Singing and playing the blues

Singing and playing the blues

• Blues Fest opens at 6 p.m. Friday

Monique Headley, Stillwater NewsPress

At the crossroads of Red Dirt and cool blues, is the Stillwater Blues Fest.

From Friday to Sunday, the musical event is scheduled to take place at the Stillwater Community Center at Eighth Avenue and Duck Street.

The event is the largest free blues festival in Oklahoma, said center Manager Stephanie Gudgel. Nearly 12,000 people are expected to attend the weekend jamboree featuring 20-plus international, regional and local blues artists.

This year, the festival will include a children’s’ activities zone including an expanded Blues In The Schools program, Moonbounce inflatable and slide, professional clown, balloon art and face painting.

Additional festival entertainment includes the Stillwater Blues Idol contest. The family-oriented contest is open to all ages and exhibition of talent is limited only by the blues theme.

“Each year, the festival is a gift to the community,” said festival coordinator Gloria Short. “From when the first note is hit until the very last note is played, it’s about seeing the smiles on faces, toes tapping and people dancing ... It’s a blessing when you see people enjoy themselves ... It’s a big warm fuzzy.

“Music is the universal language and blues is well received. I love it,” Short said.

People should come prepared to enjoy a wide variety of blues music, festival food, beer, a new kids’ fun area and free parking, she said.

The event offers various styles of blues, including Delta, Texas and Chicago, that promise to be entertaining for all, Gudgel said.

“Each year, we look for a different twist on the blues,” Gudgel said.

To distill the best essence for the acclaimed festival, Short said, each year she reviews the submissions of around 100 artists.

“The artists enjoy the intimate setting and spread the word among other artists,” Short said.

With performance slots at a premium, said Short, Stillwater has been able to secure coveted artists including W.C. Handy award winners Janiva Magness — winner of Female Blues Artist, two-time Grammy award winner John Lee Hooker Jr. and Australian recording artist Eugene Hideaway Bridges — a nephew of Tina Turner and son to Hideaway Slim.

Other performers include Robin Rogers, Mike Zito, Oklahoma native Garrett “Big G” Jacobson, Big Red and the Soul Benders, Red River Mudcats from Texas, the Blues Foundation’s 2006 Keeping the Blues Alive in Education Award winner David Berntson, the Duo-Sonics, the Jack Carlton Band, the Roland Bowling Band, Jennifer Marriott, the Arterbery Band and harmonica virtuoso RJ Mischo.

As an educator and entertainer, Berntson said, on Thursday and Friday he will be doing an all-day seminar in Stillwater schools. The purpose is to review the history of blues music and instruments including the guitar, which originated from a one-stringed, west African instrument called the cora, and the harmonica, which dates back thousands of years to a Chinese instrument called the sheng.

Berntson will offer harmonica lessons to children from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday According to Berntson, 150 engraved harmonicas have been specially created for the instruction session.

“I blend live skills with arts education ... there is a correlation between arts education, academic performance and enhanced character development,” Berntson said.

For more information about Berntson, visit www.crossroadslearning.org.

According to the event organizers, the festival was started in 1998 to celebrate the musical heritage of blues. By 2001, the community center began coordination of the event and won the Oklahoma Tourism Red Bud Award.

The Oklahoma Blues Society refers to the festival as “one of the best shows in Oklahoma”.

For more information, visit bluesfest.stillwater.org.