E-BLUESLETTER April 2011 Volume 1, Issue 1 2

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OBBS E-BLUESLETTERVolume 1, Issue 1

www.obbs.org Inside this issue:

MESSAGE FROM THE President Herb Ransburg, Jr 3

Blues in School By Reno Mussatto 4-5

History of the OBBS by Ben”Bulldog” Basile 6

LADIES OF THE BLUES 7 by Jann Childers

8 THE 2010 CENTRAL FLORIDA BLUES CHALLENGE by Dominic Benecasa

Spotlight 9 Mark Hummel interview by Ken Showkeir

WHAT’S HAPPENIN’ 10-11 By Daryll Davis

5th ANNUAL ORLANDO BLUES & BBQ 12 by Daniel Heithausen

1ST DAYTONA BLUES FESTIVAL -2010 13 by Rick Burr

SPONSORS 14

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who contributed their time and efforts for this e-bluesletter. If you have a story to contribute please email me at [email protected] thank you, Karen Stott-editor 3

OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Message from President Hey OBBS’ers!! Hope this greeting finds all of you doing well and making the most the new Spring!! WE are definitely getting our fair share of great Blues hear in Central Florida!! There was a time when you heard folks say, “There ain‟t enough shows coming to this area!”, “Where do I go to hear some great Blues?”, and the like. Well, I must say, anyone who utters such nonsense should be slapped good with a Blues stick!!! We got Blues at the Alley, McWell‟s, The Viking Pub, B.B King‟s, Two Blondes, Harry‟s Cigar and Brew, House of Blues, Earl‟s Hidea- way, Aces, Dizzy D‟s, Boothill, Vines, Airport Hanger Bar, The Backstage, Bank and Blues, Lou‟s Blues, and at Gator Gary‟s!! With all these places, and I may have missed a couple, you can‟t tell me there ain‟t nothing to do!! Thanks to all the venue owners, bands, and fans for supporting live music in Central Florida! It’s springtime and that means it‟s time for new things to happen. The OBBS is working to pull some “new” things together for the membership and our Blues Fan base. We are looking at working closer with some of the venues that support live music consistently. If you think about it, the places that have live music are the places we see our friends, right? I have never been asked to hang out or connect with any of my friends at a karaoke bar . . .have you? I have nothing against karaoke; it‟s just not where my friends and I go to share in music experiences, that‟s all.

Thanks to all of you that supported our Central Florida Blues Challenge winners, The PitBull of the Blues on their trek to Memphis. We‟re damn proud of „em and look forward to their return for more shows around Central Florida very soon. We are also damn proud of Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, Selwyn Birchwood & Deuces Wild, Joe Caruso, and The Birddog Bobby Band!! They all have released new CDs and many of us have cop- ies. Not sure all of us realize the work and dedication it takes to produce a CD in today‟s challenging economy. It‟s not easy to do it right these days and these guys have done it right!! When you get a chance, get one of each and enjoy the music! I just want to take a moment to let you all know what we have assisted a few members and friends finan- cially from our Gary Ingber fund. We are indeed using the funds for what it was created to do - help those in need of assistance. The gifts are not big, but they are indeed appreciated and we hope to continue this process. It is my hope that we have multiple events, both big and small, to keep this fund going. Please get in touch if you have ideas or events that could be used to help fill this cookie jar. Okay folks, it‟s time to get out and enjoy this great FL Spring weather. You know what goes great with this weather, THE BLUES!!! All Blues ain‟t sad and Spring in FL is not a sad season. So, as you are getting your flower beds and lawns in order, cleaning out your closets and garages, finishing up those winter projects and planning for Sum- mer vacations, put some Blues in your souls people!! Get your mp3 players, iPods, iPhones, BlackBerries, Androids, HTCs, Samsungs, or whatever device you use loaded up with some killer Blues (or any music!!) and feed your soul what it needs my friends. Take care everyone and . .. GET OUT AND GET SOME BLUES (LIVE MUSIC!) IN YA!!!! Herb Ransburg, Jr. OBBS President.

