NORWICH – What would the Chenango County Blues Festival be without the actual music that defines it?

Don’t be scared, local enthusiasts are still going to get hit with the most diverse and well-rounded selection of blues talent from all over the country on Aug. 18 and 19, at the Chenango County Fairgrounds. However, the crowds are also going to get splashed with a few new sounds as well, although the new licks won’t be delving too far off the well-beaten blues path.

On the unbeaten path, Louisiana Zydeco master Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience will be performing for free tonight in front of the county courthouse on the west park in downtown Norwich, as part of the Chenango Blues Association’s free summer concert series. The show will begin at 7 p.m.

Two unlikely guitarists, legendary New Orleans front-man Walter “Wolfman” Washington and hailed Memphis artist Alvin Youngblood Hart, will be mixing up this year’s line-up with a little bit of everything they say, not just the traditional blues.

“I started getting into music when I was 19,” said Washington, who said that since then he’s tried just about everything there is musically. “Through the years I couldn’t just classify myself as a blues cat. I play a more funk and spiritual type of music.”