THE BIG SCORE AT BLUESFEST
Guitar hero headlines festival lineup
This year’s edition of Bluesfest Windsor might boast international rock ’n’ roll acts as headliners — Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Sheepdogs, Foghat — but there aren’t any plans to change the name of the festival.
“What I’ve learned in this is that, no matter what genre of music you are, it always comes from the blues in some way,” said Rob Petroni, president of Bluesfest Windsor.
“We’re trying to get different genres of music without tainting the idea of blues bands ... I think this is the strongest lineup we’ve had yet.”
With musical accompaniment from Windsor band The SoulMinors, Petroni held a news conference at the Star’s News Cafe on Wednesday to unveil the 2017 Bluesfest Windsor lineup.
Louisiana-born guitar hero Kenny Wayne Shepherd was the big score, according to Petroni.
“He was far and away the most requested on our Facebook page, and our website and through emails,” Petroni said. “He’s our headliner Friday night. I’m very excited to see him.”
Saskatoon rockers The Sheepdogs, known for their retro sound, will be the festival’s Saturday night headliners.
“The Bluesfest fans asked for The Sheepdogs,” Petroni said. “I would call them bluesy. They’re a rocky blues. We try to get a mix of everything.”
Other highlights on the four-day list of scheduled artists: Longrunning London boogie rockers Foghat; Texas blues-rockers The Fabulous Thunderbirds (with Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan); drummer Slim Jim Phantom of Stray Cats fame; veteran bluesman John Louis Walker; singer Dana Fuchs — Sadie in Across the Universe; and many more.
It’s the fourth year Bluesfest Windsor has been held as a nonprofit, LiUNA-sponsored event. Petroni said pursuing a more ambitious lineup was a conscious choice for this edition, with an artist budget of around $250,000 — a hefty slice of this year’s total budget of $750,000.
“We’ve upped the budget,” Petroni said. “What we were doing was trying to secure bigger bands this year.”
Petroni hinted Bluesfest Windsor is already working on getting an even bigger name band for the 2018 edition.
“We have a number of people telling us to go slow and steady. I don’t like slow and steady,” Petroni said. “I like to go from zero to 100 in six seconds. We’re increasing our budget by a quarter-million dollars every year. Next year, I’m sure we’ll be over a $1-million budget.”
Petroni said Bluesfest Windsor 2016 drew an estimated 3,000 people on each day of the festival. He expects this year’s festival will sell out.
Transition to Betterness is the event’s designated charity.
Bluesfest Windsor 2017 takes place July 13 to 16 on the Riverfront Festival Palace. Advance tickets are on sale, available online via www.bluesfestwindsor.com.