SAN DIEGO, CA – Hall of Famers James Cotton and Booker T. Jones headline the fifth annual AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival to held Sept. 26-27 on the downtown San Diego, California waterfront.
The event features two stages and 18 acts total, including Marcia Ball, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, John Mooney, The Paladins, Kim Wilson with Anson Funderburgh, Chris James & Patrick Rynn with special guest Henry Gray, Nathan James & the Rhythm Scratchers and Tomcat Courtney.
The festival is a fundraiser for the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting its fight against hunger. Through its first four years, the festival has raised $350,000 and generated more than 18 tons of food donations.
Held in scenic Embarcadero Marina Park North, the festival features rotating music on two stages from noon to 8 p.m. each day.
General admission tickets for the event are priced at $20 per day — or $30 for a two-day pass – through Aug. 31. VIP tickets are priced at $125 per day, or $200 for the weekend. Festival goers are also encouraged to bring two cans of food.
Tickets are available at www.sdbluesfest.com.
Throat issues forced Cotton to quit singing several years ago, but it hasn’t deterred “Mr. Superharp” from creating those freight-train blasts on his harmonica. A former member of the Muddy Waters Band and a member of the Blues Hall of Fame, Cotton is considered one of the most-admired blues harmonica players ever.
Booker T. Jones and his band, the MGs, established a new threshold for versatility by backing artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and cores of others for Stax Records in Memphis. Along the way, the band had a string of hits on its own – “Green Onions,” “Time Is Tight,” “Hip Hug-her” — powered by the dynamic organ playing of Booker T. The band is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Other artists at the festival include Billy Thompson, Whitney Shay with the Robin Henkel Band, Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing Orchestra, the Bill Magee Blues Band, Bubba McCoy and the Euphoria Brass Band. Big Jon Atkinson and World Famous Jim Gibson will play outside the front gate before the event opens.
Event sponsors include AimLoan.com, Baker Electric Solar, the City of San Diego Arts & Culture Commission, the San Diego Port District, Ametek, Geico, Walmart and Stone Brewing.
With the help of more than 25,000 volunteers the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank feeds nearly 370,000 people per in month through 330 nonprofit partners, including: food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, low-income daycare centers, senior centers, churches, schools and day centers for the elderly and disabled. The Food Bank distributed more than 22 million pounds of food in 2014, equivalent to 18.3 million meals.
Festival goers are encouraged to bring low-rise beach chairs and blankets to the event. For more details, visit www.sdbluesfest.com.
