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MEDIA CONTACT:
Kim Sudhalter
Urban Legend PR
323.466.1268
kim@urbanlegendpr.com
BLUES LEGENDS FREDDIE HUGHES, BETTIE MAE FIKES, MIKE WILHELM AND FRANKIE LEE TO HEADLINE KNTI-FM
99.5 – BLUE WING BLUES FESTIVAL, JULY 18-21
UPPER LAKE, CA, May 15, 2007 – Freddie
Hughes, Bettie Mae Fikes, Mike Wilhelm and Frankie Lee will be featured
vocalists during four evenings of world-class blues music in the open
air garden setting of the Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon in Upper
Lake, CA from Wednesday, July 18 through Saturday, July 21. The
show, co-sponsored by local radio station KNTI-FM 99.5, starts each evening
at 5:30 with a set from the great finger-style, steel string blues guitarist Barry “Big
B” Brenner, followed by the headliner of the evening. The
Blue Wing Saloon will be serving a tasty barbeque dinner with the show. The
cost for the show and dinner is $25.
The Festival opens on July 18 with Freddie Hughes launching
his new CD on the BluesExpress label. Born and raised in Berkeley,
Freddie has performed world-wide since his first hit single in 1970 and
has appeared with such greats as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Etta
James. Freddie will be backed by the Rich Kirch Blues
Band. A Chicago native, Rich moved to the Bay Area in 1988 at the
invitation of the late, great John Lee Hooker and played with Hooker
on tours around the world for 13 years. He and his band have backed
Freddie Hughes, Kathi McDonald and many others in recording sessions
over the years.
Although Bettie Mae Fikes now
lives in Los Angeles, she is well known in Lake County from her regular
appearances at the Konocti Blues Café. Born in Selma, Alabama, Bettie was active
in the Civil Rights Movement, beginning her singing career with the SNCC
Freedom Singers and performing at the 1964 Democratic Party convention
in Atlantic City and again at the 40th anniversary convention in 2004. She
has graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, the Library
of Congress, and numerous blues festivals. She will be backed
by a band organized by Nice resident Robert Watson,
who played lead guitar with James Brown until Brown’s death last
year.
Friday evening belongs to two popular groups
that have appeared regularly at the Blue Wing Saloon/Café during
its weekly “Monday Blues” sessions. The
Lake Blues All-Stars feature guitarist Jim Williams, bass player Jon
Hopkins, and Mike Wilhelm, who is featured on guitar
and vocals. Known for his adroit finger picking and bottomless
baritone, Mike has a long and varied music history stretching from the
Summer of Love in San Francisco to the Blue Wing Blues Festival 40 years
later. Friday will conclude with a high-energy set from Twice
as Good, featuring the popular father and son duo of Rich and
Paul Steward.
The grand finale of the Festival on Saturday will feature BluesExpress
recording artist Frankie Lee, whose appearance in Lake
County is being co-sponsored by ReMax Realty. From his humble beginnings
in rural Texas, Frankie moved from gospel music in the Baptist Church
to his life-long love affair with the blues. His career took off
in the early 1960s when he was invited to join the Ike & Tina Turner
Review as a featured vocalist in their traveling road show. Since
then, Frankie and his band have traveled world-wide and most recently
released a popular CD called “Here I Go Again.”
The tastefully restored 17 room Tallman
Hotel in
Upper Lake
was featured in both the April and May 2007 issues of Sunset Magazine. The
adjoining Blue Wing
Saloon Café
serves quality comfort food with an array of local brews and wines. More
information on the artists scheduled to perform at the Festival can be
found on the following web sites:
Press inquiries should be directed to Kim Sudhalter, Urban Legend PR,
213.258.2220, kim@urbanlegendpr.com.
The
Festival organizer is Hotel and Saloon owner Bernie Butcher, 415.921.7571, bb@tallmanhotel.com.
Alan
Mathews of co-sponsor KNTI can be reached at 707.263.6113, amathews@bicoastalmedia.com.
Dan
Bacon of the BluesExpress recording label can be reached at 415.864.0907, bacondr@aol.com.
The Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon are managed
by Huntington Beach, CA-based Broughton Hospitality Group. Founded by Larry Broughton
in January 2001, BHG is an innovative full-service hospitality management,
consulting and development organization. BHG has been named among the
top 100 hospitality management companies in the USA by industry publications.
Larry Broughton was recently awarded Ernst & Young’s prestigious
Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2006. BHG operates properties in Santa
Monica, Orange County, Palm Desert, Puerto Vallarta, Santa Barbara, Solvang
and Lake County, CA. For more information, visit www.BroughtonHospitality.com.
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