In its Sixteenth year, the Carolina Downhome Blues Festival continues to be a must-do weekend in Camden featuring legendary international talent. Over 4 days we have 41 performances at 16 different sites with 21 performers (solo, duo or group). We'll have blues for all tastes from classic soul to horn-driven funk to blues rock to the best of acoustic blues...and all points in between. Performances take place in a variety of intimate venues--both indoors and out--bringing you the best in blues artistry, up close and personal, the way it was meant to be experienced.
The festival is the first full weekend in October in Camden, SC - South Carolina's oldest inland
city, located 25 miles north of Columbia, SC on Interstate
20. Aside from the blues festival, visitors can enjoy antique
shops, historic homes, Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site, equestrian
activities, and more. For tourist/hotel info, please visit
www.camden-sc.org.
Camden is easily accessable from Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Camden is also served by
Amtrak and Greyhound.
Accommodations
Please visit our host hotels for accommdations
Programming
Gary Erwin, Erwin Music / Lowcountry Blues Society (same office that books Lowcountry Blues Bash, www.bluesbash.com). emusic@mindspring.com 843-762-9125
Artistic Director
Gary Erwin/Erwin Music
emusic@mindspring.com
http://www.bluesbash.com/
Technical Director
Danny Riddick/Naked Eye Productions
rideye@bellsouth.net
http://www.neyeproductions.com
Executive Director
Kristen Cobb/Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County
kcobb@fineartscenter.org
Marketing Director
Jane Peterson/Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County
jpeterson@fineartscenter.org
Sponsors
Artists (In Alphabetical Order)
MARSHALL BALLEW (Tennessee)
www.reverbnation.com/marshallballew
Delightful finger-style guitarist/singer plows the field between classic blues tradition and hippie rock
LUCKYMAN BEALL (South Carolina)
www.laurencebeall.com
One-man honkytonk blues band, working it out on guitar, drums, vocals
JEFF BEASLEY DUO (Savannah)
www.jeffbeasleyband.com
Guitar, harp-in-the-rack, bass & vocals...downhome blues gems and cleverly re-worked standards
DADDY MACK BLUES BAND (Memphis)
www.myspace.com/thedaddymackbluesband
Gritty veteran quartet from Beale Street delivers the real-deal Memphis blues
RUSTY DAVIS (Camden)
Hometown favorite is a master of many guitar styles
"DETROIT BLUES PARTY" featuring Harmonica Shah, Emanuel Young, and Howard Glazer (Detroit)
www.harmonicashah.com
www.myspace.com/emanuelyoung
www.howardglazer.com
Blues harp outlaw Shah, ex-John Lee Hooker sideman Young, and bandleader Glazer bring the legendary Motor City blues sound to the South
TRAVIS "MOONCHILD" HADDIX (Ohio)
www.travishaddix.net
Soul/bluesmaster and his seven-piece blues orchestra make a rare appearance in our part of the world
JOHN HARTNESS (South Carolina)
www.reverbnation.com/johnhartness
Acoustic blues and roots from Piedmont blues journeyman
WANDA JOHNSON & THE UPSTATE RHYTHM SECTION (South Carolina)
www.wandaj.com
Perennial favorite Wanda Johnson is "the New Voice of South Carolina soul & blues", joined this time out by husband Conger Purcell on guitar and her Upstate band
PETER KARP & SUE FOLEY (New Jersey/Canada)
www.karpfoley.com
Roots rock/blues quartet led by two distinctive singers/guitarists
JEFF LIBERTY (South Carolina)
www.jeffliberty.com
Powerhouse blues & rock from Midlands guitarist/singer
ROBERT LIGHTHOUSE (Sweden)
www.robertlighthouse.com
Channelling Muddy, Dr. Ross, and Robert Johnson, this great solo bluesman returns with new songs
RANDY MCALLISTER (Texas)
www.randymcallister.com
Grammy-nominated roots/blues/Americana artist has all bases covered...plays drums & harmonica & sings, backed by his trio
BILL MILLER BLUES BAND (North Carolina)
www.reverbnation.com/billmillerband
Father/son team head up this tough and honest Tarheel blues unit
THE MOBROS (Camden)
www.themobros.net
Blues future has hope in this energetic, youthful band
CHRIS O'LEARY BAND (New York)
www.thechrisolearyband.com
Hard-hitting seven-piece blues band making waves on their first Southern tour
FRANC ROBERT & THE BOXCAR TOURISTS (Florida)
www.francrobert.com
Feisty trio from the Sunshine State really rocks the blues
SHRIMP CITY SLIM (Chicago/Charleston)
www.shrimpcityslim.com
Piano-driven "Lowcountry blues & original songs"...new solo CD is entitled "Rio Angie" (2012)
TAD WALTERS DUO (North Carolina)
www.reverbnation.com/tadwalters
Superb multi-instrumentalist/singer presents his traditional blues in a duo format
REV. MARV WARD DUO (South Carolina)
www.marvward.com
Longtime Midlands blues icon brings decades of experience to the stage
BEVERLY GUITAR WATKINS (Atlanta)
www.beverlyguitarwatkins.com
The 73 year-old rockin' blues lady, whose career started with Piano Red in the early 1960s, is a legend of the genre
2012 CDBF Schedule
* Most of the sites are located in a two block radius of Broad Street (Hwy 521) and Dekalb Street (Route 1) in downtown Camden, South Carolina.
No Smoking:
In compliance with the City of Camden's Smokefree Workplace Ordinance (effective September 27, 2008), the Carolina Downhome Blues Festival is proud to enforce a no smoking policy at all performance venues.