Trois-Rivieres en Blues Festival

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

August 23 – 26, 2012

By Robert Putignano

After you have read Bob’s review of the Trois-Rivieres en Blues festival, head on over to this week’s Photo Page to see some photographs from Trois-Rivieres by Christian Gamache, as well as some shots of Kenny Wayne Shepherd by Bob Putignano.

This is the fourth edition of the Trois-Rivieres en Blues festival, otherwise knows as Three Rivers to us south-of-the-border folks.  Trois-Rivieres is located in the province of Quebec, Canada, and it’s about a ninety-minute ride from Montreal; it’s also approximately sixty minutes from beautiful Quebec City. This blues festival is mostly free, though there’s a modest five dollar charge for some shows and for your five bucks they give you a free drink, what a deal!

This year’s festival offered a mix of Canadian and U.S. talent. From Canada: David Gogo, Steve Strongman, Mike DeWay, John Campbelljohn, Paul Delauriers, Mike Goudreau, Blackburn, and others. The U.S. bands included Larry McCray, Thornetta Davis, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Bryan Lee, Eric Sardinas, and Lucky Peterson.

I attended the last two days and witnessed some high-quality music from Mike Goudreau & the Boppin’ Blues Band. Goudreaux and his horn-driven band performed flawlessly and served up a luscious mix of soul, blues, and funk. For more details checkout www.mikegoudreau.com. Since the time I first saw the Blackburn band in Tremblant I became an immediate fan. Blackburn is a band of three brothers whose music is rich in the tradition of the blues and is also injected with R&B and soul. The four-member group (the fourth member is bassist Mark Ayee) has been writing and performing together since 1995. This performance was not as electrified as their Tremblant gig but they proved to be the smart warm-up band for Big Sam’s Funky Nation (more about Big Sam’s performance below). For the record, Blackburn were the winners of the 2010 Maple Blues Award for Best New Artists and have gone on to play some of the most prestigious festivals in Canada. They opened for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the Toronto Jazz Festival and have made appearances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the aforementioned Mont Tremblant Blues Fest, and the Waterfront and Kitchener Blues Festivals. Their recording Brotherhood was critically acclaimed and received mega radio airplay on both sides of the border. It might be worth your while to check out this young band.

My two favorite performances from the U.S. included Larry McCray with and without Thornetta Davis, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation from the Crescent City. McCray has long been one of my favorite performers; a couple of years ago his appearance at Mont Tremblant made me a lifelong fan and his 2012 Trois-Rivieres set only added to my conviction. McCray’s band sparkled and Larry consistently sang and played his butt off. Things got better when Thornetta Davis joined in with McCray. For over fifteen years this Detroit native has graced Michigan’s popular stages. She performs over two hundred shows a year, her voice is characterized by her strength, but she can also be melodic and smooth. On this particular evening Thornetta told stories with her near-perfect delivery and left the French-Canadian audience wanting for more. You can find out more about these two Michigan legends at www.ThornettaDavis.com and          www.LarryMcCrayBand.com.

The closing act, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, blew down the house. The band is led by trombone powerhouse Big Sam Williams, formerly the trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.  Sam and his band had the entire crowd dancing throughout, and enhanced their set with Big Sam’s high-voltage trombone playing and outrageous and fun dance moves. The band performed at breakneck speed and I don’t recall if they ever took a second to stop, it was a non-stop powerful funk outing that was immense, fully memorable, and an awful lot of fun for all. The entire band includes Andrew Baham on trumpet, vocals, and keys; Andrew Block on guitar; Eric Vogel on bass; and, hard-driving and bombastic (he told me his he goes by the name Chocolate Milk) on drums. See this band live, you will not be disappointed.  More details at www.BigSamsFunkyNation.com.

So there you have it. My third Canadian music adventure of 2012 and all of them offered high-quality and unforgettable moments. A lot of this has to do with the Canadian go-to man Brian Slack, who consistently shows that he knows how to book and run a festival.  Slack is also connected to booking some of the blues shows at the Montreal Jazz Fest, the Tremblant Blues Fest, and Trois-Rivieres. I look forward to attending all of these festivals in 2013 and until that time keep an eye out for what the Three Rivers Blues Fest will be serving up next year at www.3renblues.com.

After you have read Bob’s review of the Trois-Rivieres en Blues festival, head on over to this week’s Photo Page to see some photographs from Trois-Rivieres by Christian Gamache, as well as some shots of Kenny Wayne Shepherd by Bob Putignano.

Bob Putignano is a senior contributing editor at BluesWax, a contributing writer at Blues Revue, and the heart and soul of Sounds of Blue.