Wednesday, May 13, 2009

First Silver Spring Blues Festival: A Huge Success



The first Silver Spring Blues Festival at Downtown Silver Spring was a huge success. Held on Saturday, May 9th on Ellsworth Drive, the festival attracted hundreds of blues fans and casual spectators under sunny skies.

The festival featured international bluesman "Memphis Gold" and his band which included legendary harmonica player Charlie Sayles and popular vocalist Black Betty. Other featured acts were Three Chords and the Truth, Silver Spring guitarist Jonny Grave, the DC Blues Society Band and the Capital Blues Ensemble. WPFW radio personality Ida Campbell was the festival emcee.


Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett attended the Silver Spring Blues Festival as did Montgomery County Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, Marc Elrich, George Leventhal, and Maryland State Delegate Tom Hucker.




In addition to Stokey the Clown, facepainting, and crafts activities led by Pyramid Atlantic, the musical petting zoos organized by the DC Blues Society and Dale Music were extremely popular.



The Silver Spring Blues Festival was produced by the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc., in partnership with the DC Blues Society, Montgomery College, PFA Silver Spring LLC, Three Keys Music, the Silver Spring Regional Services Center, the Silver Spring Penguin and the Silver Spring Voice.

The festival was videotaped by Montgomery Community Television for broadcast later this year.


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