Freedom Creek Festival 2009 -
Blues Bits – Freedom Creek Festival
Friday 29th May and Saturday 30th May
The Freedom Creek Blues Festival has been bringing great blues artists to the heart of the Alabama black belt for over ten years and this year is no exception. Very sadly, the founder and inspiration of this festival, outstanding bluesman Willie King, passed away earlier this year . . . but the festival lives on!
As in previous year, the festival is presented by the Rural Members Association, a non-profit organization also founded by Willie King, dedicated to preserving and promoting local rural arts and culture. The festival will take place in the same deep in the woods location it has occupied for the last twelve years and will feature a great lineup of international and regional performers, along with free camping, local food and a warm welcome for all.
The festival kicks off on Friday afternoon around 4pm with gospel singing from Julius Conner and then its blues all the way, headlining Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm along with Taylor Moore, Little Willie Farmer, Caleb Childs and the Old Memphis Kings, Willie Lee Halbert, Venessia Young and the Pure Blues Express, Michael Carpenter and many more.
Saturday starts with gospel singing from the Reverend Bob Little at 11am followed by young performers from the Alabama Blues Project’s blues camp program, the Alabama blues women revue featuring Caroline Shines, Sweet Claudette, Shar Baby and Debbie Bond, plus “Birmingham” George Conner, Pat Moss, Clarence Davis, Pat Moss, Big Joe Shelton, Tod Johnson and Jock Webb and a host of other artists. The day features the superlative Kenny Neal, and great Alabama harmonica master Jerry “Boogie” McCain, and will end jamming out to the sound of the Liberators.
Thanks to generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Black Belt Community Foundation and Musicmaker Foundation, plus assistance from the Alabama Blues Project, admission can be kept very low - a suggested donation of $10 on Friday and $12 on Saturday.
“. . . To get there, you pull in off the paved road, drive past the two sagging white trailers, slip through the break in the trees, cross the freshly mowed field and park near the stand of maple, oak and pine . . .”
For more information please check the web site at http://www.willie-king.com, call (205) 752 6263 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Scheduled for May 29, 2009 at 04:00 PM
