It's almost as if you can't have the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival without Curtis Salgado. The veteran Oregon bluesman has been at every festival, except for one, since it began back in 1987.
Curtis Salgado performs in OPB's studio on June 26, 2012.
Nathan Quigley / OPB
Long-time concert goers have come to expect a high-energy, super entertaining show of good-time blues from Salgado and his band.
There will be a cloud over Curtis Salgado's performance this year. Later this month, Salgado will have a cancerous growth removed from his lung. He had a similar procedure in 2008.
Salgado told OPB that getting cancer totally changed his outlook.
"The older I get, the older I wanna get," he said. "I dont wanna know how I'm gonna die."
Curtis Salgado will headline the opening night of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival Wednesday evening.
Click the audio icon above to hear Salgado's thoughts on life, death and music, and to hear him sing he blues. Below: watch video from his recent in-studio performance at OPB.
Curtis Salgado Live at OPB from opbmusic.org on Vimeo. You can read more about Salgado on OPB's Arts & Life page.
