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Upton Blues Festival, 20-22nd July

Hows this grab you?...a FREE summer festival, in a quaint riverside town, proper campsites and loads and loads of great music....good food and great beer too. The only thing you need to pay for is the campsite...and food & drink of course.

Once again I'm hosting an all-day open mic at the White Lion on Saturday, ably assisted by members of my band Chickenbone Blues, and rounding it off with an evening gig with the band. On Sunday we are also running the "Sunday Speakeasy"...a laid back jazzy chill-out afternoon session to round off the weekend. Last year the hotel was also running it's own beer festival, and there was a fantastic range of beers and ciders, and some excellent reasonably priced food too.

The whole town is taken over by music for the weekend, with outdoor stages, every pub (and there are LOADS of them) puts on live music, and there's plenty of opportunity for busking and jamming. Last year we were joined by Hollowbelly, and the previous year we managed to stop the traffic just by busking on the street corner, being joined by veteran local bluesman Perry Foster.

So..bring your tent or pack up your campervan and join-in. There are a couple of campsites - last year we were on the official (and more expensive) site...I'll keep you posted on what the general consensus is as to which site to go for..then we can get organised (if you fancy something more posh..the White Lion has rooms, or join our harp player & his missus at the local "boutique" spa hotel..they don't do camping!!!). Upton is always a great informal weekend, a great occasion to catch up with friends, see some super musicians...and enjoy some music making...barbeques and serious drinking.

http://uptonbluesfestival.org.uk/

Hollowbelly at Upton 2011..."I love the sound of a cigar box guitar in the morning...."

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul 'PapaHogg' Smith on January 14, 2012 at 8:44am

Sounds good to me John, though I'll probably 'commute' the few miles from Worcester.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on January 14, 2012 at 9:01am

Well...just down the road for you...so do drop in...if you've not been to the Upton Blues Festival before, don't miss it, it's a great event right on your doorstep.

Permalink Reply by Chillicool on January 18, 2012 at 1:58am

The Upton Blues festival is a Fantastic weekend of live music, I have been going there for years, I've seen some really good acts from all over the world..for free!!...and the great news is our primal CBG scene fits right in, Hollowbelly's set last year went down a storm...... I've seen Ian Segal play his Swagger album..brilliant!! and Kevin Brown busking with his oil can guitar...absolute quality...check it out...You'll love it!!

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on January 18, 2012 at 6:16am

Yeah - I have been going for a few years now and the atmosphere is great, not an unpleasant soul around. There are always great blues and rock acts performing original music and even more covers bands performing on the stages and in the pubs across the town. There are also folk and jazz festivals held across the town like the blues one and newer music festival all are definitely worth a look if you can. I'll try to make it this year and it would be great to see a few familiar faces in town.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on February 9, 2012 at 7:39am

LATEST NEWS - Hollowbelly will be rocking the Acoustic Tent (although that won't be an acoustic set methinks) on Friday Night...what a great start to the weekend...be there or be square!!

Permalink Reply by Paul 'PapaHogg' Smith on February 9, 2012 at 9:58pm

That's great news John. I can't wait to see HB perform live...

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 18, 2012 at 9:27am

It's all happening folks!!! Despite the weather and it's flood-prone riverside location, Upton upon Severn Blues Fest is all set to go!! The weather forecast is pretty good...and there's a fantastic programme of FREE music over the whole weekend.

Friday night Hollowbelly will be on the Hobson's acoustic stage at 8.15pm (but most definitely not an acoustic set!!!).

STOP PRESS!!! John Denton is bringing his whole band to do a feature spot in the late afternoon on Saturday, and already we have some takers for the open mic... ChilliCool Kev, Klaatu & Doc Croc, Blue Swamp Southern..and who knows who else will turn up. If you are anywhere within striking distance, don't miss this event.

If you don't know who Perry Foster is, well, you may have heard of a certain Mr Robert Plant... Perry's band was the first band Planty ever performed in (on washboard, would you believe!).

I'll be finishing off the evening with my band, featuring the amazing Dave Smith and Tony Stokes on harmonica (literally breathtaking performances guaranteed), Freddie Pirotta on keys, Ken Stratford on double bass and Alan Nicholls on drums.

Permalink Reply by Mark on July 24, 2012 at 4:41am

I've got a video from Saturday of a couple of blokes playing Dr Feelgood's "Back in the Night" but don't want to post it without their say so. Sadly I've lost my note of who it was playing.

If you're reading this guys and you're OK with it being on CB Nation then let me know. Not the greatest quality vid in the world because it was done with my phone but I'm a big Wilko fan and I liked your cover.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 24, 2012 at 5:11am

Was that on cigarbox guitar?...Klaatu and Dr Croc?

Permalink Reply by Mark on July 24, 2012 at 9:25pm

Ah, that'd be they

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