Blues fest this Saturday





GENERATIONS—Michael John and his grandson Dylan on stage at last year’s blues festival.

GENERATIONS—Michael John and his grandson Dylan on stage at last year’s blues festival.

The 10th Annual Ventura County Blues Festival takes place this Sat., April 25, with some longtime favorites returning to help commemorate the anniversary.

The festival, which takes place at Moorpark College, has traditionally featured world-renowned talent, and Michael John, festival founder and president of the Ventura County Blues Society, as well as a performer in his own right, explained what was special about this year’s event.

“What we have done for our 10th anniversary is to do it as a celebration of where we began. Our very first one, which was at Oak Park, had B. B. Chung King, the Delgado Brothers and Coco Montoya, who was there as a special guest. We wanted to kind of tie that in for our 10th anniversary celebration and bring these guys back. So that’s the reason for that.

“In addition to that, John Nemeth, who has a brand-new CD called ‘Memphis Grease,’ has been nominated for six Blues Music awards. He’s kind of a blue-eyed soul singer, harmonica player and just an incredible talent. And also, in addition to that, we have Deanna Bogart, the multi-award winner who plays saxophone and keyboards, so we’re really excited about this year’s lineup.”

This year’s event features a special “benefit ride” for longtime VCBF emcee Mickey Jones, a former actor, drummer and musician who’s played with such artists as Bob Dylan, Johnny Rivers and Kenny Rogers & the First Edition.

“Mickey’s been having some serious medical issues of late,” Michael John said. “He’s had a hospital bed in his living room now for a couple of months and has to do some rehab. He’s had a series of situations, including heart issues. He has insurance through the actor’s guild, but there are so many restrictions on things that he needs that it’s just killing him financially. So we’ve added this bike run where 100 percent of the proceeds go to the Jones family.”

Scheduled to open on the main stage at 11 a.m. is the VCBS All- Stars, a band John organized by combining members from a variety of groups into one unit. Joining this group is Sandy Scott, singer with the Band from the Boardroom, a group consisting of employees of Santa Fe Springs-based Swann Security.

John raves about Scott’s vocal abilities. “We’re pulling Sandy Scott to sing with the VCBS All- Stars, too. She’s just a little powerhouse. I just couldn’t believe that big voice came out of that little girl. She kind of reminds of an Etta James or some of the newer people like Susan Tedeschi.”

This year, John has introduced something new—a second stage with local and regional bands.

“Last year we kind of got hurt by the weather,” John recalled. “Although it didn’t rain, it was cold and a little windy. A great part of our revenue for charity comes from the alcohol sales, but when it’s cold, nobody wants to drink beer.

The Ventura County Blues Festival continues to be one of the year’s best entertainment bargains. As John said, “Typically, if you go to a club, you’ve got to pay 20, 25 bucks to see one act. We calculate that with all the bands that are performing on both stages, it works out to less than two bucks a band for the whole day.”

Since the festival is a charity event benefiting the American Cancer Society, all proceeds are tax-deductible, which helps take the blues out of anybody’s budget.

For tickets, call (805) 501-7122 or go to www.venturacountyblues.com.


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