Over-the-Rhine is getting the winter blues. And that’s a good thing.
The Winter Blues Fest will try to turn OTR into a mini-Beale Street Friday and Saturday as the annual event moves from Newport to four venues on Main and Walnut streets in Over-the-Rhine.
The event will be held at three clubs in Over-the-Rhine: The Drinkery, Japp’s Annex and Below Zero. A fourth Main Street stage at the former Harry’s Pizza, currently vacant, is being reopened for the occasion as an all-ages venue that will feature the Blues in the Schools Band and other acts.
The move comes after the closing Jan. 1 of Newport’s Southgate House, brought about by a protracted family legal battle. (The owner says he plans to reopen it with a different name, Thompson House.)
The Winter Blues Fest became the first major casualty of the Southgate going dark sending the fest’s sponsor, the Cincy Blues Society, scrambling late last year to find another location for its seven-year-old event that has become a must-see for local blues fans as an annual sampler of local blues talent.
With more than a dozen acts each night, the festival was a perfect fit at the Southgate House, showing why the venue was so valuable for multi-band showcases with three stages under its one rustic roof.
“At first, I was very frustrated. We had sold out the Southgate three years in a row for the Winter Blues Fest,” said James Czar, president of the Cincy Blues Society.
“But now I’m glad we got the kick in the pants. It has forced us to go somewhere where we can keep growing this event. We have a lot more capacity with four venues. OTR clubs have been very welcoming.”
Moving the event to OTR reflects a continued resurgence in the Main Street strip, which has seen several clubs open in recent months. It hearkens to the bustling Main Street entertainment district in the late ’90s when live music was featured at many clubs and themed multi-band events took place among several venues. Last year, the Midpoint Music Festival returned to the neighborhood, centering its 200-band festival in OTR locations.
Indeed, Czar said the blues society’s long range dream would be to go all out for a fall blues event in Over-the-Rhine that would try to capture, for a weekend at least, the Memphis Beale Street blues vibe by involving several clubs, closing off streets for outdoor stages and perhaps booking a major blues act at the refurbished Emery Theater.
But for now the Cincy Blues Society will try to convince blues lovers that some Over-the Rhine club-hopping will be just as rewarding as the cozy Southgate confines. The event, showcasing local acts, is a counterpoint to the nonprofit group’s summer blues festival that features predominately national acts.
Over two nights 30 acts will be featured on the four stages. Among the highlights:
Friday’s headliner is blues-rock guitar slinger Kelly Richey. The new year marked a return to performing for the Cincinnati favorite, who took a year off from touring.
Saturday’s headliner features guitarist/harp player RB Stone out of Nashville, the only act not from the region.
There are plenty of traditional jump blues and party blues-rock groups, such as Leroy Ellington, G Miles, Ricky Nye, Inc., and Blues Merchants, mixed in with some quieter, but edgy, acoustic blues acts, like 46 Long, Bad Men on a Mission, John Rendell and Brian Keith Wallen.
On the reunion front, bassist Ron Esposito hooks up with his old band mate, guitarist/vocalist Greg Schaber. The two formed the core of the popular power trio, the High Street Rhythm Rockers, in the ’90s. One artist reinventing himself for the occasion is Wade Baker, better known around town for his jazz trumpet work. Baker picks up the electric bass for his blues trio that features young harmonica player Carson Diersing.
The event is the major annual fundraiser for the nonprofit Cincy Blues Society’s Blues in the Schools Program (BITS). The Harry’s Pizza venue will feature students involved in the BITS band.
The venue is all-ages and does not require a wristband ticket.
