2024 Schedule Main Stage Schedule
BAND LINE UP
JULY 12-14, 2024
FRIDAY
FRIDAY, JULY 12TH
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
CHARLIE BROWN NOTORIOUS GROOVE
Charlie Brown’s Notorious Groove Band has four times been awarded the best R&B Band at the Soul Music Awards of the Lehigh Valley.
Whether it’s Rhythm, Classic Rock, Dance Tunes, or Memorable Ballads, Charlie Brown’s Notorious Groove has it covered.
The band is made of Veteran Musicians who are committed to their craft.
Charlie Brown (lead singer) is blessed with a soulful voice that is guaranteed to captivate any crowd. His powerful stage presence and energy keeps the audience on their feet.
He is backed by long-time friend Bobby Saul (Bass) from Allentown, PA. On (lead guitar) is the one and only Joe Mac from the windy City of Chicago, Il. On the keyboard is Dennis Wieand from Bethlehem, PA, and on the drums is retired firefighter Glenn Spadone.
Charlie Brown’s Notorious Groove has performed in nearly every venue in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.
Come on out and get down, get funky and get loose with Charlie Brown’s Notorious Groove.
7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
ROLLIN ‘N’ TUMBLIN
We Call It “Good Ole Butt-Shakin’ Music”. We’ve been rockin’ for nearly 35 Years. Keep On Tumblin’!
SATURDAY
11:00AM – 1:00PM
SISTER BLUE
“A BELTER OF THE BLUES”, is how “PHILA. INQUIRER MAGAZINE” featured SISTER BLUE in a 1998 feature of “LOCAL ANGLE”. That same year “NORTHEAST TIMES” described her as a singer whose…” soul fights its way out and fills the room with well-seasoned wisdom and joy”, and “strums her guitar with a trance-like fervor”. In 1999, “CHESTNUT HILL LOCAL” exclaimed, “She bellows, belabors, and blasts the blues as if it’s exploding from a howitzer. There are no pretty bows on her songs, just a barbed wire of passion hot enough to burn up the furniture in the room.
A Philly native, Sister Blue fronts a driving blues band, with powerful vocals and stinging guitar leads. For variety, Sister Blue also leads an acoustic duo, playing blues and ragtime, including renditions of her favorite Bessie Smith songs, as well as compositions of her own.
Prior years have seen SISTER BLUE on the same bill as JOE LEWIS WALKER, JOHN HAMMOND, SATAN & ADAM, SAFFIRE, as well as B.B. KING, BUDDY GUY, FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS, TAJ MAHAL, ROOMFUL OF BLUES, KATIE WEBSTER, CLARENCE “GATEMOUTH” BROWN, PINETOP PERKINS, SUNNYLAND SLIM, RUTH BROWN, and LONNIE BROOKS, at the biggest outdoor east coast blues festival, the 1990 “RIVER BLUES FESTIVAL”. Sister Blue has had the honor to grace the stage with blues greats: KOKO TAYLOR, and the late great ALBERT COLLINS and JOHNNY COPELAND.
“…she growls in a low-down Janis Joplinish voice and coaxes from a guitar that bellies up to her like a dog who knows who’s in charge.”
-Janet Falon, “Inquirer Magazine”
“When Sister Blue’s got the blues-it’s all good.”
-Sunshine Warbock, “Northeast Times”
“When she sings (growls actually) and hammers her guitar, she gives you the whole steak, and it’s all meat; no fat, no bones.”
– Len Lear, “Chestnut Hill Local”
“No one including Mick Jagger in Tina Turner’s body, can move onstage like Sister Blue. It’s one of those “you have to see it to believe it deals.”
-Jim Albert “Northeast Times”
“This lady sings the blues!!!”
-Sydney’s Sidestreet
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
THE BC COMBO
THE BC COMBO, featuring MoMojo Records recording artist Bev Conklin, has been bringing their signature style and passion to Blues, Jazz, Swing, Folk, R&B, Soul and more for over 30 years. Their interpretation of Americana is expressed through their self-penned songs about relationships, joy, disappointment, soul-searching, peace and harmony. This band’s journey began as BC & The Blues Crew in 1992. Its members have been graced with performances on bills that included Ray Charles, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Ronnie Earl, Shemekia Copeland, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Rhonnie Baker Brooks, Saffire, the Holmes Brothers, Eddie the Chief Clearwater, Carl Weathersby, Eddie King and so many more. The BC Combo is composed of world-class international touring artists from New Orleans, Chicago, and Bethlehem PA. They are among the Lehigh Valley’s highly respected and awarded groups in addition to being a 1998 Finalist at the International Blues Competition in Memphis TN representing Billtown Blues Association.
