Advance Online Ticket sales have ended. If you purchased advance tix your name & tix will be at the gate. Tickets available at gate day of show. See you by the river!
NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL 2022 INFO
ALL INFO HERE! ~LIMITED ADVANCED TICKETS AT A SAVINGS!
- NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL ONLINE TICKET SALES HAVE ENDED. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT GATE DAY OF SHOW.
- SUNDAY SEPT. 4, 2022
- Gates Open at noon
- Music 1:00-6:00 PM
- Bring lawn chairs, blankets, canopies, etc
- RAIN OR SHINE
- OUR FESTIVAL IS UNIQUELY INTIMATE, NOT TOO LARGE IN ORDER TO RETAIN THE FRIENDLY MOUNTAIN VIBE. WE THANK ALL OF OUR FRIENDS WHO HAVE ATTENDED THROUGH THE YEARS AND NEW FRIENDS WHO HELP MAKE THIS EVENT LIKE NO OTHER!
We're keeping the Blues alive in the High Country!
*SUNDAY SEPT 4, 1-6 pm River House Inn, Grassy Creek NC, near West Jefferson
*In the meadow by the beautiful New River with plenty of room for social distancing.
*Please, no coolers and no pets. Food and beverages available for purchase.
ACCOMMODATIONS
ACCOMMODATIONS: Many of you have requested info: High Country accommodations for the festival... Our venue, River House Inn, is a bed & breakfast with wonderful rooms!
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK! PLEASE LIKE US & HELP US KEEP OUR BLUES MISSION ALIVE!
.
***We thank WETS FM Johnson City Tennessee for Media sponsorship!***
ARTISTS ROSTER 2022
ROY ROBERTS, SOUL-BLUES LEGEND
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
As a young teenager in rural Kentucky Roy Roberts picked up the guitar and hasn't put it down yet. A move to North Carolina when he was 18 brought Roy's immense guitar prowess to the attention of preeminent touring musicians. Soon Roy was on the road with Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, and King Solomon Burke. By the mid-1960's, Roy's rich, expressive baritone and masterful guitar propelled him into his own recording and performing career. His distinctive, soulful blues has taken him over this country and many others. Roy has won innumerable awards for producing stellar albums of Blues greats on his label Rock House records, as well as awards for performance and for Keeping The Blues Alive. Roy Roberts has been inducted in the Beach Music Hall of Fame. Most importantly, as a peerless entertainer for over 60 years, Roy enthralls international audiences with a show that brims with dynamism and soulful zest.
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
THE KING BEES CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' THE BLUES in 2022!!
The King Bees, Rob "Hound Dog" Baskerville and Penny "Queen Bee" Zamagni produce NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL. They call Ashe County home, but travel the world with their Blues and American Roots music. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the band and also the 20th year of New River Blues Festival which they created and produce.
In the mid-1980's Baskerville and Zamagni began traveling the deep-South looking for and mentoring under Blues artists of historical, cultural, and musical significance. Many blues greats took them under their wing and nurtured and guided The King Bees toward the sound of authenticity. With Baskerville on guitar and keys and Zamagni on vocals, bass, and as song smith, The King Bees honed their art with many Blues masters. By 1990 they had been touring and recording with some of the most culturally important of Blues artists. In the early 1990's they were signed to a European label and began touring internationally.
The King Bees have performed on festival stages in Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and London as well as taking their show across numerous countries. Their love of American Roots music has taken them from Mississippi juke joints to several performances at Lincoln Center. They collaborated with Rock n' Roll Hall-of-Fame member Bo Diddley and were featured on The B.B. King Birthday Tour. Baskerville and Zamagni are also recognized as Blues historians, represent and book Blues artists of note, and produce Blues festivals across the South. Veteran drummer extraordinaire, Jim "Jimmy The Groove" Gillon will be laying down the big blues beat.
*"Queen Bee Zamagni belts it out with the best, backed by a superb band highlighted by the burning riffs of Hound Dog Baskerville." The Charlotte Observer.
*"Legendary Blues stylists..." The Knoxville Journal.
*"Excellent...Queen Bee Zamagni has a strong, swinging, slinky voice used to good effect on every number. Fine straight blues all the way..Tasty!" Blues & Rhythm, England
SANDRA HALL, EMPRESS OF THE BLUES
THE KING BEES~ CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF STINGIN' & SWINGIN' & 20 YEARS OF NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL!
