Time for the Tenby Blues Festival – 8th to 10th November 2013
It is always interesting to note something unusual about the Blues and in this case it is that the upcoming Tenby Blues Festival in South Wales is close to a dinosaur park – see www.thedinosaurpark.co.uk. There are probably few locations for the Blues across the world who can say that!
We asked the organisers for a preview of this years event.
“The Tenby Blues Festival takes place over the second weekend of November in one of the UK’s loveliest seaside resorts, is set to be the biggest and best yet. And ticket prices have been kept to last year’s low level – only £60 for a weekend of blues heaven.
“There’ll be a mix of International and UK based acts, including some of the finest Welsh bands, playing full on electric blues, old time acoustic blues, plus music from where the blues touches base with other genres – Tenby Blues have booked legendary rockabilly singer and guitarist John Lewis, formerly of the Rimshots.
“Headlining the main venue, the De Valence, on the Saturday evening, will be Bernard Allison, the guitar-playing, singing and songwriting son of the late, legendary blues guitarist Luther Allison. True to form for this chip off the old block, the young Allison injects every bit as much energy into his live shows as his late father did.
“The previous evening in the same venue, Marcus Malone will be performing. Marcus has a vocal range similar to Paul Rodgers and is a heavyweight rock/blues musician whose career has included a stint on UA/Capital records and Motown. He has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with BB King, and headlined numerous festivals in the US, and Europe. Marcus’s music is a mix of deep toned grooves ranging from heavy rock to soulful blues/rock ballads.
A quick word here from Blues Matters – do check out Marcus, who is a first rate performer and who has a particularly fine guitar slinger alongside him in Stuart Dixon. Back to the words from the festival:
“Supporting Marcus will be Zoe Schwarz’s Blue Commotion of whom Classic Rock magazine observed (May 2013) -the challenge Blue Commotion set themselves is to try and put an original spin on some familiar sounding material via Zoe’s expressive, effortless phrasing and the band’s subtle use of layered instrumentation.’
“In the smaller venue located a few metres away, the Rugby Club, there will be more delights, including a Tenby first for Miraculous Mule. Though their nativity was in London in the latter half of the last century, these Anglo-Irish folk know that their souls were forged further back and farther west. Fallen into hell’s ditch, baptised in brimstone, reborn in the devotion of African-American Gospel, the pain of penitentiary work songs, the jittery stomp of hillbilly rock, they have electrified and reanimated those borrowed remains with a newfound urgency, melancholy, rage and beauty. Quite simply, unmissable!
“Then of course there is the famous Pub Trail – two days of free music in the clubs, pubs, bars, and Honky Tonks of old Tenby – from noon until midnight.
“Throw in Late Night sessions when anything can happen as the performers chill out with impromptu jams that often extend in to the next morning, and you have a recipe for a great weekend.
“And no camping is necessary! Tenby is replete with welcoming guest houses and hotels at affordable prices that won’t make you blue. We also have a place for camper vans if that’s your thing.
Declan Connolly, Festival Artist Director, said “We are really excited about the quality of this year’s festival and are proud, once again to be giving youngsters like the amazing Mustangs a chance to play before a wider audience. And for all those who bring their instruments down hoping for a chance to play, we have the innovation of an Open Mic session led by the accomplished Kris Dollimore, who has been nominated for Best Song at the British Blues Awards.”
Full information at www.tenbyblues.co.uk
Links:
Bernard Allison – www.bernardallison.com/flash.html
Zoe Schwarz Blues Commotion – www.bluecommotion.com
Marcus Malone – www.marcusmalone.com
Miraculous Mule – www.miraculousmule.com
Kris Dollimore – www.krisdollimore.com
And, among the artists not mentioned above, Katie Bradley – who we gave a rather good album review to not long ago and who was played on the Paul Jones show on BBC Radio 2 subsequently – www.katiebradleyblues.com
Another not mentioned, but pictured, is Innes Sibun – here – www.innessibun.org.uk
