Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-24, marks the 31st Silver City Blues Festival. The website invites, “Come enjoy a great mix of established Blues performers along with up-and-coming stars that will delight both new and dedicated Blues fans.”
Mimbres Region Arts Council, MRAC, hosts the event. Mary Stone and Stephan Lindsay are celebrating their fourth year as the Blues event coordinators. You may know them as the “force” behind the Future Forge in Silver City.
The Blues Festival is once again at historic Gough Park. Saturday’s hours are 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. with the music starting at 11 a.m. Sunday gates open at 11 a.m. with the music from noon to 6:30 p.m.
The stage sets up on the city’s bandstand which is surrounded by a dance floor. Bring lawn chairs or blankets to enjoy the soft grass seating area. Adequate on-street parking is available nearby with a handicap parking lot at Home Furnishing.
The park is fenced for safety precautions and entrance gates are located at each corner. There is no entrance fee. Plan your trip to Silver City. RV parks and hotels fill up quickly. Many folks travel each year for this rocking blues event. It’s sure to be a fun time.
Gough Park will be surrounded with lots of activities. The two-day event not only brings the Blues but also food vendors, kid-friendly play options, a beer garden, and arts and craft vendors. The Makers’ Market offers a selection of locally created art and craft wares.
The annual Silver City Blues T-shirts will be on sale by Morning Star. Retail vendor booths sell an assortment of goods. Informative not-for-profit tents will be scattered throughout. A seated tent area adjoins the beer garden where you can enjoy a drink with food from nearby food trucks.
In addition, a vintage car show will line Pope Street once again, plus the weekly farmer’s market is across from Gough Park. Find more Blues each evening at local venues.
There are several important “need-to-knows.” Pop-up tents and umbrellas are not allowed for visibility reasons. Coolers and outside alcohol are not allowed. Food and nonalcohol beverages in factory-sealed containers are allowed.
Kids are encouraged, but no pets please. Of course, service animals are permitted. Do bring chairs to sit in the grass by the stage. Several large trees provide shade around the stage. Handicap and VIP seating is available under the large gazebo.
Local notables come on stage as costumed MCs to keep the energy going. Saturday kicks off with Silver City’s own Illusion Band. A versatile and well-loved local group, playing a wide variety of music including Tejano, country, oldies and blues. There is no better way to open the show.
At 1 p.m. dance to Pocket Chocolate, a dynamic seven-piece funk, blues, and soul collective hailing from the vibrant city of New Orleans with a combination of original songwriting and samples from musical influences across genres. Next, Piper & the Hard Times combine the sensibility and flair of vintage blues bands with the entertainment savvy and edge of modern rockers ... one of America's premier new blues groups. This Nashville-based Blues-Rock band won the 2024 International Blues Challenge.
At 5 p.m. Little House of Funk takes over the stage led by Connie Brannock, songwriter, band leader, percussionist, and vocal firecat. Connie is a force of nature stunning crowds all over the Southwest with her special brand of funk.
Finishing Saturday’s lineup and back a second year by request, Bill Magee Blues Band from San Diego, California. He has performed with Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Bo Diddley. Playing Chicago Style, and Southern Blues with an electrifying connection to his audience.
Sunday’s Blues opens with another local favorite, Rhythm Mystics, a popular high-energy dance band performing regularly in Silver City and blending original music with R&B, Motown, swing, Latin and funk covers. At 2 p.m. Hurricane Ruth Band returns from St. Louis.
The power of Big Mama Thornton, fire of Janis Joplin, energy of Tina Turner, and the soulfulness of Aretha Franklin all rolled up into one petite dynamo. To end this rocking Blues weekend is Austin’s Joe King Carrasco, the king of Tex-Mex rock and roll. Joe creates a stylistic borderland of pop rock and Latin rhythms. His cross-cultural stew blends cumbias, vamp, salsa, surf, reggae, blues, and Latin-tinged polkas. A great way to close the festival.
It takes an army of workers and volunteers to put on this event. Before the weekend fencing is constructed, the stage is set with the best sound systems, tents are erected and so much more.
Volunteers set up, take down, man the gates, work info tables, collect donations, pick up trash, as well as host the green room. It’s a lot of fun too. More volunteers are encouraged.
As soon as one Blues Fest ends, it’s time to plan the next with new bands, updated graphics and the search for grants, sponsors and funding. Without these funds the Blues Fest would not be free.
For further information: silvercitybluesfestival.org, visitsilvercity.org.
