Deep Blues Festival gets press just like the big kids.

Downbeat, that venerable monument to hi-brow grow'd up jazz and otherwise goodness gave us mention the other day and included a very brief blurb from our close personal friend Van Campbell of Black Diamond Heavies. It's his reminiscence of our 2007 fest. Sadly they did not include the whole quote (and it doesn't appear online at all) so I'll lay it for you here. It's probably the nicest thing anybody has ever said about us. Thanks Van!:

"It was almost perfect that it rained so relentlessly at the first Deep blues Festival... It was the most uncharacteristic weather I had ever seen for July... more like November......More than "rained out" we were all "rained in" together. It was a family reunion of lost relatives. We had no idea that there were so many people that were doing a similar thing to what we were doing. It was like finding the land of misfit toys.. We were all there together braving the rain, playing our songs and a lot of time playing different versions of the same old songs! It was the beginning of something we all knew was special. Rick Saunders has been the sort of poetic voice of this festival that seems to have become more of a movement. Rick has been responsible for gathering people together from all over the place. Chris Johnson seems like a "regular guy". In fact he is just that....a regular guy with a house and a sweet family, he just happens to also be somewhat of a visionary. That dichotomy has us all pretty stupified, as you can hear in songs like 'Mr Johnson" by Left Lane Cruiser.......a modern tribute to the man that we hope is making history. It doesn't matter though how big it gets because its just all done out of love and anyone involved could attest to that..."

Here's a new track from the forthcoming BDH album A Touch Of Someone Else's Class
Bidin' My Time MP3

The Black Diamond Heavies will rock us all to hell and back on DAY TWO of The Deep Blues Festival Saturday July 19th 2008. Their new album, recorded with Dan Auerbach of Black Keys will be available June 6th. Tickets are still available!

http://www.downbeat.com/festivalguide.asp