This weekend I went on a date to the 20th Anniversary Portsmouth Blues Festival at the Red Hook Brewery. The show featured a great cross-section of blues talent:
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The festival was organized by the Blues Bank Collective, which is one of the oldest Blues education organizations in the world. T.J. Wheeler, the Executive Director, performed with a group of his young proteges, The Funky River Band. The kids were good musicians on their respective instruments (hand drums, guitar, and flute) but I didn't think much of their harmonies. Bala Tounkara, who played a really cool string instrument from his native Mali, boosted the groups performance. Wheeler held the whole group together with his masterful guitar playing.
![[image: T.J. Wheeler and the Funky River Band]](http://www.execnet.net/users/alan/blogs/archives/alanskew/tj_wheeler_funky_river.jpg)
I'm not much of a flamenco fan, but have to say that I was blown away by the James Cohen Caravan. I enjoyed Nate Williams and the Zydeco Cha Chas too, but have to admit that after the second song if it weren't for the between-song chatter by the singer, I wouldn't have been able to tell when one ended and the next started.
My date and I were very impressed by Amos Lee and were considering buying one of his CDs, but unlike all the other artists at the festival, he cut and ran after his performance.
 | Shemekia Copeland was absolutely amazing! The daughter of Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, one of the greatest bluesman to come out of Texas, she is an incredible talent in her own right. She sang for a solid hour, including a couple of songs from her new album: Wild Wild Woman (and your the Lucky Man), Who Stole My Radio?, All About You, It's 2 A.M., Has Anybody Seen My Man?, and Married To The Blues. |
