Nashville Roots-Rockers Sugar Lime Blue Headline Exit 56 Blues Fest (Day 1)

Article Contributed by Doug Deutsch | Published on Thursday, May 25, 2023

Nashville roots-rock group Sugar Lime Blue headline Day #1 of the Exit 56 Blues Festival, West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, Interstate 40@Exit 56, 121 Sunny Hill Cove, Saturday, May 27. Set Time: 5pm. Free (donations gladly accepted). Info: (731) 779-9000 or visit https://www.exit56blues.com.

Exit 56 Blues Festival celebrates the legacy of the Country Blues in the hometown of blues pioneers "Sleepy" John Estes, Hammie Nixon and Yank Rachell. Fourteen acts are set to perform over two days, May 27 and 28.

For over a decade Sugar Lime Blue has been committed to recording music that draws from several genres and their latest effort is no different. Recorded at the Historic Blackbird Studio in Nashville,TN, The Blackbird Sessions is a crossroads album in many ways for the Lebanon, TN-based quintet, signaling the end of an era while simultaneously ushering in a new one. Started prior to the Covid pandemic with basic tracking completed shortly after the release of their third album, Narcoluptuous (which was added on 120 FM stations), production came to a standstill Following the loss of SLB founding member and bassist Russ Dean in 2020.

Despite the loss, Ashley and Dave Beth remained committed to seeing the album through to completion, enlisting the services of bassist Joe Bass (Brian Howe) and keyboardist Scott Guberman (Phil Lesh) to complete the studio tracking. During this time the band also re-established a live presence -- embarking on several multi-state tours while adding members Luis "Slice" Echeverria on keyboards and Ikaika Pekelo on drums, both of whom also contributed to The Blackbird Sessions.

Sugar Lime Blue remains a strong presence in the Americana/Jam band scene, having played national festivals alongside mainstays Umphreys McGee, Moe, Ween, The Wood Brothers, and Buddy Guy, among others. With four albums released and over a decade of experience, SLB has performed nearly one-thousand concerts and has been featured in both national and international press.

If you like music to be more than just the background noise in your life, check out Sugar Lime Blue next time they come to your town. The band feeds off the energy of their fans and puts their hearts into every show. We only have a short time on this planet and making the moment inclusive to all that hear and enjoy the sound is what it’s all about for them. Playing music is the ultimate group expression in creativity and Sugar Lime Blue is a family bound by love and music -- with the ultimate goal to be able to spread that music love around.

May 27 (Sat)         EXIT 56 BLUES FESTIVAL             Brownsville TN

May 28 (Sun)        GREEN TURTLE BAY RESORT       Grand Rivers KY

June 6 (Tue)          SUMMERFEST 2023                    Ashland City TN

June 8 (Thur)         SUMMER CONCERT SERIES         Cumberland MD

June 9 (Fri)            KENNETT FLASH                         Kennett Square PA

June 23 (Fri)          SUMMER EQUINOX FESTIVAL       Red Boiling Springs TN

June 24 (Sat)         JIMMY'S                                      Lebanon TN

July 1 (Sat)            TWISTED OAKS                           Doweltown TN

July 3 (Mon)          GREEN TURTLE BAY RESORT        Grand Rivers KY

Aug 3 (Thur)         SUMMER CONCERT SERIES           Kingsport TN

Aug 4 (Fri)            GOLDEN GROVE FARM & BREW     Piedmont SC

Aug 31 (Thur)       THE PIXY THEATRE                       Edinburg IL

Sept 1 (Fri)            JOLIET MUSEUM CONCERT SERIES    Joliet IL

Sept 2 (Sat)           THE LIVERY                                  Benton Harbor MI

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