Review: 27th Annual Briggs Farm Blues Festival

Review: 27th Annual Briggs Farm Blues Festival Feat. Joanne Shaw Taylor, North Mississippi Allstars, Duane Betts, GA-20, Albert Cummings, Uncle Lucius, Eliza Neals, Katie Henry, and More

By Jim Hynes
Photos by Tina Pastor

The phrase “Best weekend of the year” has grown to be synonymous with the Briggs Farm Blues Fest. Celebrating its 27th year on July 11-13, the event, held on the Briggs family farm that dates to the 1700s, consistently draws thousands of mostly camping fans in northeast Pennsylvania and surrounding states.

With fourteen consecutive years of growth in attendance interrupted only in 2020 by the pandemic, I have attended fifteen of them and witnessed its ascent from a family festival that featured a range of primarily genuine blues artists to its status as one of the country’s top blues festivals drawing over 12,000, increasingly leaning toward contemporary acts. This year’s guitar-heavy programming focused on leading blues rockers and unlike last year, lacked pure, traditional blues acts. The festival is now being driven by the younger generation of the Briggs family, aiming toward younger audiences, which are key to sustaining the festival well into the future. This is the first festival that had no acoustic acts. Also, all nine Main Stage acts were first timers.

Friday’s Main Stage began with a rousing set from Detroit-based Eliza Neals and her six-piece band that drew a sizable crowd to the front of the stage. Neals worked her way through recent material such as “United We Stand,” Color Crimes,” and “10,000 Feet Below” with a cover of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind,” the requisite cover of Detroiter, John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom Boom” and closed with “Something’s Better Than Nothing.”

One of her two guitarists, Frankie Maneiro, in collaboration with several of the band members, performed a blistering set on the Back Porch on Saturday, billed as Frankie Boy and the Blues Express. Admittedly, the Back Porch had much of my attention on Friday, but I was able to catch the end of Massachusetts blues rocker Albert Cummings’ set, especially impressed by the medley “Fever/Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?”, the slow blues of “Lonely Bed,” and audience singalong “Blues Makes Me Feel So Good,” punctuated with his custom line, “Briggs Farm Blues Fest makes me feel so good.” Guitar prodigy Brandon “Taz” Niederauer followed with his distinct brand of electrified blues.

Closer Joanne Shaw Taylor proved why she is one of the most inventive, scintillating blues rockers on the scene today, setting fire to the Main Stage with a high energy set that never lagged. Her lightning quick and oft unpredictable fretwork left many in the crowd completely awestruck as she focused mostly on tracks from her latest release Heavy Soul, namely “Wild Love,” “Black Magic,’ and “Sweet Lil Lies” but her set reached stratospheric levels with the sequence of “Watch Em Burn” and “Loving Too Long.” It was a masterful performance brimming with passion, raw emotion, and a take-no-prisoners approach, In a word – breathtaking.

Here’s what went down on the Back Porch Stage on Friday. Historically the Back Porch has featured the more traditional blues acts, a mix of acoustic and electric blues. Frequent festival performers, the Uptown Music Collective, a five-piece electric blues band comprised of students from the school so named, kicked off the Back Porch with a professionally done set of blues featuring two lead guitarists and rotating lead vocalists, bringing plenty of energy to set the festivities in motion. Local favorite, guitarist and vocalist Teddy Young led his four-piece band, The Aces, with an energetic set of popular standards such as “Key to the Highway,” Tore Down,” and “Hideaway” featuring a genuine Hammond B-3 on the Back Porch Stage. The band’s arrangement of Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call’ with a burning B3 solo was among the many highlights.

Festival record holder, Arkansas-born Lonnie Shields and his band returned to the festival after a few years of hiatus, to the delight of the mainstays. This, and his performance on Saturday combine for roughly nineteen appearances at the fest. The tight band with keyboards, saxophone, and twin guitars, courtesy of bandleader Jessie Loewy, brings a highly danceable mix of blues, soul, and R&B that consistently induces smiles and lots of dancing. The solid programming also featured the Memphis band, Max Kaplan and the Magics, a four-piece with Kaplan on lead vocals and guitar supported by his dad, Shep, on slide with keyboards and drums. Kaplan has a terrific voice, akin somewhat to John Nemeth, one of his mentors. His mix of originals and Memphis classics such as Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood” made for a great set and a buzz about the band that circulated through the fest throughout the weekend. Arguably though, the clear highlight of the day on the Back Porch though was a charming set from Ruf artist Katie Henry, singing, playing both piano and guitar with her four-piece band with tunes from her two Ruf albums such as “Clear Vision,” “Nothing to Lose,” “Love Like Kerosene,” “Carry You,” and others. She followed suit with a brief set that opened the Main Stage on Saturday.

