It is great to see that there are several blues societies in Upstate New York that not only bring in bands for occasional club shows but are also willing to take on the difficult task of planning and pulling off a full fledged blues festival. The Mohawk Valley Blues Society was founded in March of 2005. Since being founded they have put together two full one day blues festivals and also brought numerous high profile blues and zydeco acts to Upstate New York. Mohawk Valley Blues Festival I in 2007 featured: Sugar Blue, Jimmy Thackery, Roxanne Potvin & Carl Weathersby to name a few.

Year number two brought on another full slate of National Blues Acts. On August 2, 2009 the Mohawk Valley Blues Festival II was held at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Frankfort, NY. Opening the festival under cloudy skies was roots blues rocker Jeremy Wallace and his trio from Montclair, New Jersey. I would describe Jeremy as Teddy Morgan with a raspy voice. Jeremy after a quick amp change went straight to work on mainly original songs taken from his three releases. Wallace did reach into the Chess Blues vault with a nice and interesting version of the Willie Dixon classic, Back Door Man. Self billed on his website as “Americana with a Bite,” I really liked the guitar sound that Jeremy had to offer. Sometimes keeping it simple with just guitar, bass and drums can really give an original songwriter the ability to more easily tell his stories. Look for the Jeremy Wallace Trio touring mainly throughout the Northeast.

Guitarist Clarence Spady was up next on the main stage. Clarence is out promoting his new cd “Just Between Us” (Severn Records). With a last minute fill in bass player Clarence stuck to the standards. He opened with the Willie Dixon penned “Built for Comfort.” His second song was described as a song his dad used to play, Otis Rush’s standard “Some Many Roads.”  Clarence showed off his own Otis like riffs and then proceeded into Hendrix’s “Hey Joe.” Unfortunately by this time the rain started to fall harder then it did during Monsignor’s round in the movie Caddyshack. The weather made it unsafe and the Clarence Spady set had to come to a premature end.

After a good 20-30 minute break the sun came back out and so did the music. Saginaw, Michigan vocalist, Sharrie Williams was next on the main stage. Sharrie’s latest offering is “I’m Here To Stay” (Electro-Fi Records). Fresh off her performance at the Pocono Blues Festival the week before, the Wiseguys (Sharrie’s band) were laying down some tight blues grooves and gospel stomps. Sharrie’s live version of “I’m Here To Stay” revived the soaked crowd and put life back into the Mohawk Valley faithful. The long line of fans looking for CDs after her set told the story of how the crowd felt about her appearance. Besides Sharrie’s latest release I would also recommend these two releases by Sharrie Williams & The Wise Guys. Both releases are on CrossCut Records out of Germany, look for the studio release “Hard Drivin’ Woman” (2004) and the live disc “Live At Bay-Car Blues Festival” (2007).

Vocalist and harp player Darrell Nulisch kept up the consistency of fantastic blues acts booked for this festival. Darrell takes a very traditional blues approach and treats old classics with new life and respect. Darrell’s lastest cd is “Going Back To Dallas” (Severn Records). Darrell was backed by a great supporting band featuring his writing partner and bass player Steve Gomes. Nulisch knocked out classics by James “Thunderbird” Davis, Magic Sam, Sonny Boy Williamson and James Carr.

Magic Slim & The Teardrops were appropriately placed as the headliner for this great day of music. The “Real Deal” & “Tough As Nails” are two expressions that are often spoken when referring to this Chicago Blues Legend. Up in years, Magic Slim now mounts a stool for his entire set. He still straps on the Gibson Les Paul and turns up the volume. The old sounds of Magic Slim were still there, reminiscing back to the Zoo Bar Session days of some of the finest live blues ever put on cd. At times Slim struggled with the guitar, but his voice remained as strong as ever. A group of middle aged ladies danced up front and flirted with Slim as he rocked through a great set of Chicago Blues. One of the most over covered song of all time is probably Wilson Picket’s “Mustang Sally.”  When Magic Slim plays the Picket classic he makes it his own and knocks it down with his own guitar extras that will leave you and Steve Cropper smiling. He’s still Magic Slim and he’s still the reining king of Chicago Blues. Magic Slim & The Teardrops‘ latest release on Blind Pig Records, “Midnight Blues,” just shipped this week. Look for a review soon on this cd.

Besides the acts on the main stage the festival also featured some fine regional acts between sets. Featured on the regional stage was: Lomeo Brothers, Blueprints, Tom Towsley and Tas Cru & the Slow Happy Boys. Workshops by various artists and blues historians covered the history of the blues and in depth looks at blues guitar and harmonica playing. The workshops also included a drum circle and session on the diddly bow. Many happy attendees walked away with complementary harmonica’s and homemade diddly bows.

My hats off to the Mohawk Valley Blues Society on a quality blues festival and to their continued success in the years to come.