When the Bradenton Blues Festival was officially cancelled in 2024, after 12 years of production, it left a void. Fortunately, Morgan Bettes Angell and Paul E. Benjamin were ready to fill it. Angell, president and CEO of Independent Jones and Benjamin, of Benjamin Productions, had long been involved with the Bradenton Blues Festival. The festival, which had been produced by Realize Bradenton, had been shuttered after the passing of the organization’s founder, Johnette Isham, in 2023.

“We were born from the ashes of the Bradenton Blues Festival,” says Angell. “I’d known Paul since 2012 and had been doing work out in Lakewood Ranch with Independent Jones. Paul told me that they needed a new venue for the festival, and I said, ‘come check out Waterside.’”

Thus, the inaugural Lakewood Ranch BluesFest was born. On December 6, the BluesFest will return to Waterside Park for its second year, this time with a packed lineup full of nationally renowned, Blues-Award-winning artists and an eye towards inspiring the next generation of musicians. The lineup, put together by Benjamin, is an eclectic mix of different blues styles. Miami-based guitarist Albert Castiglia, husband and wife duo Chambers Deslauriers, Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon, soul blues legend Johnny Rawls, blues/rock group The Shaelyn Band, vocalist Eden Brent and blues group Desoto Tiger’s Testimony make up the acts.

“I try to put together a lineup that appeals to the many different forms of blues,” says Benjamin. “You have some great guitar players, like Albert Castiglia and Paul Deslauriers, and then with Desoto Tiger’s Testimony, Jason Ricci is one of the top blues harmonica players in the entire world. Jonny Rawls gives you some of those Mississippi blues and then Eden Brent, who is also from Mississippi, is a boogie-woogie piano player who brings that style of blues into the fold as well.”

The spirit of the blues, the camaraderie that the artists all share, will be felt from the opening of the festival to the closing acts. Students from Music Compound will kick off the event, welcoming audience members in with an on-stage performance, before giving way to the professional acts. Desoto Tiger’s Testimony even has a local tie-in—founding member Damon Fowler hails from Brandon, Florida, and came up playing shows around the Tampa Bay/Bradenton/Sarasota area. “Desoto Tiger’s Testimony is a fairly new project,” says Fowler. “It’s a really fun band to play with—we’re still developing our sound—there’s a broad range of different styles that fall under the umbrella of what we play, but we’re playing a lot of upbeat numbers with a lot of guitar and harmonica.”

Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival, December 6, Waterside Park, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Lakewood Ranch, 34240, lakewoodranchbluesfest.com