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Blues in the Schools Whispering Oak Elementary By Reno Mussatto On February 22nd, the Orange Blossom Blues Socie- ty’s Blues in the Schools crew had their 2nd annual presentation for the 3rd grade classes at Whispering Oak Elementary. Doc Williamson, Gary Whitehead, Reno Mussatto, Bird Dog Bobby and Pappa D performed some blues classics and educated students with an age appropriate history of the blues. The origins of the blues, trans- formation of the blues from rural to urban and acoustic to electric were explained. Of course, the music was what really got the students attention. There is nothing quite like two hundred 3rd Graders singing along and clapping their hands to “Big Boss MOM”. They really enjoyed the song writer’s names; Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, etc. Newest addition to the blues crew was Mike Pappademos, who played harp, sang and jumped right in sharing the front work. This guy is a natural with children and a true performer. His ex- planation of how the song “Chicken Shack” came to be was a big hit with the 3rd Graders. Our host was 3rd grade Teacher and Orange Blossom Blues Society member, Beth Brissette; who comments, “It was such a treat! The kids learned a lot, and there are now many new Blues fans in the world! One of the kids said she just couldn‟t believe that they came to play for US! My favorite day this year!!!”. Beth’s class also gave the Blues in Schools Crew blue tie-dyed T-shirts and wraps as a thank you. But for me, the BIG thank you was the sound of the audience experiencing live blues music, many of them for the 1st time. If you know of a school that might be interested in a FREE Blues in the Schools presentation or just have questions about how the program works, please email me at [email protected] or call me at 407-234-7185. If you’d like to help support this program, a $5.00 donation to the OBBS will get you a very cool, full-color, Blues in the Schools bumper sticker! Pictures on next page.

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OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1 6 OBBS E-BLUESLETTER

History of the OBBS by Ben”Bulldog” Basile The Orange Blossom Blues Society, the Early Years

When Mid-November rolls around this year, the OBBS will be seven years old. My, how time has flown! I'm going to take a few minutes and look back over the first two years or so for our growing enterprise. That would be from late 2004, when it all begin, 'til the end of 2006. Join me for this little walk down memory lane if you will...

When Jeff Willey put together a new jam at Cafe Annie downtown, many blues fans and musicians who had previously only known one another from jams "way back in the day" or from on-line forums got to meet and play together and talk about how Central Florida ought to have an organized Blues Society. "Big Willey" got that event started in August of 2004 and it wasn't long before the event became "ground zero" for an effort to launch a functioning Blues Society. Some of the original conspirators included "MuDDfish Mike" Edwards, Tim Williams, Jae Futch, Jeff and his sidekick on the Smokin' Torps, Clay Cole, "Burnin' Vernon" Miller, Rob Mola, and yours truly, "Bulldog Ben" Basile.

By the 3rd of November, Mike Edwards wrote to a contact at the Blues Foundation to inquire as to exactly what a new Blues Society had to do to affiliate. On November 10th, Tim, Burnin' Vernon, Rob Mola, Jeff and Mr. Bulldog met before the jam, decided to actually "go for it" and passed the hat to try and raise enough cash to actually file. And, no, I don't remember how much we scraped together that evening! We had to hold back a little beer money, you know! Mike Edwards and Jae were very much involved in these early deliberations but both of them were out of town on that fateful evening. It wasn't long before Jae and her expert and volunteer legal consultants helped us get the papers submitted and filed in Tallahassee; The Or- ange Blossom Blues Society was born on the most-auspicious day of November 16, 2004! The date was chosen deliberately, as it is the birthday of W.C. Handy, "The Father of the Blues!" It also happens to be Vern Miller's birthday! Not a bad choice, if I do say so!

As many Central Florida blues lovers know, Jeff Willey is not only a fine musician, but an able promoter; Jeff had been hard at work for some time putting together the First Orlando Blues Festival. It worked out well that the chosen date of November 20th came around just as Jeff and the rest of the co-conspirators were able to get the OBBS up and running. The Fest was a huge success in so many ways; though a couple of hundred more attendees would have been nice, Wall Street Plaza probably couldn't have packed in even one more bluesfreak! The crowd loved it, and some of the best talent Central Florida had to offer got to shine on-stage. The line-up for that top-shelf local event featured: The Revival Band, Burnin' Vernon and Wild Blue Yonder,The Midnight Ramblers, Dr. Rob and Red Eye Express, funkUS ,Shaun Rounds Blues Band, Smokin' Torps,Soul Cac- tus,Houseshakers Reunion.

Our fledgling Society made many new friends that weekend. And many members got started in that volunteer habit, staffing our information table and preachin' the blues gospel to all who came anywhere near! Bassist and former O-town resident Mark McCoy made it to the Fest from Atlanta and many OBBS-folk who have become fixtures on the local blues scene were all over that show. Jann Childers was on the table for the whole day. Others, including Founding Member and Future-Pres Jerry Waller, Jim Mahoney, web designer Amado Ohland and Jim Manuel and many others were volunteering and helping to launch committees in those first few months of 2005; our small but devoted band of blusers had made a beginning...

