2013 Erie Art Museum Blues and Jazz Festival Web Exclusive

Be sure to grab a copy of the current issue of the Erie Reader for your official unofficial clip 'n' save guide to the Erie Art Museum's 21st Annual Blues and Jazz Festival! In the meantime, I've gathered some tasty samples of what this year's stellar lineup will be cookin' up for Erie to augment the descriptions contained in that guide.

As you'll soon see, many of these artists – especially the six of 10 acts that are local – rely on social media, websites, or email newsletters to communicate with their fans; if you like what you see and hear both here and at the festival, give 'em a like on Facebook, follow 'em on Twitter, visit their websites, or sign up for their email list.  

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Noon - Susan Goodman

Susan Goodman's website will give you a pretty good idea of how she uses music to educate and enlighten, as will this news report from a New York television station.

2 p.m. – Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle

Like Ron and the boys? There's an app for that; in fact, these local fellers leave no reason for you not to familiarize yourself with their blistering brand of blue-collar blues; you can catch them on their website, on their Facebook page, on Twitter, on iTunes, or on this smoldering performance from one of last year's 8 Great Tuesdays thanks to our old friend, local music archivist Michael Ledden.

 4 p.m. – The Breeze Band

This YouTube clip pretty much says it all about these guys – a solid, true-to-the-source cover of Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" performed at the Docksider here in Erie. In terms of social media, they've also got Facebook "covered." Hehe.

6 p.m. – Corey Harris & the Rasta Blues Experience

Corey's been a famous artist for some time now, so of course he has a Facebook page and a website. Accordingly, there are performance clips of him all over the place, but when I interviewed him a few days ago and asked him what he was listening to, he mentioned three artists in particular that I'd like to share with you: Jah9, Marquise Knox, and Jerron Paxton. Perhaps we'll see them in a future EAMBJ Fest lineup?

8 p.m. – Kenny Neal

Likewise, Kenny Neal's no stranger to the scene; he's on the Facebook, has a great website, and also has performance clips everywhere, including this sweet cover of Guitar Slim's "The Things I Used to Do," which is not to be confused with "That Thing You Do!" by the pride of Erie, Pa., The Wonders.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Noon – Parade Street Dixieland Jazz Band

This lively group has a very informative website that will tell you everything you don't already know about a band with the word "Dixieland" in their name, as well as a pretty meek Facebook page. However, their site has some pretty good video if you're still trying to figure out exactly what you're in for on Sunday morning.

2 p.m. – Lydia Marks

Lydia has a really good website, but I couldn't find a decent Facebook page for her. Nor were there many YouTube clips, save for this precious snippet of her filling the Brewerie with her rich, luxurious vocal talent, so I guess you'll just have to show up to see what the rest of Erie already knows.

4 p.m. – Cat's a Bear

Sure, their website looks like it was built before the Internet was invented, but it gets the job done. And don't even ask about their Facebook page and it's paltry 58 total likes. Luckily, YouTube lists about nine dozen search results for this prolific, experienced conglomerate, some of which may actually be funny videos of a cat vs. a bear. What's even funnier is that these guys don't appear to need much of a web presence – they're just that good. In your face, Facebook!

6 p.m. – Tony Grey Trio

Conversely, Tony Grey is working the Intertubes like a digital dervish. His Facebook presence is relatively massive, he's got the best website of this entire lineup, and an exceptionally well-done YouTube channel with a bunch of videos; oh yeah, if you want to learn to play like him, it's no more difficult than visiting the website for his "Bass Academy."

8 p.m. – Jeremy Pelt Quintet

Pelt's website is beautiful, and there's a Facebook fan page for him as well, but neither do justice to his incredible ability like this 8-minute promotional film for his "Water and Earth" album, released earlier this year.

Let us know what you think! Follow Cory Vaillancourt on Twitter @VLNCRT, and then follow the Erie Reader @ErieReader; then, use the hashtag #EAMBJ to share your pics and words from the festival!