New Orleans sent the Northeast a Queen and her name is Bev Conklin. BC has been bringing her brand of Blues, organization, creativity, perseverance, and leadership for over 30 years along with an international touring band to include band leader Wayne Smith who toured on keys with Jay & the Techniques and backed other touring acts on keys, drums and guitar. Wayne has arranged all their original music and given this band it’s signature style since their start as BC & The Blues Crew in the 90’s. From Chicago and touring with Nature’s Divine, Joe Mac brings his gifted rhythm, soul and Blues on lead guitar. Former BC & The Blues Crew member, Nick Roberti, a brilliant Moravian graduate of Finance and Music… returns on bass and vocals; and from Orange NJ, retired supervisor and fire fighter, Glenn Spadone, keeps the beat of the band on drums.
CDs – The BC Combo
CDs – BC & The Blues Crew
Live & Unplugged (recorded at Godfrey Daniels)
BC & Lea (recorded at Godfrey Daniels)
Good One! (recorded at Godfrey Daniels)
Videos
Smoker’s Blues – recorded live Summer of 2021
At Last – performed at The Café with Tower Suite & Friends along with her band at Valentine’s Day Concert
Chain of Fools – performed at The Café with then 16 yr. old Zion Fritzinger at Valentine’s Day Concert
Dirty Money – performed at The Café with Friar’s Point at Valentine’s Day Concert
Going Down – performed at The Café with Lehigh Valley Allstars – BLUz VIPz at Lehigh Valley Music Awards
Women Be Wise – performed with Lea Gilmore at Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem PA
Women Are Smarter – performed with The Girls at Musikfest, Bethlehem PA
7:30PM – 10:30 PM
PETER VETESKA and BLUES TRAIN
Since forming Peter V Blues Train in 2014,Brooklyn-born bluesman Peter Veteska and his band have released seven albums to critical acclaim worldwide. His last three releases occupied the #1 position on the Roots Blues Charts (radio play) while reaching top 10 status on blues charts throughout Europe and Australia. He received honorable mention in 2023 from the International Songwriters Competition and is in this year’s semi-finals.
Peter was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame in (year) and cites Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Brian Setzer and John Coltrane as influencing his vocals and guitar work. Acclaimed blues journalist Marty Gunther of Blues Blast Magazine had this to say about Full Tilt, the band’s latest release: “One of the most polished ensembles in the Northeast. Peter Veteska and Blues Train simply smoke!”
The current lineup is:
Peter V guitar/vocals
Alex D’Agnese, drums
Chuck Hearne, bass
Jeff Levine, keys
Jen Barnes, vocals/guitar
Mike Scott, sax
SUNDAY
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Four on the Floor
“FOUR ON THE FLOOR” is a local band playing Blues and Rock featuring Paul Strong on guitar from Long Beach Island NJ. Paul’s been playing the Jersey Shore for 35 years. The other guitarist Aram Mardigian originally from upstate New York is one half of the “Arminian Blues Brothers from Another Mother” along with Sarkis Damirjian, A.K.A. “Sark on the Harp”, who was the Harmonica player for the late great legendary, Grammy nominated “Sothern Gentleman of the Blues”, Frank Bey.
On the drums, from Cape May, is Mike Dempsey, who has played with Philly bassist Steve Green, Danny Eyer and others.
On Bass from Somers Point, NJ, Mike Maiorano who has played with Billy Walton, Danny Eyer and Blue Eagle.
On the Sax from Erma, Christian Teterence, who’s been playing for decades in may bands including jazz great Clark Terry, “Magic Bus and involved in aa recording session with world renown “Super Tramp”.
On the keys is Dave Landis who has been entertaining at the shore for 40 years starting at age 12, playing The Surf Club, Rainbow Room, Red Garter, and Cozy Morley’s, and Played with “The Waterbugs” and “Big Edsel”
Saving the best for last is Special Guest Singer/Songwriter Cacy Thomas, by way of Toronto and Nashville, and she’s been performing around the Jersey Shore producing her own music. She studied voice at Berklee,
Fat Mezz is a rock band out of South Jersey who, after getting their start in 2020, began playing shows in the Philadelphia area and down the Jersey shore, primarily in Wildwood, NJ. After several years of consistently playing cover shows full time, in mid-2023, they released their first original tracks, a two-song EP titled “Fat Mezz Loves Cooter”. Cooter, whose illustration is featured on the cover, is the band’s beloved basset hound.
The band consists of Billy Thoden and Kurt Foster both playing lead and rhythm Guitar, Dom Levy on Bass, & Corey Chodes on Drums. All four are talented vocalists, constantly trading off lead, background, and harmonic vocals. The four grew up across south Jersey, all of them playing shows and picking up early on-stage experiences as teenagers. Meeting each other and playing on and off through the years they eventually joined forces. After playing under several different names they settled on Fat Mezz. The band’s name is a tribute to Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, a Jazz Clarinetist and saxophonist, as well as an outspoken civil rights advocate, and infamously, one of the most well-known marijuana dealers in the NYC jazz community.
Fat Mezz’s sound is rooted in a mix of Blues, Rock, Jam, Psychedelia & Soul. Their original music aims to reflect on their influences, bands of the past and present who’ve been cemented as pioneers and superstars as well as those who’ve been undeservingly forgotten. The band’s goal is to blend vintage sounds with new ones and deliver them to fans of all ages.