VW Rib Cook-off entertainment named

Convention & Visitors Bureau information

The Van Wert Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is pleased to announce the line-up of entertainment for this year’s fifth annual Van Wert Rib Cook-Off.  Headlining the evening entertainment will be internationally recognized blues artist Tinsley Ellis, while regional blues musician Scotty Bratcher and local standouts The Dogz will open for Ellis.  The Rib Cook-Off will be held Saturday, August 6, at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds from noon to midnight.

Southern blues-rocker Ellis may speak no evil, but he sings and plays with the conviction of, as Billboard wrote, “…a man possessed.” Over the course of 11 albums and literally thousands of live performances, Ellis easily ranks as one of today’s most electrifying blues-rock guitarists and vocalists. He attacks his music with rock power and blues feeling in the same tradition as his Deep South musical heroes Duane Allman and Freddie King and his old friends Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes.

Averaging over 150 live shows a year, Ellis has played in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. He has shared stages with almost every major blues star, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and many others. Whether he’s out with his own band or sharing stages with major artists like Buddy Guy, The Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule or Widespread Panic, he always digs deep and plays, as Guitar Player says, “…as if his life depended on it.”

Scotty Bratcher began playing guitar at such a young age (he was 2) that it became second nature to him.   By this time, Stevie Ray Vaughan was impressing the world, and when the 1989 release of Austin City Limits was aired Bratcher was in front of the television. Eventually, Bratcher’s father acquired a few electric guitars that he let his son play as long as he was careful with them. After a while, the younger Bratcher ended up going to some “open mike” nights at clubs in the Cincinnati area. This was where he began getting on-stage experience and eventually found band members to support him
Bratcher has played with and opened for names like Ted Nugent, Little Texas, Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Chris Duarte, Anthony Gomes, Foghat, Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie and Wayne Baker Brooks, Bob Margolin, Eddie “the Chief” Clearwater, and many more.  Bratcher is also an accomplished studio musician who has recorded with many blues, rock, country, gospel, funk and even heavy metal artists.

Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. with the always-popular local rock band The Dogz.

This great line-up of musicians has been made possible, in part, by contributions from Laudick’s Jewelry, Purmort Brothers Insurance, Greve Chrysler, Citizens National Bank, Van Wert Pallet, County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger, Municipal Court Judge Jill Leatherman, Carlos Tyas, Brent Kohn, and City Auditor Martha Balyeat.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau continues to seek sponsors for this event. Those interested in being a part of this exciting night can contact the CVB at 419.238.9738.

Now is also the time to make plans to have class reunions, company gatherings or perhaps just a neighborhood party at the cook-off.