It was hard to miss Cold Blood, and Lydia Pense in particular, if you grew up in the Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pense brought a spectacular set of pipes to the scene — she could sing with the same soulful conviction as Janis Joplin, but she was way sexier.
And the band Cold Blood was musically more inclined to the kind of skin-tight horns and hip-shaking funk than the psychedelic renderings of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Joplin's first band.
Pense could deliver a tune like "I Just Want To Make Love To You," and have a newly-minted teen like myself a little nervous with the implications and innuendo inherent in her delivery of that classic Willie Dixon number.
Pense and Cold Blood will be bringing their musical magic to Pleasant Hill tomorrow for the annual Blues and Brews Festival. In addition to Cold Blood, bands include Chris Cain, Tip of the Top, Jinx Jones and the Kingtones, and Blues Conspiracy.
The music, great as it is, is free all day. The beer tasting is $30 if you buy a wristband in advance online, and $40 at the door. The event takes place at Pleasant Hill Park from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 21.
Participating breweries include:
- 21st Amendment
- Ale Industries
- Anchor Brewing Co
- Black Diamond
- Cherry Voodoo
- High Water Brewing
- Lost Coast
- Mendocino Brewery
- Santa Cruz Ale Works
- Sierra Nevada
- Social Kitchen
Are you heading over to Pleasant Hill for Blues and Brews? What are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.
