Ain’t nothin’ like the blues to stir your soul. The first Alabama Delta Blues Festival will be held at multiple venues over the course of one dazzling April weekend.

Start at Five Rivers, the dynamic new delta discovery center in Spanish Fort, where you can enjoy award-winning blues artists set against the backdrop of the soulful Mobile Bay delta.

Then make your way along Battleship Parkway from one restaurant to the next, listening to various live blues music and sampling tempting coastal cuisine. This event promises fun for the whole family.

The heart of the Delta Blues Fest will be daytime shows at the new Five Rivers Delta Center facility, located on Battleship Parkway. Blues entertainment will continue throughout the day and into the evenings at the Blue Gill Waterfront Amphitheatre, Ed’s Seafood Shed’s Bayfront Deck, Felix’s Swamp Room and The Original Oyster House Tiki Room.

The lineup —

April 14, Gates open at 1 p.m. (free show)

• Headliner: Richard Johnston

Johnston appeared at the 2001 International Blues Challenge in which he was the first, and still the only, competitor in its 22-year history to simultaneously win the first-place award for best act and the Albert King Award for most promising blues guitarist.

The Tensaw Theater at Five Rivers will present showings of the Max Shores Documentary, “Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour,” in the days leading up to the show and during the festival. The Tensaw Theater is a 90-seat surround sound, high-definition projection theater.

April 15, Gates open 12:30 p.m.

• Headliner: Shemekia Copeland

When singing sensation Shemekia Copeland first appeared on the scene in 1997 with her groundbreaking debut CD, “Turn the Heat Up,” she quickly became, at 18, a roots music superstar.

Copeland released two more CDs, 2000’s Grammy-nominated “Wicked” and “Talking to Strangers,” from 2002 (produced by Dr. John), and in that short period of time, collected five Blues Music Awards, a Grammy nomination, five Living Blues Awards, and was honored with the coveted “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” Award by the DownBeat Critics’ Poll.

Rock legend Robert Plant called her “the next Tina Turner.”

• Tab Benoit

Brought Benoit’s first big win at the Blues Music Awards was in 2006 with Fever for the Bayou-winning Best Contemporary Blues Album and the release of his newest Telarc CD “Brother to the Blues.” Late that year, “Brother to the Blues” was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, and Benoit was nominated for the Blues Music Award for Best Contemporary Male Artist and the prestigious Entertainer of the Year Award.

Along with the much anticipated release of the documentary IMAX film “Hurricane on the Bayou, 2007 looks to just continue Benoit’s growth as one of the most important performers on the modern blues scene.

Tickets for the Sunday show will be available at www.frontgatetickets.com, by calling (888) 512-SHOW and at Five Rivers and all evening concert partner locations, as well as the Frontgate Outlet at 354 Dauphin St., Mobile.