RIVERSIDE BLUES FESTIVAL JULY 22

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- Edgar Winter, a white-maned blues-rocker famous for the hits "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride," will headline the Riverside Blues Festival Saturday, July 22, at Murphysboro's Riverside Park.

The annual festival drew 4,000 people last year when Leon Russell headlined and has doubled its attendance every year since its inception in 1992. Blankets, lawn chairs, grills, coolers and most anything else except glass bottles are welcome at the festival.

The event also will feature arts and crafts vendors and barbecue.

In the 1960s, Edgar Winter performed with his brother Johnny Winter's group, and in the '70s with the band White Trash, which included guitarist Ronnie Montrose. He also teamed for a period with guitarist Rick Derringer.

Winter's most recent single was "Way Down South," the title song from the film "My Cousin Vinnie."

Also performing at the festival will be "Wildman" Eddie Snow and the Snowflakes, St. Louis' popular Oliver Sain Blues Revue and Jackson, Miss.-based R.L. Burnside, who specializes in Delta blues.

Also playing will be two Carbondale bands: the legendary Tawl Paul with Slappin' Henry Blue, and the Gravediggers. The All Star Blues Band, which includes two sons of harp player Snookie Pryor, rounds out the bill.

"Wildman" Eddie Snow's roots reach back to picking cotton alongside B.B. King. He was one of the first artists recorded by Memphis' Sun label, famous for signing Elvis Presley.

"The story goes that Elvis wanted to record one of his songs but Eddie wouldn't let him," says Dan Ward, the festival's founder.

Among the sponsors of the event are the City of Murphysboro, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism and the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau.

Tickets are $5 and children under 12 are admitted free. "The idea is not to gouge the public," Ward said.

The festival originally was one of a series of summer events in the park that featured jazz, bluegrass and Shakespeare. But the Flood of '93 and renovation of the stage last year curtailed the other activities.

A trumpet player with Carbondale's Jungle Dogs and other bands, Ward is the Murphysboro recreation director.

The festival will begin at 11 a.m. Tickets only can be purchased at the gate.

For more information, phone 1-800-526-1500.