Blues Attack to headline Cindystock 21 benefit music festival

Cindystock, an annual music festival that’s held at the home of Cindy and Ted Yates with all proceeds going toward cancer screenings and patient support services, will be held this year on Aug. 17.

“This will be our 21st year. We started it out as a fundraiser for a family. My husband’s best friend died of pancreatic cancer, and we were just trying to do things to help the family,” said Cindy Yates, founder of Cindystock. “I never knew it was going to be a long-term thing, but people had fun and said, ‘Can you do it again?’ ”

The festival will feature a lineup of local musicians, including headliner Blues Attack, a Pittsburgh staple and Cindystock favorite. The band has been around for more than a quarter century, and they keep busy — Blues Attack manager and drummer Nick Crano said they performed around 70 shows last year.

Crano has been with the band since 2001, but the lineup is very different now than it was then — Blues Attack lost their frontwoman, Jill West, in 2021 after a long battle with cancer.

“We decided we could try to replace her or just keep going and do what we do, and we really figured we just didn’t want to replace her. She was too much of a force, and nobody would be able to live up to what she did with us for so long,” Crano said.

So Blues Attack lives on, evolving a little to fit the strengths of their current group.

“Now that Jill is no longer with us, we’ve pivoted just a little bit. We’re still blues, but we do a lot more rock and even have a sort of country influence,” Crano said. “Both our guitar player and our harmonica player sing, and our guitar player, Greg, has more of a country voice.”

Fans need not worry; they haven’t strayed too much from their longstanding legacy.

“We really focus on the sort of blues-rock genre,” Crano said.

This isn’t Blues Attack’s first appearance at Cindystock.

“We did it a couple years ago, right after Jill passed. … I know Cindy had always wanted to get Jill at the festival, but we could never quite get it to work out,” Crano said.

Yates noted that Jill West was the beneficiary of Cindystock’s annual “Pierogi Race” the year she was diagnosed with cancer.

“They’re a wonderful, entertaining group,” Yates said of Blues Attack. “We love them. They’re so much fun and we’ve been really enjoying having the bands play because people get very excited. We expect dancing to take place.”

Historically, Cindystock has booked mostly acoustic acts, but full bands have been in the mix as well.

Yates has brought in musicians from several countries and many states in past years.

“This year, because we’re starting our third decade, we decided to bring it back to the ’Burgh, so all of our bands are Pittsburgh-based or originated in Pittsburgh this year,” Yates said.

This year’s festival lineup includes singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale, guitarist-singer-songwriter Trinity Wiseman and salsa band Guaracha.

“I know there’s a bunch of good musicians pretty much all day. … Last time we went early and just watched everyone,” Crano said.

In its 20 years, Cindystock has raised a grand total of $482,000.

“We expect this year to hit $500,000, which is a pretty amazing thing for a little grassroots operation,” Yates said.

Tickets to the event are $50 and include a buffet dinner, dessert and soft drinks. The festival will take place at the home of Ted and Cindy Yates at 2552 Wexford-Bayne Road in Franklin Park starting at 4 p.m., rain or shine. Concertgoers are also encouraged to bring blankets or chairs to make themselves comfortable.

“We just make it a lot of fun. We have fabulous food. It’s kind of the whole package. Everyone’s having a great time and doing something good,” Yates said.

For tickets, visit cindystock.org.