4th Annual Phoenixville Blues Fest - 2013 Lineup
Noon – 12:20 Delta Squad
12:30 – 1:20 Sister Blue (Philly Blues Legend)
1:30 – 2:20 Shane Speal and the Snake Oil Band (Cigar Box King)
2:30 – 3:10 Sean Farley (IBC Finalist)
3:20 – 4:10 Dockta D & The Infirmary (Harp Master)
4:10 – 4:25 Harmonica Clinic (bring your “C” harp!)
4:30 – 5:20 Riley Road (first festival - 2 songs, this festival prime set!)
5:25 – 5:40 Blues Kings
5:50 – 6:05 Hoppin' John Orchestra (Roving Brass Band)
6:05 – 7:05 Noah Wotherspoon Band (IBC Finalist, Best Guitarist Finalist)
7:20 – 8:35 Albert Castiglia - (Winner Best Blues Guitarist, heard on Sirius Bluesville)
8:50 – 10:00 Hotlanta - The Allman Brothers Tribute Band
Sister Blue
“A BELTER OF THE BLUES”, is how “PHILA. INQUIRER MAGAZINE” featured SISTER BLUE in a 1998 feature of “LOCAL ANGLE”. That same year “NORTHEAST TIMES” described her as a singer whose…”soul fights its way out and fills the room with well-seasoned wisdom and joy”, and “strums her guitar with a trance-like fervor”. In 1999, “CHESTNUT HILL LOCAL” exclaimed, “she bellows, belabors, and blasts the blues as if it’s exploding from a howitzer. There are no pretty bows on her songs, just a barbed wire of passion hot enough to burn up the furniture in the room.
Check out www.sisterblueband.com for more information about Sister Blue.
Shane Speal - The King of the Cigar Box Guitar
Shane Speal is "The King of the Cigar Box Guitar, a blues rock songwriter who plays a primitive guitar made from an empty cigar box and a stick. He is also the leader of the modern Cigar Box Guitar Revolution, a growing fanbase of cigar box guitar builders and players who are dominating blues stages worldwide. Speal has performed concerts throughout the country and has been featured in many TV, newspaper and national magazine features. He is also the central figure in the Max Shores' documentary on cigar box guitars, Songs Inside the Box.
Check out www.shanespeal.com for more information about Shane Speal.
Sean Farley
Born in Williamsport, Pa, music was a part of Farley’s life at a very early age. The guitar is the current mainstay instrument, but violin, piano, drums, and singing were its predecessors. Now his love for guitar has come full circle with a certification in Lutherie (the crafting of stringed instruments). Farley now plays guitars that he has crafted by hand, through a self-built, hand wired tube amp. Farley has been a two time semifinalist in the International Blues Challenge, taken the stage at the Billtown Blues Festival seven times, and has opened for bands like “Yes” and “Blue Oyster Cult”. He has shared the stage on several tours as a lead guitar player for the “Georgia Song Bird” E.g. Kight ( www.egkight.com ), recorded on her album “It’s Hot In Here”, and is still her main guitarist in the north east. He has performed with other musicians like Ann Rabson, Bnois King, Smokin’ Joe Kubek, “Iron Man” Michael Burks, & 2013 Grammy nominee Melissa Reaves, and more. Farley currently occupies the role of guitarist, singer, and songwriter for regional acts including Black~n~Blues and Lynn & Farley 5.
Check out www.seanfarleymusic.com for more information about Sean Farley.
