Prairie Dog Blues Festival - 2021

Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin

July 31, 2021

By Phillip Smith; Aug.2, 2021

Saturday, July 31, 2021, I landed in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, just off the mighty Mississippi River, for the second day of the Prairie Dog Blues Festival, and had an enormously good time. Soaking in the blues, while soaking up the sun is absolutely one of the best things life has to offer. On the main stage, I caught Lurrie Bell with Jason Ricci, Amanda Fish, Tony Holiday, The Altered Five Blues Band, and made several visits to the beer tent to hear Avey Grouws Band.

Lurrie Bell, son of famed bluesman Carey Bell was originally scheduled to appear with his brother Steve, and perform as the Bell Brothers. Sadly, Steve could not make, but on the bright side, they couldn’t have picked a better replacement than Jason Ricci. Lurrie and Jason were totally in sync, and this show was as real as the blues could get. They sounded great together as they smoked though songs like “You Gotta Help Me” and “Sweet Home Chicago”.

Amanda Fish took the main stage next, playing a mix of originals and covers. Just as a drone was hovering over the stage and crowd, she went right to “Helicopters in the Sky”. Other originals included “Friends” and “2020” from her Free Album. She belted out a great cover of “Me and Bobby McGee” and steered off the blues highway with “Fortunate Son / Free Bird / Born this Way”, ending her set with her take on the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop”.

Tony Holiday came to play. I’ve reviewed two of his albums, and he’s one of my favorites. With Gordon Greenwood on guitar, they delivered wonderful covers of Otis Rush’s “Right Place, Wrong Time” and Sean Costello’s “Hard Luck Woman”. I was pleased as hell to hear “Payin’ Rent on a Broken Home”, “Good Advice” and “The Hustle”, all off his Soul Service album released in 2020. Those songs are absolute gems. Holiday brought his set to its finish with another cut off that same record, “It’s Gonna Take Some Time”. Tony’s soulful vocals and harmonica sounds so good paired with Greenwood on guitar. I really hope I get a chance to hear these guys play again.

I didn’t get to hang around for the entire set of the Altered Five Blues Band, but the portion of their show I did hear was phenomenal. It was an absolute treat to see Jason Ricci on stage once more. He was on fire playing harp. The songs I did catch from them were “Great Minds Think Alike” and “Too Mad to Make Up”. And they had the audience in the palms of their hands. The performance was absolutely electric.

As tradition goes at the Prairie Dog Blues Festival, there is always a band in the Beer Tent to provide a series of smaller sets which take place between the sets on the main stage. This year the Beer Tent stage was blessed to have Iowa’s own Avey Grouws Band. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. With Chris Avey on lead guitar, Jeni Grouws on vocals and rhythm guitar, Bryan West on drums, Randy Leasman on bass guitar, and Nick Vasquez on keys, they literally rocked the tent. Their enthusiasm and rapport with the audience is second to none. A big smile was planted on my face as soon as I heard the opening sequence of “Two Days Off (and a Little Bit of Liquor)”. When they broke into ZZ Top’s “La Grange”, everyone felt the love for Dusty Hill, who had just recently passed away. It was a very welcome tribute, and they sounded so damn good too.