05/14/2019
2019 marks 50th Anniversary of Ann Arbor Blues Festival, August 16 - 18 at Washtenaw Farm Council Fairgrounds!
Special Pre-Sale Tickets Go on Sale Friday May 17th
The legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival is proud to announce its lineup for the 2019 edition of the iconic music festival, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Ann Arbor Blues Festival will take place from Friday August 16th through Sunday, August 18th at the Washtenaw Farm Council Fairgrounds, 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Road. Complete info and tickets at www.A2BluesFestival.com.
The original Ann Arbor Blues Festival is widely recognized as the first “electric” blues festival in North America, which, in its early years, featured perhaps the greatest lineup of blues musicians ever assembled – including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Freddie King, Big Mama Thornton, Luther Allison and many others. Expanded in 1972 and renamed the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, it quickly became one of the country’s most popular music festivals, playing host to superstars like Ray Charles, Al Green, Miles Davis, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Koko Taylor, Etta James and more. The 2019 Ann Arbor Blues Festival will be Friday August 16, Saturday August 17 and Sunday August 18 at the Washtenaw Farm Council Fairgrounds, 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd, Ann Arbor. Special pre-sale discount tickets will be on sale for one week, beginning Friday May 17 through Friday May 24 at www.A2BluesFestival.com, before standard prices apply. Pre-sale access codes will be emailed to mailing list subscribers only - please visit the web site and register to receive the code!
The 50th Anniversary Ann Arbor Blues Festival is proud to welcome new presenting sponsor A2 Web Hosting, super-fast and ultra-reliable local web hosting services, right here at home in Washtenaw County!
The last Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival was held in 2006, but never forgotten. A group of blues community stalwarts, led by Executive Producer James Partridge, revived the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 2017 under its original name, with the goal of staging a 50th anniversary festival worthy of the original event’s legacy. “The Ann Arbor Blues Festival is more than a music festival – it’s a celebration of Ann Arbor’s rich contribution not only to the blues, but to all the music that grew from it.” says Partridge, “We have been so grateful for the warm response from the community and our sponsors. And we couldn’t be prouder to see it thriving again and being embraced by so many fans, partners and sponsors, as well.”
The Ann Arbor Blues Festival experience has always transcended any particular headliner, and attracted fans through the fantastic vibe of the overall event. It is always just all about the music. That same ethos informs the current incarnation of the festival.
In addition to attracting the best talent in the blues world, a core mission of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival is to honor the Chicago-style blues roots of the original fest, while keeping a keen eye toward the future of the genre. To that end, this year’s festival features a diverse mix of blues musicians, including the best contemporary blues artists, artists who performed at the original festivals, such as the great Sam Lay, plus up-and-coming musicians that are generating huge buzz. In addition, there is also the legacy of the “next generation” offspring of legendary blues giants, including Bernard Allison, son of the mighty Luther Allison, who became the first blues musician to sign with Motown Records, thanks in no small part to his groundbreaking performances at the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals.
1969 was also the first year that the seminal Blues Rock Jam outfit the Allman Brothers Band came together, which also makes 2019 the 50th Anniversary of the ABB! In celebration, the Ann Arbor Blues Fest is delighted to welcome the Allman Betts Band, headlining on Friday, August 16! After a successful year touring as “The Devon Allman Project with special guest Duane Betts” The sons of Gregg Allman (Devon Allman) and Dickey Betts (Duane Betts) have joined forces to form The Allman Betts Band. They kicked off their World Tour on March 27, 2019 and sold out twelve of their first eighteen shows. The show features new music, songs from their solo projects and classic Allman Brothers and Gregg Allman tunes in honor of the 50th Anniversary of The Allman Brothers Band. The new album, slated for release on June 28, 2019, was recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and produced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine and Elvis Presley). Former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist and current Rolling Stones keyboardist, Chuck Leveall, and former Greg Allman Band Hammond B3 player, Peter Levin, both guested on the record.
The Allman Betts Band includes Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Berry Oakley Jr. on bass (son of original Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley), Johnny Stachela on slide guitar, John Ginty on Hammond B3 (Robert Randolph/Dixie Chicks) and Devon Allman Project percussionists R. Scott Bryan (Sheryl Crow) and John Lum. Additionally, Brotherhood of Light, the "original San Francisco psychedelic show" is providing visuals and lighting for the evening. Brotherhood of Light has worked with The Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and The Who among others.
