ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – To say the musical lineup is eclectic for the Ol’ River Folk and Blues Festival would not be an understatement.

“Belly dancers,” organizer Jo Billips said matter-of-factly. “We’re real excited.”

Music will kick off at 11: 30 a.m. on Aug. 11 and continue until 11 p.m. The proceeds for the festival will benefit the Baldwin County Wildlife Rescue Center. The center is located on the Graham Creek Nature Preserve near Foley.

Some of the musicians include Opossum and Friends which include Opossum on vocals and guitar and Brother Joe Float on bass, upright bass and banjo bringing “organic-trance folk music,” according to a bio from Reverbnation.

“This Paul Farrar is a radio personality in England and then we’ve got some musicians from Ohio, we’ve got a blues musician from Muscle Shoals, Maxwell Russell,” Billips said.

According to Russell’s bio, he “has been playing the guitar since he was a youngster but started his journey in the ‘business’ at the age of 26, forming bands along the way and playing his originals at gigs. He writes music ranging from Country ballads and Country rockers to Blues and Jazz numbers and old time Rock ‘n’ Roll. Maxwell has a catalog of more than 200 songs.”

There will be acts with local connections as well including Billips own duo Sassafrass with Karen Harvill, and T-Bone Montgomery, a Muscle Shoals native who now calls the coast his home.

“We are a folk duo,” Billips said. “We’ve been doing what we call environmental folk music for about 20 years. We have three CDs out in the name of Sassafrass and our latest one is peace, love and Sassafrass.”

The duo has been active in environmental issues for 20 years and in recent years went to climate conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun. They also write children’s book with an ecological theme.

“We hope the wildlife center will be a testament to our love for nature and our responsibility to the planet,” Billips said. “We’re going to have a great day of music and fun.”

Montgomery has been working in the coastal music scene for six years. His bio says “T-Bone comes from a long line of songwriters and has deep roots in the south. He is currently working the honky tonks from Destin to New Orleans and pitching songs back home.”

All of musicians are playing for free but some will be getting travel expenses paid to come to the festival.

“We’re hoping to make some money from the silent auction and from an original painting by Carla Milam of a blue heron,” Billips said. “We also have a $1,500 snapper reef that was are raffling off.”

The land for the rescue was donated by the city of Foley at the preserve.

“It’s located on the Graham Creek Nature Preserve, 500 acres of the most pristine property with three springs,” wildlife enthusiast Jody Young said. “It is the headwaters of Graham Creek. Every ecosystem you can imagine.”

Since many of the animals coming to the center are from coastal areas, the festival will be at Happy Harbor on the Alabama-Florida state line.

“It is for our wildlife to remain in Baldwin County because we don’t have a rescue center,” she said. “This thing is going to grow to where it’s an educational wildlife center. We want to keep all our wildlife in Baldwin County. Everything is raised for release. Nothing is kept for a pet.”

Scheduled to participate in the Aug. 11 festival are art vendors, widlife artists, wood carvers, bee keepers, goat’s milk soap vendor, LED Light Hula Hoops, hair wraps, cotton candy, snow cones, candles, haircuts, Bonsai trees and a live painter.

Also providing the music will be Shawna P and the Earth Funk Trio, Drew Landry, Jed Sparks, Riley Yielding, Sam Morgan, Raqs Magnolia Belly Dance, Fritzi Presley and the Mississsippiana, Billy Marter, Mark Sherrill, Cody Roth, Damien Lamb and John Fowler.

Anyone wishing to donate items for the silent auction or sees an animal in distress can call Young at 251-943-4678, Billips at 850-377-6796 or Harvill at 228-304-1560.