LITTLE ROCK — After close to three decades, the King Biscuit Blues Festival has assumed its place among the state’s - and the nation’s - most acclaimed music festivals. There have been bumps in the road, certainly. For a time, the festival’s name had to be changed, but now it’s back. It also had to relinquish its status as a free event a few years ago, though there are still free stages.
“This will probably be our biggest festival ever, even bigger than the year we had B.B. King,” says Munnie Jordan, executive director of the festival. “This is the first time Bonnie Raitt has ever come, it’s the second time for Taj Mahal ... James Cotton has been here numerous times and Anson Funderburgh can lay claim to having played at every festival since we got started.
“We’ve tried to keep it pretty much focused on the blues, so we have folks that have been here before on a lot of the stages. And while we did start charging for the main stage, there are other stages that are free. We have 18 food vendors, plus a barbecue competition.”
The festival’s original name returned when Wolfgang’s Vault, the San Francisco based owner of the name “King Biscuit,” learned the history and the rich heritage of the blues festival in Helena-West Helena and granted the festival - which had changed its name to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival - permission to use the name again. (Wolfgang’s Vault is an archive of live music performances and recordings, along with the King Biscuit Flower Hour, a one-time syndicated radio series.)
When the festival began in 1986, it was a “coming home” experience for harmonica legend Cotton, who will play at 7:40 p.m. Saturday. Although he was born in Tunica, Miss., Cotton considers his hometown to be Helena, where he came of age learning how to play harmonica beside the man whose image graces the festival’s logo: Sonny Boy Williamson.
“I had a good time, learning from Sonny Boy,” laughs Cotton, 77, recalling his youth. “I was 9 years old when my parents passed and I was taken by my uncle to West Helena, where I met Sonny and he showed me a thing or two. When he moved away, it seemed like I got fortunate again in meetin’ up with Howlin’ Wolf, who was in West Memphis, and I was with him about three years.
“Before long, one day Muddy Waters introduced himself and asked me if I’d play my harmonica in his band. I loved all of them, they were all a part of my life, and I enjoyed every bit of it. If I had it to do over again, I’d do it all over, too!”
After a dozen years, Cotton got his own band and fell in with the hippies, playing both Fillmore Ballrooms and opening shows or sitting in with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Santana, Steve Miller, Freddie King and B.B. King. In 1994, Cotton battled throat cancer and now leaves the singing up to vocalist Darrell Nulisch. His other band members are Jerry Porter on drums, Noel Neal on bass and Tom Holland on guitar and backing vocals.
Thursday headliner Bobby Rush was named Best Male Soul Blues Artist at the 2007 Blues Music Awards, where he was also named Best Acoustic Artist and won for Best Acoustic Album (Raw). In 2009 he released Blind Snake, his most recent album. He appeared in the film The Road to Memphis, a part of Martin Scorsese’s series The Blues.
Friday headliner Taj Mahal, who turned 70 on May17, released a new collection, Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973, in August. He will be performing in his trio format, backed by drummer Kester Smith and bassist Bill Rich.
Saturday headliner Bonnie Raitt released her latest album, Slipstream, earlier this year after last releasing a studio album in 2005. During the interim, she released an album on iTunes, a live Decades CD/ DVD package (Bonnie Raitt and Friends) a Crossroads Country Music Television special with Lyle Lovett and a 2009 tour with Taj Mahal.
The “Call & Response Symposium” will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Malco Theater on Cherry Street. Don Wilcock (author of Buddy Guy’s biography, Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues) will moderate the first hour, which will feature Roy Rogers, Fruteland Jackson, The Cate Brothers, Art Tipaldi and Stacy Jeffress. Roger Stolie (owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art,Inc., in Clarksdale, Miss.) will moderate the second hour, which will feature Big George Brock, EB Davis, Reba Russell and Rev. John Wilkins.
Those attending the festival may take a small umbrella, a poncho, sunscreen and chair or blanket seating, but coolers are not allowed.
The formerly “mighty” Mississippi River, Jordan reports, still runs past the festival site, but has been reduced to almost a trickle.
“The Little Rock Yacht Club had planned to bring their regatta here, but now there’s not enough water and they can’t come,” Jordan says.
King Biscuit Blues Festival
11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Helena-West Helena
Thursday main stage:
Chris O’Leary, 12:40 p.m.; Sterling Billingsley Band, 1:50; Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, 3:05; Kenny Neal, 4:30; Wayne Toups & ZyDeCajun, 6:10; Cyril Neville, 7:50; Bobby Rush, 9:30
Friday main stage:
Earnest “Guitar” Roy and the MB Rhythm Section, 11 a.m.; Andy T and Nick Nixon, 12:35 p.m.; Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings, 1:35 p.m.;Tullie Brae, 3:05; Ruthie Foster, 4:25; Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets with Kim Wilson, 5:55; Paul Thorn, 7:35; Taj Mahal, 9:30
Saturday main stage:
Samantha Fish, 11 a.m.; Kenny Smith Band with Bob Margolin & Ann Rabson, 12:05 p.m.; Reba Russell Band, 1:35 p.m.; The Cate Brothers, 3:10; Randall Bramblett Band, 4:45; Roy Rogers, 6:10; James Cotton Band, 7:40; Bonnie Raitt, 9:30
Admission:
$40 for three-day pass for main stage gated area (children under age 6 admitted free with a paying adult); other three stages are free.
Information:
(870) 572-5223 or www.kingbiscuitfestival.com
Style, Pages 50 on 09/30/2012