Riverfront '09

See Hundreds of 2009 Festival Photos Below...
Many thanks to "BluesGirl" Kelli Tome, DSBS's new "Guerilla-Blues Radio" roving reporter, for the use of her great photos.
(And don't miss her www.FullMoonBlues.com website for what's going on in the local live music scene & MORE!)

And thanks, too, to the Baltimore Blues Society's "Crawlin' Kingsnake," Dave Strickler, for his great event photos.
(And don't miss his weekly "Live Blues Calendar" at www.mojoworkin.com/mojoboard/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3&p=3#p3.
And, also, to our new friends from Skoville Blues and their lady, Mindy Pinkus for use of her terrific photos.

Last, but by no means least, many thanks and sincere gratitude goes out to DSBS' de facto official events photographer, Connie Dee Taylor, for her
tireless efforts memorializing this and all DSBS events. She is an outstanding photographer and we are lucky to enjoy the many fruits of her labors.

AND TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED WHILE YOU PERUSE THE 500+ FESTIVAL PHOTOS...
The jams in the background are lower case blues' Saturday 2nd Stage performance at this year's Festival! WOW!
This "three man wrecking crew" from lower Delaware tore the house down!
That's followed by those bad-boys from Ocean County, New Jersey, the Incinerators, with their blistering set, also from the Saturday 2nd Stage.
BOTH sessions are OUTSTANDING!! So give a listen if you weren't there, or relive the excitement if you were, 'cause these 2 bands DON'T disappoint!

The East Coast's Premier American Blues Music Event of the Summer
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It was, AGAIN, an OUTSTANDING
3 BIG days of Summer Blues
CLICK this LINK to be Taken to the Official City of Wilmington Riverfront Blues Festival website: RBFHome

"THANK YOU!"
First and foremost, a GIANT "Thank You" goes out to the guys from "Major" and "Arsenal" Sound Companies: Jeff, Pat, Howie, Mark and Junior and their crews, who ALWAYS go over and above and give that extra bit that makes this event the great American Blues showcase that it is. Rain or shine, the sound at the RBF is always the finest available. ALSO: The guys from the Bucks County Blues Society: Butch, Terry, Mike and the rest who help all weekend with the equipment changes between sets--without them it doesn't happen--it's that simple--THANKS GUYS!! To Bob Settelin, YOU are the BEST!! He's our Stage Manager and makes the impossible look easy--on loan each year, again, from the Bucks County Blues Society. Next, BIG thanks to our year-in and year-out announcer, Blues writer and expert, Tom Cullen, again, one of the BCBS boys! And last, but certainly not least, thanks, too, go out to the many DSBS members and volunteers who manned the entrances, poured the brews, and assisted wherever they were needed. THANKS TO YOU ALL!!

And, of course, NONE of this would be possible without the City of Wilmington, under the able leadership of The Honorable James M. Baker, Mayor. His people in the Cultural Affairs Office, led by Tina Betz, Beth Zimmerman and their staffs, bring a wonderful diversity of events to the citizens of Wilmington and beyond on a yearly basis, of which, the Riverfront Blues Festival is but one of many. Our hats are off to them and all the donors who make this "the best little festival that attracts the big-name talent" and one of the premier Blues festivals in the United States during the
summer season! The finest artists in the world WANT to come to Wilmington, and this is due to the warm and friendly atmosphere and "welcome mat" put out by the City of Wilmington and its able workers.
Wilmington truly is "in the middle of it all!" WE THANK THEM ALL FOR THEIR CONTINUING EFFORTS!

5:00 pm - on the Main Stage-

Stage announcer
Tom Cullen,
noted blues
writer and expert.
gets the party
rolling on
Friday evening.
Tom is one of
the founding
members of
the Bucks County
Blues Society,
established in 1977,
and a good friend
and mentor of the
Diamond State
Blues Society.

Curtis Salgado with DSBS Vice-President Sonny Dill

6:15 pm - on the 2nd Stage-
South Saturn Delta

6:45 pm - on the Main Stage-
Ronnie Baker Brooks

8:00 pm - on the 2nd Stage-
Stacy Brooks

8:30 pm - Headlining Saturday - on the Main Stage

Then Curtis Salgado joined the Radicals on stage...
thus, joining both ends of the Friday evening Festival...

"BluesGirl" Kelli Tome and DSBS President Gene Fontana Keyboard player for the Radicals signs guitar to be
raffled for local musician's medical bills.

FRIDAY'S
Diamond State Blues Society
AFTER-PARTY
in the ballroom at the Sheraton Downtown

Leading the festivities & the Riverfront Artists' Jam was
Lonnie Shields

     Shields was brought up in a family where the church played a central role in daily life, and his gospel roots show through in everything he sings. He began playing soul and funk before discovering the Delta blues through his friend Sam Carr.
     Lonnie Shields career has skyrocketed over the past few years and he is performing all over the world. And over the years, Lonnie has played with many Blues greats including Carr, Sonny Rhodes, Eddie Shaw and Big Jack Johnson to name a few.
     Lonnie's latest release "Keeper of The Blues" is another jewel in a string of 5 CDs featuring his soulful, "down home" Blues with a contemporary focus yet juke-joint feel.

