The Doheny Blues Festival is a lot of things to a lot of people. For me at least some of the day is spent hearing some great music.  It is also a place where I can be reminded just how soulful the folks are that happen to share my passion for the quintessential American art form called the blues. 

I thought about this while eschewing the very popular and probably talented Chris Issak, who I have on very good authority is still a dreamy hunk. Instead I spent that portion of the afternoon enjoying John Primer’s set on the smaller more intimate back porch stage.

This late afternoon set on Sunday represented the first time (and last time) at the 2017 version of this event that the audience had a chance to sample a big healthy portion of Chicago blues played the straight natural way. The 72 year old Primer gave the audience a primer on the history of post war electric blues from the Windy City. He performed with the vitality of a man half his age. He also performed like a man who has a lifetime of experience under his belt. It was a potent combination.

The Delta Groove Music recording artist just released a brand new album entitled, Ain’t Nothing You Can Do with harp man Bob Corritore. The two were joined by Big Jon Atkinson on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass as well as drummer Brian Fahey. They played real blues of the highest order. Five musicians all communicating in that language fluently is something every human being on this planet should experience at least once in their life. For many in this large crowd, that may have been exactly what they were doing. It is one of the reasons I have been so supportive of this event.

Other highlights of the festival included the French guitarist and vocalist Nico Duportal’s set on that same Backporch stage on Saturday afternoon. This dynamic and extremely talented musician was backed by an ensemble of players billed as The West Coast Connection.

They were guitarist Tommy Harkenrider, drummer Ron Felton, sax man Mondo Durame, bass player John Dominguez and organist Danny McGough. They were joined for one tune by Orange County’s own Kid Ramos. This was the fourth time in as many days that the band would perform in public. Duportal is a real pro who is as good of a musician as he is an entertainer and brings a dynamic stage presence to the bandstand.

Other Saturday highlights included a good natured “battle of the bands” billed as Northern California, represented by Rick Estrin and the Nightcats vs. Southern California, featuring Rod Piazza and his Mighty Flyers. The two bands each performed a half hour set and then joined forces. Both Estrin and Piazza have been at this for a very long time.  So who won you might ask? Since you asked...you simply can’t beat the visiting team from Northern California. They are in a class by themselves. The only thing more stupid than me picking a winner, which I just did, was to present bands of this caliber in this format. Both deserved a full set to themselves as both are top flight ensembles, one just happens to be better, if you don’t mind me saying so.

“Monster” Mike Welch and Mike Ledbetter were real crowd favorites and played an entire set of songs from their brand new Delta Groove Music release entitled Right Place, Right Time. This is a festival ready band that can deliver the goods in the studio as well as on the big stage.

It is always great to hear the Rick Holmstrom Trio and their long time vocalist Mavis Staples. She remains the torch bearer for the Staples Singers, who were a huge part of the 20^th century’s musical legacy. From the gospel music of the sanctified Baptist church, to their famous message music they put out on the Stax label, they transcended any genre, any label and their own individual prodigious talents. While the voice of Mavis has been reduced to a mere facsimile of its former glory, it is still great to bask in her presence.

The highlight of the entire weekend may have come from, what on the surface might be considered an unlikely source, Junior Brown. Brown is a country performer whose music sounds like it comes from another time and if you are in Dana Point, California, another place as well. He is truly an old school throwback with a twist. This triple threat is one of the great songwriters, singers and pickers the genre has ever known. In this day and age he is simply without peer.  

He fronts a three piece band that includes an acoustic guitar, a stand up acoustic bass and snare drum mostly played with brushes. They provide a relentless rhythmic foundation on which Brown can always rely. He might take some exotic inter-stellar journeys on his guit-steel, but when he returns from any of those far flung excursions, he is met with that band who has been holding down the fort in his absence the entire time he has been away. As far as the guit-steel I just mentioned, there really is nothing like it. Well there is but you would have to go to the Smithsonian Institute to see it.

This instrument is the invention of Junior Brown who, to my knowledge, is the only person on either side of the Pecos who plays it. He combined a traditional country instrument, the pedal steel guitar, with a six string electric guitar. He plays the contraption, toggling between the instrument(s) that is mounted on a music stand.

He mixes ballads with mostly up tempo numbers which had long time fans singing along and new comers to the world of Junior Brown laughing at the clever turn of a phrase and the humor instilled in numbers like My Wife Thinks You’re Dead, Highway Patrol, Party Lights and others.

He delivers this material with an unforgettable baritone. He also sings these songs like the greatest jazz and blues singers as he waits until the last possible moment to deliver a line. This gives the music a propulsive element and allows for it to both breathe and swing. I guess a logical question to the uninitiated would be, ‘Can country music swing?’ The answer is ‘Yes,’ if it performed by Junior Brown.

Obviously with part of the festival line-up taking place on two stages simultaneously it is impossible to try and hear everything. This year I didn’t even try, as much of the time in previous years it seemed like a good portion of each set was used traveling the several hundred yards between stages missing everything. It took me long enough to finally figure out it is best to make a decision ahead of time and stick to that verdict.

Obviously there is something for everybody at the Doheny Blues Festival, even me.

-     - David Mac