Saturday had more than its share of highlights as well as Saturday’s Main Stage boasted a strong, unrelenting lineup of Katie Henry, GA-20, Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel, North Mississippi Allstars, and Uncle Lucius. It was a day of reliving Jimi Hendrix and The Allman Brothers (more of this later).

GA-20, who followed Henry’s short set, was formed by guitarists Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs in Boston, MA in 2018. New drummer Josh Kiggans joined just a couple of weeks ago. The project was born out of their mutual love of house rocking blues along the lines of Hound Dog Taylor, a trio with no bass guitarist. In fact, their set was much in the spirit of the band’s 2021 Colemine release GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor. Their set and portions of the North Mississippi Allstars were as close to the ‘real blues’ as any of the acts on the Main Stage. The highly anticipated Duane Betts and Palmetto Hotel followed with Betts wielding his dad’s Gold Top flanked by his Allman-Betts bandmate, guitarist Johnny Stachela, keyboards, bass and drums. They began the set with two tunes from Bett’s 2023 solo album, Wild and Precious Life – “Saints and Sinners” and “Stare at the Sun” alongside one he penned for the Allman Betts Band, “Taking Time.” The crowd in front of the stage was as packed as I’ve ever seen it in daylight, delighted to hear the famed Berry Oakley version of “Hoochie Cootchie Man,” leading into those beautifully clear-toned, eminently recognizable riffs of the ABB’s “Blue Sky.” The sheer joy and grateful spirit of the faces in the audience was totally captivating. And following more solo material, the set culminated in a medley of “Jessica” right into “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” A big dose of ABB is always more than welcome at any time, and this audience basked in every note.

Believe it or not, the performances grew in intensity as the North Mississippi Allstars, probably the most experienced festival act on the entire bill, showed their ability to lay down filthy grooves and mix it up by trading instruments. Luther Dickinson played bass at least twice, switching with Joey Williams who wielded the axe on Dylan’s audience singalong “Gotta Serve Somebody” and B.B. King’s “Why I Sing the Blues.” Williams got behind the drum kit while Cody Dickinson played guitar and sang lead on another as the band moved through such staples as “Up and Rolling,” “Set Sail,” and “Shake (Yo Mama)” to name a few. Given the band’s propensity to jam, it was not at all surprising to see them invite first Stachela, and then on the closer, Betts to put the cap on a fiery, thoroughly enjoyable set.

The close to the fest came with Austin’s Uncle Lucius, delivering their eclectic mix of roots, blues, and country with a talented six-piece unit that featured twin guitars (Mike Carpenter and Doug Strahan), the multiple keyboard wizardry of Jonny “Keys” Grossman, and the charismatic and emotive vocals of frontman Kevin Galloway. Given that their late 2023 release, Like It’s the Last One Left, was their first in five years, that’s what they drew from – “All the Angelenos,” “Civilized Anxiety,” “I’m Happy,” “Trace My Soul,” and their staple closer on this tour, “Holly Roller” were among those heard. They brought tons of energy and varied their set to highlight both their excellent songwriting and advanced musicianship. It’s safe to say that all were satiated by perhaps the best, unrivaled Main Stage lineup in the fest’s history.

Yet, it was a blistering hot and humid day where many preferred the shade of the tented Back Porch. Guitar Zack from Pittsburgh lit the fuse, backed by a trio of Fender amps and the most elaborate pedal board I’ve witnessed as he tore through tunes from Freddy King and other greats with a clear emphasis on Hendrix, with over the top, explosive readings of “Red House,” “Little Wing,” and “Voodoo Chile.” He did the whole routine – playing with his teeth, rolling on the ground while playing the guitar, and other flamboyant gestures that energized the bleary-eyed campers, just beginning their day. With most of my attention on the Main Stage I only caught tidbits of the Blues Reincarnation Project, the aforementioned Frankie Boy and the Blues Express, and Mark “Muleman” Massey backed by the Briggs Farm “house band,” The Cornlickers. I was able to catch the last twenty-thirty minutes of The Lonnie Shields Band hosting a dance party of the ages for almost two hours to close down the festivities at that stage. Sound like fun? You bet.

Briggs Farm Blues Festival website