Lonnie Shields and some fans at the Festival's Beer Garden on Saturday
reminiscing on the Jam from the night before. The "Scoville Blues" players on the right,
Jay Pinkus and Ken Githens, brought their axes and played some MEAN guitars with Lonnie.
THAT's what the After-Party Jams are all about!!

The After-Party Pictures that follow are courtesy of the Baltimore Blues Society's "Crawlin' Kingsnake" Dave Strickler, except where noted. THANKS Dave!

The Lonnie Shields Blues Band gets the Jam started in fine style...

Then Lonnie's daughter, Kayla Mae, joins her Dad on stage to do a rendition of the song
by the same name from Lonnie's newest CD, Keeper of the Blues.

Next, Stacy Brooks and Ronnie Baker Brooks teamed up for a steamy duet of "Rock Me Baby"...and then the JAM was on...
with a dozen or so different artists and fans joining Lonnie on stage throughout the evening. It WAS a party!!

It was a DSBS good time. as the photos above attest.
Here's some additional shots from DSBS's own first Lady, Ellie Fontana.

12noon - on the Main Stage - Blues Foundation 2009 International Blues Challenge Finalist
& 2009 IBC Self-Produced Cd Finalist

1:00 pm - on the 2nd Stage-

1:30 pm - on the Main Stage
The Kinsey
Report

2:45 pm - on the 2nd Stage-
Gary Allegretto
& the Delaware All-Stars

3:15 pm - on the
Main Stage
Guitar Shorty

4:30 pm - on the 2nd Stage-
PorkRoll Project

5:00 pm - on the Main Stage
Billy Branch
& the Sons of Blues

Click for some Billy Branch Video!

Jeff, stage mgr. Bob Settelin and Billy Branch getting it right before Billy's blistering set.

A "K" For Kenny--
Win This Autographed
Fender Stratocaster

Local songwriter and musician Kenny Jones, left,
with autographed Stratocaster guitar.

Kenny has been a stalwart in the local
music scene for four decades and now
he needs our help.

www.FullMoonBlues.com is raffling this guitar,
signed by all the Riverfront Blues Festival artists
and many, many more blues musicians
to benefit Kenny and help with his
mounting medical bills.

PLEASE consider joining this worthy cause
by visiting the Full Moon Blues website
and purchasing some raffle tickets.

Tickets are $1 each and the drawing will
be held November 22, 2009. To buy click
http://fullmoonblues.com/FMBSite/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=984&Itemid=95

6:15 pm - on the 2nd Stage-

6:45 pm - on the Main Stage
Trudy Lynn

The Bucks County Crew takes a
break between equipment changes.

8:00 pm - on the 2nd Stage-
lower case blues

8:30 pm - Headlining -
on the Main Stage
Charlie
Musselwhite

SATURDAY'S
Diamond State Blues Society
AFTER-PARTY
in the ballroom at the Sheraton Downtown

     Billy Branch has recorded and/or performed with an incredible list of Blues legends including: Muddy Waters, Big Walter Horton, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, and Albert King. In 1990, he appeared with three harp legends:Carey Bell, Junior Wells, and James Cotton on W.C Handy Award winner, Harp Attack! His most recent recordings for the Polygram label are entitled The Blues Keep Following Me Around and Satisfy Me.
     Billy is also passing on the blues tradition to a new generation through his Blues In The Schools program. He is a dedicated blues educator and has taught in the Chicago school system for over twenty years as part of the Urban Gateways Project. In 1996, some of his finest students opened the Main Stage at the Chicago Blues Festival which was broadcast throughout the U.S. on NPR (National Public Radio).
     Blues producer, Chicago Beau has written, "Billy Branch has become a beacon, and model for his times; as an artist, and social/cutural activist... Billy Branch is a Bluesman; Billy Branch is the Blues."

Leading the festivities & the
Riverfront Artists' Jam was
Billy Branch
& the Sons of Blues

Sonny & Peg greet arriving After-Partiers.

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Pat, Jeff and Bob: a meeting of the minds on a very wet, early Sunday morn. And Tom kicks-off Festival day three...

12:30 pm -
Tad Robinson

                                                                                                                                        Jeff at the stage board: He determines what the artists hear
                                                                                                                                         through their stage monitors and sends the main feed to Pat
                                                                                                                                       at the back of the house for processing and routing through
                                                                                                                                     the main speakers that the crowd hears the show through.

2:00 pm - on the 2nd Stage-

2:30 pm - A Freddie King Tribute
featuring the "Gulf Coast Guitar Summit" of
Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones / Phillip Walker
& Sherman Robertson

Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones Phillip Walker Sherman Robertson