Back and blues

LEFT: Performer and festival co-organizer Steve Arvey kicks off the festival Friday evening. ABOVE: Steeln’ Peaches COURTESY PHOTOS

Venice and the surrounding areas are fortunate to have two men with the will, vision, and experience to resurrect one of the great Southwest Florida music festivals. After lying dormant for six years, the Venice Blues Festival returns in 2024 under new management.

One of the festival’s original organizers, Steve Arvey, has teamed up with Nick Sperry, co-founder of Daisy Does It Events and Festivals. Both men happen to be musicians as well, having played and worked with Venice Blues Festivals in the past. And, what’s more, both are playing in bands in this year’s lineup—talk about pulling double duty.

The new and improved Venice Blues Festival picks up where the others left off, expanding to two days, on two stages, at a larger venue to accommodate a growing number of attendees.

According to Sperry, attendance at the festival prior to its hiatus hit over 4,000. Ticket sales are on pace to eclipse that number. VIP tickets, which include a dedicated entrance, a shade tent, air-conditioned bathrooms, a T-shirt, a poster, and a beer or wine, are sold out for Saturday. As of this writing, VIP tickets are still available for Friday night.

Average White Band headlines the Venice Blues Festival. COURTESY PHOTO

In addition to music on the main stage, the festival grounds will also house an acoustic stage featuring traditional acoustic blues music from half a dozen additional acts, a vendor village of local artisans selling their wares, and food trucks including Smokin’ Momma Lora’s BBQ & More, El Guero Tacos, The Dawg Pound, Chasin’ Chicken, and El Peruanito Peruvian Food.

But if you’re reading this, being able to grab some food when you start feeling hungry is just a bonus. You’re here for the music, so here we go.

Friday lineup

Kicking things off on Friday night, aforementioned festival co-organizer Steve Arvey, on vocals and guitar, teams up with Biscuit Miller on bass for some Chicago Blues by way of Florida. Both men were born and raised in Chicago, one of the epicenters of the blues. Both now live in the Sunshine State and play frequently around the area with their own bands. Before taking up guitar, Arvey played bass with a who’s who, including Bo Diddley, Junior Wells, Jimmy Rogers, and countless others.

Biscuit Miller also played with many notables in the blues world before forming his own band, The Mix. He won Blues Music Awards in 2012 and 2017 for his bass playing. Don’t miss the rare chance to see these two Chicago bluesmen combine their efforts.

Next up on Friday night is Venice’s own Out of the Blue band. Featuring the other festival co-organizer, Nick Sperry, on keyboards and trumpet, Out of the Blue is an eclectic party band with instrumentation to bring a number of genre-bending possibilities to the stage. You’ll want to hear the rocking pedal steel guitar and seven-string bass, along with the electric violin and guitar. (You’ve never heard “Billie Jean” like this!)

Closing out the opening night are headliners Steeln’ Peaches, a rock ’n’ roll review of The Allman Brothers Band. Formed by combining Florida bands Thomas Wynn & The Believers and The Groove Orient, Steeln’ Peaches is a seven-piece band built with respect and reverence for the godfathers of jam and a band that took blues music to previously unimagined heights.

Robert “Lefty Preacher” Sampson.

The term “blues-rock” is everywhere these days, including at the festival on Saturday, so closing out Friday with the band that started blues-rock just seems fitting. You know them, you love them, and while the real ABB may all be gone now, the music will live forever, thanks to folks like you who want to hear it and guys like Steeln’ Peaches who want to play it.

Saturday lineup

On Saturday, you’d better show up early, because the whole point of festivals is to make some new favorites by seeing people you’ve never heard of before. As promised, Saturday brings the blues in many of their forms, and all of them are quality. And just in case you get blues fatigued by the end of the night, the closer is another genre-bending juggernaut of music legends.

Performer and festival co-organizer Nick Sperry.

Getting the party started on Saturday is Robert “Lefty Preacher” Sampson. To call this man a mere multi-instrumentalist might be an insult. He played all 16 instruments on his 2016 debut album, The Jukebox Boogie. Sampson has appeared in the finals of the International Blues Challenge four different times.

