Courtesy Photo Ray Fuller and the Blues Rockers, from Columbus, Ohio, will be the last of five bands playing at the 19th Annual Alpena Blues Festival on Saturday, June 17.

ALPENA — The blues are back at the Alpena County Fairgrounds this year for the 19th Annual Alpena Blues Festival on Saturday, June 17.

An entire day of musical fun starts at noon and wraps up at 10 p.m., featuring five bands throughout the day, as well as concessions and drinks.

“All five bands that we’re having have been there before, so they’re all back by popular demand,” said Ed Hickok, president of the Alpena Blues Coalition. “They all love coming here. We love them, they love us, and what could be better?”

Bands include local favorite Way Out Wayne and the Neck Benders, featuring Val Ventro; The Smokin’ 45s, from Detroit; Downriver Dan, from Detroit; Broken Arrow Blues Band, from Brighton; and Ray Fuller and the Blues Rockers, from Columbus, Ohio.

Tickets are $30 per person, which covers the entire day of music. Children 12 and younger will get in for free, and active-duty military members will be admitted for free, with military ID.

“Wayne is a master at collaborating with people he finds in the music business,” Hickok said of Wayne Kendziorski, A.K.A. Way Out Wayne, who will play with Val Ventro, who moved up north from the Detroit area. “They are going to be our local band.”

The Smokin’ 45s is a Detroit blues band with a traditional blues vibe, Hickok said.

“The old-style blues,” he said. “Just down and dirty blues, that’s them. They’re a five-piece. Four of the five guys sing, three play lead guitar, one plays bass guitar, and one plays drums. That’s a lot of music, and they come right at ya.”

Hickok said Downriver Dan is a fine guitar player.

“He plays some great blues, and he’s got a little bit of a rock element into some of his songs, too,” Hickok said, adding that he has a blues rock and classic rock style at the same time. “He fits in very well. He’s very popular up here.”

“Broken Arrow Blues Band, they’re definitely a power trio,” Hickok said, adding that they played at the festival downtown a few years back with Cee Cee Collins. “They’ve been here a lot … They just play straight-up rockin’ blues … Their guitar player is to die for.”

He then talked about the final band of the night.

“Ray Fuller is the guitarist and singer,” Hickok said of the headliner. “He’s an international star, he really is. He’s played all over, mostly in Europe … He plays all over heck in the States, too … He plays slide guitar.”

Hickok said all the performers are so talented that it’s worth it to stay for the whole day.

“I wouldn’t miss a one of them,” Hickok said.

For more information about the musicians, and to purchase tickets to the festival, visit alpenablues.org. Tickets are also available at Fitzpatrick Hardware, Jimmie Garant’s Party Store, and Emery Enterprises, all in Alpena.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item to donate at the gate, as part of the Alpena Blues Coalition’s mission to stamp out hunger in our community. All donated food will go to local food programs to feed those in need.

In addition to Hickok, Alpena Blues Coalition board members include Vice President Tom Rose, Treasurer Ken Nielsen, and Secretary Randy MacAulay.

The two causes the Alpena Blues Coalition works to support throughout the year are Stamping Out Hunger With the Blues and Blues in the Schools.

The Alpena Blues Coalition recently donated to the Alpena Lions Club’s Strike Against Hunger campaign.

Hickok described the Blues in the Schools program.

“When we have sufficient profits, and we accumulate those profits, we provide a blues artist to go into the schools and put on a little mini concert and explain to the students in the schools about the roots of the blues music, and how it came up, and how all music sprung from blues and gospel,” Hickok said. “It’s been a very interesting program and successful program for the kids. They seem to really latch onto it and enjoy it.”

He added that one of the bands that will perform at this year’s festival, The Smokin’ 45s, came up here in 2007 to put on the first Blues in the Schools program.

“It gives them an appreciation for it,” Hickok said of why they want to teach youngsters about the roots of the music they listen to. “It spawns an interest in music. They say, ‘Wow! I didn’t know that!’ It’s a neat interest they can develop … and by doing this, it creates an enthusiasm … It’s just a little spark.”

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com, or at 989-358-5691.