The 7th annual Highland Jazz and Blues Festival welcomes the "Gourds," fresh from live performances on Austin City Limits, to Columbia Park in Shreveport on Saturday, November 13.
The Gourds, a rockabilly-country-bluegrass group with blues roots, has released nine CD's, their latest called "Haymaker" in 2009. In addition to appearances on Austin City Limits, the Gourds are popular performers at Austin's national music showcase SXSW.
Quirky and entertaining, the group's songs include a twangy remake of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" and the offbeat "I Ate the Haggis." The Gourds will headline the HJ+B Festival on the Pavilion Stage beginning at 4 p.m.
The lineup for the two stages showcases some of the best in regional sounds. The Schedule for the Pavilion Stage (the stage closest to Creswell Avenue) includes Robin and the Bluebirds from noon-12:45 p.m., AJ and the Two Tone Blues Band from 1-1:45 p.m., last year's rave fave AJ Haynes and the Monkey Business from 2-2:45 p.m., Total Choice playing cool jazz from 3-3:45 p.m., and headliner, the Gourds, beginning at 4 p.m.
On the Gazebo Stage (closest to Columbia Street), Buddy Flett and Friends will kick off at 12:15-1 p.m., newcomers to the Blues Fest are Otis Ockley who will play from 1:15-2 p.m., the Space Travelers who take the stage 2:15-3 p.m.. and David Egan and Twenty Years of Trouble will play from 3:15-4 p.m.
In addition to music, the festival also offers great choices in local food and artwork in two food courts and art enclaves in Columbia Park.
For the seventh year, admission to the Highland Jazz and Blues Festival is FREE to the public. For more information on the festival, please go to www.highlandjazzandblues.com.