Although we are in workshop mode right now at the Port Townsend Country Blues Festival, we are getting close to our Friday and Saturday mainstage performances and club shows.
Next up in our Blues Performance Guide Series is the Saturday, August 2, 1:30pm show at McCurdy Pavilion, the Fort’s
WWI-era balloon hangar. Since it is an afternoon show, we open the Pavilion’s huge hangar doors allowing seat-holders inside to wander outside and enjoy the music on Littlefield Green if they wish.
There are still good
seats available, and you can purchase tickets online. Tickets for Saturday afternoon are $22 and remember–if you’re 18 and under, your seat is free!
The afternoon show features a slew of great guitar players, before we close the show with some piano fireworks from Arthur Migliaza and Daryl Davis.
Rick Franklin opens the show, and is a terrific Piedmont blues guitarist with a sensitive appreciation of the style.
Reverend John Wilkins learned guitar at the feet of his father, the legendary Rev. Robert Wilkins. You’ll learn the essence of what it means to pass down a legacy from this inspirational player.
Festival favorite Mike Dowling is a guitar-player’s guitar player. His engaging voice, self-deprecating wit, and arsenal of elegant interpretations of old blues tunes are favorites of audiences.
We’re thrilled to have Jerron "J-Dog"Paxton with us this year. J-Dog is a 19 year old, blind, multi-instrumentalist who plays with a confidence and perspective that belies his years. We recorded a podcast interview with J-Dog the day before he came to Port Townsend. You can listen to that interview here.
Ari Eisinger hasn’t been with us in some time, and we’ve missed him. Ari is one of the most talented players anywhere, and he specializes in the really beautiful, and VERY difficult tunes of the 20s and 30s.
Before he became known as a blues singer, Reverend Robert Jones
hosted a radio show in Detroit, and hosted jam sessions at a local
club. He is a highly regarded
interpreter of acoustic blues, influenced by Son House, who was also a
minister.
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins are the preeminent blues duo in the world. We’be been extremely fortunate to have Phil as our artistic director for the past 5 years. HIs passion and interests are deeply interwoven in the Festival. Needless to say, this set will be a memorable performance by two of the absolute best.
Blues prodigy Arthur Migliazza was heavily
influenced by Otis Spann, Jimmy Yancey, and Professor Longhair. By the
time he was in high school, he was already fronting his own band. In
2004, he released his debut CD, and in 2006 released his second:
Pumping Ivories. This year, he makes his first visit to the Port
Townsend Country Blues Festival.
Daryl Davis has played with such legendary artists
as Chuck Berry, the Jordanaires, Muddy Waters’ Legendary Blues Band,
The Coasters, and Bo Diddley to name a few. Daryl is much more than a
musician, however. On a quest to explore racism, Daryl met with dozens
of Ku Klux Klan members, many of whom gave him their robes and hoods to
symbolize the rescinding of their beliefs.
After Saturday night’s mainstage show ends, join us downtown and uptown Port Townsend for Blues in the Clubs.
$15 provides admission to all clubs, where you’ll hear the likes of the
Gallus Brothers, Cooke & Taborn, the Rev. Robert Jones, J-Dog
Paxton, and many many more. Get the complete list at our performance page.
Stay tuned for our next post about the Saturday evening show….
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