Big Walter Smith will be missed this weekend.
The Big Man of the Blues, as he was affectionately known, thanks to a decades-long career that saw him take the stage alongside the likes of Albert Collins and B.B. King, died last July.
Smith, whose band the Groove Merchants will carry on his legacy in their traditional Saturday afternoon slot at the Thunder Bay Blues Festival, was a fan favourite wherever he played.
Thunder Bay was like a second home to Smith, where festival organizers each year presented him with a birthday cake on stage, a tradition fans had come to love.
Big Walter, the first blues musician inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, always had a smile on his face.
He’d spend Blues Festival weekend camped at the side of the stage, perched on his scooter watching the remainder of the weekend’s acts, soaking up everything the festival had to offer.
He’d chat with anyone who stopped by to say hello, his smile ever present.
Fittingly, festival organizers plan to honour Big Walter’s memory this weekend with a special ceremony Saturday afternoon.
The Thunder Bay Blues Festival will carry on without Big Walter Smith, but it will never quite be the same ever gain. Count yourself lucky if you happened to catch him play.
