West Side Strut to be Featured at 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival

Fans of Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater are in for a great show Friday night, June 6, at the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival, as he performs with the entire cast of his new CD! Clearwater's new release, West Side Strut, (Alligator Records) is produced by his close friend whom he refers to as his "nephew," Ronnie Baker Brooks (Lonnie Brooks' son). It features special guests Billy Branch, Otis Clay, Jimmy Johnson and Lonnie Brooks, along with Ronnie's band members Daryl Coutts, Maurice Taylor and Carlton Armstrong. Eddy Clearwater's band mates Shoji Naito (guitar and harp), Rudy Kleiner (bass) and Merle Perkins (drums) will also be part of the show. Chicago Blues Festival attendees will be fortunate to see these greats playing together on one stage at the Petrillo Music Shell.

The title, West Side Strut, refers to the energy Clearwater felt while working on Chicago's West Side. Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is one of the original West Side blues guitar greats who emerged in the 1950s, along with Freddie King and Otis Rush. Also, it's tied to his powerful presence and movements onstage. The CD features a combination of songs written by both Clearwater and Brooks, as well as a few covers including "Walking Through the Park" by Muddy Waters. Listening to the CD, one can feel the energetic, feel-good vibe that went into creating such a fine collaboration of talent and sound. Clearwater has performed all over the world and recorded a number of albums, however West Side Strut is his first recording with Alligator Records, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of recording his first single. So, mark your calendar for the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival, June 5-8, 2008 in Chicago's own Grant Park and hear the music of the CD come alive!

The Chicago Blues Festival has grown tremendously in its twenty-five years and now features more than one hundred performances on seven stages and extended hours of 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Chicago Blues Festival is known world-wide as one of the biggest and best Blues events on the planet, drawing hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to Grant Park, year after year.

Chicago Blues Festival is sponsored by U.S. Cellular, Chicago Tribune, ZonePerfect® All-Natural Nutrition Bars, Louisiana Office of Tourism, Best Buy, McDonald's, Gibson Guitar, State of Mississippi, Pepsi-Cola, 93XRT, Bud Light, La Grou, Chicago Transit Authority, Hinckley Springs, CLTV-Chicagoland's Television, WGN-Television, Comcast, National City, WSSD, Dominick's, Communications Direct, Essex Inn, Hyatt, Southwest and more generous sponsors who help make this event free to the public. For hotel information, visit www.choosechicago.com