(RENTIESVILLE, OK) – The Rentiesville Dusk to Dawn Blues Festival will be held August 30, 31, Sept 1 of Labor Day Weekend from 5 pm til 5 am. Admission is $18 and under 12 free. Chosen by Nat’l Geographic as one of the world’s “Ten Awesome Festivals to check out this Summer!” It’s a place where night owls dig the blues on three stages into the wee hours. Only one in the US they picked! Down home blues, Oklahoma-style with 200 musicians; 30 bands on 3 stages; a showcase of regional OK blues and 4 international headliners. Mark your calendar for Labor Day Weekend and come to the longest running big blues fest in Oklahoma. 2019 will be number 29 and counting!
Years of People having fun: The festival takes place in Rentiesville, the childhood home of famed blues singer/guitarist D.C. Minner, who founded the OBHOF in 2004 with his wife, Selby Minner. This year’s blues festival again brings in 200 performers from across Oklahoma and the US. D.C. Minner, in 7 Halls of Fame, is also an inductee of the Rhythm & Routes Oklahoma Music Trail. Visit the Rhythm & Routes website to learn more about the places in Oklahoma that inspired his career, listen to his music and browse an online collection of photos and videos. “The Oklahoma Film + Music Office is thrilled for the continued success of the OBHOF” said Deputy Director of Music Lindsey Flowers. “As an honoree on the Rhythm and Routes Oklahoma Music Trail, D.C. Minner has brought national attention to Oklahoma’s legendary blues music culture and this year’s Rentiesville celebrations will continue to honor his legacy.”
2019 Headliners Include: Knut Roppestadt (Norway), Bex Marshall (England), Watermelon Slim, Ronnie Stewart & The Oakland Blues Divas, Funkativity (Washington DC), Johnny Rawls (Soul Blues Artist Winner “California Shake”), Kelvin ‘Mr. Guitar’ Drake (toured world with Clarence Carter and worked with Solomon Burke and Bonnie Raitt), Harold Aldridge, Last Call, Pat Moss, Mike Moore Big Band, Jim Davis CHS Jazz Band, Roger Hurricane Wilson, Shy Willie, Leon Rollerson, D’elegantz, Sir Stan From La, Oklahoma Ollie In (Louisiana), Bebo McDaniel Trio, Cece Craig, Eric Little Brother Walker, Alice April, Sunsetter, Hydramatics, Craig Vaughan, John White, Cecil Gray, Wewoka Blues Band, Akeem Kemp (placed in IBC Youth Challenge in Memphis representing Arkansas), Selby Minner and Blues On The Move, Mike Moore Big Band, Bonnie McCoy (niece of the late great Memphis Minnie), Harley Cowboy Hamm (Checotah)…10+ Oklahoma Blues Hall of Famers on the show!
The Kid’s Village: (children under 12 are free and we keep them busy having fun while the music soaks in!) The OK State Arts Council roster artists and funding through a series of grants has helped keep the festival alive over these 21 years. Kid’s Village would not be complete without Joann McMillan and her stick puppets (which require lots of little hands to make them dance across the field).
Comments include: “World’s best – and largest – back yard party!” “This is peace as the world should know it!” A blues festival that is truly unique as it is a family event with lots for children to do – but not after midnight in the old Juke Joint – adults only, please! “You can see all the headliners by 11 pm, but night owls keep on and dig the blues from 5 pm til 5 am.”
Created by D.C. Minner himself with, and now presented by Selby Minner and the Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc., the old cotton field out back will ring with the blues! D.C. (1935-2008, in 7 Halls of Fame) knew they were bulldozing old juke joints every day and has kept his family legacy alive here in Rentiesville, where he was born and raised, for people to enjoy from now on. There is a Gospel Show to start the Festivities on Sunday. The outdoor part is the most family friendly Blues festival you will find.
Rentiesville is15 m, S of Muskogee, 125 m, E of OKC, 200 m. N of Dallas & 70 m SE of Tulsa I-40 at US 69.
Website, email or call (918) 855-0978.
