The music business is full of performers who are called legends.
And then there are performers who are legends.
Booker T. Jones is a legend.
From the first time he skipped school to play saxophone on a recording session over a half-century ago,
the musician and producer has helped shape the sound of American music, including playing on dozens of
top 40 records emanating from the Stax record studio in Memphis.
At a time when he’d accumulated enough laurels for a very ample place to rest, he’s come out as a solo
artist with two highly reviewed recordings, "Potato Head" and last year’s Grammy-winning
"The Road from Memphis." and He’s hit the road with an energetic young band to support those
releases.
Booker T. is bringing that band as the marquee name to the Black Swamp Arts Festival in downtown Bowling
Green. The festival lineup includes the return of the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars as the Saturday
night closer.
Jones and his band will perform at 6:30 p.m. on the Festival Saturday Main Stage.
Kelly Wicks, who chairs the festival’s performing arts committee, said the committee positioned Booker T.
in the 6:30 spot to give the most people a chance to catch his show.
With this being the 20th festival the music committee "tried to once again take it up a notch,"
he said. "We’ve tried to provide a top-notch lineup from all over the world at multiple
venues."
With the sole exception of Booker T. all the main stage acts will perform more than once at the festival.
That includes the newest twist in the schedule.
After years of informal jams at clubs after hours, the festival is hosting official midnight shows Friday
and Saturday at Howard’s Club H and Nate & Wally’s Fishbowl.
"We’re just trying to get more music at as many venues as possible," Wicks said.
That includes the stage in the atrium of the former Huntington Bank building in the middle of the art
show on South Main St., and the family stage in the kids area in front of the Wood County Public
Library.
As usual the band is a mix of acts known from previous visits to town and newcomers expected to catch
local listeners’ fancy.
"We just get excited because we have an audience here in Bowling Green that listens to music. They
are willing to experiment, and they’re willing to support the artists through merchandise sales,"
Wicks said.
Scheduled for the Main Stage on Friday are:
• 5 p.m. – Joshua Panda, who combines the country sound of George Jones with the soul of Otis Redding.
Also appearing Saturday on the atrium and family stages.
• 6:30 p.m. – Chicago blues band, Mississippi Heat, 6:20 p.m.. Also midnight show Friday at Howard’s and
the family stage Saturday.
• 8 p.m. – Sallie Ford, a singer-songwriter who taps into vintage Americana. Also, midnight Saturday show
at Nate & Wally’s and Saturday on atrium stage.
• 9:50 p.m. – Bright Light Social Hour, Austin-based rock band. Also Saturday acoustic stage and midnight
show at Howard’s.
Scheduled for the Main Stage on Saturday are:
• 11 a.m. Electronic violinist Casey Driessen. Also Saturday on atrium stage and Sunday on family stage.

12:20 p.m. – Quirky alternative rockers Doko Benjo. Also, Saturday on atrium stage and Sunday on family
stage.
3 p.m. – Singer-songwriter Eilen Jewel. Also a Friday midnight show at Howard’s and Saturday on the
atrium stage.
4:45 p.m. – Soul singer Akina Adderley and The Vintage Playboys. Also family stage Sunday.
6:30 – Booker T. Jones
8 p.m. – The horn-fueled soul of The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, a veteran of New York’s Apollo
Theater. Also, family stage Sunday.
9:50 – The Afro-reggae band Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, returns from a well-received show in 2007.
Also, family stage Saturday.
Scheduled for the Main Stage on Sunday are:
12:20 p.m. – Wheels, a band of teenage rockers from Yellow Springs. Also, atrium stage Sunday.
2 p.m. – Alternative jug band Sanctified Grumblers, the new project of Rick "Cookin’" Sherry,
whose Devil in the Woodpile has visited town on a couple occasions. Also, the atrium stage Sunday.
3:30 p.m. – Bombino, an electric guitarist from the Tuareg region of the Sahara Desert. Also performing
Saturday on a stage yet to be determined.
Wicks said the committee is still putting the finishing touches on the lineups on all the stages.
The Silverbacks with local favorites Bob Manley and Michael Peslikis will unveil the band’s live record
done for the Grounds for Thought label with sets on the family and atrium stages sometime over the
weekend.