13th Annual Blues Festival June 8th, 2024
Springfield Missouri

The Bands

Tab Benoit

One of the most impressive guitarists to emerge from the rich Bayous of Southern Louisiana in recent years, Tab Benoit’s guitar tone can be recognized before his Otis-Redding-ish voice resonates from the speakers. He doesn’t rely on any effects and his set up is simple. It consists of a guitar, cord, and Category 5 Amplifier. The effects that you hear come from his fingers.

Damon Fowler

Florida’s Gulf Coast has produced a plethora of distinctive musicians, from the blues of Tampa Red to jazz greats Cannonball and Nat Adderley to former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts to The Outlaws. Tampa’s Damon Fowler, a masterful singer, guitar player and songwriter, has absorbed the best of and furthered the work of the region’s definitive artists. A hard driving troubadour, his music is steeped with soul and representative of the many styles that make up the roots of American music.

Heather Gillis and WolfTwin

Wolf Twin is the latest project from Heather Gillis, a Nashville-based guitarist and singer/songwriter whose roots cover Southeast Blues, traditional American music, and the jam band community. Gillis uses Wolf Twin as a canvas to put her personal spin on these genres, fusing the bluesy energy of her previous work with elements of rock, indie, and pop and creating a musical style that is fresh and innovative, yet recognizable to new listeners.

Mr Larry McCray

Rust belt blues shouter and guitar slinger Larry McCray was born in 1960 in Magnolia, Ark., about 12 miles from the Louisiana line. He spent his early years on a farm as the second youngest of nine siblings. After trying his hand at saxophone in school, his older (and only) sister, Clara, introduced Larry to the guitar and the transformative music of the three Kings of the blues (B.B., Freddie and Albert).