Cajun & Blues Festival Dishes It Up

Simi Valley, CA has it going on! The 22nd annual Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Music Festival was held Memorial Day weekend, May 28-29. I had a gig the 27th and the 29th but made a point to drag myself up early Saturday morning the 28th and drive over two hours to catch at least one day. What a treat it turned out to be! Relaxing, exciting and downhome all rolled into one gently sprawling event that felt like a community fair/music festival. An added surprise was seeing Blues Foundation pals Jay and Priscilla Sieleman representing here all the way from Memphis , TN.

Musically, the Delta Groove All-Star Revue seemed to dominate the day and in a good way. On the Blues Stage we were treated to a solid plethora of fine talent that Delta Groove has come to be known for: Kirk Fletcher, Finis Tasby, Rusty Zinn and Bob Corritore just to name a few featured, plus my personal friend and fireball recently signed with the DG label, soulful powerhouse vocalist / entertainer Sugaray Rayford and also special surprise, Bay Area Blues stalwart, Tracy Nelson complete with her own backup singers. A super surprise to us all was guest Kenny Neal! The day's music rotated like a giant sampler platter off your favorite menu complimented with hot CD giveaways's by Delta Groove 's Randy Chortkoff.. Intermingled with the tasty DG artists and their allstar backup band was a rockin', funky set by Ana Popovic and a soulful and riveting finale by John Nemeth. The lowkey atmosphere mixed with high caliber talent was inviting and accessible and it appeared that there were many annual devotees… count me in!