The Unfettered Critic – July 2026

WE OFTEN USE THIS COLUMN to tell you what’s coming up, so that we can manipulate you into considering it.

But not this time. This time we’re going to tell you that you’ve already missed it. And, also that you haven’t. (This will become less paradoxical in a few paragraphs. We promise.)

The hills, you see, already are alive with the sound of music. Because the Britt is back, and we love it.

Those wonderful Brittsome sounds always remind us of our first week in Jacksonville.

(Stop us if you’ve heard this reminiscence before.)

(Or don’t. Instead just smile politely and read on because, hey, it’s us!)

In 2008, we stood on our balcony, freshly relocated, relishing the sensory overload of all that lay before us. The sky. The trees. The soft afternoon breeze. The soon-to-be-familiar calls of the Jays—both Steller’s and Scrub—as they protected their respective turfs. The faint twang of a slide guitar getting comfortable over the beat of a bass drum…

Wait. What?

As it turned out, the twang announced a soundcheck for that evening’s performance at something known as The Britt Festival. Sure, we’d heard there was a music venue half a mile downhill from our new old home, but we had no idea that we could actually hear it. Let alone hear the musicians tune up during soundchecks.

Best of all, the guitarist in question was the one and only Bonnie Raitt, a longtime favorite of ours, prepping for her evening show. Which was, sad to say, sold out.

(Fortunately, we did have that balcony…)

Anyway, last month we heard those same twangy soundcheck sounds again—and we savored the fact that this time we had tickets to Bonnie’s (once-again) sold out Britt show.

We’d seen Bonnie before, we should mention, at the much larger Hollywood Bowl. This performance felt more low-key—more intimate, more like a loving family reunion than an attempt to grab our attention. This time Bonnie grabbed our emotions with a warm lingering musical hug. And although she is, ahem, our age, she is in good health and has a full tour of stops on her jam-packed schedule across the U.S. and Canada.

And yet, although Bonnie’s appearance was the “official” season opener; the first concert there was the night before, at Britt’s “The Hill is Where the Heart is” kick-off party. It was free and it was wonderful, primarily because of a dynamic performance by one of our favorite local bands, The Rogue Suspects. This was their first appearance on the Britt’s main stage—a spot they have long deserved. Founding member and bassist Greg Frederick is the rock upon which they build. These days, the Suspects include killer lead guitarist Jesse Kennemer, as well as Dennis Johnson (keys), and David Bolen (drums), along with a trio of fabulous female singers, Shae Celine, Jenni Abdo, and Jade Chavis.

Okay. That’s the recent past. In the future, if Bonnie’s trajectory approaches, don’t miss seeing that fiery redhead. And locally, watch for The Rogue Suspects. You can even find them in a perfect mashup of our subject above, performing their Bonnie Raitt tribute (as well as their Aretha Franklin tribute, a Motown tribute, etc.). We predict that someday, someone will do a Rogue Suspects tribute.

Topping it all off: the Britt Festival is ongoing, set for the summer, with classical Concerts under the Stars, from Mozart to John Williams (The Empire Strikes Back)!, and pop greats from Ani DeFranco to David Lee Roth to Los Lobos.

And with that we’ve reached the end of our allotted column word count…