Columbia gears up for Roots 'N Blues
The festival will feature a ticketed area this year to cover costs.
Published Sept. 25, 2009
The third annual Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ festival is set to begin in downtown Columbia, but unlike past years, seeing the best of the entertainment won't be free.
To cover the rising costs of the event, Thumper entertainment and the city of Columbia agreed to have ticketed areas for this year's event. The ticketed area will include two of the event's three stages, one of which is in Peace Park. Door prices for tickets will cost $15 for the day and $25 for a weekend pass.
Customers buying tickets for the festival can expect to see several award-winning artists, despite headlining musician Dan Tyminski's illness-related cancellation, which was announced Thursday afternoon.
Tyminski has contracted a serious case of bronchitis and the John Cowan Band will replace his previously scheduled Saturday performance.
One of the first bands performing at Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ is the Music Maker Revue. This group is a collaboration of low-income musicians put together by the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which helps support older artists who perform in a southern musical tradition. The non-profit foundation helps artists meet their daily needs if their yearly income is less than $18,000. Seven artists will perform on the Peace Park stage Friday at 5:15 p.m.
At the same time, on the Seventh and Locust streets stage, The Wilders are playing traditional country music. Reputed for satisfying audiences, The Wilders bring high-tempo banjo- and fiddle-driven songs to the stage. Some slower piano ballads balance the more dynamic jams, but overall they are known to keep their shows full of energy. In 2008, the band won the Best of Kansas City -- Best Country Band award.
The headline act for Friday night at the Seventh and Locust streets stage is Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. The Austin-based musician is influenced by both James Brown and Lightnin' Hopkins. Lewis mixes funk and blues into his songs, which piece together everything from spoken lyrics to horns, for a combination of older blues sounds and modern rock. He has opened for musical acts Spoon and Okkervil River, showing Lewis' music can appeal to a wide audience.
Another act headlining Friday night's festivities is Pinetop Perkins. Perkins, a 95-year-old Mississippi native, began playing piano around 1927. Perkins, who played for 12 years as part of the Muddy Waters Band, is considered by many to be one of best blues pianists alive.
Saturday sees the biggest names of the festival coming to downtown Columbia. The Grammy-nominated SteelDrivers, slated to perform at 7 p.m. in Peace Park, are straight from Nashville, Tenn. Mixing bluegrass roots with soul, the band features a banjo, mandolin, fiddle, stand-up bass and guitar. Before forming this band, which came out with its first album in 2008, the five members were all previously established artists. With layered strings completing their vocals, the SteelDrivers create multi-faceted harmonies, which give a fresh take on bluegrass music.
Joining the ranks of performers is gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama. Although they are focused on gospel songs, the Boys are also able to incorporate blues, jazz and R&B into their style. Their four-part harmonies have won them four Grammy awards and collaborations with artists of all types. Acclaimed for their genre-expanding musical elements, they have been able to attract a wide variety of audiences.
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