Saturday April 27, 2013 Bikini Blues Bash returns

Thanks to Surfboard Dave of Surfboard Records we have some really nice video clips from our first Bikini Blues Bash - check out his site for what happened last year.

Here's the official press release for this year's Bikini Blues Bash on April 27, 2013 - DON'T MISS IT!!!

The only blues festival where your happy feet can dance in the sand is the Bikini Blues Bash in Treasure Island on Saturday, April 27th. Smack dab on Treasure Island’s famous festival-sized beach, the Bikini Blues Bash boasts over 10 hours of hot, smokin’ blues, soul and swing from seven bands. This year, the bash headlines the man with the booming bulldozer voice, Latimore, still kicking it and keeping it soulful. You may or may not know his name, but Latimore has been in showbiz for half a century with a string of chart-topping rhythm and blues hits in the '70’s, most famously "Let's Straighten It Out.”

Now in its second year, the City of Treasure Island presents the Bikini Blues Bash with the help of the Suncoast Blues Society, Saunders & Walker, PA, and dozens of local volunteers. The festival begins at 11:30am with two sets from everybody’s favorite swing and jazz band, the 18-piece Tomkats Jazz Orchestra, who have been packing houses up and down the coast for close to thirty years. Sunset Beacher Charlie Morris and his band, fresh off their winter 2013 European Tour, take the stage at 1:45 with some down-home songs and stories. Steve Arvey, a favorite Chicago blues guitarist with a thing for Florida stone crab, plays at 3pm, followed by the true blues sensation of the year, Ellie Lee & Blues Fury. Of Ellie, says Skipper’s Smokehouse owner Tom White: “You smoked it, girl!” Whatever you do, don’t miss Ellie at 4:15.

Sarasota Slim takes a time-out from producing the bash and brings his raucous blues-slinging band on at 5:45 for a set that always begins onstage and ends up somewhere out in the crowd! As the bash heads toward sunset, Billy Seward and Soulfonic, featuring Betty Padgett, play at 7:15pm. Billy’s show is a mix of blues, soul and horn-driven R&B, and it’s a full-blown musical party.

Just when you think the fever can’t go any higher, Latimore, backed by Seward and the Soulfonics, hits the Bikini Blues Bash stage at 8:30pm. With a string of R&B hits spanning two decades and a showbiz career spanning over five decades, Latimore has a voice with deep feeling for the blues and soul, not to mention some hammer-down finger-tickling keyboard action.

Festival vendors are open all day and evening, along with the food court, from 11:30am to 10pm. You can park directly on the beach, all day, for $10. Parking entrance to the beach is at the festival site at 104th Avenue and Gulf Boulevard in Treasure Island, across from Publix. No pets or glass permitted on the beach. Details online at www.mytreasureisland.org or at 727- 547-4575 ext. 237.

 

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