Dockta D & The Infirmary
Born under a bad sign, Dockta D has been blowin' harmonica ever since he was ten. His older brothers always had plenty of musical instruments around the house and he messed around with guitar, bass, drums, sax, and harmonica. But, he fell in love with the blues harp one fateful night at a Paul Butterfield concert held in his high school gymnasium (Mount Pleasant High). He had been messing around with harp for a few years but, that night, he heard the voice of God... well, it was actually Paul's sweet and monstrous amplified harp sound screaming from the PA system, and the young Dockta D (known back then as "Intern D") knew right then and there that he would be a harp player for the rest of his life. From that day forth, he could be heard practicing daily in the stairwells of his high school, which had a nice echo. Eventually, he was asked to join a local band, Icarus, (headed by Nick Bucci) and got his feet wet (literally... they did a lot of pool parties) performing in front of people. Soon, he started his own band, which he called, " Loose Goose", which performed in the Quad-State area. He loved playing for people and soon adapted a 50 ft mic cable into the act so that he could venture out into the audience and play directly to the people (pre-dating the wireless audience forays of the marvelous Rod Piazza). He also pioneered the fine art of jumping from the top of the PA cabinets into the audience to end the show on the last note (and thereby credits himself with stage-diving and crowd surfing). He never broke a single leg nor skull - his own or anybody else's - not one single time.
Check out www.docktad.com for more information about Dockta D & The Infirmary.
Riley Road
First festival - 2 songs, this festival prime set! What started as an experiment has developed into the area's most dynamic authentic power blues trio. By skillfully weaving point and counter-point into “off measure” time signatures, Nick Cianci, Brandon Walker and Isaiah Weatherspoon make up the band known as RILEY ROAD. From three different school districts, RILEY ROAD’s members were brought together through the efforts of Erin Riley, founder of Phoenixville’s Rock and Roll After School (RRAS) program. The program attracts talented young musicians in the area to focus on writing and performing original music. Drummer Isaiah Weatherspoon and bassist Brandon Walker are both established students in the program. Nick Cianci, a long time student of the Downingtown School of Rock, joined with Isaiah and Brandon in Fall 2010 to form a blues rock based trio. Under the guidance of RRAS music director, Michael O’Brien, the band jelled from the start.
Check out www.rileyroad.com for more information about Riley Road.
Hoppin' John Orchestra
The Hoppin’ John Orchestra is a soul fried brass band. Foot stompin’ and free swingin‘, it’s a modern day love affair with N’awlins music and whatever else we can get our hands on. Home cooked right here in Philly.
Check out hoppinjohn.net for more information about Hoppin' John Orchestra.
Noah Wotherspoon Band
Noah Wotherspoon hails from Dayton, Ohio. At the age of eleven, his brother bought him a guitar. Noah immediately took to the instrument and quickly became noticed as a remarkable blues guitarist. At thirteen, he opened up for Derek Trucks. By sixteen, he had jammed onstage with Bobby Blue Bland, and opened for Leon Russell, Latimore, and Boz Scaggs. Since then, he has played around the country, making multiple appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival, The Blues Masters at the Crossroads Festival in Salina, KS. and has released several albums including Buzz Me (APO Records), which featured Hubert Sumlin and garnered a top ten spot on Living Blues Magazine's radio chart.
Throughout his 20's, Wotherspoon has developed into a prolific songwriter, interweaving diverse influences into a unique and truly original style rooted in the ongoing tradition of the blues while exploring new artistic territories (visit noahandtherescueradio.com). He has shared the stage and studio with the likes of Delmar Brown, Will Lee, Hiram Bullock, Jon Mover, Michael Hill, Cedric Burnside, and John Hammond. XM/SIRIUS satelite radio has recently been spinning Noah on "B.B. King's Bluesville". His inspired live performances continue to move & resonate with audiences wherever he plays.
Check out www.noahwotherspoon.com for more information about The Noah Wotherspoon Band.
