Columbia Pike Blues Festival is one of Arlington Virginia’s most highly-anticipated events. This year a hybrid three-day Columbia Pike Blues Festival Weekend (Friday to Sunday, June 18th, 19th and 20th, 2021) combines live-streaming concerts and ticketed outdoor performances designed to help get everyone back into a summer groove!
Three days of streaming and live concerts spotlight fantastic performers including:
A retro-soul sound, with whiskey-soaked vocals, Robbin Kapsalis and Vintage #18 deliver hard-driving blues rhythms. Vintage#18 has shared the stage with The Nighthawks, Billy Price Band, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Selwyn Birchwood, Roomful of Blues, Duke Robillard, Vanessa Collier, and more.
Stacy Brooks is a powerful vocalist & exciting performer who is internationally known as DC’s Queen of the Blues. Stacy is a multi-award winner and has shared the stage with blues legends such as Kenny Neal, Billy Branch, Sugar Blue and many more. Stacy performs nationally and overseas with her own groups as well as a featured performer.
Grammy-nominated Cheick Hamala Diabate is known as “The King of The Ngoni.” Cheick brings his traditional West African instruments to the stage to please audiences that have included world leaders and the U.S. Congress. Cheick also plays a mean banjo and guitar, and has recorded and toured with American folk musicians.
The Sol Roots band performs a mix of raw funk, deep blues, energetic rock, greasy soul and hypnotic grooves. Sol is a guitarist/vocalist who has toured around the world with many musical legends. The band has shared the stage with acts such as Jon Cleary, Shemekia Copeland, Cory Henry, Booker T. Jones, and many more. Sol is a “Next Generation” Music Maker Relief Foundation artist and a Home Grown Music Network artist.
The phenomenal vocalist Deletta Gillespie charms audiences with energetic stage performances and a voice that has been described as “soulfully beautiful.” Gillespie is a teacher and activist, a performing artist, and a singer/songwriter in the classic soul, neo-soul, jazz, blues, and R&B styles.
Based out of Washington, D.C., Carly Harvey combines Blues, Jazz, Soul, and Americana roots styles to create a unique sound that calls to mind Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Nina Simone, with a little Ella Fitzgerald thrown in for good measure.
For links to the streaming concerts and to purchase tickets to one of Saturday’s three live performances, visit the Columbia Pike website.
