Page 59 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2024 Digital Edition

Garvin Gate Blues Festival
In 1988, Louisville’s Garvin Gate Neighborhood
Association conceived of an annual event to raise money for
the association and bring Old Louisville’s diverse community
together for a one-day blues festival on Garvin Place. It
was deemed a success, and a beloved tradition was born.
The following year, the County Judge’s Jefferson Discovery
Program sponsored the event, financing its extension to two
days. Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater was the headliner,
jamming with the crowd late into the night. The Garvin Gate
Blues Festival continues to draw large crowds by featuring
both local talent and headliners hailing from Chicago to
Mississippi. In 2015, co-producers Howard Rosenberg and
Mike Suttles featured Big Bill Morganfield, Muddy Waters’
son, and Bob Margolin, Muddy’s guitarist during the 1970s,
to honor the centennial of Muddy’s birth. Suttles continues to
book outstanding, racially diverse national and local acts,
ever mindful of the African American blues tradition. Since
1989, the Kentuckiana Blues Society has presented their
Sylvester Weaver Award at the festival to honor an individual
that has made significant contributions in fostering Kentucky’s
blues tradition. Due to its urban location, the festival attracts a
wonderfully diverse group; Black and white, young and old,
Mary Ann Fisher. Photo by Keith Clements rich and poor and everyone in between gather for a common
cause, enjoying the blues.
The spirit of the 1931 Victor recording session returned
on December 17, 1993, when 84-year-old Henry Townsend
returned to Louisville for the first time since those recordings
were made. He performed with Leroy Peterson at the Kentucky
Center for the Performing Arts; the Center now occupies the
same Main Street location as the former warehouse where the
Victor sessions took place.
After World War II, there was little connection to the
prewar blues scene, jazz having become more popular at
the main clubs, but the era from the 1950s through the 1970s
nurtured a new generation of musicians that created a vibrant
scene. Local blues bands and musicians included the Morgan
Brothers (Luther and Dave), Tweedlin’ Tom Towell, Edgar
“Eggie” Porter, Ed Chestnut Sr., Benny Holton, Cliff Butler,
John “Preacher” Stephens, John Woods, Louis Jackson, Kid
Pete and Mary Ann Fisher.
The 1980s and 1990s featured Foree Wells (Walnut
Street Blues Band), Henry Woodruff, Fred Murphy, Joe Wells,
Junie “Smoketown Red” Downs, B.B. Taylor, Billy Bird and
Richard “Kush” Griffith. More recently, Sonny Sitgraves and
Billy Bird performed with the 10 Street Blues Band, and
th
currently, Robbie Bartlett, The Stella Vees, Tanita Gaines,
One Shot Johnny, Tyrone Cotton, da Mudcats, Walnut Street
Rhythm and Blues Band, Boscoe France, The Saints, TeeDee
Young, Sheryl Rouse, Court and Laurie Jane Duggins, Mark
“Big Poppa” Stampley and others are carrying the torch for
Kentucky’s blues legacy. Though most of the dedicated blues
venues and clubs have disappeared, these musicians have
the support of regional and local blues festivals, Stevie Ray’s
Blues Bar and the Kentuckiana Blues Society. Sheryl Rouse and TeeDee Young. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Rouse

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