I have been in Chicago for more than a week. This past Saturday I was able to partake in the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival at the beautiful Congress Theater.

There was a solid local stage in the main lobby.

Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater and his band were a true force of nature. He’s copping Chuck Berry, but he’s wily and young; maybe 70, so he has a good 20 years left. And he plays with his own band, so they were on the same page, if not the same stage, throughout the set. (Their set began with a power trio shredding through an instrumental. Then a man wearing an Indian headdress came on stage and sang a tune. This it turns out, was Eddy, who grabbed a guitar and quickly revealed that he was the lead guitarist—the other virtuoso settled in on rhythm. )

The above photos are from the event’s Flicr stream.

Bela Fleck brought the goods to the stage, including a 3 piece band from Siberia.

Bela Fleck inserted some Christmas tunes into their set, mostly from the Charlie Brown record. They also gave us a version of "12 Days of Christmas" in which each day was in a different key and time signature.

Local faves Dr. Dog closed out the night for the youngsters who hula hooped into the a.m.

Above 2 photos from Kate Gardiner at Flickr.

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