SANDRA HALL, EMPRESS OF THE BLUES
- Sandra Hall, Atlanta's Empress of the Blues, started singing in church at age 4.. Still in her teens, Sandra Hall formed the Exotics, and her sizzling singing and dancing were regularly featured at the Royal Peacock Club, one of the premier nightspots in the South. She shared the bill with such luminaries as Joe Tex, Otis Redding, and The Temptations. After being signed to legendary Ichiban Records, Sandra took her career to new heights as she toured to acclaim over this country and throughout Europe. Her incendiary performances at Switzerland's Montreux Festival secured Sandra's reputation as one of the top female Blues singers touring the continent. From sultry to bawdy to unbridled, Sandra Hall's passionate performances are as powerful as the Blues itself!
"Sandra’s power on the stage is something to behold!" Music Maker Foundation
LYNN FODDRELL
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
SANDRA HALL, EMPRESS OF THE BLUES
- LYNN FODDRELL with DOUGLAS TURNER~ The Last of the Mountain Blues Dynasty
Lynn Foddrell is the last member of the Foddrells, a musical family dating back to the 1800's.We're honored that this year The Foddrells, Lynn and his cousin Douglas Turner (who is also carrying on the family's musical legacy), will open our festival. Lynn is the son of Turner Foddrell (1928 – 1995), and the grandson of Posey Foddrell (1898 –1985). This musical Stuart, Virginia family spans back to the 1800's. Grandfather Posey, who learned from his father, was a multi-instrumentalist who trained all his 5 sons, Lynn's father and uncles, to play music, from Piedmont style blues to bluegrass to gospel. In the early 1980's Lynn performed with his father Turner and Uncle Marvin at Ferrum College’s Folk Life Festival, but soon their musical world widened. The Foddrell's performed at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tn., in Washington D.C. for the Festival of American Folklife sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, and both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. They also toured through Europe. When Marvin died, Turner and Lynn continued as a performing and recording duo until Turner's death. Although two elderly Foddrell uncles are still living and play guitars, banjo, and piano, they don’t do public shows. “I’m the last of the Mohicans," says Lynn Foddrell.
NITRO BOZEMAN & SARASOTA SLIM
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
Philip NITRO Bozeman rambled from Montgomery, Alabama to Chicago where he came of age watching, learning from, then joining, the Windy City's best Blues performers such as Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and a legion of others. Before long he was picking up tips from Junior Wells and becoming a fireball of a harp player. Along his winding journey the strong and sturdy Nitro had a career in boxing, but never gave up his music. Eventually Nitro landed in Florida where his musical calling led him to popularity and success in the state's vigorous Blues scene. Thirty-five years ago he met a young, hot guitarist, Gene "Sarasota Slim" Hardage, who was making waves of his own in the Sunshine State and also internationally. Don't miss these seasoned Bluesmen combining their forces to create a robust, unvarnished sound that gets to the heart and soul of what authentic Blues is all about!
".. a pair of consummate, Florida-based bluesman who work together like the best of the great Blues partnerships." Tampa Bay This Week
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
DONALD CEASAR~ THE BLUES EMPEROR
DONALD "BLUES EMPEROR" CEASAR has been a favorite at our festival and is a part of the New River Blues Festival family. An artist of exceptional versatility, performing on drums, harmonica, and keyboards while singing with gusto and laying down high-spirited dance steps. Ceasar hales from the bayous of Louisiana, in the heart of Creole and Cajun country where his grandfather, Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin and other family members were pioneers and founding fathers of Cajun Zydeco music. Ceasar has been entertaining audiences since childhood with his Cajun family band and opening for and sharing the stage with legendary artists such as Rocking Sidney, Fats Domino, Dr. John, The Nevilles, B.B. King, Allen Toussaint, and James Brown. Ceasar delivers a sizzling musical-gumbo full of the succulent flavors of Louisiana. "..possibly the hippest entertainer in the
Carolinas.” Jim Otis, The State, Columbia,SC.
NEW RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL THROUGH THE YEARS
We Thank Our Generous Sponsors
35th anniversary of The King Bees!
All across the US and Festivals and clubs in the European capitals!
Queen Bee Zamagni & Hound Dog Baskerville
Creators & Producers of New River Blues Festival.