Friday Roundup: Eureka Springs Blues Weekend June 3-6

Friday blogs are a mix of things instead of fitting a theme like my other blog days. Most of the time it is event oriented and other times just something I need to share.


Jill M. Rohrbach
jillsjourneys@gmail.com

Have you made your reservations and purchased your tickets? The 2010 Eureka Springs Blues Weekend is coming up quick – June 3-6. Performers include multiple Blues Music Award (BMA) nominees and winners, multiple Grammy nominees and winners, and two Blues Hall of Fame members.

Headlining this year are John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite with The Table Rockers, and Magic Slim & The Teardrops. Featured artists include Bob Margolin, Shaun Murphy, Kelley Hunt, Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks, Otis Taylor, Shawn “Lil’ Slim” Holt, Marquise Knox, Albert Castiglia, and Fast Johnny Ricker. Also playing is Buddy Shute, Ozark Blues Society Solo Winner, and Isayah’s All Stars, Ozark Blues Society Band of the Year.

Clubs around town feature national and regional blues acts, and there are free blues shows in Basin Spring Park throughout the weekend. Scheduled acts include Doghouse Daddies, Earl & Them, Eef & The Groovy Blues Express, Levee Town, Mark Montgomery, Patrick Sweany, Penelope and The Unusual Suspects, Rich Berry, The Americans, and The Jug Band.

Opening the weekend is Bob Margolin and John Hammond with their concert in The Auditorium June 3. A 2008 Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Hammond has performed thousands of shows around the world, playing with superstars from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton. Hammond will feature material from his 2010 Grammy nominated album Rough & Tough, as well as hits from his 32 other albums.

Bob Margolin was Muddy Water’s long-time guitarist, and he’s also earned his own spotlight through the years. His performances with legends like Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Bob Stroger and Hubert Sumlin have helped introduce classic blues to a whole new generation. Margolin has been nominated for seven BMAs, and has twice been honored as Guitarist of the Year.

A full listing of venues and acts, as they become available, is online at EurekaSpringsBlues.com. Lodging and ticket packages will be available at many Eureka Springs area hotels. You can also look for specials on Hot Deals & Packages.

Blues Weekend is produced by an all-volunteer team. One hundred percent of all proceeds go to the Blues Foundation’s Handy Artist Relief Trust, which aids blues musicians with expenses, and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge the world’s largest sanctuary for neglected or abused “Big Cats.”