By Steve Graham

A leading Colorado blues musician has had many titles, but just one name: Eef.

She currently leads Eef and the Blues Express, a funky blues sextet that will play at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at the Blues & BBQ Festival for Better Housing. She also plays rhythm guitar and sings backup for Nick of Time, a Bonnie Raitt cover band that kicks off Blues & BBQ at 11 a.m.

Blues & BBQ Festival for Better Housing

Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Date: Saturday, July 17 Place: Citizens Park, 5560 W. 24th Ave., Edgewater Cost: $10 Info: www.bluesnbbq.com

For 11 years, she has been driving ((Eef and)) the Blues Express, an acclaimed funky blues mainstay on the local scene. The band officially debuted in 2010. After some lineup changes in the early years, the five members haven’t changed for five years.

"Eef's band has rocked our festival for years," says Ranger Miller, who founded Blues & BBQ for Better Housing. "Her band is tight and they get the crowd on their feet every time."

Eef and the Blues Express was selected to play at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, and was a semi-finalist in 2017. The group has also opened for major blues acts such as Coco Montoya and Tommy Castro, and won local blues awards. Eef is well-known in the scene as “the tall Dutch girl with the red guitar.”

She calls the band’s funky style “Eef Blues,” and steers away from playing traditional blues.

“I wasn’t born in Mississippi. I think it’s disrespectful, honestly, to try to mimic the real traditional blues,” she said. “I’m a white girl from Europe, so I play my own stuff.”

She has a particularly full slate this week. In addition to the two sets at Blues & BBQ, she is playing at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, at Larimer Square with Stacey Turpenoff. Eef and the Blues Express also is closing out the Paint the Town Blue series on Thursday, July 15, at Thorndale Park in Colorado Springs. Click here for all her upcoming gigs.

Check out the September issue of Thirst Colorado for a more complete profile of Eef and her band.

More about the festival

The 24th annual Blues & BBQ Festival for Better Housing is once again raising money for Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver while bringing great music and fantastic barbecue to Edgewater. The event has raised $355,000 for affordable housing to date.

"We powered through COVID and kept the fundraising going to help people find affordable housing," says Ranger Miller, the festival founder. "Our sponsors are phenomenal and they believe in our mission to put roofs over people's heads. After 24 years, the festival has so much support from volunteers and people who just like to show up and spend the day rocking and chilling."

Festival tickets cost $10. VIP tickets cost $100, and include food, craft beer and wine in an exclusive area near the stage.

This year’s lineup is almost entirely female-fronted:

11 a.m. Nick of Time (Bonnie Raitt cover band)

12 p.m. Teledonna (R&B soul-rock)

1 p.m. MojoMama (blues rock)

2 p.m. Eef and the Blues Express (Eef blues)

3 p.m. Cass Clayton Band (roots music)

4 p.m. Zepp11 (Led Zeppelin cover band)

5 p.m. Cast Iron Queens (neo-soul and blues)

6 p.m. Wild Love Tigress (funk, soul and blues)

7 p.m. Duke Street Kings