his untimely death in 1976. After spending close to 50 years in the blues business, Eddie still finds himself on the road many nights throughout the year. It's hard enough to make a living in the music business, but even harder to play blues if you're not a guitar or harp player. Throughout his stellar career Eddie has played with all the greats from Ike Turner to Little Milton and all the Chicago Blues royalty. Tonight was no different with the exception of Shorty Gilbert, Eddie's long time bass player. When talking to Vann, he told me that Shorty's wife had suffered a stroke and he didn't want to leave her for this tour. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her and wish her a speedy recovery. Eddie's set included such long time favorites as Highway 61, Sweet HomeChicago and Big Boss Man. Eddie made the observation that "You got some pretty women in this town, I may be old, but I'm not blind." MC Kevin Berry informed the crowd that it was close to Eddie's birthday, he turned 74 on the 20^th, and it shouldn't be let go just because he was on the road. So the crowd got to their feet and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. A fitting ending to a great weekend

One common thread that I have to mention, and I find it at all the festivals I attend, is a blues society. They are the backbone of the blues, and this festival was lucky enough to have the South Florida Blues Society. To you fine people I say, "Salute!"

This is the kind of thing that is lacking at large festivals. I've been to several festivals when I knew an artist's birthday was happening and it was pretty much ignored. I'm finding that smaller festivals have a certain vibe to them that can only be attributed to the camaraderie that starts with the presenting body. In this case, all of the members of the Bonita Springs Charitable Foundation. Instead of yelling at someone else when something needed to be done, they were the first to jump in and handle it. All weekend I saw them all walking through the crowd, waving at friends and stopping to talk and make new ones. Special people make a special event. Thanks for sharing!

© 2011, Tim Richards
BluesSource.com