Nightflying: The Entertainment Guide

2010 Hot Springs Blues Festival

---David Hughes
    The Spa City Blues Society is pleased to announce the line-up and schedule for the 2010 Hot Springs Blues Festival. The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, September 3-4, at Hill Wheatley Plaza in downtown Hot Springs.
    The festival will begin with a kick-off party at Odie’s House of Blues on Thursday, September 2, featuring 2009 International Blues Challenge winner JP Soars and The Red Hots. Joining Soars and crew will be the 2009 Blues Music Award Entertainer of the Year Janiva Magness. Magness will hold a meet and greet during Thursday evening’s show.
    Soars and The Red Hots, consisting of bassist Don Gottlieb and drummer Chris Peet, walked away with the 2009 IBC title, with Soars taking home the Albert King Award as the top guitar player in the competition. The band was a co-headliner at the 2009 Hot Springs Blues Festival.
    Magness and her band will join the fun for the evening, meeting and chatting with blues fans and sitting in with Soars and company.
    The Hot Springs Blues Festival will officially begin on Friday morning with the society’s first ever 5k Blues Run. The 5k run will begin around 8:00 am and will end at the festival grounds in Hill Wheatley Plaza. Runners who are interested in participating in the event should contact Jack Wells at (501) 984-6412.
    The music begins Friday evening with the gates opening at 5:00 pm and the John Calvin Brewer Band kicking off at 6:00.
    Brewer has been playing around Hot Springs and the region for a number of years, offering up a variety of blues, rock and country music. Brewer began playing around the age of 17 and has performed in venues from Hot Springs to Nashville. An outstanding songwriter, Brewer is joined by long time accomplice Brandon Sabbatini on bass.
    Following Brewer will be the 2010 International Blues Challenge winner Grady Champion. Champion electrified the capacity crowd inside the Orpheum Theater back in January with his performance at the IBC, wandering through the crowd playing his harp and singing. Compared to Sonny Boy Williamson, Champion brings revved up, soulful vocals and mixes them with charming and insightful songwriting. Champion was recently tapped as the Jackson, Mississippi, Local Blues Artist of the Year and will be debuting in his first movie, Rights of Spring, this year.
    2009 Blues Music Award Entertainer of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year Janiva Magness will headline Friday evening’s show. Magness comes from humble beginnings that influence her life and music today. Touted as one of the heir apparent to the throne of the blues divas who have come before her, Magness has a sultry voice and swagger on the stage that thrills audiences around the world. Her vocals, raw and earthy at one time, smooth and saucy the next, have earned comparisons to Marcia Ball, Susan Tedeschi and Janis Joplin. Magness’ latest album, The Devil is an Angel Too, has received critical acclaim.
    Magness is an ambassador for Foster Care Alumni, a cause she is passionate about because that is where she came from. “Someone was brave enough to stand up for me when I was young and in foster care,” Magness states. “Foster Care Alumni of America is standing up for people in and from the system every day, and I am so honored to have the opportunity to raise awareness and make a difference in the lifetimes of children.”

    On Saturday, gates will open at 3:00 pm with the music kicking off at 4:00. Heading up Saturday’s line-up will be the SCBS’s representatives to the International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase Grayson Goff and Taylor Wernecke.
    Goff and Wernecke, students at Lakeside High School in Hot Springs, represented the SCBS in the Blues Foundation’s Youth Showcase during the IBC in Memphis. The duo performed an inspired set that earned them respect from blues lovers around the country. Goff’s smoldering guitar work mixes nicely with Wernecke’s acoustic guitar and sweet vocals.
    Goff & Wernecke will be followed by the SCBS representative in the band competition of the IBC, Heavy Suga and the Sweetones. Heavy Suga and the Sweetones features Heather Crosse on bass and vocals. Crosse has spent time playing between Hot Springs and Clarksdale, Mississippi. She honed her chops playing with local blues legend St. Thomas Jenkins and developed her vocals playing weekly at The Big Chill. She has toured with BMA winner Super Chikan several times.
    The Sweetones consist of local music personalities Greg Batterton on harp and Jerry Jines on guitar. Both musicians have been playing Hot Springs and the surrounding are for years . The band is rounded out by Lee Williams on drums.
    The SCBS submitted a Virgil Brawley’s CD, Bottle Tree, as a representative to the Blues Foundation for the Best Self-Produced CD. Bottle Tree made it to the second round before being nudged out for the top spot. Brawley will bring his band, The Juvenators, to town for the festival.
    The Juvenators feature Brawley on guitar and vocals, Byrd Lovell on guitar and vocals, George Vance on bass and Guy Wade on drums. With influences ranging from Freddy King and T-Bone Walker to Duane Allman and Steve Blalock, The Juvenators deliver a sound that is pure Mississippi back roads. The band has been around since 1997 but this collection of musicians has been playing the circuit for years with a number of different groups.
    Following The Juvenators will be one of Arkansas’ hottest bands, Bow Legged Rooster from Jonesboro. Bow Legged Rooster is led by Tim Hoggard on vocals and harp and Matt Pierce on guitar and vocals. This four piece has been making a name for themselves for the last year or so in and around Arkansas with their Delta meets rock and roll mix of blues.
    Headlining Saturday’s show will be legendary blues guitarist, Bernard Allison. The son of Luther Allison, Bernard carries the same smokin’ six string assault as his father. He is also blessed with the same soulful vocals, spiritual devotion and musical freedom that lends itself to the blues. The youngest of nine children, Bernard Allison was destined to play the blues. He was the kid running around on stage during his father’s performances.
    “That’s when I decided I wanted to be like him,” says Allison. “I think I was about seven.” When the elder Allison was on the road, the youngster would dive into his father’s record collection and find influences from the likes of Magic Sam, Otis Rush, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins and T-Bone Walker. Allison spent time playing with Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine and joined Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan in performances over the years. A true son of the blues, Bernard Allison has found his own way through the blues while keeping his roots close to his heart.
    Admission to the festival is $5 each day. Blues fans are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. No coolers or outside containers are allowed into the festival grounds.
    The Spa City Blues Society is seeking sponsors and vendors for this year’s festival. Sponsors and vendors who are interested in being a part of the festival should contact Rob Pratt at (501) 276-3618.
    The SCBS will be selling tickets for a custom made Clevenger Guitar made by local luthier Bert Clevenger. The guitar will be on display at the festival and tickets may be purchased on site as well as through the SCBS’s website.
    Following the festival on both Friday and Saturday evening will be an acoustic show and jam session hosted by 2blu and The Lucky Stiffs at The Big Chill. 2blu and The Lucky Stiffs were finalists in the 2008 IBC and have played the Hot Springs Blues Festival in the past as well as being annual visitors at The Big Chill.
    For more information on the 14 Annual Hot Spring Blues Festival contact Rob Pratt or David Hughes at (501) 815-2939. Interested parties can also go to www.spacityblues.org to see what’s going on with the Hot Springs, Arkansas, blues music scene.

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