Received this email the other day:
Dear Deep Blues Fan:
Maybe you’ve already heard, and if not, we think you ought to: the Deep Blues Festival is being revived this year with the blessings of the event’s founder Chris Johnson.
Deep Blues Festival 2011 will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the historic Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, July 16, featuring dirty roots music bands from across the country.
The bands, many of whom you already known, will play continuously on two stages from 5 p.m. until closing… etc… etc…
…so I’m passing it on and adding my two cents here.
If you love roots music and the blues and you live anywhere near Cleveland or can afford to get there for the occasion: By all means GO!
Why? Well this morning I stumbled on the fact that K.M. Williams, who I would love to hear play, will be playing over here in Europe at the Cognac Blues Passion Festival, so I checked it out and sure enough some great bands will be there like the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band or even Little Willie Littlefield for instance. I’d love to spend a few days there too, enjoying the city, burning out on blues. But when I go to their homepage what do I see? Moby? Jamie Cullum? Texas? Morcheeba? WTF?
Yeah I know the logic, you need to pay the bills so you need a crowd so you make sure you get one with a few pop stars and that way folks can discover the lesser known if not obscure musicians that you have also invited – don’t forget that – and it’s sad but that’s the way it is…
So now all over the world you have these “Blues Festivals” where, it’s a fact, you actually can see a few great bluesmen if you manage to find out where and when they’ll be playing: somewhere deep in the program… But you’re usually paying an exorbitant entry fee due to the price of whatever pop star you don’t really care to see but who happens to be playing that day too…
Then you have folks like those behind The Deep Blue Festival. They have been doing there damnedest to organize the perfect blues festival: just blues! No pop crap! No artificially hyped up easy listening hour brand bands! No superstars, however good they are! Just great people playing their own strand of the blues!
Don’t believe me? Just search Deep Blues Festival on Youtube
And what do you see? Legendary performances played in front of sparse crowds…
Because this festival has been having a hard time making ends meet. Proving the warped pop star blues festival logic stated above? I hope not! But it’s up to us…
Here, to wet your appetite:
CeDell Davis: Live: Deep Blues Festival III: Summer ’09
posted by heidikellner
PS. Just bought one of their cool t-shirts!