Sunday Line-up }{ Santa Cruz Blues Festival

Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy is one of the last links to magical electric blues that came out of the clubs of Chicago and then spread around the world, changing everyone who heard it. The bluesman was such an influence on a generation that included Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, that he is one of the few blues players inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His music is as powerful today as it ever was. His last Grammy-winning album, “Skin Deep”, took listeners on a tour from his acoustic Louisiana roots to the electrified blues and boogie that is still bringing audiences to their feet. His live shows are high voltage, pure forays into the halcyon days of the gritty and joyous blues.

Buddy started as a hot young guitarist, backing the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Koko Taylor and Sonny Boy Williamson, but then found his own new style with a stinging, attacking electric guitar and wild, impassioned vocals. Read more...

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Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are unquestionably the most formidable husband/wife team in the history of blues and southern rock. They are debuting a new band at the festival before going out on an extensive tour. It’s guaranteed to be a musical merger made in heaven.

Susan Tedeschi was raised in Boston and took up the blues after she heard the singing in African American Baptist churches. She began singing with bands at age 13 and attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music. She honed her guitar skills and began touring extensively, building a faithful following for her original rocking blues songs. Her 1998 blues album “Just Won’t Burn” sold more than 500,000 copies and won her the Grammy for Best New Artist.

She has four Grammy nominations and last year, both she and Trucks competed for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Read more...

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Eric Burdon and the Animals
There is probably no one in the English-speaking world who hasn’t heard Eric Burdon and the Animals’ first number one hit, “The House of the Rising Sun.” The 1964 song that was steeped in raw blues was a shot heard round the world, and led Burdon and band onto the first British invasion, one of the top-selling and most famous bands in rock history.

Like his peers in that wave, Burdon was inspired by the blues, but unlike them, he never strayed too far from that inspiration. The Animals recorded with Sonny Boy Williamson and on their own they regularly covered great blues artists including John Lee Hooker, Brownie McGhee, Jimmy Reed and Ray Charles.

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Coco Montoya
The fiery blues guitarist, Coco Montoya was a drummer in Sacramento rock bands when he saw Albert King open a concert for Creedence Clearwater.

"After Albert got done playing," says Montoya, "my life was changed. When he played, the music went right into my soul. It grabbed me so emotionally that I had tears welling up in my eyes. Nothing had ever affected me to this level. He showed me what music and guitar playing were all about. I knew that was what I wanted to do."

He got his first break when guitarist Albert Collins asked him to back him on drums, after meeting him in a club. Montoya figured there would be rehearsals before the tour, but Collins told him to be ready in three hours. That led to five years together, with the legendary bluesman schooling his young protégé as Montoya made the switch to guitar. They would sit in hotel rooms together jamming. “He was always saying, ‘Don’t think about it, feel it.’ He taught me to tap into an inner strength. What a great gift he gave me.”