NORWICH – Following another successful free summer concert series, the Chenango Blues Association is gearing up for the 19th annual Chenango Blues Fest with a free show at 7:15 p.m. Friday at the county fairgrounds.

On tap for this year’s Friday night performance? Upstate New York-based guitarist, singer and songwriter Tas Cru and the Chicago-style blues harmonica of Pierre Lacocque and Mississippi Heat.

Eric Larsen of the Chenango Blues Association called tomorrow’s lineup one of the most unique – not to mention entertaining – ever featured for what’s become the traditional kick-off for Saturday’s Blues Fest. The Friday show, he added, is a great way for people to get in the Blues Fest groove while enjoying some free entertainment.

“It’s always great to be able to offer this show for free and we have to thank Frontier for their sponsorship,” stated Larsen. “We’ll have food vendors and craft vendors on site, and it’s a chance for people to get a little preview of the Blues Fest.”

Opening the show will be guitarist and storyteller Tas Cru, one of the most unique and gifted blues artists to be found in the region. Known by many as the “master of the triple entendre,” Cru’s latest release, Jus’ Desserts, has garnered attention on a national level. Chris Spector of the Midwest Record called the CD, “One of those dangerous, infectious, outsider, offbeat things you can’t classify or quantify but fall under the spell of ... this is going to blind side you into having one of the best times you’ve had in a while.”