Reading Blues Fest welcomes star-studded lineup this weekend
A star-studded lineup of blues musicians will gather in Reading this weekend for the fifth annual Reading
Blues Festival, running Friday through Sunday, plus a Community Kickoff Concert tonight at the Reading Liederkranz.
There will be 14 concerts in all, with the performers representing 24 Blues Music Awards, including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year winners Tab Benoit (in 2007 and 2012) and Sugaray Rayford (in 2020).
Rayford, who overcame poverty and loss as a child in the Tyler, Texas, area to become a formidable blues artist, will perform Saturday at 1 p.m. in the DoubleTree by Hilton Grand Ballroom in downtown Reading as part of a twinbill with Vanessa Collier.
In addition to being named B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, he was named the BMA Soul Blues Artist of the Year in 2019 and 2020, and received a Grammy nomination for his 2020 album, “Somebody Save Me.” His background in gospel and soul music gave him the foundation to begin his career in San Diego, Calif., singing lead with the R&B/funk band, Urban Gypsys.
Then, smitten with the blues, he switched to singing lead with Aunt Kizzy’s Boyz in the San Diego area
in 2004. Two years later, they won second place in the Memphis International Blues Challenge.
In 2008, after releasing their second CD, they won the LAMN Jam Grand Slam Urban Artist of the Year. After moving to Los Angeles and singing with the Mannish Boys (who won a BMA in 2013), Rayford launched his solo career with “Blind Alley” (2010).
Since then, he has released
six more albums, for which he and his band have garnered awards and acclaim. He has also made his mark as an actor, starring in regional productions of “Ain’t Nuthin’ But the Blues” and “Low Down Dirty Blues.”
Collier won Horn Player of the Year at the BMAs in 2019 and 2020, and this year she won a BMA for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year.
The xaxophonist/singersongwriter has been galvanizing audiences since graduating from Berklee College of Music. While still working on her double major in performance and music production/engineering, she was touring with Joe Louis Walker.
In 2017, she toured Europe with the Ruf Records Blues Caravan; she has cut a swathe across the major festivals and the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise; and she has recorded four critically acclaimed albums, the latest of which is “Heart on the Line” (2020). Her music has been called “killer stuff,” and she has been hailed as “the future of the blues.”
The full schedule follows. For more information and ticket options, see readingbluesfest.com.