Bear Creek Blues 2012: Music hotter than the weather

Nick Snebelen of Trampled Under Foot rips into a guitar solo while singer Sharon Lewis looks on during the special diva jam at the 2012 Bear Creek Blues Festival Saturday, June 30, in Slater.
(Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Order this photo]

That was the advice Julie Major of Miss Major and Her Minor Mood Swings, opening act of the ninth annual Bear Creek Blues Festival Saturday, June 30. It could have been the festival theme as it was a suggestion performers and fans alike took to heart.

In searing 100-degree heat, water and other liquid refreshment flowed freely, and organizers of the event set up a sprinkler that fans young and old ran through to cool off.

The crowd was a bit smaller than usual for the first set, but event coordinator Jill Murray said she was pleasantly surprised to see the number of people who showed up early.

From left, cousins Rylan and Mason Fizer dash through the sprinkler set up at the Bear Creek Blues Festival in Slater. Temperatures during the afternoon were at or near 100 degrees under a relentless sun until a few clouds moved in just before sunset.
(Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Order this photo]

The heat didn't seem to slow down the performers any, either.

Miss Major got the festival off to an energetic start with her rockabilly, roots blues sound and lively stage presence. She even got Murray, a former professional singer, on stage to work the martini shaker and sing backup on "There's a Riot Goin' On."

Tina Haase Findlay of Bella Soul, in the second set, was slowed some -- but it was a recent knee injury rather than the heat that kept her from prowling the stage, she said.

Brandon Findlay, guitarist for Bella Soul, slugs down a bottle of water during the group's set. Performers and fans alike kept the liquid refreshments flowing during the event to help fend off heat-related illness.
(Eric Crump/Democrat-News)

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"She sings from her toes," she said during Cee Cee James' performance. "They all do. That's why I got them."

Shortly after sundown, the senior diva took the stage. Sharon Lewis told the audience she was a proud mother of three, a grandmother of six and a great-grandmother of two. But she and her band, Texas Fire, delivered a fiery Chicago-blues based set that was not slowed by age or the still-high heat.

"Is it hot enough for you?" Lewis asked during the introduction to her cover of Ike and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary." "I don't think so. I'm going to make it hotter."

Before Texas Fire took the stage, Murray thanked the crowd for defying the weather.

"I'm just so thankful you all are here," she said. "Drink water! We've got clouds, thank God."

The clouds didn't deliver any desperately needed rain, but they helped temper the late-afternoon heat.

Headliner Trampled Under Foot took the stage following Texas Fire and showed the audience why the group is gaining popular and critical attention.

The group won the 2008 International Blues Challenge, and guitarist Nick Schnebelen was named winner of the Albert King Award for best guitarist.

The set began with Schnebelen doing a one-man-band act, playing electric resonator guitar, drums and singing.

After siblings Nick, on drums, and Danielle Schnebelen, on bass, joined him for several numbers, the band shared the stage with Lewis, James and Findlay for the highlight of the evening, a diva jam. (Julie Major had to leave early and could not join the jam.)

Lewis took the lead to get things started, asking Trampled Under Foot to lay down a blues shuffle foundation.

And the rest of the divas added their voices and took their turns as the women improvised. Sprinkled throughout were bits and variations on classic blues songs.

Tina Findlay added lines from "Hound Dog" to the mix, and Lewis brought in a classic from her home town.

"I got this song I absolutely hate," she said. "The only time I do it is when I'm not in Chicago."

She then launched into what became an extended version -- with singalong -- of "Sweet Home, Chicago."

Danielle Schnebelen, lead singer and bass player for Trampled Under Foot, is the final diva to take the stage at the all-diva Bear Creek Blues Festival in Slater Saturday, June 30.
(Eric Crump/Democrat-News)

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"It made my whole nine years worth it to hear them up here," she said.

Following the jam, Trampled Under Foot finished its set and topped it off with a faithful rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

Although a number of communities in the area have postponed fireworks displays, the City of Slater has so far not issued a ban, so the evening concluded with the traditional fireworks display.

City officials have asked residents to use caution and good judgment, and Mayor Stephen Allegri said Saturday night that people seem to be cooperating.

The winner of the raffle guitar, a cedar Henna Paradise acoustic/electric, was Bambi "Kool Breeze" Pickard, a blues DJ and 2010 ambassador to the Blues Hall of Fame.

The festival depends on a number of volunteers each year, but Murray noted the main committee includes Scott Murray, Gene Griffith and Jenny Crawford.

In addition to other duties, Scott is the main builder for the venue. Before the concrete stage was built a couple of years ago, he assembled a wooden stage before the event and disassembled it afterward.

This year, he took the materials from that old temporary stage and built a shelter house behind the new stage for band members to use while waiting for their set to begin.

A little heat never keeps blues fans away from the Bear Creek Blues Festival. It turns out even a lot of heat won't keep them away as a full crowd showed up in spite of 100-degree heat Saturday, June 30.
(Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Order this photo]

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Related story:
The little town with the big sound: Divas will rule at Bear Creek Blues

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