Becki Sue
Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin’ Daddies. Photo courtesy Kootenai Valley Record.
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Second annual Libby Riverfront Blues Festival Aug. 13-14
Blues performers signed to headline festival
by Kootenai Valley Record
February 5, 2010
A pair of nationally known bands have been signed to headline Libby’s second annual Riverfront Blues Festival, scheduled for Aug. 13-14 at Riverfront Park.
After a successful first year, the festival has been expanded to two days.
"Last year’s event drew over 300 blues fans from as far east as Illinois and as far north as Calgary," said organizer Trent Oelberg. "All of the reports we received – and they are still coming in – were positive. The comment we heard over and over again was, ‘For a first-time festival, you did it right.’"
This year’s festival is scheduled for 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday and 4 p.m. to midnight on Saturday. There will be a total of seven bands for the event, with Phil Berkowitz from San Francisco headlining Friday’s show and Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin’ Daddies from Seattle serving as headliners on Saturday.
Phil Berkowitz is a master of the blues harmonica and an accomplished vocalist who has been energizing the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene for more than a decade. He founded the High Rollers in 1996 and plays regularly in clubs and blues jams throughout the Bay Area. His love of the blues has also taken him to New Orleans, Memphis, and other cities where he has jammed with some of the best players in those cities.
Phil has released four CDs to date, two with the High Rollers and his latest two solo efforts with other top Bay Area musicians.
Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin’ Daddies bill themselves as "the Pacific Northwest’s premier high-energy, low-down, powerhouse, hip-shakin’ blues band."
The band is powered by Jim King on sax, blues harp and vocals and Tom "T-Boy Neal" Boyle, with Becki Sue up front with her big voice, sassy attitude and a style reminiscent of Texas blues belters Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton. They are backed by the award-winning, "nailed-to-the-floor" rhythm section of Les "Wildchild" White on upright bass and Jeff "Mr. Foundation" Hayes on drums.
Over the years, the group has been nominated for and won many individual and band awards. In 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 combined, the band received 39 nominations from the Washington Blues Society, winning 13 total awards, including Best Blues Band in 2006 and 2007 and the 2008 Best Blues Recording award for "Big City Blues," still being played worldwide on XM/Sirius and blues radio. The band has also been honored with awards from the Cascade Blues Association, the Inland Empire Blues Society and Seattle’s King 5 TV.
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Editor’s Note: See the January 26, 2010 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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