2006 Pocono Blues Festival Opens

Wanda JohnsonIMG_1017, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

The 15th Pocono Blues Festival opened Friday night July 28 on Big Boulder Mountain in Lake Harmony PA. Eddie Taylor did a set of older blues from a variety of sources including BB King, Muddy, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie King and of course his dad. Nothing remarkable except he played wonderfully in the manner of his legendary father with an unassuming, straightforward style. He has a new CD on Wolf. His first CD is a wonderful tribute to his father.
Second up was Wanda Johnson who I had not heard before and is vivacious as well as a soulful performer that Gary Erwin discovered in South Carolina. She quickly became an audience favorite with her peroonality, lively snging and soul band that included Erwin on keyboards. They were selling her CDs and they were selling briskly as left. I purchased her "Call Me Miss Wanda." She is someone you are going to hear more about in the future.
After a long day of travelling I left prior to Maurice John Vaughan, but it was a fine evening of blues to open the festival.