It’s been 20 years since the Chenango Blues Festival first rolled into town, two decades of great music and good times, not to mention that traditional first brewski of the day; a time-honored spectacle which takes place at an undisclosed, nearby location with a truly special group of friends (who will not be named here).

Sorry guys (and gals), but I had to sneak that one in there.

Moving on, however, I’m amazed at the way that time has flown by, and it’s hard to believe I was all of sixteen years old for the first-ever Blues Fest. Headlining that year? The incomparable Anson Funderburgh and blues legend Sam Meyers, who just happened to borrow my beloved 70s-era Fender Twin Reverb for the event (how I miss that amplifier).

Pretty heady stuff for a kid who’d been playing the guitar for a little more than a year at the time, especially for one who was as infatuated with the blues as I was. An infatuation, I might add, that has only grown over the years.