The Topanga Canyon Blues Festival is an annual event held in California, attracting

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

acts from across the United States. It began in 1982. Like the Orange County Blues Festival, it attracts some of the major blues artists in the United States. Over the years the festival has been running, it has seen major blues acts such as

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

Otis Rush Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s art ...

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most imp ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...

Pee Wee Crayton Connie Curtis Crayton (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985), known as Pee Wee Crayton, was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer. Career Crayton was born in Rockdale, Texas. He began playing guitar seriously after moving to California ...

, Phil Gates and

Jimmy "Preacher" Ellis James "Jimmy" Ellis (August 17, 1934 – September 16, 2022) Death He died in Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area ...

. Other acts such as

Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

, William Clarke,

Linda Hopkins Linda Hopkins (December 14, 1924 – April 10, 2017) was a Tony-winning American actress and blues and gospel singer. She recorded classic, traditional, and urban blues, and performed R&B and soul, jazz, and show tunes. Biography Born Mel ...

Philip Sayce Philip Sayce is a Welsh-born, American/Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, performer, and producer. Early life Sayce was born in Aberystwyth, his family moved to Canada when he was two years old, and he grew up in Toronto. His parents, Kenn ...

and

Roy Gaines Roy James Gaines (August 12, 1937 – August 11, 2021) was an American Texas blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He wrote and recorded the song "A Hell of a Night", which was first issued on his 1982 album ''Gainelining''. ...

have appeared there. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

caused the 2020 event to be cancelled and deferred to 2021.

Background

The festival is held in the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, an outdoor theater in Topanga Canyon. It is a day-long event of blues and roots music. In addition to music there is a harmonica workshop and family events. The festival draws people from areas such as Malibu, Southern California, Santa Monica, Topanga Canyon, San Fernando Valley and beach areas. Zack Slovinsky has been the most recent organizer for the festival and has brought in blues acts such as Phillip Walker. He has also brought in other acts that may not be immediately identifiable as blues. The festival was sponsored by the Southern California Blues Society. The Southern California Blues Society was a non-profit organization. The organization had the aim of preserving, promoting and keeping American Blues music and its culture alive. In the past the proceeds of the festival went to the Willie Dixon Scholarship Fund, Blues in the Schools and also free concerts promoting blues music.

Acts

;1990s In 1991, the acts scheduled to appear at the festival were

Floyd Dixon Floyd Dixon (February 8, 1929 – July 26, 2006) was an American rhythm-and-blues pianist and singer. Life and career Dixon was born in Marshall, Texas. Some sources give his birth name as Jay Riggins, Jr., although Dixon himself stated that F ...

Billy Vera Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being "At This Moment", a US number 1 h ...

Joe Houston Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Lowell Fulson, Jim Beasley and

Mickey Champion Mickey Champion (born Mildred Sallier April 9, 1925 – November 24, 2014) was an American blues singer. With a career spanning five decades, Champion is best remembered for her powerful vocals, and for guesting alongside other prominent musical a ...

. The Delgado Brothers appeared at the festival in 1999. ;2000s The theme for the festival in 2005, which was put together by Deborah Dixon, was to honor musicians who had lived in Los Angeles, or those who had greatly contributed to the blues heritage of Los Angeles. Aunt Kizzy's Boyz, Lady Star and the Bustin' Loose Blues Band and the LA Legends Revue, an ensemble that featured

Melvyn "Deacon" Jones Melvyn "Deacon" Jones (December 12, 1943 – July 6, 2017) was a trumpet player and an organist and founding member of Baby Huey & the Babysitters. Biography In 1963 along with Johnny Ross and Jimmy Ramey, Jones formed Baby Huey & the Babysit ...

Finis Tasby Finis Tasby (February 1, 1939 – November 2, 2014) was a Los Angeles based blues singer and frontman for the group The Mannish Boys. Background and career There is some confusion over his birth details, depending on which source is referenced. ...

, Hollis Gilmore,

Johnny Dyer Johnny Dyer (December 7, 1938 – November 11, 2014) was an American electric blues harmonica, harmonicist and singer. He made numerous sound recording and reproduction, recordings, both as a solo performer and with other musicians. He was nomin ...

, Big Jay McNeely, Melvin Eddy and Miss Mickey Champion appeared for its 23rd year celebration. The headliner for the festival in 2009 was blues guitarist Phillip Walker. The following year, Walker died. In 2011,

Chick Willis Robert Lee "Chick" Willis (September 24, 1934 – December 7, 2013) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed and recorded from the 1950s to the 2000s. Biography He was born in Cabaniss, Monroe County, Georgia, the cousin of Ch ...

, Gregg Wright, and Sean Lane appeared at the festival. They were the headline acts for the festival's 28th annual event. Another act to appear at the festival that year was the Lynwood Slim Blues Band. In 2012, some of the acts that appeared at the festival were Chicago's Jimmy Johnson, Barbara Morrison & The Joe Kincaid Band, Chris James and Patrick Rynn, and Lightnin' Willie & the Poorboys. In 2013, the headliner was

Eddie Clearwater Edward Harrington (January 10, 1935 – June 1, 2018), better known by his stage name Eddy Clearwater, was an American blues musician who specialized in Chicago blues. ''Blues Revue'' said he plays "joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning so ...

Recent activity

The date of May 2, 2015 marked the festival's 32nd year. One of the artists to appear in 2015 was Philip Sayce. With 2020 cancelled caused by the pandemic, the event was deferred to 2021.

References

External links

* {{Official website, scbsevents.org/press.html 1982 establishments in California Music festivals established in 1982 Blues festivals in the United States Music festivals in California