Albert Castiglia
Albert Castiglia pronounced “ka-STEEL-ya” is Keepin On With the release of his 5th CD. Castiglia’s history is as colorful as his home town of Miami, Florida. He got a big break after meeting Junior Wells in 1996, and became Junior’s lead guitar player before Wells died in 1998. After Wells passed, he toured with Sandra Hall. Returning to South Florida after launching his solo career releasing his first CD, Burn (2002), a self-release, collaborating with his long time friend, Graham Wood Drout. Drout’s songs became the perfect vehicle for Castiglia’s soulful vocals. In 2006, he released A Stone’s Throw, his second album and first release for Blues Leaf Record. Castiglia and Drout also released a live CD together, titled Bittersweet Sessions, in 2005.His 2008 CD, These are the Days contained five original Castiglia songs, including a tribute to his mentor Junior Wells, “Godfather of the Blues.” The cover songs from These are the Days paid tribute to a wide range of styles and artists. These are the Days earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for “Song of the Year” for his original, “Bad Year Blues.” Castiglia was nominated again by the Illinois Blues Blast Awards and walked away a winner for “Song of the Year” for “Bad Year Blues,” as well as being nominated for the “Sean Costello Rising Star Award.” Keepin On features five new original tunes, plus other covers of songs by John Lee Hooker, Mack Rice, T-Bone Walker, Robert Nighthawk and Bob Dylan “I did two acoustic songs and enlisted dobro genius Toby Walker for them,’ says Castiglia about the new CD. “Toby came in originally to play on a song I wrote called ‘Sweet Southern Angel.’ That went so well and quickly, that we wound up doing another number for the hell of it, Robert Nighthawk's ‘Murderin' Blues.’ I can honestly sum up those two tunes with one word, ‘Magic.’ The result is a fascinating journey into what Albert feels is his best work to date.
Check out www.albertcastiglia.com for more information about Albert Castiglia.
HotLanta – The Allman Brothers Tribute Band
HotLanta – The Allman Brothers Tribute Band, originally "idelwild" founded by Tad Isch back in July 08, is a group of hand picked, dedicated studio and performance musicians. Come hear the vintage sounds of the original Allman Brothers, with a strong concentration on the Fillmore years. In memory of Elizabeth Reed, Hot Lanta, Statesboro Blues, Midnight Rider, Dreams, Not My Cross To Bear, One Way Out, Done Somebody Wrong, Whippin Post, Jessica, are just some of the tunes you'll hear. Close your eyes and you just might imagine your at an Allman Brothers Band concert in 1969.
We play the old tunes, the old way. Even the Allmans themselves do not do not play them like that anymore!
Check out hotlantabandlive.com for more information about Hot Lanta .
Noon – 12:20 Delta Squad
12:30 – 1:20 Sister Blue (Philly Blues Legend)
1:30 – 2:20 Shane Speal and the Snake Oil Band (Cigar Box King)
2:30 – 3:10 Sean Farley (IBC Finalist)
3:20 – 4:10 Dockta D & The Infirmary (Harp Master)
4:10 – 4:25 Harmonica Clinic (bring your “C” harp!)
4:30 – 5:20 Riley Road (first festival - 2 songs, this festival prime set!)
5:25 – 5:40 Blues Kings
5:50 – 6:05 Hoppin' John Orchestra (Roving Brass Band)
6:05 – 7:05 Noah Wotherspoon Band (IBC Finalist, Best Guitarist Finalist)
7:20 – 8:35 Albert Castiglia - (Winner Best Blues Guitarist, heard on Sirius Bluesville)
8:50 – 10:00 Hotlanta - The Allman Brothers Tribute Band
Sister Blue
“A BELTER OF THE BLUES”, is how “PHILA. INQUIRER MAGAZINE” featured SISTER BLUE in a 1998 feature of “LOCAL ANGLE”. That same year “NORTHEAST TIMES” described her as a singer whose…”soul fights its way out and fills the room with well-seasoned wisdom and joy”, and “strums her guitar with a trance-like fervor”. In 1999, “CHESTNUT HILL LOCAL” exclaimed, “she bellows, belabors, and blasts the blues as if it’s exploding from a howitzer. There are no pretty bows on her songs, just a barbed wire of passion hot enough to burn up the furniture in the room.
Check out www.sisterblueband.com for more information about Sister Blue.
Shane Speal - The King of the Cigar Box Guitar
Shane Speal is "The King of the Cigar Box Guitar, a blues rock songwriter who plays a primitive guitar made from an empty cigar box and a stick. He is also the leader of the modern Cigar Box Guitar Revolution, a growing fanbase of cigar box guitar builders and players who are dominating blues stages worldwide. Speal has performed concerts throughout the country and has been featured in many TV, newspaper and national magazine features. He is also the central figure in the Max Shores' documentary on cigar box guitars, Songs Inside the Box.
