Bedford BluesFest 2019

Another Labor Day Weekend and another Bedford Blues Festival. As usual, it did not disappoint. It was hot, but not unbearable. It is summertime in Texas. 

Saturday night we slummed it with general admission tickets. That meant watching from a blanket spread on the hill. We first checked out the craft vendors, nothing exceptional. Amazingly, no jewelry was purchased although it was checked out. We also checked out the food vendors. It is always heavily weighted to BBQ although there are some "fair food" choices too like corn dogs, funnel cakes, even fried Oreos. We stuck with Green's Texas BBQ, a local Euless food trailer and a spinoff of the famous North Main BBQ. I had a pulled pork sandwich that was fine. Nothing special with average sauce. My companion had a brisket plate with beans and potato salad. The brisket was tender, moist, and flavorful. The sides were not great. The potato salad was very bland and the beans were about like canned pork & beans. 

Then it was on to the music. We saw part of Charlie Musselwhite's set.  He is an old-time blues musician, in the Blues Hall of Fame, who sings and plays guitar and harmonica. It was a solid set by an old pro. Charlie has been at BluesFest before and hopefully, he'll come back again. 

The Saturday headliner was JJ Grey & Mofro. This band is from my hometown of

Jacksonville, FL. Their origins go back to the '90s with their first recordings in the early 2000s. JJ is the lead singer and songwriter. He also plays guitar and harmonica. They play a mixture of music, some blues, some southern rock, some soul. The band includes brass which is a change of pace at a blues festival. Many of their songs are about places I am familiar with. One song is about Lochloosa, a small town, and a lake between Ocala and Gainsville. Another was about the St. Johns River which flows right through Jacksonville. JJ has a very powerful voice and the volume was turned up to "11". Probably too loud. He also has a tendency to talk a lot between songs. Cut the volume and cut the talking and the set will be better. They were good, but not outstanding. 

Sunday we got there early because some friends we were meeting were taking part in the BBQ sample/vote event. We passed on that. BTW, Green's won the event. After some food, we migrated to our preferred seats. We were in the first five rows in front of the stage. We watched Nikki Hill's set. She was good, if not exactly the blues. She is a good singer backed by a good band. It was an energetic performance. 

The Sunday and festival headliner was Boz Scaggs. Boz grew up in Plano and attended school in Dallas where he met Steve Miller when he was around 15 years old. Boz was in good voice even hitting the falsetto notes. Of course, he had a good, tight band. He played all the hits except Look What You've Done To Me. What's with that omission? Boz did rely on some prerecorded help on the background orchestration like the horns and the backup singers on some songs. He definitely wasn't lipsyncing. He did about a five-minute version of his big hit Lowdown.  It was a very good performance. Boz still has it after all these years. 

I have been going to this festival for years and have never been disappointed. There is always plenty of good food, cold beverages, and often great music. The price is right too. 16-ounce beers are $5 or $6, food is reasonable. General admission has been $10 for the past few years. That includes eight to ten acts per day on two stages. They always manage to get a name headliner. If you missed the 2019 version, make plans for Labor Day weekend 2020. You won't be disappointed. See you there. 

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