in partnership with the
Wheeling National Heritage Area
& funded in part by the
National Park Service,
U.S. Department of the Interior

Heritage Music BluesFest "One of the Best Blues Festivals in America"
August 8, 9 & 10, 2008, Heritage Port Ampitheater, Wheeling, WV

"A Weekend of Award Winning Blues"

Heritage Music BluesFest 08
MainStage Acts

Johnny Winter & James Cotton
2008 will be Cotton's 63rd year in the entertainment business. One of the last surving links to the glory days of Chicago blues, harp legend James Cotton, will perform with Johnny Winter, who, for over 30 years ranks at the top of Texas blues guitar tradition, being an international ambassador for rocking Texas blues. These two legendary blues artists will join forces again to
Break it up & Break it down at the 2008 BluesFest.

The Delta Guitarslingers
Michael Burks, Sherman Robertson & Carl Weathersby
Organized by Michael Burks this incendiary threesome on guitars completely enthralled the audience at the 2007 Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival and promise to repeat that excitement at the 08 BluesFest

The Mannish Boys
The current edition of The Mannish Boys features a veritable one-band blues festival of talent. Most of the members either lead or are integral members of successful touring and recording bands. Finis Tasby, Johnny Dyer, David “Kid” Ramos, Frank “Paris Slim” Goldwasser, Leon Blue, Tom Leavey, Richard Innes and Randy Chortkoff are the extraordinary blues revue now known around the world as The Mannish Boys.

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials
Blues Music Foundation's 2007 Band Of The Year. From smoking slide guitar boogies to raw-boned Chicago shuffles to the deepest slow blues, Lil’ Ed Williams is a master bluesman, although small in stature, Lil' Ed, is a true giant of the blues.

Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets
Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets were one of the best loved and most popular blues artists on record and on the touring circuit.. Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets have not toured since 2004. When long time musical partner Sam Myers took ill, Anson kept off the road to help Sam with the necessities of daily life. Now Anson Funderburgh has teamed up with original vocalist/harpman from the Rockets, Darrell Nulisch for BluesFest 08.

Sugar Blue
Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue is not your typical bluesman. His visionary and singular style, bends, shakes & spills flurries of notes with simultaneous precision and abandon, combining dazzling technique with smoldering expressiveness and gives off enough energy to light up several city square blocks.

Watermelon Slim & the Workers
At least once in every man's life everything seems to come together magically. In December 2006 Watermelon Slim garnered a record-tying six 2007 Blues Music Award nominations for Artist, Entertainer, Album, Band, Song, and Traditional Album of the Year. Slim returns to the Heritage Music BluesFest this year with his band this time.

Blue Bella Revue with
Nick Moss and the Flip Tops, Bill Lupkin, & Kilborn Alley
Nominated for 5 Blues Music awards in 2007, 8 time nominee Nick Moss will bring a revue of the best of Blue Bella & Chicago blues.

Ana Popovic
There's little about Ana Popovic that places her within typical blues conventions. She won a WC Handy Nomination for Best New Artist in 2003 and is "Still Making History" with her latest release on Eclecto Groove, Ana takes her music to impressive new heights, both as a musician and as a commentator on the human condition.

Tinsley Ellis
Hard - rocking blues-soaked guitarist, vocalist, song-writer Tinsley Ellis sings and plays with the energy and soul of all the great Southern musicians who have come before him.

Debbie Davies
Nominated for 2008 BEST CONTEMPORARY FEMALE BLUES ARTIST BLUES MUSIC AWARDS! Her dedication to rockin' the blues, as she puts it, continues to inspire superlative efforts and a deep freezer's worth of bone-chilling guitar. Like a master chef's gourmet meal offering exquisite courses, Debbie has crafted a nine-course wallop of her musical vision and spirit, with Blues Blast

Deanna Bogart
Down Beat magazine describes Deanna Bogart as "an extravagant entertainer"-- and entertain is what Bogart does best. The Maryland-based blues and boogie pianist / saxophonist combines the energy of 1930's style boogie piano blues with contemporary blues in her vivacious, charismatic live shows

Seth Walker
Bringing songwriting back to blues Seth's unique in his approach and compelling in his performances. A different point of blue. The driving delivery and infectious down-home style of Seth Walker’s voice and songs resonate with Blues & Roots music fans.

Barbara Blue
Nominated in 2007 for a Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year Award, Pittsburgh PA, born and raised, Barbara Blue has had the blues since the day she was born. Spending most of her time on Beale Street, these days, Barbara will have a homecoming of sorts at the Heritage Music BluesFest 08

The Soul of John Black
He jammed on guitar and keyboard for the pioneering rock-funk-ska band Fishbone for eight years and has toured and recorded with artists as acclaimed and diverse as Miles Davis, Eminem, Dr. DrÈ, Nikka Costa, Bruce Hornsby and Everlast. Now, John JB Bigham, aka The Soul of John Black, is nominated for Best New Artist with The Good Girl Blues, a funky blend of blues, soul, and rock that merges rootsy, bluesy fundamentals with modern soul, funk, and hip-hop influences.

8/8/08 will kick off the Heritage Music BluesFest 08 at the Heritage Port
in Wheeling, WV for another year of Award Winning Blues.