Fabulous Thunderbirds, Sugaray Rayford, Walter “Wolfman” Washington Spark Seventh Annual Blast Furnace Blues Festival

Eastern Pennsylvania’s devoted blues community, as well as several fans from New Jersey and New York, showed up in enough force to make the seventh annual Blast Furnace Blues Festival at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA  a musical success March 23-15, 2018, despite featuring many unfamiliar names.That’s because, in a thoughtful gesture, the Festival focused on the Houston and Gulf Coast blues community to give more recognition and financial boost to that area that was devastated by hurricanes and flooding last year. Surely, there were widely known headliners too such as The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Bobby Rush. I was not able to attend Friday but caught the full days on Saturday and Sunday. Rather than going chronically, we’ll cover the Houston artists first.

John Egan is an accomplished guitarist and singer-songwriter who describes his music as lying between Lightnin’ Hopkins and Townes Van Zandt. Egan played resonator exclusively in both performances, finding a balance between his own material and such chestnuts as Hopkins’ “Mojo Hand.” One can sense a real comradery among the Houston musicians and The Mighty Orq, who has been dubbed Houston’s best guitarist several times, took the acoustic music to an even higher level, demonstrating his skills on the resonator, guitar, and making what looked like a cigar box guitar, sound like an electric cello. He had more pedals at his disposal than most electric guitarists.

Pianist Ezra Charles, bedecked in a pinstripe suit, gave a lesson in boogie-woogie piano, giving explanations of techniques and styles in between tunes. He’s written a book on the subject and was able to convey his message with humor without coming across too technically. Representing zydeco music which is indigenous to the Gulf Coast was one of the genre’s longest-running bands, Houston’s Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws. As expected, their music had more people dancing than sitting. Brad Absher& Swamp Royale, a five-piece unit, delivered a tasty mix of what Absher describes as his recipe – equal parts blues, soul, and gospel.

On Sunday Houston’s Queen of the Blues, 70-year-old Trudy Lynn, donned a blond wig, a tight-fitting black dress, and looked the part of a great entertainer. Backed by Steve Krase’sband and Krase’s energetic harp playing, Lynn demonstrated amazing vocal range and phrasing. Her set included too many standards but nonetheless, she was a major highlight. Royalty is easy to recognize. Lynn connected.

Sugaray Rayford, dubbed by a local DJ as “Howlin’ Wolf meets James Brown,” was a major hit with his unflagging enthusiasm, despite battling some severe cold symptoms. His seven-piece band was new and inevitably ragged in a few spots, but Rayford proved why he’s one of today’s biggest blues entertainers. The ubiquitous Slam Allen, by his own admission a bluesman and entertainer both, didn’t waste much time before wandering into the crowd playing his B.B. King medley. Allen, “The Soul Working Man,” has the complete package of guitar skills, powerful vocals, and showmanship as he delivered a set of his own material mixed with covers. The highlight was his interplay with a fan, whom he challenged to come on stage and play guitar. This fellow, incredibly, didn’t seem the least bit nervous and played capably with Allen’s band.The electrifying Toronzo Cannon is also a blues entertainer, regaling the audience with story songs from his award-winning The Chicago Way as well as some of his earlier Hendrix-inspired songs like “John the Conquer Root.”

New Orleans’ legendary Walter “Wolfman” Washington has been playing with his band, The Roadmasters, for 28 years now. The tightness was truly evident, finding that magical intersection of blues and jazz, and delivering uniquely soulful arrangements of such classics as “Share Your Love With Me.”

The Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson closed Saturday night. Unlike the other performers, their set seemed to be a mish-mash of recognizable tunes like “Tuff Enough” and “Wrap It Up” sandwiched in between lengthy inward directed jams. From my perspective and several that I spoke with, they just didn’t connect with the audience.

What better way to close the festival than with Bobby Rush on Sunday. The 85-year-old living legend still has his dancing moves, his crack band with some members who have been with him for over 35 years, and the crowd-pleasing curvy dancers. Rush takes entertainment to a whole other level as his 90-minute set was essentially a continuous stream of music and dialogue without interruption. He was drawing the balance between a blues show and the nightclub risqué type approach that made him famous on the chitlin circuit. There’s no one like Bobby Rush and nothing beats a Bobby Rush show.

The Blast Furnace Blues Festival appears to have stagnated in terms of attendance. Recognizing a certain region is a noble gesture for the art form, and it is a real boon for the ardent fan. The Houston artists were great but unfortunately, the regional focus doesn’t draw in the name-oriented casual blues fans. It was tough for these fans who didn’t even have a brochure, enabling them to learn about the artists. That dichotomy, along with a lack of widespread promotion per usual, kept attendance levels in the same range witnessed over the past few years. The music is consistently strong each year, but some tweaking seems needed to generate attendance growth.

Photos by Jeffrey Heller, Kevin Inman and Tina Pastor Perry

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