Barbara Strauss (Photo courtesy ticketsarasota.com)Published November 4, 201020th Annual Sarasota Blues Festival11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat., Nov. 6, Ed Smith Stadium Complex, Festival Grounds, 2700 12th St., Sarasota, 954-4101 ext. 5454 or sarasotabluesfest.com, $22 advance, $27 day of show.
Way back in 1990, the Sarasota Blues Society decided to give SRQ the blues in a big way by launching the 1st Annual Sarasota Blues Fest at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds. Headliner Little Milton, Kenny Neal, Twinkle Schascle, and a 12-year-old Derek Trucks, kicked off what has now become Sarasota’s premier annual music event. But after moving the festival to downtown Bradenton the following year, the Blues Society fell on hard times and eventually filed for bankruptcy. This would have effectively written the Blues Fest’s requiem, had it not been for a friend of Barbara Strauss who prompted the then-very-green local promoter to pick up the torch.
After Strauss obtained the rights from the SBS, she brought the Blues Fest back to Sarasota for its third installment, which took place on field one of Ed Smith Sports Complex. A fresh promoter at a new location, she started looking for big name artists that would draw out the masses, naively unprepared for the cold shoulder she received from most national booking agents. With a little luck and a lot of begging she was able to land two blues legends on the bill — James Cotton and Pinetop Perkins. (more…)
