If life's got you down and you're looking for solace in the slow, sliding lilt of the blues, you may want to be careful what you select. Choose your blues wisely, because some of it might just make you jump up and dance.
Steve Cheseborough and The Mississippi Spoonman, who are scheduled to perform at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, play blues that makes people dance.
"The word 'blues' throws people and it gives them the idea that it's going to be a sad show," Cheseborough said. "But a lot of it is funny and upbeat."
Cheseborough, a native of Rochester, N.Y., has been playing music all of his life. His love of blues music, culture and history brought him to the Mississippi Delta.
"This is where it all comes from," he said.
The self-employed musician also studies and writes about the blues. His writing credits include a guidebook, "Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues," and articles in "Living Blues" and other magazines.
In late 2000, Bob Rowell, aka "The Mississippi Spoonman," heard Cheseborough playing and singing in Mae's Cafe in Helena, Ark. Rowell picked up the spoons on the table and joined in. They've been going strong ever since.
"Having Spoonman makes the show lots of fun," Cheseborough said. "Sometimes he even goes out into the audience and plays his spoons on someone."
The duet plays traditional acoustic blues, which Cheseborough said he finds more challenging and interesting to play than modern electric blues.
"There's just something about acoustic blues," he said. "Electric music needs other instruments to fill out the sound, but acoustic music doesn't need that.
"I don't know if it's musical or spiritual, but acoustic music is just more pure."
Cheseborough and Spoonman play festivals, restaurants, clubs and private parties regularly. They even played a blues festival recently in Guadalajara, Mexico. In addition to their first BallloonFest apearance, the pair will perform at Art Alfresco from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday.
Cheseborough said he and Spoonman play the characteristically upbeat blues often heard in 1920s and '30s jook joints.
"We hope a lot of people will be there to hear us play, and we certainly hope people will get up and dance."
