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News Release

Keb Mo, Jonny Lang to highlight 2004 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival July 2 to 5, 2004

For immediate release

June 27, 2004

PORTLAND, Ore.—Grammy-Award winning bluesman Keb’ Mo, ’ presented by CO-OP Network, and the young blues-rocker Jonny Lang, presented by First Tech Credit Union, will headline the 2004 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union.

The 17th annual blues festival opens at noon on Friday, July 2, and concludes at 9 p.m., Monday, July 5, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the banks of the Willamette River in downtown Portland.

The largest blues festival West of the Mississippi, the Waterfront Blues Festival annually attracts more than 120,000 blues fans from across the U.S. The festival offers close to 100 performances on four stages. This year’s offers more workshops, more Blues Cruises on the “Portland Spirit,” more films and special programming than ever before and fabulous fireworks on July 4.

Special focus on Howlin Wolf

The 2004 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival will celebrate the late Howlin’ Wolf and spotlight the blues-based music of Louisiana and Texas. Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitarist for 25 years, will perform with the Paul deLay Band and Jimmy Vivino, guitarist for the Conan O'Brian Show.

Admission
Admission is a daily donation per person of $5 plus two cans of nonperishable food. The festival is the major annual fund-raiser for Oregon Food Bank. All festival donations benefit Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger and its root causes.

Purchase a four-day festival pass in advance for $15 plus a $1 service charge from TicketsWest.com, 503-224-8499 or 1-800-992-8499. You'll not only get four days of great music at a great price, you'll get to wear a beautiful, collectible button.

Schedule
The 2004 Waterfront Blues Festival promises to be a stellar festival. We're already hearing raves about this year's line-up.

This year's stellar line-up includes:

Grammy Award-winning bluesman Keb' Mo', presented by CO-OP Network; the gospel-infused blues of the Holmes Brothers, presented by Karolyn H. March, Attorney; the rock-boogie-blues of Canned Heat, presented by CO-OP Network; Robert Belfour with Mark Lemhouse; and Roy Book Binder will kick-off the festival on Friday, July 2.
Enjoy blues, rhythm and blues, and funk from the Gulf Coast states of Texas and Louisiana on Saturday, July 3. The A&E Front Porch Stage will host the Zydeco Swamp Romp, a day-long celebration of this Cajun-blues musical-hybrid featuring Rosie Ledet, Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco High Rollers and Zydeco Road Runners.
On Saturday, you'll also hear Cyril Neville and the Uptown Allstars with the Wild Tchipitoulas, presented by First Tech Credit Union; Sonny Landreth, presented by iQ Credit Union; Father, Son and the Blues: James and Lucky Peterson; Reggie Huston; and Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers.
Winners of the recent International Blues Competition in Memphis will perform on the A&E Front Porch Stage on Sunday, July 4. Blues fans will also hear the Journey to Memphis finals, presented by the Cascade Blues Association, which determines the regional designee to compete in next year's IBC.
Bill Rhoades' annual Harmonica Blow-off, featuring national and regional blues harmonica aces backed by an all-star band, will perform, Sunday, July 4. You'll also hear Mannish Boys, Kid Ramos, Finis Tasby and Jonny Dyer; and the Paladins with the Texas Horns.The evening will end with spectacular fireworks over the Willamette River.
Jonny Lang, the acclaimed young bluesman, will perform on Monday, July 5. Lang, 22, presented by First Tech Credit Union, already has two platinum-selling albums and a Grammy nomination under his belt.
On July 5, you'll also enjoy Angela Strehli and Tracie Nelson with the Texas Horns; Howlin' with Hubert: Hubert Sumlin with the Paul deLay Band; Ruthie Foster with Cyd Cassone; Texas Johnny Brown; Anthony Gomes; Doug MacLeod; and Paul Oscher.
The Northwest Film Center will again present Reel Blues, a series of blues films at 10 p.m., Friday, July 2, and Saturday, July 3.
Last year's Blues Cruises on the Willamette River were so popular that festival organizers will offer more Blues Cruises this year. THE MIDNIGHT MAMBO CRUISE ON SATURDAY NIGHT IS ALREADY SOLD OUT. Hear the Holmes Brothers and Canned Heat on the late-night Hoodoo Moon Blues Cruise, Friday, July 2. WE EXPECT THE FRIDAY NIGHT BLUES CRUISE TO ALSO SELL OUT BEFORE THE FESTIVAL BEGINS. Afternoon Blues Cruises on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, are still available.
Look for in-depth educational workshops and the Ethos Blues Lab for children.

"The workshops give the festival a cultural depth that doesn't exist at other festivals," says Lisa Wiebe, director of development at Oregon Food Bank.

And don't miss the Empty Bowls booth. The Oregon Potters Association coordinates Empty Bowls, a fund-raiser to benefit Oregon Food Bank. The association collects pottery donations from its members throughout the year and sells them -- most for just $10 -- at the blues festival.

To make the festival enjoyable for everyone, read about Festival Etiquette and Essentials.

The festival is the winner of the prestigious Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the national Blues Foundation and the recipient of the Ovation Award as Oregon Best Festival, Civic Celebration or Community Event.

Post Office to offer official U.S. postmark

For the very first time, the Portland Post Office will offer an official U.S. postmark commemorating the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival on Friday and Saturday, July 2 and 3, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Music lovers and stamp collectors alike will covet the collectible postmark in honor of the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi. The postmark may be applied to any item bearing first-class postage stamps, according to USPS officials.

Portland artist Gary Houston created the artwork authorized as an official U.S. Postal Service official postmark. Houston is well-known for creating the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival’s official poster for the past four years, including this year’s design.

Postcards, greeting cards and envelopes incorporating Houston’s artwork will be sold at the event so that blues fans can send a note to friends and loved ones around the world to prove they were there.

A signed, hand-pulled, limited-edition poster by Houston bearing a postage stamp and postmark will also be on sale at the event.

The postmark will be available from noon a.m. to 5 p.m. at the temporary Post Office location south of the Hawthorne Bridge and next to the Esplanade on the first two days of the festival. Postage stamps will also be on sale at the site.

The postmark features a stylized blues guitar and will also be available on limited-edition posters and envelopes being offered by Oregon Food Bank in cooperation with Houston. Proceeds will benefit Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger and its root causes … because no one should be hungry. Houston is well-known nationally for his artwork for Wilco, Ben Harper, and Los Lobos and others.

Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Food Bank is the hub of a network of 20 regional food banks and 832 hunger-relief agencies in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Last year, the Oregon Food Bank Network collected 59-million pounds of food and provided emergency food boxes to an estimated 780,000 people, served 4.4-million emergency meals and helped thousands more through supplemental food programs.

News Release

Keb Mo, Jonny Lang to highlight 2004 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival July 2 to 5, 2004

Post Office to offer official U.S. postmark

Oregon Food Bank

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