MONKEY JUNK may have been the last to take to the main stage but certainly not the least of over 75 groups and performers that entertained crowds at the 2009 Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival on stages in venues across the area. While the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival has been a local institution for seven years, it's now more than apparent it is a mustsee and must-be for blues aficionados from far and wide.

Performers and spectators alike agreed, when interviewed, that the festival has taken it to a new level. Visual proof of this was the Blues Cruise car show on Friday night.

It attracted 250 cars and the number of people walking the Broadway stroll was easily in the range of a thousand.

"(The festival) is awesome," commented Kerry O'Brien, general manager of the Winchester Arms pub. "It's our best weekend of the year. Having the car show combined with it was an excellent idea."

But first and foremost was the music.

"This is the best blues festival in Ontario," said Russ Strathdere of Jazztex, one of the bands that performed on Saturday. "It's quite an honour to play here and it's important, because it is so wildly recognized."

The husband and wife team of Joe and Vicki Price travelled from Lansing, Iowa to have their hour-andan half of time in the Acoustic Tent which was set up in the TD Canada Trust.

"It's a terrific festival. There are very nice people and it's been really fun," said Vicki. "We want to move here," said Joe.

Of all the music genres, blues is one of the least lucrative for its performers. Rather, it is a labour of love. Joe Price has been hooked since John Lee Hooker's cousin fashioned him a slide out of a bicycle handlebar in the 1960s.

"And it's an easy structure to improve on," said Vicki Price. "If you hear us play from one day to the next, it won't be the same. That's what makes it so fun."

Erin McCallum, who played the Winchester on Saturday night, concurs. "Blues is technically simple, so it is the only music that gives you room for feeling." When asked to describe the genre, she said: "If it speaks to you, that's the way it is."

Bob Moolton, a fan of the Mississippi Delta blues singers like Robert Johnson, summed up the Orangeville event. "There is great talent here. Rock music is all about the show.

"This is grass roots."