The blues are coming to Austin.

Monday, March 25, 2002

The blues are coming to Austin.

The first ever blues festival, called the Hambone Blues Jam will be held from noon until midnight Saturday, July 6 at Torge’s Live parking lot.

One of the organizers behind it is drummer, George Dahl a blues enthusiast and a member of the Radio Cats.

He was eating lunch last year at Piggy Blues Barbecue when the owner Ron Meyer told Dahl he was looking for people to help in putting together a blues festival in Austin.

"At first we wanted to get people to back us by putting up $1,000 a piece. I and several other people were willing to donate $500 now and $500 later. We ran up against a brick wall and saw that this wasn’t going to happen," explained Dahl.

Dahl’s interest was sparked and he was determined to try and organize a blues festival in Austin.

He connected with Troy Thompson, the manager of Torge’s and it began to look like this would be a reality.

First off, a party of interested volunteers behind this event became incorporated and thus became a nonprofit organization. The members of the group are president Ron Meyer, vice-president George Dahl, vice-president of promotions is Troy Thompson, treasurer is Joshua Sands, and secretary is Rita Sands. The name of the corporation is Hambone Productions, Inc. and the name of the upcoming festival is called Hambone Blues Jam.

"We wanted a name that would identify this festival with Austin. It is during the Spam Jam celebration and thus we wanted ham in the title," said Dahl.

The festival is being run on a shoe string budget. Dahl and the promoters originally wanted the festival to be held on grass, but it will be in Torge’s Live parking lot and will be held rain or shine. They are asking patrons to bring their own lawn chairs to sit on. Hambone Productions hopes to have a large crowd.

The cost is $5 apiece and there will be many food vendors, so this will truly be a family event.

Headlining the Blues Jam will be Big John Dickerson who began his musical career in the 1940’s. He was 11 years old when he started singing on the streets of Sandusky, Ohio. Dickerson is known for his charming stage personality, gritty vocals, and good time antics with Twin City audiences. He is often described as a teenager in a 67-year-old body.

On the other end of the spectrum is a young blues artist, Ross William Perry, who Dahl describes as really great. Renee Austin, a Best Female Vocalist nomination in 2000 for the Minnesota Musical Awards, is scheduled for this event. She was raised in the Hill Country of Texas. She plays with a six-piece horn band and she will perform classic blues songs by her favorite artists, as well as her own material.

Other groups that will be performing for this 12-hour festival are Shane Henry, "Snaker" Dave Ray, Deb Brown, Keller Brothers and several local blues bands.

Dahl said, "Without blues there never would have been rock and roll. Blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll. Jazz evolved from blues.

These headliners that will be performing are some of the finest blues musicians in the Midwest."

Dahl hopes the Blues Festival is a success so that they can plan for another one next year. Hambone Jam T-shirts will be on sale.

If you are interested in helping with this grassroots effort send contributions to Hambone Production, PO Box 1021 Austin, MN 55912.