| By
Shannon
On Friday, April 8th I was cordially invited
to the Elkhart Lake Blues Festival. I left straight
from work and drove about an hour north of the
Milwaukee area and arrived in Elkhart Lake.
The area was a picturesque setting with pretty
villas along the lake with trees starting to
bloom as the weather is getting nicer. With
such fantastic acts as Steve Guyger, Piano Willie
Oshawny, Billy Flynn, and Eddie Taylor, Jr.
as performers I knew I needed to see what all
the buzz was about.
I was greeted at the door by the owner of the
Victorian Village who was extremely friendly
and seemed excited by the packed house crowd.
These people seem to really enjoy their blues
and don't take it lightly. The dance floor was
packed all night long and I was getting tired
just by watching the energetic crowd!
 As
far as the artists go; I was really blown away!
I must say I was most impressed by harmonica
player Steve Guyger from Philadelphia. I had
never seen this cat before but truly loved what
he was doing. He has played w/ such greats as
Jimmy Rogers, James Cotton, and Carey Bell.
From my experiences and love of harmonica I
can safely say he is going to be one of my favs.
You can learn more about Steve at www.steveguyger.com
for info, merchandise, and tour dates.
I was also intrigued by guitar player Billy
Flynn. Billy has been around for a long time
and has jammed with legends including Jimmy
Dawkins, Pinetop Perkins, and Willie "Big
Eyes" Smith. For more facts on this impressive
guitar player visit www.billyflynn.com.
Eddie Taylor, Jr. needs no explanation. His
father, the late Eddie Taylor was a blues legend
in his own right. The apple doesn't fall far
from the tree as they say and Taylor, Jr. has
a distinct tone and sound much like his dad's.
For more info on him follow
this link.
 The
piano player Willie Oshawny was doing a fabulous
job on the keys and playing his heart out.
Of course, I may be a bit partial to Piano Willie
as he is my fiancé. He is an incredible
talent nonetheless and always displays great
stage energy. For tour dates and info you can
email Willie directly at Pwillie04@aol.com.
Overall
I had a wonderful evening and enjoyed eating
breakfast with the blues gang (all very regular
fellas) the next morning. The only bad part
was having to drive back home and go to work!
Hope you all enjoy the pics from the festival.
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