Heritage Music Blues Festival 2006

Old Town Blues Festival
Lansing, MI

The spirit of co-operation is what it's all about. The Old Town Business & Art Development Association and the Capital Area Blues Society have worked hand in hand for the last twelve years to provide a free and entertaining blues festival. Each year they glean information from the past festival and incorporate it in to the planning of the next festival. And it shows with improvements in place year after year. The festival takes place on a closed street in the historic Old Town section of Lansing, Michigan where they have three stages for entertainment, workshops, vending and food with a beer tent square in the middle of the north and south stages. The stores in the rejuvenated area are all user friendly with extended hours to coincide with the festival. Art galleries, restaurants and vintage clothing stores add to the eclectic mixed of businesses.

Starting off on the South stage with a bang was the Bugs Beddow Band from Ann Arbor. Bug's is trombone driven music at its best. The Detroit based band knows how to get a crowd off it seats and on it's feet. Armed with music ranging from James Cotton to Rick James to the Meters, Bugs and crew set a torrid pace for the festival.

Meanwhile at the River Stage, Jen Sygit was conducting a songwriter's workshop that drew a good number of people. Indianapolis based Paxton Norris and his band took the South Stage with his mix of Chicago Blues to Blues Rock that kept the crowd guessing as to what would be next. Lansing based and favorite sons, The Old Town Blues Band opened the festivities at the North Stage to a packed house. Lead by the smooth guitar work of Bill Malone, and backed by Benny Zdybel (bass, vocals), Dennis Cullinan (sax, vocals), Lawrence Leathers (drums), and vocalist Connie Currier, the band has gained it's fan base by performing a wonder mix of originals and covers.

Jason Ricci, harp wunderkind and his band New Blood proved that all harp players are not created equal. Backed by Shawn Starski (guitar, vocals), Todd Edmunds (bass, vocals), and Steve Johnson (drums), the band smoked the stage and proved to be the band to beat that weekend. This was the first time I'd seen Jason and I admit, I was impressed with his performance. The River Stage was full as Patrick Sweany brought his A-game to the stage. Instead of performing with his band, Pat was a solo act that night and I'm glad he was. Nice acoustic music with just his guitar as accompaniment, Sweany captivated the audience with a ninety minute set.

Headlining the North Stage on the cool comfortable night was West Coast guitar guru Junior Watson. With Watson was sax man extraordinaire "Sax" Gordon Beadle who on his own is a rare talent, but combined with Watson they made a killer combo. Watson's thirty year career has seen him performing with some of the stars of blues music including Canned Heat, The Mighty Flyers and Lynwood Slim. Other than a slight detour through some surf music, Junior's set was phenomenal and he proved a perfect headliner for the evening. As soon as Junior was finished, Lansing based Zydecrunch finished the evening on the South Stage with its blues/zydeco/cajun mix guaranteed to give you a severe case of happy feet.

Saturday was another day of sunshine with temperatures in the mid-70's. Perfect since it had rained three days prior to the weekend and three days after. The Sun Gods parted the rain long enough for us to enjoy the festival.

Big Willy is another Lansing based band that mixes hard-driving shuffles with swing, and guitar driven boogies. Featuring guitarist Will Rideoutt, with Will Metz on sax, and the rhythm section of Eric Payne and James Norris. The band may be in it infancy, but with its load of talent you can expect great things in the future. Sunny Girl is exactly what her name implies. I'd first seen her at age 12 and was impressed that someone of that youth had such a firm grasp on the fundamentals of the harp. Well, she's grown up. Born on the same day as Junior Wells - only 56 years later, Sunny Girl has become one of the most in-demand harp players in the Detroit area. When she was only seven she was asked to open for harp great Kim Wilson. If anybody is qualified to teach a Harmonica Workshop at the River Stage, it's Sunny Girl.

Those Delta Rhythm Kings are another in a long list of talented Lansing based bands. Riding on the success of its latest CD release, Just the Way We Like It, the Rhythm Kings have been entertaining fans since 1982. Featuring the four piece Sofa King Horns, this nine-piece band will find your groove and fill it with some of the best in jump/swing blues. Steve Arvey is no stranger to the blues. Along with harpist Mark Hoekstra, Steve did what he does best. He brought his A-game to the River Stage for some outstanding acoustic blues. Steve has toured Europe extensively and has played with and backed some of the greatest blues musicians in the world including David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Homesick James, and Henry Townsend. Gary Primich had the honor of learning fro some of the foremost harpists in the Chicago Blues Scene, playing alongside Big Walter Horton, Johnny Littlejohn, Sunnyland Slim and others. Today Primich calls Texas his home, but that doesn't mean he's forgotten his roots. Backed by Doug Demming & the Jeweltones, themselves a much sought after act, Primich and guest harpist Hank "The Hawk" Mowery brought to the North Stage an overload of harp. Swapping meaty tones back and forth Primich and Mowery created a Maxwell Street atmosphere in Lansing.

Roots music has been Eric Glatz's forte for many years and his finger-picking style graced the River Stage for a ninety minute step back into time. With numbers ranging from Bach to Latin, to roots blues, Glatz proved to be one of the more entertaining solo acts of the weekend. Mike Daniels Buffalo Blues Connection was originally formed in Buffalo, New York, but eventually life, college and the draft pulled the band apart. Drummer Mike Daniels landed in Lansing and has been playing there ever since. In 2005 the band members got together and played for the first time in a while and it was like they'd never been apart. Local musicians heard their distinct sound and insisted they be brought to the festival. Now there are some musicians that know a great sound when they hear it. The Martindales have been playing together since the early 1990's and have developed an easily recognizable sound. With two CD's under their belt, they have forged a strong following that in 2003 found them at the International Blues Competition in Memphis. With the writing ad guitar skills of Brian Brickly complimented by Mark Boone on keyboards, Jon Johnson on drums, John Linfield on trumpet, Freddie Lorenz on sax, and Matt Macchiarolo on bass, the band carved it's way through their ninety minute set without breaking a sweat.

Meanwhile on the River Stage Mike Somers and Gary "Blind Dog" Day from the Lansing based Automatic Blues Band proved that you don't need electricity to provide quality entertainment. While Steve Arvey is known for his acoustic blues, he can also rock out with his band West Side Heat, which he formed in 1982. They stepped up the pace on the South Stage with some great rockin' blues. From the east side of the state comes Fat Boy and Jive Turkey with their off-the-wall brand of humorous blues. With the instruments ranging from ukulele to trombone to banjo and kazoo, wherever they play they bring a fun factor to the event.

Can it get any better than to have Toni Lynn Washington backed by Junior Watson and his band? I think not. With a career spanning nearly five decades, Toni Lynn so much more than one of your one hit wonders. With vocals compared to Etta James and Ruth Brown, Washington sat quietly by the side of the stage until Watson and band had finished their opening number. When she took the stage you could see the transformation from quiet woman to blues chanteuse as she took command of the stage, band and crowd with her vocal prowess. The woman gives 110% to each and every performance if there are 10 or 10,000 fans.

Finishing up the weekend of outstanding music was the Capitol Area Blues Society's IBC winner, The Mark Arshak Band. The Detroit native has been playing guitar since age eight and formed the Mark Arshak Band in 1994. With guitar blazing, Arshak excels on both slide and regular guitar work. Backed by John Ambrose on drums and Kip Larson on bass, Arshak closed the festival with flair.

As I said in the beginning of this article, every year lessons are learned and ideas formed for next year's festival. I have no doubt that by festival time next year, things will be better than ever. Check out the Slideshow HERE!

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