Culture
River City Blues Festival returns to Marietta for 33rd year
By: Woohyuk Kong
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MARIETTA, Ohio (WOUB) — The Mid-Ohio Valley Blues, Jazz, and Folk Music Society (BJFM) returns to Marietta to host the 33rd River City Blues Festival, bringing rising stars and returning crowd favorites to the Lafayette Hotel (101 Front Street) from Friday, March 20 to Saturday, March 21.
Jay Phillips, president of BJFM, describes the festival as welcoming and high-energy.
“We have a large dance floor,” Phillips said. “We have the opportunity to see the artists up close both onstage and to meet them afterwards.”
The festival has historically been held at the Lafayette Hotel, which offers large event spaces, on-site lodging for out-of-town guests, and a location between the Ohio and Muskingum rivers.
Phillips said the festival gives both local residents and visitors a chance to come out after a long winter and enjoy live music in Marietta.
“It also helps the community economically, because we have people going to different restaurants and staying not only at the Lafayette Hotel, but at other hotels,” he said.
BJFM is a nonprofit organization that aims to bring nationally recognized artists and blues fans from across the country to Marietta. Revenue generated from the festival is used to promote roots music history education in the region and fund future live music events.
Austin Walkin’ Cane, a Cleveland native who has toured internationally, will perform at this year’s festival. He describes his style as “damn fine blues,” known for his gravelly vocals and slide guitar.
Phillips said he is excited about this year’s lineup, emphasizing the diversity of sound within the blues, jazz, and folk genres.
“Seven different acts with a variety of genres of blues music. We have acoustic music, we have real electric blues, we have danceable music, and we have music that people like to sit and listen to,” Phillips said.
Walkin’ Cane also credited Marietta as a turning point in his career, going from local band member to international solo artist.
“Marietta was the one that opened it up. And then I went to Memphis and met a lot of people there that totally changed a lot of stuff in a positive way,” he said.
He first performed in Marietta in 2006, winning a local blues competition that sent him to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. He later toured in Nepal, Australia, and across Europe, opportunities he traced back to his win in Marietta.
A favorite tradition for festivalgoers is the custom shirt created each year. Phillips said the shirts feature a legendary blues performer on the front and the list of that year’s musicians on the back.
“Every year it seems like we have people that come up to us and say, ‘That was the best festival ever,’” Phillips said. “ […] and then we have this pressure as a board — who are we going to come up with that will make them say the same thing next year?’”