bluesfest

Sena Ehrhardt is making her third appearance at this year's Bayfront Blues Festival. Growing up in a blues family with heavy influence from her father Ed Ehrhardt, (a great bluesman in his own right), Sena is keeping the blues family tradition going..on her own terms.

When I first me Irma Thomas in 2007, we had a great conversation about Katrina, her career, Time Is On My Side, and how she got started in the industry. In this interview, she tells us of the progress made after Katrina, the awards she's won since we last talked, and gives her opinion on the recording industry as it is today.

One of the fastest rising stars in Blues is Nikki Hill. She only started performing live in 2011, and in less than three years has achieved what takes years for many other artists. Her reviews by the Times Picayune, Chicago Tribune, and Rolling Stone have been amazing, and she's only just begun.

Shemekia Copeland  is the daughter of Johnny Copeland, a great blues singer in his own right. She began to pursue a singing career in earnest at age 16, when her father's health began to decline; he took Shemekia on tour as his opening act, which helped establish her name on the blues circuit.

Robert Cray started playing guitar in his early teens, and by the late 1970's formed the Robert Cray Band. Cray signed with Mercury  Records and recorded a couple good albums, Bad Influence and False Accusations. It was his  fourth album however, Strong Persuader, that really stood out and won him a Grammy Award.

One of the headliners we'll see at the 25th annual Bayfront Blues Festival this year is the legendary Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans. I met Irma in 2007 at Bluesfest, and as we chatted, she told me the story of how she got started in the music business and recorded the original Time Is On My Side.

Take some smokin rock n roll, combine it with some heavy blues, stir well...and you get Tinsley Ellis, the subject of this weeks Bayfront Blues Festival Artist Spotlight. Tinsley has mastered an art that has eluded so many artists, great blues infused with rock n roll..and he does it without tarnishing either rock n roll or blues. His is a perfectly executed blend of the both.

Walter Trout will be appearing at this years Bayfront Blues Festival on Sunday, August 12th. Walter is a "must see" at Bluesfest. Not only a blues legend, but a guitar virtuoso as well. Trout spent five years in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and was a member of Canned Heat, two of the style's supremely influential bands. He's also supported a slew of classic artists including John Lee Ho