Stay tuned for another installment in this series on "The Early Years of the OBBS!"

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UPDATE: LADIES OF THE BLUES By Jann Childers It’s been over a year, and the same question has come up, and inquiring minds want to know, “What’s going on with the Ladies of the Blues?” It’s quite a simple story, and it boils down to this: Location, location, location! We were fortunate enough to have BB Kings to host the last three shows, and we were grateful for the opportunity to play on a great stage large enough to host a great band and all the ladies singing. After much review of comments, we are back to the drawing board. We are in search of a great venue that can hold 100-200 people comfortably, provide food and drinks at a reasonable price and free parking. Not asking for much, huh? So, we are looking. Someone had suggested doing the show in 3 differ- ent locations throughout the Orlando area – but that is truly asking allot out of the performers. So, thanks for the suggestion, we all think it’s better to do an LOB show twice a year, and do another show which features OBBS bands. the front row, “testifying” for each lady, on how much effort, hours and sacrifice each one puts in to do what ABOUT THE G.I. MUSICIANS RELIEF FUND: they do best to shine for 3 hours. I know some of you met Gary, some had the wonderful op- Not only does this include the Ladies volun- portunity of playing with him and knew him well, and I can honestly teering their time, but also the guys that put their hours say, I never did. I saw him playing once, but in passing. When Gary and energies into creating a great band presentation for passed, I saw the requests and benefits popping up all over Orlando all of us. You see, it’s not only about us girls singing and elsewhere. They were random, unorganized, thrown together, together, but they also learn the tunes for each girl to and who knows if any were beneficial. That's when I realized, we have a chance to shine. We have had some great guys could do something more productive and successful, and not have it helping us in the past and I’m giving them a “shout out”; available to a few people, but open to all musicians in need. I've Denny G, Paul Stott, Herb Ransburg, Roger Zimish, talked to all his friends about it, and my favorite was sharing notes Carl Dirkes, Bob Brulo, Tom Bastedo, The Blues- and stories from the guys from Revival; Howard Gelber, Paul Stott Busters, Kurt Bacon, the late “Cadillac Jack”, Steve and George Linstrom and hearing all sorts of stories, I knew, Gary Howard, Bob Marcos, Greg Stewart, Chris Papaioan- would approve of this fund. The Fund is more than assisting after a nou, Tim Renshaw, Roger Zimish, Hank McKay, Ben musician has passed, but also if he/she needs assistance with funds; Bost, Rick Plate as well as bands that have donated medications, and or other services. their time: Signal 65, Paul Stott band and Revival. With- I can give you an update on the “Gary Ingber Fund”. This year, the out their efforts, we would have never put on the incredi- fund has been beneficial to a few people in need; someone needed ble shows in the past, and I thank you ALL for your ef- funds for medical testing, another needed transportation out of state. forts and belief in what we are doing. That’s what this Fund is all about – helping those in need. But, as you see monies are going out, and we HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN??? need to have monies going in. So, suggestions? Thanks to the wonderful and talented JoAnna Hudson, she Ideas? Send it this way. We gotta keep our ener- and I brainstormed on a all Woman's show. We presented it to a few gies going, so we can be ready to assist anyone in club owners, and the response was not what we expected, so we need. Thank you to everyone for your love, sup- took it to a "larger" focus - more Ladies to sing with and perform in the show. That's how it started on a Tuesday night in a bar in Bald- port and keepin' the Blue's goin with The Ladies win Park drinking a drink with “pretty pink umbrellas". The rest, we Of The Blues! have proven ourselves with talented men and women with a dedication to do the best show, for such a great purpose. We have new “Ladies” who have joined us to do our project and I’m PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS so thrilled they’ve offered their services, and I can’t wait! Laura Da- vid Piornack who relocated here from Chicago, Wendy Benson who is such a ball of fire, Donna Sweeney from Daytona said she’d jump in the mix, and of course, we have Suzy Mayberry Mars from Chica- go – my old singing partner who’s offered her golden voice to sing with us again, and Julie Wallace will make the trek from her new home in Miami beach. We also have our “homegirls”: Jill Towers, Betsy Serafin, Shari Gregoire, and Sandy Williamson. There are some others out there – I can’t announce yet. If anything, this should prove to you all, these women “believe” that we can make a difference in our community and help out. That’s what LOB’s is all about. It’s just one way to help out in our community. I will be here in 8 OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1 CENTRAL FLORIDA BLUES CHALLENGE 2010 by Dominic Benecasa

I was asked to be a judge at the Orange Blossom blues Society's International Blues Challenge competition in early September, 2010 just weeks before the First National Blues Festival I ever put together was to take place. Being I was asked to Judge the South Florida IBC a few weeks earlier I was totally excited to also to do O.B.B.S's competition for the reason being we'd get 2 great Florida Bands on a new and growing national festival's stage.

