“I know a place… Ain’t nobody cryin’… Ain’t nobody worried… I’ll take you there!” The Staples Singers went to number one in ’71 with “I’ll Take You There.” Come home to the 35th King Biscuit Blues Festival Helena, Arkansas Wednesday, October 6th through Saturday, October 9th where it has never been more important for the number one blues festival in the south to “take us there.”
Mavis Staples promises to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her family’s hit as Friday headliner at this year’s King Biscuit Blues Festival, just one of more than 100 storied acts performing during four days of multi-stage continuous music.
Joining in this year’s triumphant return of the south’s most lauded blues festival are The Allman Betts Band and Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues with Bobby Rush. Butter the Biscuit and better the bite as we celebrate our rebirth. Come dance on the levy with the real thing. We soldiered through a year without our music but gained an appreciation for who we are. It’s time to grab your reward. Time to express yourself. Time to snatch back the soundtrack of our lives. We’re family, and you’re a member. Slip off your shoes and splash with us on the banks of the Mississippi River in the heart of the Delta.
Talk about taking us there! The half-century legacy of southern rock’s premiere band The Allman Brothers with their treasured classics like “Whipping Post” and “Midnight Rider” lives on in Saturday night’s headliner the Allman Betts Band, featuring Gregg Allman’s son Devon Allman and Dickey Betts’ son Duane Betts. Both artists earned their musical chops at the feet of their legendary fathers. Their Biscuit appearance comes on the heels of a 60-date world tour in 2019 and the release of their debut album, Down to the River, followed by Bless Your Heart (2020).
Devon Allman told Forbes magazine: “On stage every night we have a certain responsibility to tip the hat to our dads. And what I think balances the legacy, but also moving forward as our own men and as our own musicians, is balancing the two. So, if we have a set that’s 17 songs, we’re going to play a couple Allman Brothers songs. We’re not going to fill our set, but we’re also not going to turn our back on it. The balance is everything and I think that we’ve been lucky to strike that balance.”
Bobby Rush conquered COVID-19 in 2020 and took home his second GRAMMY® in March of this year, finally being recognized for a legacy that he has shared with Biscuit audiences for decades. Hear him team up with Thursday night’s headliner Billy Branch, another Chicago blues legacy. Branch was one of the first to develop a Blues in the School program and has made over 70 international tours. A three-time GRAMMY® nominee, he’s backed by The Sons of The Blues, a band of veterans that includes bass player Nick Charles, drummer Mose Rutues Jr., and pianist Sumito Ariyoshi, aka Ariyo.
Known the world over as the King of the Chitlin Circuit, Bobby Rush is one of the Biscuit’s most beloved members of our extended family. He keeps re-inventing himself year in and year out. As fundamental as blues itself, he is a walking history lesson in the form.
His 2019 CD Sitting on Top of The Blues says it all, coming on the heels of his 2017 GRAMMY®-winning Porcupine Meat as Best Traditional Blues Album. But we knew him back when, and we embrace him as the visionary he’s always been as we head into a new world order.
Another Thursday night act, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, are best known for their 1986 hit “Tuff Enuff.” A rallying cry for nearly four decades, the song has never meant more than it does right now. It was written by lead singer and harmonica player Kim Wilson whose history with Biscuit goes way back to when he donated money to the Sonny Boy Blues Society to try and save Sonny Boy Williamson’s Helena home. Wilson, who founded The T-Birds in 1976 feels the current lineup is the best yet. It features 13-year band veteran and guitarist Johnny Moeller. “The good thing about Johnny is he’s got his own take on things,” Wilson explained. “He really has his own style. That’s very important to me. I need people who really have their own minds. I don’t want to hear somebody [imitating] Johnny Guitar Watson or B.B. King. I’d rather hear people do their own deal.”
Come home to the festival that’s built legacies before your eyes year after year with favorites you’ve come to love. Thrill to Reba Russell’s “Heaven Came to Helena,” the Biscuit’s signature song. Wrap yourself around Paul Thorn’s southern homilies. Escape to Muddy Waters’ Chicago blues heyday with Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith and Bob Stroger. Rock out to the Kentucky Headhunters.
Experience Arkansas’ homegrown blues masters: Lonnie Shields, The C.W. Gatlin Band, the Phillip Stackhouse Band, and Spoonfed Blues featuring Mississippi Spoonman. Bring Chicago blues club mojo back to the Delta with The Paul Oscher All Star Band, Wayne Baker Brooks, Nora Jan Wallace, Maurice John Vaughn, and Fruteland Jackson. Acquaint yourself with artists who are expanding the blues definition: Detroit blues shouter Thornetta Davis, Texas powerhouse Diaunah Greenleaf, Lucious Spiller, Marcus “Mookie” Cartwright, Gaye Adegbalola, and the Laura Morvan Band.
Also performing are: The Sterling Billingsley Band, Blind Mississippi Morris, Rip Lee Pryor, Wampus Cats, Mike Wheeler Band, Rodney Block, Six String Andrew, Sean McDonald, D.R. Diamond & Birthright Blues Project, The Youngbloods of Hot Springs, Andrea Staten, Charles Wilson Band, Dejeana Burks, Margie Turner, Earnestine Barze, Butch Mudbone, Austin “Walkin’” Cane, Jessie Cotton Stone, Big T Williams, The Pope of Pimping Fillmore Slim, Andy T & Alabama Mike, Sweet Angel, The Blue Monday Blues Band featuring King Edward, Bigg Robb, Sean Bad Apple, Lady Trucker, Garry Burnside, Jamaiah Rogers, and many more.
