From http://banchoryheadbangers.blogspot.com/
We discovered this event (www.wvbbf.org) was on whilst we were in Oregon and it sounded like too good an opportunity to miss, so, on Saturday morning, we all drove north up the I5 to the twin towns of Springfield/Eugene - about halfway to Portland.
The event is only in its 3rd year but, as you can see from the web site, although most are unknown to European ears, there's a large cast of artistes, and pretty good they were too. A number were relatively local Oregonians, but several do the blues circuit all over the States.
It's a delightful riverside setting in a corner of one of the local parks. They chose the site well as it has a number of tall, mature trees, affording plenty of shade. There were 3 stages, one of which was in the Kids' Zone. There was a small acoustic stage near the beer tent but this was the main stage setting very early on Saturday afternoon:
Not exactly crowded at that time, was it? It did get busier later, but it was all very laid back and there were just enough people there to create a nice vibe, without the atmosphere being spoilt by too many.
I enjoyed the acoustic stage in the afternoon - a couple of nice micro brews and some blues music - what's not to like? Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3vlGRtKdOE for a small sample.
We also watched a bit of Michael "Hawkeye" Herman's (http://www.hawkeyeherman.com/) impromptu afternoon set. He was the closing act on the acoustic stage on Saturday night, but this set was an added extra. He finished with St James' Infirmary, which he said was based on a 17th Century Scottish tune - first time I've heard that! He came down from the stage and did a mini walkabout - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXBjPbpFtlU&feature=related
Eventually we went back to our hotel for a quick swim, freshen up, and something to eat, before returning to see some of the evening performers, the best of which by far was David Vest (http://davidvestband.com/dvb/Home.html), Alabama born and bred and a boogie woogie keyboard star, who used to back Big Joe Turner in the 60's. He looked like a typical redneck southern good ole boy, but he could play the blues alright. We couldn't help people watching as he was playing - check out the exhibitionist dancing here as he played an old Willie Dixon tune, with some modern politics thrown in - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDlJdEQfBzo
A couple of other video snips of other acts can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31DjdRgLNZw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD-3DK7JAGA&feature=related
One noticeable feature about the festival was that virtually all the acts and the audience were white - but it was being held in the middle of Oregon after all.
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