I think that by having bands that win the area I.B.C. competition (the bar I set for talent on the Day- tona Festival stage) and then being able to search these acts out and getting them national exposure that will grow in years to come will help Florida musicians get put"on the map" in the Blues music world. Hopefully, this exposure and the addition of the Daytona Blues Festival to their resumes will help those bands get more playing time especially around the state of Florida. The main stage will always have a spot for acts of this caliber, eventually I want to get other stages up and running so that we can give al Florida bands a shot at an extra payday at our festival.

My personal experiences at the competition were beyond belief, everyone treated me like I was some kind of important guy (which I'm Definitely not). I could tell it was the true blues fans that appreciate the hard work and effort I do for the music world in our area and that is what I want to address. The O.B.B.S. board of officers and the volunteers that got out and did all the groundwork for the competition should be commended for a job well done! (like my steaks) I know they are working hard and ramping up to get the Blues music back in Orlando. The IBC was a new start and a great day, any member that didn't attend-shame on you! If I get my way the Orlando/ Daytona are will have a "music week" in the fall just like a bike week. I will work to mutually support all the O.B.B.S. future music endeavors and hope to assist such a great group of people in any way I can.

I really want to THANK you guys for asking me to judge, all your hospitality and support both for the festival and the treatment you gave me when I came over for the competition. I hope this is just a start in a music partnership and we can do it again in 2011. PS even the pizza was better than what we get here in Daytona...

Dominic with The PITBULL OF BLUES BAND The 2010 Central Florida Blues Challenge & Fan Favorite Award Winner's

2011 Orange Blossom Blues Society IBC Representatives & 2011 International Blues Challenge Semi Finalist

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Mark Hummel interview at th BB Kings March 24 , 2011. BY Ken Showkeir

I was afforded a golden opportunity to interview Mark at the event. I had prepared some questions in advance to ask him. And of course hoped that it would flow, it was going pretty good, but then started to get interrupted by CD‟s sales, I saw Mark sell approximately 200 dollars worth in about a half an hour, I am in the wrong job. The First question I asked him was “Why the Harmonica”, well good st question, he said that he had 1 tried guitar but found it a little to hard to manage, so Ken Showkeir with Mark Hummel the Harmonica looked a lot easier. But of course anyone who has played it seriously for any length of time knows that Harps,Harmonica‟s can be real high maintenance. That lead to the next question, which was “If he played any other instruments”, he did say that he can play enough guitar to show the bands guitar players, what he wants, or anything special he wants them to do. So rehearsals oughta be fun, I would think. We also talked then about the other 2 Harp players on the show bill that night, of course Fingers Taylor started on keyboards and played them in Bands, too. Johnny Sansone, plays Accordian quite well and other instruments too. He had 3 Cd‟s for sale at the show as well. Then we were starting to get interrupted with the Cd sales. One fellow had on a Casey‟s t-shirt from Billings, Montana and Mark replied that he had played there many times years ago, and asked if it was still open and still there, the Gentleman replied it sure is, it is apparently about the only night spot in Billings. Somehow I asked Mark where they had stayed in town, his answer was the Hotel right across the street , from B B Kings. I asked him about influences on his playing and or Favorite play- Bird Dog Bobby Band opened for Mark Hummel ers, The real big ones were of course, both Sonny Boy Williamson‟s, The 2 Walters, Big Walter Horton and Little Walter, Mark opened the show with a song that his Harmonica style sounded a lot like Sonny Boy II (Rice Miller).Which I posted on Youtube. He did say he has gotten licks and phrases from many more artists, these are the ones listed from his websight, Kim Wilson, Norton Buffalo, Gary Primich, John Mayall, just to name a few. That led to me asking him what is his favorite manufacturer of Harmoni- cas, he uses and recommends the Seydel, stainless steel reed plate Harmonicas, he says they definitely last longer. We talked a bit about Hohner. I did ask about where he is from and that is of course California. I asked where Johnny Sansone is from and he has lived in quite a few places, New Orleans, New Jersey, and Toronto being 3 of them, he was displaced during Hurricane Katrina. Fingers Taylor is from Tulsa, Oaklahoma, Jackson Mississippi, is 2 of them. I had to ask him where this current tours, Guitar player is from and his Name, Josh Folero from Portland Oregon, which is where the Insomniacs are OBBS is a proud sponsor for the show from. Josh is on loan from the Curtis Salgado blues band, out of Portland. When I mentioned this name to our resident Walking Blues History Book-Marlon Savarino he said oh I have seen him many times, he has played with sang for Santana and been around since the 70‟s. Well that was about it for the interview, and he sold quite a few CD‟s while I was interviewing him. The show was great and I posted 2 of the videos, I took from it on Youtube, go to ksharpe10 to view them and many other local blues entertainer‟s. Thanks and enjoy more Zshows and Obbs events, as well as the Plaza.

