Brilliantly Blues

Weekend offers some gems of genre

Chris Thomas King
Chris Thomas King

The blues weekend in Eureka Springs was so much fun it turned into blues week.

photo

Courtesy Photo

Texan Hadden Sayers will perform at the upcoming Riverfront Blues Festival in Fort Smith.

The annual blues immersion event in Eureka Springs started last weekend with a concert by Jimmy D. Lane at Basin Park, originally part of a monthly series of concerts there. But it got festival producer Charles Ragsdell wondering how to keep the momentum going. Lane is now scheduled to perform Saturday at The Auditorium as one of the headliners. And in between were a series of workshops led by Lane and others teaching beginning blues guitar and how to make a diddley bow, a rudimentary instrument that acts as a slide guitar.

FAQ

Eureka Springs

Blues Weekend

WHEN — Through Sunday

WHERE — Various venues in Eureka Springs

COST — $5-$30 for single-event tickets; $5 more on the day of the show

INFO — eurekaspringsblues.…

FYI

River Runs

Hues Of Blue

Less than four weeks ago, the pavilion in Harry E. Kelley Park in Fort Smith was under water. In less than one week, it hosts a series of blues bands.

The flood waters have receded, and the 25th annual Riverfront Blues Festival takes place June 26-27 at the riverside park near downtown.

Performers on June 26 include the Wanda Watson Band, Hadden Sayers and the Chris Cameron Band. Events on June 27 feature Levee Town, Jimmy Thackery and Larry McCray, the latter two hailing from Arkansas.

For the first time, the event also includes a special Thursday night preview show. Nick Schnebelen and his band will perform at Warren’s Rec Room in Alma. Only 150 three-day passes, which grants access to the preview show and the two nights at the pavilion, will be sold. Those passes are $25, and come with a complimentary membership to presenting organization Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Society.

— Kevin Kinder

[email protected]

Riverfront Blues Fest

WHEN — June 26-27

WHERE — Harry E. Kelley Riverfront Park in Fort Smith

COST — $10 per day; ticket packages available

INFO — riverfrontbluesfest…

The festival picks up again today with a series of concerts both in the official venues of the festival and in the various bars and clubs around town. Kelley Hunt headlines tonight's events at The Auditorium. Ragsdell says Hunt, based in Lawrence, Kan., is one of the preeminent female blues acts touring today. She'll be joined by locals Earl & Them for a show that begins at 7 p.m.

Saturday's main stage events include a performance by Lane and an Albert King tribute by three winners of the Albert King guitar player award at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. Also performing Saturday night is Chris Thomas King, a veteran of stage and screen. He portrayed the role of Tommy -- loosely based on Robert Johnson -- in the Coen Brothers film "O Brother, Where Art Thou." Many of the performers in the movie, such as star George Clooney, had their voices replaced. But not King, a veteran of the New Orleans blues scene.

"He's going to be the surprise of the festival," Ragsdell says.

Regional blues rock acts The Bel-Airs (today) and The Nace Brothers (Saturday) also perform in the officially sanctioned portion of the festival with sets in the Barefoot Ballroom of the Basin Park Hotel. The festival concludes with the annual Father's Day Picnic at Turpentine Creek, which starts at 1 p.m. Sunday. Turpentine Creek, the animal rescue facility just south of Eureka Springs, is also the beneficiary of all proceeds from the festival, Ragsdell said.

-- Kevin Kinder

[email protected]

NAN What's Up on 06/19/2015

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