Next up are JP Soars & the Red Hots. Again with the International Blues Challenge, Soars won in 2009 for band and guitarist, and again with the Blues Music Awards, Soars has been several times nominated for Best Contemporary Male Blues Artist and Best Blues Album. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, Soars and his trio are residents of Boca Raton, playing around the area and internationally at the biggest blues festivals and blues cruises in the world. He has a slew of records and also builds custom cigar box guitars, which he may have for sale at the merch tent during the festival. Words can’t describe how good this band is—it’s worth the price of admission alone.

Mathias Lattin COURTESY PHOTOS

Beale Street (in Memphis, Tennessee) staple Vince Johnson and the Plantation All-Stars then bring their decades-long experience to the Venice Blues Festival. Johnson imbues his harp playing (aka harmonica) with a lifetime of experience in the music industry, and that ain’t easy. The All-Stars play a mix of soul and blues and will be sure to take you to church a day early.

Once again, we go back to the International Blues Challenge, with the 2023 winner in both the band category and best guitarist, Mathias Lattin of Houston, Texas. Lattin was just 20 years old last year when he pulled off his IBC wins, making him perhaps the youngest player to win both honors. Of course, when you hit the blues scene at 12 and really start making waves at 17, you’re bound to be good by the time you’re 20. Now, at the ripe old age of 21, Lattin’s debut full-length album, “Up Next,” is nominated for Best Emerging Artist Album at the 2024 Blues Music Awards. Saturday is your chance to see him before he becomes a household name.

Leilani Kilgore

That blues rock we were talking about arrives on stage at 6 p.m. Saturday. Self-described guitarist, artist, and hellion Leilani Kilgore brings an edge and an energy that will get you pepped back up after a long day of music, sun, dust, and probably a few adult beverages. With chops, lungs, and tattoos to spare, Kilgore would happily be called the black sheep of the festival. (And remember, part of the point of a festival is watching people you normally wouldn’t.) If you’re missing the riffs, you should be sure not to miss Kilgore. She keeps things decidedly rock, with inevitable blues undertones.

And then there was one: the closer, the headliner, the band you all came to see, at least if you’re over 40. And if you are over 40, there’s simply no way you haven’t heard “Pick Up the Pieces,” even if you didn’t know what it was called—eeven if you don’t know the name Average White Band. “Pick Up the Pieces” is probably the single most recognizable piece of instrumental music in the history of recorded music. Don’t believe it? Look it up. You’ll know it.

And the name these guys, from Scotland of all places, gave themselves is a stroke of pure self-effacing genius. Nothing about this band was average, and nothing much about the music was white, either. These lads took the American R&B of their heroes—llike Chuck Berry and James Brown—aand formed a funk, soul, and disco powerhouse, sold millions of records, and proceeded to be sampled by hip-hop artists of every stripe, from Public Enemy and Too Short to the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, and too many others to name.

This appearance by the Average White Band is truly special. Aside from the fact that it is a chance to see some of the most memorable music ever written performed live, it is, in fact, your only chance. The Venice Blues Festival is the only tour stop in Florida during AWB’s 50th Anniversary Tour, which also happens to be their Farewell Tour. So, it’s now or never. If you love horns, love disco, and love to get funky, don’t miss your chance to send this legendary band out on a high note.

And if you’re a music lover in general, don’t miss your opportunity to support the people who are willing to take the risk to bring live music into our community. And not just any live music, but artists producing high-quality output from all over the country.

In a world of rising costs for everything from pantry staples to entertainment, the organizers of the new and improved Venice Blues Festival have managed to work something of a miracle, not just in the assembly of a fine lineup but in the accessibility of the ticket price. Somehow, the 2024 Venice Blues Festival comes with a cheaper ticket than the last Venice Blues Festival in 2018. How is that possible? Who knows? But you should do everything within your power to take advantage—not just for your sake but for the organizers who are risking so much for the rest of us. If we enjoy having festivals in our own backyards, we owe them our support.

With VIP tickets for Saturday sold out, you can see all the bands you just read about for a mere $25. Now that’s a no-brainer.

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