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September 16, 2004
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September 16, 2004 |
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Largest Blues Fest to date draws more than 7,000 to dance, eat and party
The scents of Cajun creole gumbo, strawberry funnel cake and chicken on a stick mingled in the air last Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of people roamed the lawn around the Antioch Amphitheater. Children dashed about, teenagers hung out, and adults relaxed on blankets and lawn chairs as they swayed to the sound of the blues on a crisp and sunny September day. It was, of course, the ninth annual AACW Blues Fest, the weekend musical extravaganza, celebration of diversity and community party put on by African American Cross-Cultural Works. “It’s the highlight of the year to me. The village of Yellow Springs is always so welcoming,” Dayton musician and actor Gary Pritchett said after performing on the Innovation Stage. “It’s the best kept secret in Ohio.” But the event didn’t appear to be much of a secret, as some who attended drove many miles, and by Saturday night AACW organizers estimated that about 7,000 people had attended, the biggest Blues Fest yet. Saturday afternoon Deborah Jessie of Columbus brought her whole family — children, Montana and Dylan, and “significant other,” Virgil — who stretched out on a blanket and helped themselves to sandwiches from their cooler. It was the family’s first visit to Yellow Springs, they said, and they’d spent some time roaming downtown. They liked what they saw, and planned to return sometime soon. It was the third blues festival for Marlene Crane of Dayton, who brought with her on Saturday two lawn chairs and a friend, settling in for a stay long into the evening. “We come down because it’s so relaxing down here, everyone’s laid back,” she said. “It’s a place where you can relax and not worry and listen to good music.” John Patrick of Middletown stood at the booth of his Centerville gutter cleaning company, which had sought a presence at the festival to increase its public exposure. But personally, Patrick said, he just enjoyed listening to the music and watching people. “I love Yellow Springs. It’s a breath of fresh air,” he said. “The people here are a melting pot.” Celebrating that melting pot — the diversity of the village, and of human beings in general — was exactly what Faith Patterson, the late Bill Chappelle and others had in mind almost 10 years ago when they organized the first Blues Fest, Patterson said in an interview on Monday. After attending a similar festival in Oregon, Patterson came back to Yellow Springs convinced that AACW should organize its own event. She envisioned that such an event would promote understanding by providing ways for different kinds of people to both share a good time and learn about each others’ cultures. “I wanted it to be an educational experience,” she said. “The more we know about each other, the more we can live together in harmony.” Almost a decade later, the Blues Fest clearly serves its purpose, bringing together people old and young, black and white, local and out-of-towners, for both learning experiences and a very good time. This year’s event was the culmination of the efforts of about 180 volunteers, said Patterson, who began planning last December. The 2004 festival began with the Gospel Fest at the Central Chapel AME Church last Wednesday night, during which gospel groups from Wittenberg, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Yellow Springs and Springfield churches performed, said Patterson. “We start with the Gospel Fest because that’s where the history begins, where the blues came from,” she said. The event was followed on Thursday evening by the Master Educational Music Workshop at Antioch’s Herndon Gallery. The event’s educational component continued on Friday, when several blues and jazz musicians, along with a rap group, presented a workshop on their art forms at Wittenberg. The Blues Fest kicked into full swing Friday, after venders set up their wares next to the Antioch Theater. Under the lights visitors could stuff themselves with fish boats, bourbon chicken, lemon shake-ups and java milkshakes or take home African masks, artsy clothing and an array of CDs and musical items. People streamed in Friday night to hear the W.G. Blues Band, Piney Brown and His Swift Boat Blues Band, the local band Dr. Skillet, guitarist John Primer, and a jam with saxophonist Houston Person, bass player Eddie Brookshire, drummer Michael Wimberly, pianist Onaje Allen Gumbs, cellist Karen Paterson and guitarist Nerak Roth Patterson. By late Friday evening people crowded the dance floor, boogieing to the blues under the stars. Visitors kept coming on Saturday afternoon, listening to a variety of musicians on the Innovation Stage. A hometown highlight was the performance of a Florida-based rap group managed by former Yellow Springs resident Tony Wishart, who now lives in Florida. It was great to be home, said Wishart, who this year formed, with a friend, New Breed Entertainment, a company that manages both musicians and athletes. “There’s nothing better than being here,” Wishart said. “It’s real love. It’s unconditional.” Local political activists enjoyed the music as well from their seats at a voter registration table near the amphitheater entrance. By Saturday night more than 80 people had been registered, according to Susan Carpenter. On Saturday night Noah Wotherspoon, Mark Laurens and Zydeco Fire, guitarist Guy Davis, Shaun Booker and the New Breed, the Nerak Roth Patterson Band and Lil Ed and The Blues Imperials performed inside the packed amphitheater. Crowds of people roamed outside the venue as well, and over at the Java House booth, employees ran out of ice cream and coffee to make their frozen drinks. The fenced-in beer garden also enjoyed a brisk business, but everyone stayed on good behavior and Yellow Springs police reported no problems. By 11 p.m. Saturday as the wail of Roth Patterson’s blues guitar wafted over much of the northwest edge of the village, several hundred people stood swaying shoulder to shoulder on the amphitheater’s dance floor, their most energetic moves constricted by the sheer volume of humanity. But no one seemed to mind that their dance steps had been superseded by a huge group hug. On Monday, still high on the festival’s wave of energy, community and blues, Patterson pronounced the event a success. “It gets better and better every year,” he said. “And next year is the 10th anniversary, and it will be better yet.” |
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