Nick Washburn - WMBS's own blues guitar wonderkid
Chili Blues Festival
Grand Haven - 4/21/2001
As you may already know, the WMBS participated in the annual Chili Blues Festival in Grand haven on April 21st. We came to sell our cool merchandise and ended up seeing a spectacular show! The festival is set up in a very large tent next to the water, and people flock from miles around for great chili, beer, and, most importantly, blues. What a great line-up!
To start things off, the experienced Lazy Lester jammed on his harp and sang while Jimmie Stagger and his band provided strong backup. This was quite a performance for being the show opener. I was impressed and everybody had a great time.
But the next act is what really caught the people's attention. Sunny Girl is her name, and playin' mean blues harp is her game. But get this, she is only 10 years old! She really was impressive, singing most of the songs herself, backed up by a very professional band. After the show I had a chance to interview her. Sunny Girl is from Detroit, and says that she has listened to blues her whole life. She learned to play harp from her father, who taught her the basic skills of the instrument. When asked who influenced her the most she replied, "Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells." Not only does she play great music, she listens to it as well. She is currently recording her first CD but doesn't have a release date scheduled. When you get the chance, make sure you see this act!
It seems like it would be difficult to top off Lazy Lester and the Sunny Girl, but somehow they did it. Lonnie Brooks and his band showed up to cap off the show. He is one of the most impressive guitar players I have ever seen. He reminds me of Gary Moore, with a huge aggressive guitar style and an extremely tight band to back. He played loud and hard, and was the perfect person to finish off the Chili Blues Festial. Hopefully, we will see you all there next year.
