W.C. Handy Festival in Henderson Gears up for 18th Annual Bluegrass Blowout 

The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival has become one of the largest free music festivals in the nation, drawing attendants from just about every state and many countries. The festival is a celebration of the life and legacy of Henderson resident and "Father of the Blues," William Christopher Handy. According to legend, the Alabama born composer and his band were traveling home from the postponed Chicago World's Fair in 1892 when they ran out of money in St. Louis. Work was scarce there, so Handy left the rest of the band and headed to Evansville, Indiana.

            In need of funds, Handy worked on a street paving crew and joined a local band that performed throughout the region. While the group played at a Henderson barbecue, he met Elizabeth Price, who soon became his wife.

Photography | Encarta 2008

            Handy spent nearly a decade in Henderson before moving on, eventually to be recognized as an accomplished composer of the blues and spiritual music. In his autobiography Father of the Blues, Handy said, "I didn't write any songs in Henderson, but it was there I realized that experiences I had had, things I had seen and heard could be set down in a kind of music characteristic of my race. There I learned to appreciate the music of my people. Then the blues were born, because from that day on, I started thinking about putting my own experience down in that particular kind of music."

            His dedication to preserving the blues as an art form and his body of work in spiritual music inspired the Henderson Music Preservation Society, Inc. to organize a festival that would celebrate the life and musical accomplishments of W. C. Handy.              

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See the entire schedule and updates at:  www.handyblues.org

Saturday, June 7, 2008

10:00 AM        COMMNITY EVENT: 8th Annual Poker Run
                        Sponsored by the Masonic Lodges of Henderson

11:00 AM        FOOD: "Taste of Henderson",
sponsored by The Gleaner Food serving 11:30 AM       MUSIC: Chad Nordhoff

1:00 PM         MUSIC: Mojo Peddlers
Mojo Peddler plays a unique blend of southern style blues and swing.

  3:00 PM         MUSIC: Velveeta Jones
From central Kentucky in the heart of the Bluegrass State, we bring you the best in raw electric blues and more.

  5:30 PM         MUSIC: The Daddy Mack Blues Band

Sunday, June 8, 2008

   7:00 PM        COMMNITY EVENT: The Browne Sisters in concert
Free & open to the public. Bring your lawn chair or blanket for this outdoor event. Rain Site: Zion UCC sanctuary.

Monday, June 9th, 2008

11:45 AM        LUNCH BREAK: TBA

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

11:45 AM        LUNCH BREAK: TBA

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

  5:30 PM         MUSIC: Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang

  7:15 PM         MUSIC: Ana Popovic
  9:15 PM         Ronnie Baker Brooks (Audubon Mill Park)
Brooks' twist involves enlivening blues-rock with deep soul and modern hip-hop vocals and funk rhythms.                      

Thursday, June 12, 2008

11:45 AM        LUNCH BREAK: TBA

5:30 PM         MUSIC: Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp

8:30 PM         MUSIC: Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band (Audubon Mill Park) Pure Louisiana zydeco fun with a hot sauce chaser.

Friday, June 13, 2008

12:00 PM         MUSIC: Blues 4U

 4:00 PM          MUSIC: The Stella Vees

 6:00 PM          MUSIC: The Beat Daddys

Reunited through a freak of nature, Beat Daddys co-founders Larry Grisham and Tommy Stillwell are setting the stage ablaze with their distinctive hybrid of rockin’ blues.

 8:00 PM          MUSIC: Tad Robinson

Robinson places near the top of the list of the finest living singers of soul blues. His upward-bound voice is of a genuinely handsome quality and he uses it with  confidence.

10:00 PM         MUSIC: Zac Harmon (Audubon Mill Park)

Zac Harmon is returning to his roots after several decades expressing an unbiased love for music.

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

12:00 PM         MUSIC: Jimmy Duck Holmes

 2:00 PM         MUSIC: BooBoo Davis Band

 4:00 PM         MUSIC: Organiks

The Organiks music is a fresh and exciting take on American Blues, Roots and Countrified Soul!   

8:00 PM         MUSIC: Big James and the Playboys

10:00 PM         MUSIC: Bernard Allison (Audubon Mill Park)
  Bernard Allison totes the same smokin’ six string shooter that his late father Luther Allison assaulted the blues with.