Check out www.shanespeal.com for more information about Shane Speal.
Sean Farley
Born in Williamsport, Pa, music was a part of Farley’s life at a very early age. The guitar is the current mainstay instrument, but violin, piano, drums, and singing were its predecessors. Now his love for guitar has come full circle with a certification in Lutherie (the crafting of stringed instruments). Farley now plays guitars that he has crafted by hand, through a self-built, hand wired tube amp. Farley has been a two time semifinalist in the International Blues Challenge, taken the stage at the Billtown Blues Festival seven times, and has opened for bands like “Yes” and “Blue Oyster Cult”. He has shared the stage on several tours as a lead guitar player for the “Georgia Song Bird” E.g. Kight ( www.egkight.com ), recorded on her album “It’s Hot In Here”, and is still her main guitarist in the north east. He has performed with other musicians like Ann Rabson, Bnois King, Smokin’ Joe Kubek, “Iron Man” Michael Burks, & 2013 Grammy nominee Melissa Reaves, and more. Farley currently occupies the role of guitarist, singer, and songwriter for regional acts including Black~n~Blues and Lynn & Farley 5.
Check out www.seanfarleymusic.com for more information about Sean Farley.
Dockta D & The Infirmary
Born under a bad sign, Dockta D has been blowin' harmonica ever since he was ten. His older brothers always had plenty of musical instruments around the house and he messed around with guitar, bass, drums, sax, and harmonica. But, he fell in love with the blues harp one fateful night at a Paul Butterfield concert held in his high school gymnasium (Mount Pleasant High). He had been messing around with harp for a few years but, that night, he heard the voice of God... well, it was actually Paul's sweet and monstrous amplified harp sound screaming from the PA system, and the young Dockta D (known back then as "Intern D") knew right then and there that he would be a harp player for the rest of his life. From that day forth, he could be heard practicing daily in the stairwells of his high school, which had a nice echo. Eventually, he was asked to join a local band, Icarus, (headed by Nick Bucci) and got his feet wet (literally... they did a lot of pool parties) performing in front of people. Soon, he started his own band, which he called, " Loose Goose", which performed in the Quad-State area. He loved playing for people and soon adapted a 50 ft mic cable into the act so that he could venture out into the audience and play directly to the people (pre-dating the wireless audience forays of the marvelous Rod Piazza). He also pioneered the fine art of jumping from the top of the PA cabinets into the audience to end the show on the last note (and thereby credits himself with stage-diving and crowd surfing). He never broke a single leg nor skull - his own or anybody else's - not one single time.
Check out www.docktad.com for more information about Dockta D & The Infirmary.
Riley Road
First festival - 2 songs, this festival prime set! What started as an experiment has developed into the area's most dynamic authentic power blues trio. By skillfully weaving point and counter-point into “off measure” time signatures, Nick Cianci, Brandon Walker and Isaiah Weatherspoon make up the band known as RILEY ROAD. From three different school districts, RILEY ROAD’s members were brought together through the efforts of Erin Riley, founder of Phoenixville’s Rock and Roll After School (RRAS) program. The program attracts talented young musicians in the area to focus on writing and performing original music. Drummer Isaiah Weatherspoon and bassist Brandon Walker are both established students in the program. Nick Cianci, a long time student of the Downingtown School of Rock, joined with Isaiah and Brandon in Fall 2010 to form a blues rock based trio. Under the guidance of RRAS music director, Michael O’Brien, the band jelled from the start.
Check out www.rileyroad.com for more information about Riley Road.
Hoppin' John Orchestra
The Hoppin’ John Orchestra is a soul fried brass band. Foot stompin’ and free swingin‘, it’s a modern day love affair with N’awlins music and whatever else we can get our hands on. Home cooked right here in Philly.
Check out hoppinjohn.net for more information about Hoppin' John Orchestra.
