Get out and find a new favorite act

Hopefully, while you are reading this I am safely in Manchester, Tennessee, covering my 13th Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

As always, the plan is to post as many pictures, updates, stories and whatever else I can throughout the entire weekend at timesfreepress.com. That is always the plan anyway, but the internet is not always accommodating.

I’ve seen many changes at the festival over the years, from the addition of flushable toilets and working showers to the planting of trees for shade (if neither of

these seem like a big deal to you, you haven’t spent five days camping with nearly 80,000 people before), but the internet might be among the biggest.

We all take it for granted now, and it’s great when it works. But when you actually need it to do your job and it grinds to a halt because everybody is tweeting, Instragraming or texting friends about the awesome time they are having, it can be a drag.

Riverbend starts tomorrow as well, and like I say every year, I hope if you go down there, you make it a point to get out of your comfort zone and check out at least one band or act you’ve never heard of. That is what I plan to do while in Manchester and when I get back

and head to Riverbend.

Seeing a favorite act is great, but discovering a new favorite act and finding new music is just as much fun, maybe even more so. And while you are at it, go see a Barry Courter couple of the many local acts that are on the schedule.

There are at least two each night.

After his show on Monday as part of the Bessie Smith Strut, local blues artist Drew Sterchi will turn his efforts and skills to recording a new record, this time with none other than Tom Bambridge. Hambridge will be producing Sterchi’s

new album.

Name not ringing a bell? Check out his Wikipedia page, and under the “Associated Acts” category you’ll see about three dozen names of people you likely will recognize. Names like Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Susan Tedeschi, Joe Bonamassa, Keb’ Mo’, Meat Loaf, Hank Williams Jr. … I could go on. And on.

He’s also worked with Strut headliner Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.

In other news, Sterchi has added another guitarist to his band, Blues Tribe. Skip Cisto, who was taught guitar lessons by Sterchi years ago, has joined the group and will add even more punch to the sound.