I made this trip to hang out with friend and guitarist Ryan McGravey and see him sit in with Joe Bonamassa but discovered a few new gems as I always seem to do. There was a small stage dedicated to future stars of the blues called Blues 101. I saw a 6 year old playing harp and then I saw Austin Young. He is a 14 year old guitar phenom who had some hot licks. Of course Stevie Ray was his main influence but this was a good looking kid with a great personality. I think he will make it music or film. I also saw a young lady named Michaela Rae that was impressive, especially with chord progressions. Last but not least was a harmonica player who told me one of his influences was James Cotton. This kid was awesome! His name: Nic “Cottonseed” Clark. That’s all it took for me to run to my car and give him my James Cotton I took at Jazz Fest. I also gave Austin a Stevie Ray. These kids were mentored by local blues musician Dan Treanor.
The biggest surprise for me was Reba Russell. I think her performance was as close to Janis as I can remember. This white lady had soul and plenty of it. She belted out the tunes and swayed, danced and grasp the mike like she was going to tear it apart. She has sang on some high profile records with the likes of BB King, Johnny Cash, The Judds and U2.
Legendary John Hammond performed to expectations and Eden Brent was another nice surprise. She reminded me of Marcia Ball.
The talk of Saturday was Ryan McGarvey. He had the loudest applause of any act the whole weekend. He tore up his tribute to Stevie Ray and no wonder after his set he signed cds for well over two hours and sold hundreds. Even into the next day they were selling briskly as word spread. Ryan had a busy weekend playing at Boulder’s Outlook Blues and Green, Littleton’s Toads Tavern, Mile High, then sitting in with Bernard Allison and Joe Bonamassa. Joe introduced Ryan by saying “the last person to play this song with us was Eric Clapton.” He teased Ryan adding “no pressure.” Ryan’s amp went out and Joe immediately passed his guitar jack behind his back loaning Ryan his massive wall of Marshall amps. Joe provided vocals for “Further on up the Road” as Ryan played lead and rhythm. The performance instantly made it to YouTube. Not a bad way to end the festival before heading to Blues on Blake for the afterparty.
