Four photographers offered us their images from the 2011 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, and here's a sampling of their work, covering 18 Blues Fest acts. Many thanks to Cole Carrara, Steve France, Scott Klarkowski, and Norman Sands for sharing their work. (Sands' full Blues Fest gallery can be found here.)

Eric Gales

Otis Clay

DelGrosso/Del Toro Richardson Band

Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers

Ryan McGarvey

Koko Taylor Tribute

Paul Rishell & Annie Raines

The Way of the Blues Revue

Chris Beard

The Candymakers

Linsey Alexander

The Paul Smoker Notet

Chocolate Thunder

Mississippi Heat

Peaches Staten

R.J, Mischo with Earl Cate & Them

Sherman Robertson

Studebaker John & the Hawks

The audience

The North Mississippi Allstars' Keys to the Kingdom - released in February - was recorded and partly written in the wake of the 2009 death of Jim Dickinson, father to the band's brothers Luther and Cody and a noted producer and musician himself.

But the opening three songs should banish any thought that the album is a somber affair. Even when facing mortality straight-on, there's a joyful noise inherent in the band's blues-based music. And that will surely be evident when Luther and Cody Dickinson perform on Friday in a North Mississippi Allstars duo show at the Redstone Room.

From the sturdy blues of album opener "This A'Way" to the angry kiss-off of "Jumpercable Blues" to the gospel-tinged celebration of "The Meeting" featuring guest vocals by Mavis Staples, this is the sort of meaty roots music that earned the band multiple Grammy nominations and a Blues Music Award. The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot said that the album is the band's best since its 2000 debut: "The Allstars play with unassuming ardor, letting the rawness seep through the edges of the arrangements. Drummer Cody Dickinson in particular delivers exactly what each song needs, nothing less, and keeps things swinging. It's the kind of unsentimental yet passionate tribute a musical legend and family cornerstone would surely appreciate."

This year's Mississippi Valley Blues Festival - co-sponsored by the River Cities' Reader - will be held July 1 through 3 in downtown Davenport's LeClaire Park. The event features 27 acts spread over two stages, and the music begins at 5 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

In the links that follow, you'll find interviews with five of this year's performers.

• Eric Gales: Friday, July 1, 7 p.m., Bandshell
• Lionel Young Band: Saturday, July 2, 4 p.m., Bandshell
• Nellie "Tiger" Travis: Saturday, July 2, 7:30 p.m., Tent Stage
• The Paul Smoker Notet: Sunday, July 3, 5:30 p.m., Tent Stage
• Otis Clay: Sunday, July 3, 9:30 p.m., Tent Stage

In addition, the full festival schedule can be found on the back page of this week's River Cities' Reader or at MVBS.org/fest.

Advance tickets - $17 for a single day and $50 for the weekend - are available through June 30 at the Adler Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, and local Hy-Vee stores. Admission at the gate is $20 per day. Children 14 and younger are admitted free with a paid adult.

When Nellie "Tiger" Travis sang "Wang Dang Doodle" - Koko Taylor's signature hit - she could never hit the high notes in the chorus: "We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long."

"I always did it down low," Travis said in a recent phone interview. Then came Taylor's funeral in 2009.

"I hit the high note for the first time ever," Travis said. "That day, it just came out like that. ... I do it all the time now. ... I can't explain it. I don't know if it was a spirit thing, or if I was just so full until it just came out ... . I just know I hit it now."