Cover Story: THE BLUES

Cha-ching! Ring one up for the Atlanta blues community, which has an unprecedented high profile in the Music Midtown festivities. It begins Friday as a triumvirate of homegrown talent sets the Ford/Fox 5 Stage for headliner Bo Diddley. The eclectic acoustic duo Slim Fatz & Dave (6:30 p.m.) won last fall’s Atlanta Blues Society “Blues Challenge” and represented Atlanta in an international competition in Memphis. Next is guitarist Sean Costello (7:45 p.m.) and his band. The Philly native continues to forge unique a blues/R&B/soul identity, as witnessed on recent albums Moanin’ for Molasses and Cuttin’ In (which earned a W.C. Handy Award nomination).

Following Costello is vocalist Francine Reed (9 p.m.), fresh from her own Handy nomination for last year’s I Got A Right ... to Some of My Best. Reed, making her ninth consecutive Music Midtown appearance, says her summer tour with Lyle Lovett is intact, even if Lovett’s broken leg is not.

Tinsley Ellis (7:30 p.m., Jose Cuervo/96 Rock Stage) injects some blues into Saturday’s rock agenda, preceding Skid Row and Kid Rock. Ellis recently released Hell or High Water, which has a distinctly personal feel, reflecting influences that include Freddy King, B.B. King and Buddy Guy.

While not a local artist, blues-rock fans should note guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s Sunday set (2:15 p.m., Jose Cuervo/96 Rock). The Utica, N.Y., native plays in a zealous style that suggests Hendrix, Robin Trower and vintage Allman Brothers.??