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What’s Happenin’ by Darryll Davis

A good mix of family and friends joined the blues crowd at The Alley, Friday, March 11th, for what was billed as Selwyn Birchwood's cd release party. It was so much more. A lot had transpired in the last several weeks for Selwyn. As if selling t-shirts and his initial release, FL Boy, weren't enough, Selwyn's blues world had come full circle with his opening for Buddy Guy at the Blues & BBQ festival held in downtown Orlando last month. Selwyn's inspiration for beginning guitar and a life in the blues world was seeing Buddy Guy at the inaugural Blues & BBQ festival held in Orlando several years ago. The remarkable thing is that in just a few short years, Selwyn had come into his own. From the strength of his fretwork to the diversity of his songwriting for FL(orida) Boy, Selwyn has certainly begun carving his own place in the blues. So it cast somewhat of a melancholy feel to the show because in addition to celebrating the release of Selwyn's first cd, it was also a going-away party in the wake of Selwyn's recent move to Tampa. He's already performed at a couple of the local jams there, but he's going to have to start over with the gulf coast blues scene. His departure means parting ways with the journeyman outfit The Deuces Wild, which had one of the tightest rhythm sec- tions around in Dave Scitney on drums and Auggie Antoine on bass. The band also features Regi Oliver on sax. Interviewed before the show, Dave Scitney described his time with Selwyn by saying, "The joy of watching Selwyn progress from when he first started playing until now. It's a shame to see him go but that's the live music scene." Regi Oliver stated, "I could see him rising to the level of a Rob- ert Cray, he's got that much potential."

All of the effort and emotion bringing these men together for one last show, you just had to know, was about to make for one hell of a party. The band warmed up with a few classics and by the time they finished Little Walter's My Baby Don't Stand No Cheating, the crowd was two deep at the bar and the good times had begun. Selwyn breaks out the first of several numbers from his cd, Found Love To- day, and suddenly the dance floor is jammed. Found Love Today is an easy swamp blues number reminiscent of what I knew as beach music from my youth. There's a tangible feel- ing of Memphis infected blues in this song and several others from Selwyn's cd. That theme resonated throughout the night. the power goes out! Power's restored to the stage lighting, band equipment, and the registers behind the bar, but not much else (no fans!). The show takes on an intimate setting and Selwyn comes back up to start the next set with Old Salty, a John Lee Hooker influenced song he wrote about fishing in central Florida. OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 1111

As if there weren't enough ways to find ways to make the show memorable, during the first break, the power goes out! Power's restored to the stage lighting, band equipment, and the registers behind the bar, but not much else (no fans!). The show takes on an intimate setting and Selwyn comes back up to start the next set with Old Salty, a John Lee Hooker influenced song he wrote about fishing in central Florida. The party ratchets up and cupcakes are served when Selwyn tells the crowd that in addition to celebrating his birthday (which was just two days earlier), there are a couple of young ladies in the room also celebrating their birthday this evening, including the ever charming Betty Fox. In a mood to party, these announcements are followed by the funk throw down by Johnny Guitar Watson, A Real Mutha Fer Ya, and its a dance party.

It had been a long time since I had been to a show that had such a good time feel to it when Selwyn announces it's time to call up some special guests. First up is Shaun Rounds and when he straps on Selwyn's stratocaster, he knows his got to bring it. Their first song together features both of them trading some stinging licks before it slows down a little when they seque into Eye- sight To The Blind.