Noah Wotherspoon Band
Noah Wotherspoon hails from Dayton, Ohio. At the age of eleven, his brother bought him a guitar. Noah immediately took to the instrument and quickly became noticed as a remarkable blues guitarist. At thirteen, he opened up for Derek Trucks. By sixteen, he had jammed onstage with Bobby Blue Bland, and opened for Leon Russell, Latimore, and Boz Scaggs. Since then, he has played around the country, making multiple appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival, The Blues Masters at the Crossroads Festival in Salina, KS. and has released several albums including Buzz Me (APO Records), which featured Hubert Sumlin and garnered a top ten spot on Living Blues Magazine's radio chart.
Throughout his 20's, Wotherspoon has developed into a prolific songwriter, interweaving diverse influences into a unique and truly original style rooted in the ongoing tradition of the blues while exploring new artistic territories (visit noahandtherescueradio.com). He has shared the stage and studio with the likes of Delmar Brown, Will Lee, Hiram Bullock, Jon Mover, Michael Hill, Cedric Burnside, and John Hammond. XM/SIRIUS satelite radio has recently been spinning Noah on "B.B. King's Bluesville". His inspired live performances continue to move & resonate with audiences wherever he plays.
Check out www.noahwotherspoon.com for more information about The Noah Wotherspoon Band.
Albert Castiglia
Albert Castiglia pronounced “ka-STEEL-ya” is Keepin On With the release of his 5th CD. Castiglia’s history is as colorful as his home town of Miami, Florida. He got a big break after meeting Junior Wells in 1996, and became Junior’s lead guitar player before Wells died in 1998. After Wells passed, he toured with Sandra Hall. Returning to South Florida after launching his solo career releasing his first CD, Burn (2002), a self-release, collaborating with his long time friend, Graham Wood Drout. Drout’s songs became the perfect vehicle for Castiglia’s soulful vocals. In 2006, he released A Stone’s Throw, his second album and first release for Blues Leaf Record. Castiglia and Drout also released a live CD together, titled Bittersweet Sessions, in 2005.His 2008 CD, These are the Days contained five original Castiglia songs, including a tribute to his mentor Junior Wells, “Godfather of the Blues.” The cover songs from These are the Days paid tribute to a wide range of styles and artists. These are the Days earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for “Song of the Year” for his original, “Bad Year Blues.” Castiglia was nominated again by the Illinois Blues Blast Awards and walked away a winner for “Song of the Year” for “Bad Year Blues,” as well as being nominated for the “Sean Costello Rising Star Award.” Keepin On features five new original tunes, plus other covers of songs by John Lee Hooker, Mack Rice, T-Bone Walker, Robert Nighthawk and Bob Dylan “I did two acoustic songs and enlisted dobro genius Toby Walker for them,’ says Castiglia about the new CD. “Toby came in originally to play on a song I wrote called ‘Sweet Southern Angel.’ That went so well and quickly, that we wound up doing another number for the hell of it, Robert Nighthawk's ‘Murderin' Blues.’ I can honestly sum up those two tunes with one word, ‘Magic.’ The result is a fascinating journey into what Albert feels is his best work to date.
Check out www.albertcastiglia.com for more information about Albert Castiglia.
HotLanta – The Allman Brothers Tribute Band
HotLanta – The Allman Brothers Tribute Band, originally "idelwild" founded by Tad Isch back in July 08, is a group of hand picked, dedicated studio and performance musicians. Come hear the vintage sounds of the original Allman Brothers, with a strong concentration on the Fillmore years. In memory of Elizabeth Reed, Hot Lanta, Statesboro Blues, Midnight Rider, Dreams, Not My Cross To Bear, One Way Out, Done Somebody Wrong, Whippin Post, Jessica, are just some of the tunes you'll hear. Close your eyes and you just might imagine your at an Allman Brothers Band concert in 1969.
We play the old tunes, the old way. Even the Allmans themselves do not do not play them like that anymore!
Check out hotlantabandlive.com for more information about Hot Lanta .
