Congressional Blues Festival, National Building Museum, Washington, DC

The Best Deal on Blues in Town

The Congressional Blues Festival is an annual event sponsored in part by members of Congress. The festival seeks to promote and honor the American tradition of blues music, including the original pioneers of the genre as well as those that are continuing the tradition. It seeks to raise awareness and funding for blues music and the artists that dedicate their lives to its pursuit. The 2011 festival, the eighth thus far, kept the tradition of blues, cheap tickets, and free food and drinks (yep, including booze). So for $25, live music, food, and an open bar, it was a pretty good deal.

Starting on the stage was guitarist, bassist, and singer Sol and his band Funk Root, even though most of the place was more focused on trying to get food from the incredibly poorly planned line. Next up was guitarist Michael "Iron Man" Burks and his band. In my opinion, Burks was the best act of the night and without a doubt the most talented musician in the building, jamming on a number of great electric blues solos. Next up was progressive hip hop artist Christylez Bacon with special guests Slyce-D and Rick Franklin. A DC local, Bacon had a fun little set that incorporated hip hop, blues, African, and go-go (a type of funk that originated in DC in the 60’s and 70’s) along with spoken word and storytelling elements. The rest of the evening, including Mudcat and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, was fine as well though I didn’t find it as interesting.