9th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival Review
Steamin’ Blues in the Spa City, Labor Day Weekend, 2005
Well, gang, this review is one of a pair that is way overdue. Life in the real world just interferes way too much with the things I like to do. Regardless, I’ve fettered the chains of responsibility and shaken the dust of the road from my shoulders to bring you a review of the 9th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival.
The festival was hosted by the Spa City Blues Society over Labor Day weekend. It was by far the biggest crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been hanging out in the Springs. This makes my fifth HSBF to attend and the crowd was bigger and livelier than any I’ve been witness to. It was also arguably some of the best music the SCBS has brought to town. From start to finish, the music was top notch.
Hot Springs transplant, Dayton Waters, kicked the festival off this year on Saturday afternoon. Waters was the SCBS rep in the solo/duo category at the 2005 International Blues Challenge back in February of this year. It was a short set but it was typical DW…high energy and intense. The highlights of his performance were his original moody blues tune "You Blues" and his slowed down, crowd pleasing version of "Whipping Post".
Charlotte Taylor and Gypsy Rain followed Waters’ set. Taylor and Gypsy Rain were the SCBS’ rep to the IBC in the band category. In predictable fashion, Taylor belted out original tunes and sultry blues covers. Taylor has a solid band highlighted by Brain Detherow on guitar and John Weir on the trumpet. With a set of pipes reminiscent of something between Janis Joplin and Etta James, Taylor tore up the toasty afternoon crowd. Headliner EG Kight and her tour manager, Teresa Wade, were downtown, several blocks away from the festival when Taylor was playing. Upon hearing her singing, Wade said "…we didn’t know who it was but we headed to the festival grounds to find out. That girl has a powerful set of pipes on her."
The IBC was the theme for the first several acts of the day. Joe Vicino and the Smokedaddys drove in from Long Island, NY, to be a part of this year’s fest. We met Joe and bassist Pete Keirnan on Beale Street during the IBC. These guys were finalists in the solo/duo category. In fact, they are the guys who sent our hero, Dayton Waters, to the house during the competition. The Smokedaddys set was spectacular to say the least. With beefed up covers and soulful originals, these Yankees put together quite a set. A couple of the high spots in their set were calling Dayton Waters back on stage to do "Whipping Post" with them and when they performed the title song to their CD, "Shine". The Smokedaddys gigged that night at the Big Chill and got raves from owner, Gina Parks. According to Parks the Smokedaddys represent "…the spirit of what the Big Chill is all about. They were great." Be sure to check out Joe Vicino and The Smokedaddys at www.joevicino.homestead.com. They have several pics from the festival on their site.
Next up were the Stella Vees, imported to town from Lexington, KY. The Stella Vees have a hosted a jam session each of the last four or five years at Handy Hall on Beale Street during the IBC. Lead singer and guitarist Jason Lockwood told me they would also be hosting the jam again this year. This bunch brought in some romping Chicago style blues, based with a lot of swinging guitar and hot harp licks. Look for the Stella Vees to be back in the Spa City in January just before the 2006 IBC to play a fundraiser for the SCBS. And by the way, we found out where the Stella Vees name originated. Was it a car? A guitar? Nope, none of those. The band is named for Lockwood’s grandmother who was the first person to turn him on to the music. Pretty cool. By the way 2…Thanks for the Balnton’s, JL. Here’s to ya…
One of Arkansas’ native sons took the festival stage next. Mark Sallings and the Famous Unknowns, based out of Wynne, took the stage at just about dark. Sallings’ music took the crowd on a ride from swamp to classic blues to contemporary blues. This group of musicians, the first house band at BB King’s in Memphis, are a seasoned and solid bunch. Sallings himself showed why he is one of the premier blues harp players on the scene today. One of the best songs in the set was "Mojo Hoodoo" off the new CD Temporary Life.
The surprise of the festival was up next. The Georgia Songbird, EG Kight, was without a doubt the hit of the festival. This five time Handy Award nominee had the majority of the crowd asking "EG who?" before she went on. By the time Kight started into her second song, a very sexy version of "At Last", she had the crowd eating out of her hands. When she finished her set and took her place in the artist’s tent to sell CD’s and sign autographs, she had a line of new fans that extended deep into the crowd. She was still signing autographs when the last act took the stage. For all the adulation and sentiment, I found EG Kight to be a sincere and humble lady. I had the privilege to spend a little time with EG and her tour manager, Teresa Wade, before and after the show. These are two truly classy ladies. EG Kight has a sweetness in her soul that transcends the business to make her one of the gems in the industry.
