Browsing: King Biscuit Blues Festival

Join two blues journalism and preservation legends, Roger Stolle and Don Wilcock, as they dedicate this, their eighth annual Call and Response Blues Symposium, to King Biscuit’s beloved patriarch Sunshine Sonny Payne.

Paul Thorn calls The Biscuit “one of my favorites” and “a wonderful event.” Carolyn Wonderland says it’s like going to Mecca: “You gotta make the pilgrimage because it’s where the music’s real.”

Blues great B.B. King listened to Payne on his lunch break when he was picking cotton in the fields as a teenager.

Valerie June hears voices. Sometimes it’s a young female voice singing. Other times it’s a child’s voice….

The final two performances were Larry McCray and Warren Haynes’ Government Mule. We can’t wait for next year.

All the stages up and down Cherry Street come alive on Friday, filled with buskers and music on all of the eight blocks of the festival.

The weather was perfect. Crowds were great. The anticipation was electric. The first day of King Biscuit, Thursday, has only one stage with music but…

The Wednesday night jams are always well attended and it’s great to see all these stellar musicians from across the country play together.

“You don’t see any black people playing country, and there’s been only one black rock and roll band in my lifetime, and that’s Living Color.”

This year’s lineup is full of exceptional talent including iconic artists, young up-and-comers, and an abundance of local performers as well. Audiences will not be disappointed!