Published Wednesday, October 06, 2010 3:38 PM
Updated Wednesday, October 06, 2010 3:39 PM
Take a short road trip over to my hometown of Camden, S.C. for the 14th annual Down-home Carolina Blues Fest.
Before all of the local tourist-oriented organizations get up in arms over this, allow me to say up front that I know I probably shouldn’t be promoting such events in other areas. After all, I live and work in the Lowcountry now and should therefore be commenting on all the wonderful stuff we have going on right here. On the other hand, I have several ulterior motives. One, this area already has a blues festival, the big brother of the one in Camden, in fact, so those folks that go to Camden will also undoubtedly come here in February – blues lovers are that kind of a crowd.
Two, I have personal interest in the festival, since I was there from its infancy and like an indulgent uncle, take pride in the accomplishments of this growing being, even though I didn’t do any actual parenting. No, that honor would have to go to other folks, most notably Gary Erwin, Danny Riddick, and a host of folks working with the Kershaw County Fine Arts Center. I was more of a pack mule back then. In fact, that would probably be a pretty good blues name for me: Blind Uncle Pack Mule.
Finally, if I can swing it, I would love to score a couple of free tickets for shamelessly serving up some good press for this gig.
Just kidding, of course – the festival doesn’t need my endorsement; it’s doing just fine on its own.
In fact, what I would really like to do is get enough people from this area to go see what a great event it is and start thinking about having something similar here. We already have potential help here in the ’hood; Gary Erwin, Charleston’s own Shrimp City Slim, is actually behind the Lowcountry Blues Bash in Charleston and is also deeply involved with the Carolina Downhome Blues Festival in Camden, having helped get it off the ground in 1997.
These events are a little different than what many people might believe a music festival is all about.
Yes, there are many bands and multiple venues, but the idea is to keep the venues fairly small and close to each other. That way, the crowd never gets too big and out of control, making for a really up-close-and-personal musical experience. Plus, with the pub-crawl format, one never has to get behind the wheel of a car; just walk – or stagger as it were – from one venue to the next.
Believe me; it works. Right now the Camden festival has not only lasted longer than most businesses in town, it has grown in both artistic stature and sheer popularity. People from literally all over the world block out this weekend to attend – and they stay in town for several days at a time. In fact – and pay attention here, public officials -- it is one of the largest, if not the largest, generator of A-tax revenues for the town of Camden and for Kershaw County.
But most of all it’s a lot of fun, both for fans and musicians. I’ve had more musicians over the years tell me how much they enjoyed the format and appreciated the enthusiasm of the audiences, the competence of the technical staff, and the sheer royal treatment they receive while they’re in town. I’ve met people from all over the world – even had a blues band from Argentina as temporary roommates one year – and I see a lot of the same out of town faces come back every year.
But don’t take my word for it. Go get your groove on yourself.
And for everyone back home, well, I’ll see y’all this weekend!