The Harlis Sweetwater Band headlines the Riverfront Blues Festival
The Harlis Sweetwater Band and up-and-coming guitar phenomenon Austin Young headline the eighth annual Riverfront Blues Festival, Aug. 12-13 in Libby.
Harlis Sweetwater is back by popular demand after an electrifying performance at the festival in 2014. As a singer, guitarist, songwriter and frontman, Sweetwater has shared the stage with Jimmie Vaughan, Everlast, ZZ Top, Los Lobos and Brian Setzer, as well as blues legends Etta James, James Cotton, and Wilson Pickett. His wild, bluesy and intense guitar playing, and gravely soulful voice are combined with a group chemistry that often leads to a party on stage that rivals the one in the audience.
Young, a Colorado native, picked up his first guitar at age 12 and hasn’t put it down since. Self taught, he churns out the blues and plays his music with a passion that defies his young age.
His inspirations run the gauntlet from historical giants such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to contemporary masters like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He incorporates the sheer honesty of the blues and performs it with a modern, high-energy sound that remains faithful to its traditional roots.
Also performing during the two-day festival will be Black Mountain Moan, the Chris O’Leary Band, Hot Flash Blues Band, Cee Cee James, Phil Berkowitz and Jimmy D. Lane.
For more information or to buy tickets online, visit www.riverfrontbluesfestival.com.