Delaware Charitable Music Inc. recently announced that it will produce a newly conceived blues festival, the First State BluesFest, to be hosted at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28.

From its European and African origins, blues began in America as a cultural expression of the times in which it was performed.

The BluesFest will honor the history and heritage of the music through the extraordinary performance of lap steel guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Sonny Rhodes, presented by Dover Downs Hotel and Casino. Rhodes has been playing and touring internationally with his band for the last 38 years and has dubbed himself “the Disciple of the Blues.” The Sonny Rhodes band will perform in the Fire and Ice Lounge in the Dover Downs Casino at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, March 28.

The Current State of the Blues, presented by the Delaware Lottery, will be represented by the immensely talented Dana Fuchs, at 9 p.m., Friday, March 27, in the Fire and Ice Lounge at Dover Downs. She is passion and power as she expresses the vocal emotion of Janis Joplin along with the energy of the Rolling Stones. Sometimes she evokes memories of Etta James, Otis Redding, Bobby Bland, Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples through her own original music.

Tickets for both performances are available by calling the Delaware Charitable Music hotline at 302-672-7022 or VIP Services at Dover Downs, 800-711-5882.

Filling in throughout the afternoons of March 27 and 28 will be free performances in the Dover Downs Hotel lobby by young musicians and seasoned professionals as well as a display of music paintings by well-known artist Dana Tilghman. The Delaware Junior All-Star Jazz Band, the Milford Community Dixieland and Dance Bands, the Delaware State Jazz Band and several quartets from Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are among the confirmed free shows. For a complete schedule, check the websites demusic.org. or doverdowns/events.

Delaware Charitable Music will be presenting this new festival made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts.

This state agency is dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation supports the richness and diversity of the region’s arts resources and promotes wider access to the art and artists of the region, the nation and the world.