Blues aficionado Kenny Neal will be playing his unique brand of swamp blues to Riverbend’s Bessie Smith Strut on June 14, according to Joe “Dixie” Fuller, talent and production coordinator.
He will be joined on the two strut stages along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard by Scott Holt, Otis Taylor, Eric Steckel and Soul Rebels.
The strut will not utilize the Miller Plaza Stage as it has in the past, according to Mr. Fuller, but will have the same number of artists performing on the stage at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and the one under the railroad trestle near University Street.
Both Mr. Neal and Mr. Steckel have been here before, which is unusual for strut artists, according to Mr. Fuller.
“We did Kenny back in 2001,” Mr. Fuller said, “and he was such a huge act and we try not to bring anybody back too soon because there are so many good blues artists out there, but we thought it was time. He is so good.”