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Get your blues on!
Wave of music washes over Rockland Harbor
During the summer of 1990 about 50 people gathered in a hotel parking lot in a small Midcoast city to listen to and absorb the soulful sound of blues music.
By Kelly Michaud
Years later, that event helped spur the creation of the largest blues festival in New England — The North Atlantic Blues Festival.
This weekend, blues music will filter throughout the city where the festival was born — Rockland. And if blues is food for your soul, then musicians Jimmie Vaughan and Bo Diddley with the Debby Hastings Band, among others, should leave you more than full.
“If you’re a blues fan than it’s like being in blues heaven,” said Paul Benjamin of Rockland, the founder and organizer, who owns and runs the NABF, along with Jamie Isaacson of Wayne, Maine.
The Blues Fest was officially born in Rockland nine years ago, in 1994, and still thrives, growing larger and more prominent with each passing year. The event, which started with a few bands and a few people, is now a huge, award-winning weekend festival, drawing 12,000 people from 27 different states last year, with close to 14,000 expected to attend this weekend, July 20 and 21.
The festival originally started as the Trade Winds Blues Bash in the parking lot of the Trade Winds Motor Inn with two national bands and four local acts. There were more people across from the parking lot in front of the old Courier Publications building listening for free, Benjamin said. The Blues Bash continued in the parking lot until 1994 when Gil Merriam, who was then the head of the Rockland Chamber of Commerce, contacted Benjamin. After talking with Merriam, the Blues Bash moved to the Rockland Public Landing and became part of Schooner Days, taking place on Sunday. It was at that time that Benjamin teamed up with Isaacson and the North Atlantic Blues Festival was born.
“It was a new venue and a new venture,” Benjamin said about moving to the Landing. “But we drew 1,500 people that first year.”
With each passing year the festival has gained more momentum, drawing bigger acts and larger crowds, Benjamin said. The crowd jumped to 4,000 in 1996 when the festival expanded to two days, rather than just on Sunday.
In the fourth year of the NABF the organizers added the now “infamous club crawl” as Benjamin put it. The first year about 10 bands were brought into downtown Rockland when the main stage closed Saturday night. The Main Street was closed off and the festival continued into the evening.
“We took thousands of people from the Public Landing and basically let them loose on the town,” Benjamin said. “We figured since we’re bringing people to town, we have to give them something to do.”
And this year won’t be any different. Seventeen bands are scheduled to play, three of which will be set up on different locations on Main Street — Bubba Mac Blues Band, Blue Flames and AKA Rhythm and Blues Band. Main Street will be closed to traffic Saturday between 9 p.m. and well after midnight. There will also be a kick-off party for the festival on Friday night, with 10 bands playing in various clubs and lounges along Main Street.
In 2001, Schooner Days and the NABF parted ways on good terms, Benjamin said, and the NABF became its own weekend event.
Benjamin has received offers to move the festival to other places in the state, Portland in particular, he said.
“The festival started in Rockland, Maine, and it’s going to stay in Rockland, Maine,” Benjamin said. “It’s something I’m very proud of — it’s become one of the elite blues festivals in the country. It’s like a mini New Orleans and like being on Bourbon Street — I never dreamed it would be this big.”
And unlike most festivals, the NABF takes place in a downtown. Others are usually on the outskirts of town set apart from businesses and people, Benjamin said. He said the Rockland setup wouldn’t be possible without the cooperation he and his partner receive from Rockland city officials
As the festival has grown larger, some things are changing. This year the major change is the stage setup. In years past there hasn’t been a specific dance area and people attending the festival have had their backs to the ocean. The new design will allow for better viewing from the shaded area on the knoll that rises to Rockland’s main street and will provide three times more room than years past, Benjamin said. There will also be a separate dance area and a view of the Atlantic.
“It’s Rockland — it’s July, it’s Maine, it’s on the ocean — it’s kinda a hard setting not to like,” he said.
And even if you’re not a fan of blues music, you might be surprised by what you hear. Blues is like a big family, Benjamin said, and during the festival more people become a part of it.
“If you enjoy music, this is something you should put on your must-go-to list,” Benjamin said. “Once we get [people] there, just once, they’ll be coming back, even if they’re not a blues fan. It’s a music event and [people] are going to like somebody at the festival.”
For a closer look at the music, turn to Tom Von Malder’s CD reviews and read Charles Robinson’s piece beginning on page 6.
Tickets cost $25 for each day if not purchased in advance (advance ticket sales ended July 15) and Saturday’s ticket includes the club crawl. Kids’ tickets (ages 6-12) are available for $5 at the gate, with children younger than 5 being admitted free. Gates open at 10 a.m. July 20 and 21.
The festival happens rain or shine. Bring chairs and blankets, but leave coolers, pets and alcohol behind; they are not allowed on the grounds. A variety of international foods and beverages will be available on site.