It's almost midnight when Shaun steps down and in comes central Florida legend, Kingsnake Records alum Ernie Lancaster. Ernie's bringing the power and the lead lines but after a couple of numbers, the band takes a short break. When the action resumes, Ernie's back, but this time it's a slide attack. Talking to him after the show, he explains that he gets that signature slide sound on his Yamaha by using a mix of electric and acoustic strings when he plays.

Before the night is over, Selwyn calls up Betty Fox and with him and Ernie trading lead lines, Betty wows the crowd with the strength of her vocals. She got in a few songs but we definitely haven't heard enough from this young lady. For the evening's closer, Selwyn calls Shaun Rounds back to the stage and they tear into a rowdy version of Look At Yonder's Wall.

Throughout the evening, several people had come in just to give their regards to Selwyn, most notably fellow guitarists Paul Stott and Big Rick. Selwyn's departure from the area made for an emotional bit- tersweet performance this evening but he assured us, "I'm still planning to play here on a regu- lar basis every couple of months. I'll be back." 12 OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1 5TH ANNUAL ORLANDO BLUES & BBQ 2-19-11 By Daniel Heithausen aka Daniel Heitz I recently attended the 5th annual Orlando Blues and Barbeque. The weather was great, and all the bands that day were operating on all cylinders! When I first arrived, I heard Paul Stott with his band and Rick Plate ripping out a monstrous set. Paul is a phenomenal guitarist & they sounded great as always. Next up was Selwyn Birchwood, who as always, with his crowd pleasing charisma and tasty guitar licks, gave the a crowd pleasing performance playing blues standards, such as Caldonia (made popular by BB King) and he also had a special guest RJ Harmon, who wowed the audience with his incredible authentic sounding blues harmonica. They were followed by Cece Teneal playing an awesome R and B set, with her powerful vocals & an incredible array of backup singers & musicians. Then, finally, the man..The Legend.. Buddy Guy played an amazing show, as always! He never ceases to amaze me with his extraordinary playing, to his soulful singing, to his goofy jokes on stage. There was definitely no doubt about it.... Buddy Guy was at his best that night! He, as musicians say, had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. At the end of his set, Buddy hopped off stage into the audience & wowed everyone up close & personal, with the audience following & dancing around him like a conga line, as he played. I appreciate Mayor Buddy Dyer & the City of Orlando for their efforts in helping to keep Central Florida culturally diverse by bringing the Blues into the downtown events, and for including local blues musicians along with the great legends, like Buddy Guy. The crowd was huge, and I saw a lot of fellow blues lovers & musicians enjoying the weather& the talent on stage. What I did- n't see, was many young people around my own age (14). I was exposed to the Blues since the day I was born by my Father who is a blues musician. We need to expose more young people to the blues because they don't have a clue what they are missing!

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OCTOBER 2010 BY RICK BURR

When I was first asked to write about my experi- ence attending the 2010 Daytona Blues Festival last Octo- ber, I thought “What in the world would I say” and then I thought about the good times I had with some old friends and meeting some new friends and listening to some really great blues.

First, last year‟s Daytona Blues Festival was held in early October at the Jackie Robinson Baseball Stadium with the stage set-up on the pitcher‟s mound; so you could sit in the stands or go down and get up close to the stage and/or dance in the infield. I did both…! The festival featured over 14 musicians and bands that played the 3 day festival. They were not only talented, but they are some of the best in the business playing their own unique style of the Blues; and they were very approachable and friendly to the fan base in attendance. Lots of photo opportunities with the musicians and bands and I got several autographed CD‟s and we even got a “Buckeye” autographed by „Ohio State‟ favorite, Sean Carney and with Paul Stott‟s autographed too! Imagine that, a little Buck- eye, about the size of a walnut with (2) signature‟s on it. Definitely a keepsake.

The music was fabulous and went well with an occasional brew (or 2) to help ward off the warm October sun. As an added attraction, there was an Air Show going on at the beach and we could see the planes doing their stunts and an occasional stadium fly-over.

I had a great time and can‟t wait to see what the festival or- ganizer, Dominic Benecasa, has in store for us Blues fans at the Second Annual Daytona Blues Festival this October (2011).

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RiCK BURR OWNER OF NATURE TOUCH IS A PROUD SPONSOR OF OBBS- 14

OBBS E-BLUESLETTER Volume 1, Issue 1

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