Lowertown Blues Festival Launches its Inaugural Season at Mears Park with a Free Concert Saturday, July 26, 2014

St. Paul, Minn., June 4, 2014 -- The Lowertown Blues Festival brings a stunning blues lineup to Mears Park for its inaugural season. The Lowertown Blues Festival is a cooperative effort by the Minnesota Blues Society and the Lowertown Blues Festival Committee with support from the City of St. Paul. The mission of this festival is to bring awareness of St. Pauls Lowertown redevelopment, showcasing the vitality and beauty of Lowertowns Mears Parks with music and the arts. With the opening of the METRO Green Line and Union Depot down the street, this festival is easy to get to. Admission is free.

Saturday July 26 ~ Mears Park Stage

3:00 PM Sena Ehrhardt
4:30 PM The Lamont Cranston Band
6:30 PM Hamilton Loomis
8:30 PM Shemekia Copeland

About the Performers
Shemekia Copeland
While only in her early 30s, two-time GRAMMY® nominee Shemekia Copeland is already a force to be reckoned in the blues world. She has opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London), shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Mick Jagger, and Eric Clapton, and has even performed at the White House for President and First Lady Obama. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland was presented with Taylors crown by her daughter, Cookie, on June 12, 2011, at the Chicago Blues Festival and given the honor of the new Queen of the Blues by official proclamation of the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

Hamilton Loomis
Below the musical notes on GIVE IT BACK, the latest release from Hamilton Loomis, lays an altruistic message; showcasing a pay it forward philosophy, Loomis states his goal to share the knowledge and information that was given to him as a young musician. In a musical tribute to his mentors, the title track, which features Victor Wooten (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) on bass and vocals, explains this mission and provides the backdrop as Loomis reaches new musical heights on a record that will ignite fires in those who live for funk, soul, rock, and a satisfying dose of the blues. Loomis and crew shine on stage, proving his music is best experienced in person, where one can see and hear its intended splendor. Blues Blast Magazine described him as a non-stop turbo of power, one minute moving from side to side of the stage, and then taking on his horn player in a head-cutting contest on the apron of the stage the next minute. Loomis energetic, get-in-withthe-crowd antics are infectious. The swaying and clapping are just as he envisioned.

Lamont Cranston Band
From the rural hometown settings of Hamel, Minnesota, and the river banks of Minneapolis/St. Paul, the blues influence surfaced as early as the mid 1960's for what was to become "The Lamont Cranston Blues Band." By 1969, The Lamont Cranston Blues Band was well on their way to becoming the nationally known legend that it is today. They are one of the founders of the Twin Cities music scene which is flourishing more than ever today.

Sena Ehrhardt
Sena Ehrhardt is unquestionably one of the freshest and most dynamic emerging young voices on the blues scene today. Once the lights come on, her commanding stage presence and gritty, soulfully emotional vocal prowess capture the audience, belying her youthful, demure appearance.

"Blues-rock with streaks of passionate rebelliousness. Young Sena Ehrhardt has the mettle of a seasoned blues trooper. Her essential vocal quality is an air of assertive defiance."
Downbeat
"... brassy, wrapped-around-her-finger inflections that will have the listener hanging on every word. Ehrhardt enchants with a hard-knock heart full of blues and unrepentant female soul."
Elmore

Event Details

Date: Saturday, July 26, 2014

Location: Mears Park in Lowertown, 221 E 5^th St, St Paul

Time: 3:00 10:00 p.m.

Additional information at lowertownbluesfestival.com