It's July and I've Got The Blues (Again)

A week ago I was sitting on a grassy hillside in Rockland, Maine soaking up the sun and listening to the blues. My friends and I had come for the 12th year-in-a-row to the annual North Atlantic Blues Festival held at Harbor Park.

All across America, and actually in most of the world, lovers of the Blues genre of music gather in fields, parks, barns, restaurants, bars, backyards, and beaches to experience the blues in person, to hear some of the many great blues artists performing today. This style of American music speaks to us all, and it isn't just singing about how your woman/man did you wrong. No, it wails and rocks and blasts you out of your seat. You gotta sing along, you gotta dance. You gotta buy a t-shirt, a CD.

It is a rite of summer for me. It signals the middle of my summer- the high point. This is an extremely well-run and mellow gathering. It's a good size, big, but not too big. Harbor Park is a gorgeous setting, behind the stage is the harbor itself with boats of every kind. There is a nice boardwalk to wander on when you want a break and need to move around. 

And, there is great food! Many food venders set up trailers in one area. There is Mexican food, Thai food, Indian food, vegetarian food, hot dogs and hamburgers, barbecue, seafood, pizza, and that gut-busting delight- fried dough. My favorite though is the fish shack where right before your eyes you see your order of scallops, haddock, shrimp fried up, along with crispy, curly potato chips.  

Gates open at 9 a.m., music starts at 11 a.m. and goes all day long, each act doing an hour or hour and a half set.  There is one large tree in Harbor Park and the spots in the shade of that tree are claimed right at nine. The rest of us spend the whole day (whole weekend if you come on Sunday, too) in the sun. So you wear a hat, slather yourself up with sun block, and drink lots of water. This year was particularly hot, and officials kept reminding us to drink water and get out of the sun periodically. There are restaurants that abut the park, so you can always duck in one of those, or go for walk on Main Street in Rockland and do a little shopping, hit the gift shop at the Farmsworth.  

The acts are always good at the North Atlantic Blues Festival. This year on Saturday we heard Nellie "Tiger" Travis, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, and the Brooks Family Blues Dynasty. Great blues.

When the last act has finished some of us head home sated with sun, food, and music. What a great way to spend a day. Or, many people stay in Rockland and participate in the club crawl, going from restaurant to restaurant hearing more blues played by other bands. This year 16 different restaurants participated on Saturday night.

I will go to other blues festivals this year; this isn't the only one, but it is my favorite. Maybe I'll see you there next year.