Too Slim, Taildraggers headline CdA blues fest

Expect some spicy brass, saucy gospel and special guests on the upcoming album from “Too Slim” Tim Langford and his Taildraggers.

“Shiver,” the 16th album by Seattle-based Too Slim, blends the expected recipe of blues and rock with extra flavors.

Expect to hear some tunes from the CD when Too Slim and the Taildraggers play the main event at the Coeur d’Alene Blues Festival on Saturday night.

While the Taildraggers have occasionally been joined onstage by a horn section, Langford actively sought out horns for “Shiver,” to be released April 19 on his own Underworld Records label.

He also enlisted the help of Portland blues stars Curtis Salgado and Duffy Bishop on vocals, Joe Doria on Hammond B-3 and his son, Austin Elwood, on lead guitar. Each of the guests ended up on “Shiver” under largely casual circumstances.

While seeing Doria perform live, Langford asked him to play on the album during a break. Langford heard Bishop was in Seattle doing a dinner theater gig, and invited her to the studio at the last minute to swap verses on the title cut.

He called up Salgado out of the blue and asked him to sing on the album.

“(Salgado) said sure, as long as he liked the song,” Langford said in a telephone interview.

“I didn’t really think about it at all at the beginning. I thought about it on the way. They just seemed like the right people to have on the album.”

Here’s the full schedule for this weekend’s Coeur d’Alene Blues Festival at the Coeur d’Alene Resort:

• Jeff Aker, today-Saturday, 3:30-6:30 p.m., Whispers Lounge: Spokane blues trio Jeff “Cadillac” Aker and the Delta Preachers will be pre-funking for tonight’s Blues Cruise on Friday as well as Saturday night’s main event. Both shows are free.

• Blues Cruise with The Fat Tones and Laffin Bones, tonight at 7: Two cruise boats will be hooked together, anchored by a band on each one and with sound wired across both boats while The Fat Tones and Laffin Bones play alternating sets.

• Nu Jack City, tonight-Saturday, 9 p.m., Shore Lounge: Eight-piece soul funkin’ blues and Motown R&B favorite Nu Jack City plays back-to-back nights in the Shore Lounge. No cover; this pair of performances is free to the public.

• Main event, Saturday, 7 p.m., Convention Center: A party with nonstop music by four bands alternating on two stages. It kicks off with the Inland Empire Blues Society’s Best Blues Band winner for the last three years, Big Mumbo Blues Band, followed by Seattle-by-way-of-Spokane scorcher Too Slim and the Taildraggers; the Ty Curtis Band from Salem, Ore., runner-up in the 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn.; and San Francisco’s Tommy Castro Band, which won several Memphis accolades last year including Blues Music Awards Band of the Year, the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.

• Gospel Brunch, Sunday, 11 a.m., Dockside Restaurant: Nu Jack City frontman Max Daniels leads the Soul Blend band through tasty Motown blues and soft soul. ($29.95; reservations highly recommended)