All God's Children Got the Blues
Yes, I'm a blues fan (as noted earlier, I drove a total of 11 hours round trip to see a grand total of 16 hours worth of blues music in Chicago). And yes, I abhor the heat and humidity of a Kentucky summer. Unfortunately, blues is a summertime sport - it's best enjoyed in the heat of the day, while drenched in sweat and bourbon, with your head bobbing side to side with the beat.
It doesn't get much better than Chicago or Memphis for the blues (unless you're more of a Louisiana/Zydeco blues fan, in which case New Orleans and the Bayou are your raison d' etre), but it is possible to catch great blues local. And it doesn't get much more local than Henderson, Kentucky for the WC Handy Blues Festival this week (click the "about" button on their website to read about who WC was - what they don't mention is that the annual "WC Handy Awards" are among the most coveted for blues performers, and are the blues equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize).
The performers this year are top notch - and one of my favorites, Larry McCray, can pick the strings of a guitar like Republican fundraisers pick dollars from donors' pockets - the shit is smooth. While in Chicago I caught him two nights at the Kingston Mines (watch out for drunk college guys that think blues music gives them special powers of dance), and the blues is the funk.
Point is, if you're in the area check it out. It's free. And believe it or not, Republicans like the blues too. One good reason for us all to just get along.
Update: Didn't want to short change the other performers by just pointing out McCray, so I'll note that Billy Branch and Little Milton are both top notch blues artists, too. And in reviewing the schedule they've actually broken the festival down by style...in other words one night's Zydeco style, another nights jam style (think later Bo Diddley type), and so on.
It doesn't get much better than Chicago or Memphis for the blues (unless you're more of a Louisiana/Zydeco blues fan, in which case New Orleans and the Bayou are your raison d' etre), but it is possible to catch great blues local. And it doesn't get much more local than Henderson, Kentucky for the WC Handy Blues Festival this week (click the "about" button on their website to read about who WC was - what they don't mention is that the annual "WC Handy Awards" are among the most coveted for blues performers, and are the blues equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize).
The performers this year are top notch - and one of my favorites, Larry McCray, can pick the strings of a guitar like Republican fundraisers pick dollars from donors' pockets - the shit is smooth. While in Chicago I caught him two nights at the Kingston Mines (watch out for drunk college guys that think blues music gives them special powers of dance), and the blues is the funk.
Point is, if you're in the area check it out. It's free. And believe it or not, Republicans like the blues too. One good reason for us all to just get along.
Update: Didn't want to short change the other performers by just pointing out McCray, so I'll note that Billy Branch and Little Milton are both top notch blues artists, too. And in reviewing the schedule they've actually broken the festival down by style...in other words one night's Zydeco style, another nights jam style (think later Bo Diddley type), and so on.
posted by Pete @ 8:59 PM
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