Switch to the mobile version of this page.

Arkansas Times

Rock Candy

Archives | RSS

« Bonnie Montgomery to tour with Goss… | Thursday To-Do: Back Room to the Ma… »

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What's going on / Music Thursday-Sunday To-Do: Hot Springs Blues Festival

Posted by Robert Bell on Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 11:25 AM

The Fabulous Thunderbirds play at the Hot Springs Blues Festival on Saturday.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds play at the Hot Springs Blues Festival on Saturday.

HOT SPRINGS BLUES FESTIVAL
8 p.m. The Ohio Club. $10-$15.

The 16th annual Hot Springs Blues Festival will once again convert the Spa City into an oasis for blues-lovers starting Thursday, with the festival kick-off party at the Ohio Club, with Jackson, Miss., bluesman Zac Harmon.

On Friday, there are a variety of afternoon workshops at Star Gallery that'll no doubt be useful for musicians, with topics such as lap steel guitar, music photography and using the iPad to record music. The music starts at Hill Wheatley Plaza at 5 p.m., with The Eric Hughes Band, Brandon Santini and his band, Ray Bonneville and another performance from Harmon. After-parties start at 9 p.m. at The Ohio Club, The Big Chill and Chunky Dunks.

Saturday's workshops start at noon, and include slide guitar, blues harmonica, Arkansas blues history, and a presentation from Joe Whitmer, deputy director of The Blues Foundation. The music starts at 4 p.m., and includes Ben "Swamp Donkey" Brenner, Clover Blue, First Step Blues Revue, the Marquis Knox Band, the Bart Walker Band and festival headliners The Fabulous Thunderbirds. There are more after-parties at the aforementioned clubs, as well as Fat Jack's, starting at 9 p.m.

On Sunday, there's the Festival Decompression Party at Fat Jack's starting at 2 p.m.

Tags: Hot Springs Blues Festival, Zac Harmon, The Fabulous Thunderbirds