Before the last act of the night hit the stage, I took a look around the crowd to see if there might have been some old blues hounds sniffing about. In particular, I half-way expected to see the ghosts of McKinley Morganfield and Chester Burnett off in the shadows. Who are they you ask? For the uneducated blues fan they would Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Why would they be hanging around? Man, you ask too many questions. I was looking for them because two of the most famous connections to these men were about to take the stage. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith kept the beat for Muddy for years before coming back to his original instrument, the Mississippi saxophone. I asked Smith before introducing him if there was anything special he wanted me to tell the crowd. He rubbed his chin and thought for a minute before he smiled and said "Just tell’em if they don’t want to hear the blues they better get the f@#% out!" Indeed.
Smith opened the set and later introduced legendary guitar player, Hubert Sumlin. Sumlin made his bones playing the guitar for Howlin’ Wolf for a number of years. Sumlin has written the guitar lines for some of the most famous blues songs in history including "Little Red Rooster" and "Smokestack Lightning". His influence is pronounced even today as the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana point to Sumlin as an influence. Sumlin’s playing has not diminished over the years. He had to sit down while he played and sang but he did not miss a beat. Sumlin and Smith played for well over two hours and I believe they would have kept going if we didn’t have to clear out before midnight. These two blues legends represent what playing the blues AND playing live music is all about. They are the real deal and they would have played as long as there was someone standing there to listen to them. What a show! And I swear, I saw a couple of figures in shadows, just out of the corner of my eye, that looked like Muddy and the Wolf.
This year, the SCBS sponsored an after festival party with Boogie’s Night Club. The Wes Jeans Band played the show which was intended to be a jam session of fest musicians. I know the Stella Vees made it in to play as did Delta Mudd, one of the bands from the previous night’s club crawl. I was worn out so I didn’t hang around to see how it ended. I was pretty sure it had been a good day for the blues.
Now, while this was one of the best festivals the SCBS has put on, it does have room for improvement. The Club Crawl, which happened the night before the fest, was a bit of a disappointment. Not in terms of the music or the venues. The crowd just did not seem to be out that evening. Whether it was a result of Hurricane Katrina or high gas prices or folks not wanting to buy wrist bands to get in…who knows? The crowds seemed a little thin.
The festival itself had troubles early. There were too many vendors on site and not enough power to go around. If the SCBS and the city of Hot Springs want to take this festival over the top, and its close, they need to collaborate a little closer. The city needs to invest in some extra electric power or commit to a permanent stage for this type of event. In defense of the SCBS and the vendors, a couple of the vendors misrepresented their products or they would not have been allowed to set up. A little more teamwork on the part of the SCBS and some communication could solve that issue in the future. The other dim spot was dealing with the Farmer’s Market. This is a great service to the community and to the local farmers. However, these folks were not very considerate of what was going on that Saturday. They did not leave at the time they had agreed on, making it difficult for vendors to set up. Again, this is something that needs to be addressed to build a better festival next year.
All in all, things managed to work themselves out. The SCBS dedicated the proceeds from the festival to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. A group of young students were recognized for their contributions to this year’s festival t-shirt design. Januaree Ratchford, Danielle Graves and Sarah Walker, all students from Cutter Morning Star school, each received a check for $50, a certificate and a t-shirt for their part in the t-shirt design. Joseph Collins, also from Cutter Morning Star, was recognized as the recipient of the Banjo Dan/St. Thomas Memorial, a fund that purchases instruments for area students.
If you want to check out photos from the festival go to the SCBS website at www.spacityblues.com or go to my site, www.unknownlegendsbooking.com and surf around ‘til you locate them. There are lots of good shots of the acts on both sites.
So, here’s to a successful festival for 2005. Thank the heavens it’s over for now. And here’s to next years being just as good. No, scratch that. Here’s to next year’s festival being even better.