Weekend Blues Festival kicks off tonight

THUNDER BAY – Organizers of this year’s Blues Fest are optimistic the latest edition of the city’s popular music festival has the strongest and most exciting lineup yet.

The 14th annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival will kick off Friday and run through until Sunday night, with 20 acts scheduled to take the stage over the three days.

Spokesman Trevor Hurtig said organizers are hoping for total weekend attendance numbers of 20,000 people at Marina Park.

“So far things look like they’re pretty well on track for where they’ve been in previous years,” he said.

This year’s lineup is one of the most diverse the festival has presented, with country and rock featured prominently alongside the traditional blues the event has built itself upon.

Hurtig said Friday night headliner Johnny Reid has generated significant buzz since the lineup was unveiled.

Reid, an award-winning country crooner who blends in a folk sound, marks the first time organizers have courted that genre.

“I think that’s going to bring out a new crowd that hasn’t necessarily been down to the festival before,” Hurtig said. “We’re always thinking that we want a lineup that blues people will appreciate but at the same trying to entice a few new people.”

The Saturday slate is headlined by the return of two former popular acts, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle and the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band.

The 46-year-old Doyle is flying solo two years after the band’s draw helped deliver record attendance for the festival while Shepherd, who will satisfy the blues purists, is back seven years after his last appearance.

The festival closes on Sunday with a bill that is capped by legendary rock singer Paul Rodgers, who is best known for his time leading Bad Company.

Organizers had to make one change to the lineup, substituting in blues singer and guitarist Walter Trout after Lukas Nelson cancelled to open for Neil Young.

While there was excitement for Nelson, who is the son of Willie Nelson, Hurtig said the addition of Trout has electrified blues fans.
This is the first year the festival will be operating with a smoke-free policy.

“We’ve had a little bit of negative reaction but overall it’s been quite positive,” Hurtig said. “By and large, people are recognizing this is a trend that’s happening with the city passing their own smoke-free policy and a lot of what we were doing was in response to provincial legislation.”

That’s not to say smokers are being told to stay home. Just not to light up in the festival area.

“We are doing the best we can to accommodate smokers wherever possible. There’s an area just outside the main gate over on the grass we selected as a spot that probably is the most convenient for people to smoke,” he said.