some nice words by tony dellario--mark cloutier-double barrel blues band

17 ^th ANNUAL NEW YORK STATE BLUES FESTIVAL

Syracuse, New York

Saturday July 12 ^th and Sunday July 13th, 2008

Things don't always go as planned, but everything always works out. That was the story for us on the weekend of the 17 ^th Annual NY State Blues Festival in Syracuse New York. Bernie Clark, the rest of the Festival Board, and all the dedicated Volunteers who seem to return again and again for some reason pulled off another successful event. According to the local press, attendance of up to 8,000 plus on Saturday, and even with an almost washout due to heavy afternoon rains, a 5,000 plus crowd on Sunday!

 review from blues scource magazine new york state blues fest---big thanks to tony dellario!!

We (my daughter Angela and I) had a late departure on Friday and didn't get into town until about 10:30 PM on Friday evening. After making a decision to not go out, we got a good nights sleep, got up early on Saturday AM, and got to visit a while with my old friend and guitar slinger Mark Cloutier ( Double Barrel Blues Band ). We arrived down at Clinton Square and were backstage greeting some of our old friends by 1:30, and got to catch the end of the Ron Spencer Band's set at the Dinosaur Barbeque Stage. Liverpool, NY guitarist Ron Spencer and high-octane energy singer Mark Gibson got the early afternoon crowd up with a blend of various covers and originals. With the rhythm of Jay Gould on bass and Ross Moe on drums, the band dug deep for Alvin Cash and the Crawler's 1965 goodie " Twine Time ," and got my head going up and down (traditional blues groove head bob) with their original " Rollercoaster Blues ."

Next up came one of the bigger highlights of the Festival for me. The Double Barrel Blues Band took to the Hanover Square Stage and Mark Cloutier (guitar) and the boys tore it up. Opening up with Albert Collin's " Frosty ", it was only uphill from there. These guys have been hard at work on the local scene, and based on the musicianship it would appear they all have been honing their skills! Keep up the great work guys, and thanks for keeping it real!