Presenting Blues Fest sponsor A2 Web Hosting got their start back in 2001 when CEO Bryan Muthig used his strong background and experience as a UNIX systems administrator to launch A2 Hosting (originally called Iniquinet). The company has been independently owned ever since. “It is a true honor for A2 Hosting to present the 50th Anniversary Ann Arbor Blues Festival,” says Muthig, “As a company that started in Ann Arbor and has grown globally, we’re excited to celebrate our local roots and support the 50th anniversary of the historic Ann Arbor Blues Festival. We know what this event has meant to the city, and how important it is to keep live destination music events alive, as a means to foster community engagement.”
2019 Ann Arbor Blues Festival Line-Up (***subject to change and addition)
Friday, August 16th
The Allman Betts Band
Bernard Allison
Thornetta Davis
Alex Johnson
Saturday August 17th
Benny Turner
John Primer
Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers
Lindsay Beaver
The Sam Lay Band
Eliza Neals and the Narcotics
Kara Grainger
Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones
Sunday August 18th
Laith al-Saadi
Danielle Nicole
Vanessa Collier
Harper & Midwest Kind
The Altered Five Blues Band
The Ann Arbor Music Center All-Stars
The 50th Anniversary Ann Arbor Blues Festival is presented by A2 Web Hosting, with additional support from Vintage Financial Services, Dunning Subaru, Bank of Ann Arbor, Destination Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor State Bank, Two Men and a Truck, Sweet Relief Music Foundation, Music on the Couch, and the Chicago Blues Guide. Inquiries from potential sponsors and vendors for the 2019 A2 Blues Festival are welcome!
Please visit www.A2BluesFestival.com for information.
To learn more, please visit us on www.a2BluesFestival.com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/A2BluesFestival
In 1969, the Blues held a party and everyone came. This Summer, we're doing it again.
Recently, a small group of blues enthusiasts got together to revive the landmark Ann Arbor Blues Festival. We've made big plans, built a great team, and have made a lot of progress. But we need your help to get across the finish line and create a festival worthy of its name.
What's the Ann Arbor Blues Festival?
The world's first electric blues festival was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan in August 1969. That's when a small group of University of Michigan students gathered what may have been the greatest lineup of blues musicians who ever lived for a 3-day celebration of Chicago-style blues. B.B. King. Muddy Waters. Howlin' Wolf. Freddie King. John Lee Ho**er. Luther Allison. Big Mama Thornton. Charlie Musselwhite. Buddy Guy. T-Bone Walker. The list goes on and on.
The lineup in 1970 was equally star-studded, cementing its reputation as the premier blues festival in the country. By 1972, the festival had been rechristened as the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, adding Count Basie and Miles Davis to its growing roster of music industry legends attracted to this midwestern mecca of jazz and blues. Atlantic Records released a 2-record live album of the 1972 Blues and Jazz Festival, featuring performances by Koko Taylor, Freddie King, Sun Ra, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, and Otis Rush, among others.
Like all good things, however, the shine eventually faded, and the last Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival was held in 2006.
Why now?
In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 2019, we've begun the process of recreating and reenergizing the spirit of those first blues festivals. Along the way, we'll invite a new generation of up-and-coming blues musicians to share the stage with the world's legends, some of whom were present at the iconic festivals of the 1960s and 1970s.
We've started making the plans needed to make the first revived festival a success. Our first festival will be small - a single day event. But we anticipate that 2018 will be larger and that 2019's Festival will be a celebration worthy of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival pedigree.
We've selected a date: Saturday, August 19, 2017
We've selected a place: The Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds
We've even started selecting a small number of terrific blues bands to perform.
Why Do You Need My Help?
So what's missing? In short, cash.
Putting on a festival is expensive. Whether it's renting the venue, hiring the sound engineers, advertising and promotion, and, of course, paying the talented musicians who will be performing, everything costs money.
While one would expect that ticket sales will be enough to pay for all of these things, the reality is that tickets often cover only a portion of expenses needed to put on a festival like this - especially if we want to make it affordable for ordinary people like us. And, revenue for ticket sales typically doesn't come in until after the show is over - but advertisers and suppliers and vendors want their money up front.
And that's where you come in. Your contributions can help us meet those important expenses. The more support we receive, especially early on, the better we can make the festival: Better sound. Bigger stage. More bands. Bigger acts.
Our Pledge to You
We will work diligently to make this the best blues festival we possibly can. We will keep you informed and provide regular updates on our progress. We will do our damnedest to restore the Ann Arbor Blues Festival to its rightful place in the pantheon of Blues history.
Thank you.
James Partridge
The Ann Arbor Blues Society
Chris Canas and Angela Kilgo-Cottingham
The Chris Canas Band