On Wednesday, October 6th at the Main Stage, prior to the Michael Burks Memorial Jam, Don Wilcock will host a tribute to Kim Wilson beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Biscuit also features a Tour da Delta Bike Ride, 5K Run, Blues Symposium, Kansas-city sanctioned BBQ & Blues on the Levee, and more. For tickets, visit King Biscuit Festival.
Editorial note: Don Wilcock, longtime contributor to ABS, will be holding his annual Call and Response Blues Symposium at the Malco Theater, Sunday, October 9th at 1:15 p.m. The Keeping the Blues Alive Award-winning writer wrote Damn Right I’ve Got The Blues, The story of blues legend Buddy Guy, his 35 years on the scene, and his influence on rock and roll.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6 Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage
KING BISCUIT BLUES FESTIVAL LINEUP 2021
Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage
Fillmore Slim – 12:00pm to 12:55pm
Tribute to Kim Wilson – 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Michael Burks Memorial Jam – 6:00pm until
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7
Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage
SBBS IBC Bands Winner Fonky Donkey – 11:00am to 11:50am Wampus Cats – 12:00pm to 12:50pm
Mike Wheeler Band – 1:10pm to 2:15pm
Sterling Billingsley Band – 2:35pm to 3:40pm
Rodney Block – 4:00pm to 5:10pm
Kentucky Headhunters – 5:30pm to 6:40pm
Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson – 7:00pm to 8:10pm Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues with Bobby Rush – 8:30 until
Front Porch Stage
Front Porch Blues Jam hosted by Brotha Ric Patton – 1:00pm to 3:00pm
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8
Bit-O-Blues Stage
Six String Andrew – 9:00am to 9:30pm
Sean McDonald – 9:45am to 10:15pm
Grace Kuch – 10:30am to 11:00am
D.R. Diamond & Birthright Blues Project – 11:15am to 12:00pm The Youngbloods of Hot Springs – 12:15pm to 1:00pm
Front Porch Stage
RL Boyce – 12:00pm to 12:45pm
Veronika Jackson – 1:00pm to 1:45pm
Johnny B Sanders & Queen Iretta Blues – 2:00pm to 2:45pm The Blue Monday Blues Band featuring King Edward – 3:00pm to 3:45pm Bigg Robb – 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Lockwood Stackhouse Stage
Andrea Staten – 1:00pm to 1:45pm
Rip Lee Pryor – 2:00pm to 2:45pm
Gaye Adegbalola – 3:00pm to 3:45pm
Charles Wilson Band – 4:00pm to 4:45pm
John Watkins Band – 5:00pm to 5:45pm
Dejeana Burks, Margie Turner, Earnestine Barze – 6:00pm to 7:00pm Maurice John Vaughn – 7:20pm to 8:30pm
CeDell Davis Memorial Stage
Butch Mudbone – 2:00pm to 2:45pm
Austin “Walkin’” Cane – 3:00pm to 3:45pm
CW Gatlin Band – 4:00pm to 4:45pm
Jessie Cotton Stone – 5:00pm to 5:45pm
Lucious Spiller – 6:00pm to 6:45pm
Big T Williams – 7:00pm to 7:45pm
Paul Oscher Allstar Band – 8:00pm to 9:00pm
Laura Morvan Band – 1:10pm to 2:10pm
Lonnie Shields – 2:30pm to 3:40pm
Reba Russell Band with special guest Susan Marshall – 4:00pm to 5:10pm
Andy T & Alabama Mike – 5:35pm to 6:45pm
Paul Thorn Band – 7:10pm to 8:20pm
Mavis Staples – 8:45pm
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9
Lockwood Stackhouse Stage
Jayy Hopp with Guest – 1:00pm to 1:45pm
Fruteland Jackson – 2:00pm to 2:45pm
Mickey Rogers Band – 3:00pm to 3:45pm
Diaunah Greenleaf – 4:00pm to 4:45pm
Sweet Angel – 5:00pm to 5:45pm
The Blue Monday Blues Band featuring King Edward – 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Bigg Robb – 7:20pm to 8:30pm
Front Porch Stage
Sean McDonald – 12:00pm to 12:45pm
Detroit Johnny – 1:00pm to 1:45pm
Little Willie Farmer – 2:00pm to 2:45pm
Dejeana Burks, Margie Turner, Earnestine Barze – 3:00pm to 3:45pm Keith Johnson & The Big Muddy Band – 4:00pm to 5:00pm Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith Band – 5:00pm to 6:00pm Fillmore Slim – 6:15pm to 7:00pm
CeDell Davis Memorial Stage
Sean Bad Apple – 1:00pm to 1:45pm
Spoonfed Blues featuring Mississippi Spoonman – 2:00pm to 2:45pm Lady Trucker – 3:00pm to 3:45pm
Garry Burnside Band – 4:00pm to 4:45pm
Phillip Stackhouse Band – 5:00pm to 5:45pm
Jamaiah “Blues Superman” Rogers – 6:00pm to 6:45pm Keith Johnson & The Big Muddy Band – 7:00pm to 7:45pm Blind Mississippi Morris – 8:00pm to 9:00pm
Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage
Marcus “Mookie” Cartwright – 12:00pm to 12:55pm Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith & Bob Stroger – 1:10pm to 2:15pm Nora Jan Wallace – 2:35pm to 3:40pm
Wayne Baker Brooks – 4:00pm to 5:10pm
Anson Funderburgh – 5:30pm to 6:35pm
Thornetta Davis – 6:55pm to 8:10pm
Allman Betts – 8:40pm
