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B.B.’s Fest Moves Beyond The Usual Blues
Although dates are still being finalized, the tour is currently scheduled to kick off on the West Coast July 25, and then make its way across the country through September.
Previous festivals have showcased such legendary talents as Buddy Guy, Etta James, and George Thorogood, but this year’s outing marks a bit of a turning point in that the selected support will be progressive funkers Galactic and up-and-coming Florida blues band Mofro.
Festival organizers plan to bring together the younger crowds of the grassroots rock scene and the older fans of King and Beck, in hopes of furthering King’s dream of taking the blues to a wider variety of listeners.
In another change, tour sponsorship for this year’s festival is being handled by VH1 Classic.
The famously hard-touring King has been wowing the crowds since the 1940s and still logs over 200 dates a year. The man known as King of the Blues has also found time to release over 50 albums.
Jeff Beck, of course, has also paid his dues, having first gained recognition in the mid-sixties after replacing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds. Since then he has gained wide renown as an axeman on par with such legends as Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Tickets for select dates are already on sale throughTicketmaster.