With his dynamic harp playing and singing, combined with his charismatic stage presence, bluesman James Montgomery has been winning over crowds for over 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down.

“I’m on the ‘Too Stupid to Stop Tour,’” Montgomery joked in a recent phone conversation.

Montgomery has a lengthy history of performing in the Valley, a journey that traces back to the golden era of the Rusty Nail in Sunderland (the venue burned down in 1985), and he looks forward to returning to the area on Saturday.

The James Montgomery Blues Band will be among the musical acts helping Berkshire Brewing Company celebrate its 30th anniversary with a party at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

In addition to the music there will be food trucks and plenty of tasty Berkshire brews.

Alongside Montgomery and his Band, the event will be a musical feast with the diverse sounds of Briezyjane & the Hurricanes led by Brie Green of the Green Sisters, the alt-country tunes of local legends The Lonesome Brothers, as well as the country, honky-tonk and gospel sounds of singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell.

The schedule is as follows:

Briezyjane & the Hurricanes, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Project Skydrop winner revealed as Boston meteorologist Dan Leonard

As I See It: Melania Trump’s nude photos — Art of pornography?

Athol man gets 5 to 7 years for child rape

Football: Josiah Little runs for 200 yards as Franklin Tech defeats Athol, 34-12 (PHOTOS)

Turners Falls man arrested in Rhode Island sexual assault case

Football: Frontier beats Commerce, Greenfield falls to Ware

Your Daily Puzzles

Cross|Word

Flipart

Typeshift

SpellTower

Really Bad Chess

The Lonesome Brothers, 2 to 3 p.m.

The James Montgomery Blues Band, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Eilen Jewell, 5 to 6:30 p.m.

James Montgomery, a native of Detroit who grew up loving the blues, moved to Boston to attend Boston University. He ultimately ditched the books and formed the James Montgomery Blues Band in 1970 and went on to release seven albums, tour all over the world, record and perform with an endless number of musical icons, and be inducted into both the New England Music Hall of Fame and the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.

Reflecting on the band’s formative years, Montgomery emphasized the pivotal role of their performances in the Valley in propelling his career to a national level. These early shows were more than just gigs — they were stepping stones leading to a broader audience.

“Three bands were coming out of Boston simultaneously: us, the J. Geils Band, and Aerosmith,” Montgomery said. “We’d come out to the 413 and play places [around] UMass in Amherst and that’s when the attention from the record companies started.”

He has especially fond memories of playing at the legendary Rusty Nail.

“I remember playing with Clean Living and FAT. One New Year’s Eve, we played there with James Cotton and I think we were so hot that night that’s what burned the place down,” Montgomery said with a laugh.

“I also remembered the Tobacco Shed in Whately and a few other places,” he recalled.

When I mentioned the long-defunct Scotch Mist in Greenfield, Montgomery said “Oh, I remember that place on Route 2, heading up the Mohawk Trail! We’ve made a lot of fans out there over the years, and I hope they come out to this show.”

The list of musicians Montgomery has played and recorded with is way too long to list, but it includes countless blues greats as well as acts like James Brown, Aerosmith, and the Allman Brothers. So, was there a particular artist who inspired a ‘pinch-me’ moment?

“When I was on stage with Muddy Waters,” Montgomery said, “I remember thinking ‘I can’t believe I’m on stage with Muddy Waters!’ But it was like that with all my idols: Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield, and John Lee Hooker, who I ended up playing with quite a bit.”

Montgomery added that playing with a band like Aerosmith was a different experience because they came up together and that playing with the Allman Brothers was just like getting together with a bunch of nice guys. “Oh, and we can’t forget the first time I met Bruce Springsteen — he sold 75 tickets that night! I was bigger than him back then!”

As far as anyone that he never jammed with but would love to? “Keith Richards — he’s on my bucket list. I’d love to play Delta blues with him.”

Montgomery is full of great stories (“I spent one New Year’s Eve with Mick Jagger — that was fun!”) and laughter, but he turns serious when discussing two projects he cares deeply about.

The first is the documentary film “Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues,” which takes an in-depth look at James Cotton, whom Montgomery said was his mentor. The film has been shown at film festivals and has been well received, even winning the Library of Congress Ken Burns Prize for film in 2021. “It’s more than just a biopic. We wanted it to take his life and juxtapose it against different cultures, including the segregated deep South.”

The film will be available on streaming services soon.

The other film he produced is about his brother Jeffrey Montgomery, who passed away in 2016. He was an early gay rights activist and founded the gay rights organization Triangle. Jeffery Montgomery started the organization after his boyfriend was murdered coming out of a gay bar in Detroit in 1984; the police dismissing the case as “just another gay killing.”

Mongtgomery gets emotional taking about the struggles his brother endured as he fought for gay people to have equal rights. “He was so amazing and the work he did was ahead of his time,” he said.

As Montgomery works to bring these film projects to audiences, he is also busy touring and will bring his world class band to Greenfield on Saturday.

“We have got a great band and we are going to have a great time,” he said. “We are going to play high-energy music and get everyone dancing. It’s going to be a party.”

Tickets are available at Berkshire-brewing.com.

The summer’s final Off the Common event will take place on Friday, Sept. 27 from 5:30 to 11:00 p.m. This free summer music series presented by Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield has been a welcomed edition to the summer of 2024. Each family-friendly event features games, art, vendors, and food trucks out by the common and music inside the venue. Each show is built around a particular theme, and this final event will showcase rock music with sets by the Faith Ann Band, an indie rock band from New Hampshire, and the Narcotix, a West African alt-rock band.

The headliners will be Leon Trout, a four-piece jam-influenced rock band from Boston, whose sound includes a mix of rock, funk, psychedelic rock, and metal. You may have caught their recent set at the Wormtown Music Festival or at the Big E in West Springfield.

This event is free; donations are always welcome.

Green River Festival announced that next year’s festival will be held on the weekend of June 20 to 22. Special priced weekend passes, 3-day camping, VIP and parking add-ons are on sale now at Greenriverfestival.com.

Patterson Hood of the Drive By-Truckers will perform at the theater at Tree House Brewing Co. in South Deerfield on Dec. 3. Tickets are on sale now at Tixr.com.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.