Back for more: North Bend Blues Walk returns for record-setting fourth year
Published 1:15 pm Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Saturday was a night of full houses in North Bend, and live music was on the menu everywhere downtown. The festival’s 21 venues filled up quickly and emptied out in trickles as Blues Walkers made their way around the city to see as many local, national and international performers as they could.
It was also a record night for the fourth annual North Bend Blues Walk, said Gregory Malcolm, executive director of sponsor Jazz Clubs NW. About 1,600 tickets to the event were distributed, he said, “which is a record for the Blues Walk.”
Jazz Clubs NW also sponsors the North Bend Jazz Walk in the spring, and while that event’s ticket sales have neared 2,000, Malcolm said both events continue to grow.
“They tend to draw different crowds,” he said, “and it’s really been neat that we have two distinct constituencies that are really enjoying these world-class events.”
World-class is not an exaggeration for a festival filled with performers with such awards as Vocalist of the Year (Stacy Jones, Elnah Jordan, Greta Matassa, Kevin Andrew Sutton), Lifetime Achievement from The Washington Blues Society (Nick Vigarino), and Best Traditional Blues Act, also from the Washington Blues Society (Brian lee and the Orbiters) and who have backed up music legends such as Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Taj Mahal, Lonnie Brooks and Susan Tedeschi.
