Suttons Bay Blues Festival

An exciting venue is making its way to the shores of Suttons Bay this summer, as the area hosts its first Blues Festival. Graciously stepping into the role of Jazz Festivals past, this one-day event summons the best of Blues and brings it center stage to Leelanau County. What participants can expect to see and enjoy is an extravaganza of stellar music complimented by local eats, wine and cider, and even Moomer’s will bring ice cream to cool off the smokin’ summers blues sets.

The line-up for the Blues Festival includes: Harper, Sneaky Pete, Pete Fetter’s Electric Band with Sonny Landreth as the headliner. Sonny brings an unusual sound to the festival, and coordinators are particularly excited to share his performance.

Though I am no blues aficionado, nor have I ever seen Sonny Landreth in person, watching some video clips of this outrageous talent was enough to make me want to salivate. A guitar is a guitar, right? Not exactly. Sonny has created his own style of slide guitar playing, employing both his hands but using his right hand in an almost conductive manner, he appears to be “telling” the guitar what to do, and amazingly–she complies! To lovers of blues and seasoned musicians, Sonny’s accolades come straight from the top–Eric Clapton. No one will be disappointed. Seeing this man perform will drop the jaws of even novice blues fans.

I jokingly made a comment to some friends the other day that “blue” was the official color of Leelanau County; the joke seems to have some staying power and the Blues Festival brings yet another shade to the already prolific palate: blue water, blue sky, blue stones, and now–the Blues Fest! The origins of Blues music, an African-American history in the south, spreads its infectious rhythms to our region; this unique and rich area is gifted with the good fortune of people that appreciate music and art at big city caliber. This festival offers another chance to experience the magic of Blues music, set against the backdrop of a gorgeous Northern Michigan lakeside town, enriching our region with another brilliant hue of blue.

The festival is schedule for Saturday, July 25th, from noon until 9pm. Tickets are widely available at local retailers or online at http://www.suttonsbaybluesfestival.com/; organizers are holding the tickets at $20 advance/$25 door, making the show accessible to everyone.