Saturday in the park! The Santa Clarita Valley Blues Festival & BBQ in the Park.
Saturday in the park! The Santa Clarita Valley Blues Festival & BBQ in the Park.
Saturday, June 4th, 2011 – 28502 Seco Canyon, Santa Clarita, CA 91390
I attend a lot of festivals but few of them benefit a better cause than this one. All of the proceeds from this event for the past four years go to the Tom Bolewski Special Needs Trust. Tom is a regular guy just like me and you who went for a bike ride one day and after a non fatal crash found himself paralyzed and in need of help. His community, the tight knit Santa Clarita Valley stepped up. There are a long list of those who have stepped up to help starting with everyone who attends this event and those like my friend Lynn Parker and the Santa Clarita Valley Blues Society who sponsor the event every year.
You can click: www.tomsrecovery.com to get all the details on who benefits and why. I personally can’t think of a better way to spend a few bucks and a day in the park than by helping someone so deserving.
You can feel the fellowship at this event, I’ve attended three of the last four of these Saturdays in the park and they keep getting bigger and better each year.
The blues society team up with the fire department and other sponsors every year to throw this party and this year was no different, with help from the Santa Clarita FD, The US Marines, Andy Gump, Castex, SOS Entertainment, The Running Monkey, Radio Buzz’d, Axis 4 Studios and me, MusicUCanSee Productions and others the event went off without a hitch.
There was tons of great food (those firemen know how to bbq!!) Firetruck rides for the kids (I tried to hitch a ride but couldn’t quite pass for ‘under 12′) and a car show with some of the sweetest rides in So Cal. (pictures below). Not to mention a full day of smokin’ hot live blues music provided by the SCVBS members.(listed below)
and the ‘Hostess with the most’
The line up this year included some of my favorite local acts and everyone who played seemed to put a little something extra into their performance be it for the special cause or the park full of hundreds of fans I’m not sure but everyone who took the stage, left it sizzling and a crowd screaming for more.
If you read my stuff you’ve heard the name Teresa James (pictured above) before, she’s an awesome singer and musician and also happened to be the emcee at this event.
Teresa stayed real busy this day between being the hostess with the mostess and being invited on stage to sing with at least three of the artists who performed, the most memorable for me was when she closed the show with headliner Michael John and the Bottom Line (photo below)with a Ray Charles tune that simply cooked!
As I mentioned above, my partners over at Axis 4 Studios and I were on hand with our video cameras and we captured every act with six cameras and a sweet audio recording thanks to my buddy Bill Ruffino who was clearly the busiest guy all day between running sound and playing bass in at least one of the acts on stage. Bill had some help from my friends, Christene and Dave Gillespie and the three share the MVP award for the day. Y’all rock (and thanks for the sandwich!)
Everybody had a great time, we got to meet Tom and see first hand the progress he’s made in the past year (incredible) and when he stood up out of his wheelchair and told the crowd that it wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts it made everything else in life pale in comparison. To Tom, Lynn, Bill, The FD, The Marines, all the artists, sponsors and especially YOU, the fans, See ya next year and …Thanks for the ride!!
The Santa Clarita Valley Blues Festival
Story and photos by:
Casey Reagan
For: American Blues News
all rights reserved 2011
