“As a little kid, blues meant hope, excitement, pure emotion. Blues were about feelings. They seem to bring out the feelings of the artist and they brought out my feelings as a kid. They made me wanna move, or sing, or pick up Reverend’s guitar and figure out how to make those wonderful sounds.”
― Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King
The feeling of blues was evident at the Lancaster Convention Center & Marriott Hotel last Sunday evening during the Lancaster Roots & Blues Festival.
This is the second year I’ve signed up to volunteer at this awesome event which gets me access to the bands and to meet new friends. As I stood at the VIP entrance checking wrist bands, I couldn’t help but have a giant smile on my face. I was greeting people with such energy that they were greeting me back, even when I was telling them they can’t be in the area since it’s for VIP only. Ha!~ I was seriously so happy, it was a bit surprising, considering the fact that I’d just flown in from Mexico the day before. But knowing how awesome this event was from last year, I didn’t want to miss my chance to help out and also enjoy the event.
I arrived just in time to check out the set of Fifteen-year-old Brandon Niederauer, who’s nicknamed “Taz” for his ferocious guitar playing. Having performed in some of the most legendary venues in America with many of the most prominent musicians of our time, the young guitarist, singer, and songwriter has already earned himself quite the reputation, according to his bio. His energy is infectious. Just being in the room as he played, I was instantly energized.
I was able to connect with some of the volunteers and chatted a bit between the sets, and excited for the BB Kings Blues Band, featuring Michael Lee featured on “The Voice” along with King’s actual band members who traveled the world with BB until his passing in 2015.
Listening to this band, you could feel BB King vibes, and later in the evening, after I’d gotten some photographs and finished my volunteer duties at the VIP area, I took a seat, to take in the wonderful sounds.
Check out more photos here
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