2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival Friday Clubs Preview

Blues in the Clubs is the signature performance experience of the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival. On Friday, August 3 and Saturday, August 4 the artist faculty head to numerous venues in Port Townsend’s historic downtown and uptown districts to play.

Each venue features multiple acts and one Club Pass each night gets you full access to all clubs. (Don’t forget the the Blues “All Fest Package”.)

Purchase Blues Festival Club Passes and tickets.

FRIDAY CLUB HIGHLIGHTS (See end of post for Friday night schedule)

We’ll have nearly two dozen artists in 7 clubs on Friday night. But here are a few highlights:

At the American Legion, they’ll be dancing all night – and starting at 10:40pm, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes will lead a Zydeco Blues Dance. Sunpie is a musician, park ranger, actor, former high school biology teacher, and former NFL player with the Kansas City Chiefs. His career has taken him far and wide, travelling to over 35 countries playing his own style of blues, zydeco and Afro-Louisiana music incorporating Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies.

Over at The Public House, we have a special pairing of the legendary bluesmen Robert Belfour and Phil Wiggins. Belfour was born in the hill country in the northern part of Mississippi. The region has a distinctly different culture than the more famous Mississippi Delta, and the blues from the region is strong and unique, mesmerizing and hypnotic.

Key City Public Theater will be showcasing powerful guitar songwriting, including the work of Mary Flower. Mary is renowned for a uniquely personal vision of roots music that blends ragtime, acoustic blues, and folk – technically dazzling yet grounded in the down-to-earth simplicity of early 20th century American music.

FULL FRIDAY SCHEDULE

American Legion (all ages venue)

8pm-9pm: Terry “Harmonica” Bean
9:20pm-10:20pm: JUMP BLUES DANCE – Daryl Davis, Billy Flynn, Dean Mueller, Jimmi Mayes, Angela Hill, Terry Bean
10:40pm-12am (with 20 minute break): ZYDECO BLUES DANCE – Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Mark Brooks, Arthur Migliazza, Jimmi Mayes, Phil Wiggins

The Boiler Room (all ages/free venue)

8pm-9pm: Elijah Wald
9:20pm-10:20pm: Lightnin’ Wells
10:40pm-12am (with 20 minute break): Ahmad Baabahar and Gary Copeland Lilley

The Public House

8pm-9pm: Lauren Sheehan
9:20pm-10:20pm: Robert Belfour and Phil Wiggins
10:40pm-12am (with 20 minute break): Orville Johnson, Grant Dermody and John Miller

The Upstage Restaurant