Presenting Sponsor:

BBQ-n-Blues returns for its 10th Anniversary on Friday, September 13, 2024, and we’ll be celebrating with Bands, BBQ & a Rib Cook-Off Contest. Held on First Street between Marquette & Gooding in historic downtown La Salle, bands will begin at 4:00 pm with the Rib Cook-Off turn in at 6:00 pm and the winner announced at 8:00 pm. Enjoy some of area’s best blues bands and don’t forget to grab some legendary BBQ!  Free admission and free parking on all City streets and lots. 

Band Lineup:

5:00pm - Travis Reid Band (link)

Blues aficionado. That is how one could describe Travis  Ried, who grew up in West Burlington, Iowa. Having discovered the Blues during his high school years, Ried has been playing, studying and breathing the Blues for 25 years.

He has been influenced by musical legends, such as Magic Sam, Ronnie Earl, Allman Brothers, Albert Collins, Sean Costello, Robben Ford, Otis Rush, Little Milton, Son Seals and Luther Allison. 

Ried mostly has been influenced by his friend, the late Michael Burks. The two met in 1998 during the Mississippi Blues Fest in Davenport. Their friendship was immediate and Burks often asked Ried to sit in with him during many performances over the years. It was through this lasting connection that Ried learned how to perform. 

When Burks passed away, Ried found himself displaced in the Blues world. His role model was gone. Fortunately, Larry McCray and Marquise Knox encouraged Ried to start playing again and Ried has not stopped performing since. In fact, Knox and McCray have invited Ried to sit in with him on many occasions.

In addition, Ried has sat in with Wayne Sharp and the Sharpshooters, Mason Ruffner, Pat Hazell, Chico Banks, Toronzo Cannon,and Clarence Spady. He also has been known to play at Blues festivals throughout the Midwest. 

These influences can be seen, heard and felt during Ried’s masterful and soulful Blues performances

7:00pm - Altered Five Blues Band (link)

Altered Five have consistently checked all the boxes, making lasting, deeply expressive original blues for the mind and body. Up front and leading the big blues train, Taylor exhorts and cajoles while carrying the weight of the lyrical content. Neither imitating nor hiding his debt to the legendary blues singers of the past, he commands deserved attention on his own. Schroedl propels, embellishes, and adds palpable power through his varied rhythm accompaniment and riveting guitar solos. While inspired by, but not tethered to the kings and titans of blues guitar, he has found his own estimable path to personal expression always at the service of the song. 

​The muscular yet limber rhythm section of bassist Mark Solveson and drummer Alan Arber lock into the full range of blues grooves from classic slow Chicago drag ("Holding on With One Hand") and romping Texas shuffles ("Mint Condition") to soulful R&B worthy of Stax Records ("Gonna Lose My Lady"). In addition, returning keyboardist Steve Huebler always provides a rich pad of lush harmony along with his own and soaring solos.

Whether live or on record, Altered Five performs seamlessly as a powerhouse entity encompassing the timeless blues virtues of passion and unwavering commitment funneled through technical excellence.

9:00pm - Street Corner Blue (link)

Big Rhythm, Big Blues, Chicago’s premiere R & B ensemble. Street Corner Blue originated going 40 years ago and features the original horn section “The Horn Toads” Tom Kleeman saxophones, Dave Mitchell trumpets and Bill Howard trombone. Rhythm section features Dave Czech guitar, Ed Kaiser, bass guitar and Mike Lerner drums & lead vocals. Also, Manager and Vocalist, Penny Miles. Several other players take their turns singing lead on a few tunes each. Original arrangements of soul and R & B hits representing everything from Nawlins’, Memphis , Motown, Muscle Shoals, to rock done in interesting variations of the originals.

Drink Vendors: Domestic beer and seltzers, Signature Cocktails from Star Union Spirits, Wine from August Hill Winery.