WOMP SHOWOGRAPHY 1991-2015

Help us by saying thank youto our generous SPONSORS

Geoff Achison • Alligator Wine • Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’ Blues • Etta Baker • Carey Bell • Tab Benoit • Big Sam’s Funky Nation • Rory Block • Roy Book Binder • Randall Bramblett • Skeeter Brandon & Hwy 61 • Eden Brent • Brock McGuire Band • Lonnie Brooks • Nappy Brown • Eddie Burks • Michael Burks • R L Burnside • Henry Butler • Campbell Brothers • Kenny Carr & The Tigers • Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick • Paul Cebar • The Cedar Creek Boys • Cephas & Wiggins • Chulrua • Clara’s Velvet Dress • Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater • Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen • The Crude Earles • Cultivation • Guy Davis • Katherine Davis • D.B. Bryant Band • Delta Moon • Delta Swagger • The Dixieland Codgers • Dr. Dixon • Donna The Buffalo • Gibb Droll • The Dudes • Elliott & The Untouchables • Jim Errante • Fat Back & The Groove Band • Cool John Ferguson • Damon Fowler • Anson Funderburgh with Sam Meyers • Paul Geremia • Griff • Dennis Gruenling • Guitar Shorty • Len Graham & Cathal McConnell • Jim Hadley • John Hammond • Harper • Corey Harris • Alvin Youngblood Hart • The Holmes Brothers • The House Band • Danielle Howle • Vasti Jackson • Samuel James • Wanda Johnson • Richard Johnston • Jeff Liberty Band • Jorma Kaukonen • Keb’ Mo’ Leo Kottke • Smokin’ Joe Kubek with B’Nois King • Lakkota John & Kin • Sonny Landreth • Rosie Ledet • The Lee Boys • Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials • David Lindley • Walter Lineger • Little Whitt & Big Bo • Shelley Magee & The Bad Deeds • Tommy Malone • Bob Margolin • Mill Billy Blues • Mill Billy Electric • John Mooney • Moreland & Arbuckle • Big Bill Morganfield • Danny Morris • Pete Morton • Nat King Kong • Naz & The Falsehoods • Tracy Nelson • The Nields • New Legacy Duo • Paddy O’Brien • Tim O’Brien • Bobby Parker • Skipp Pearson • Tom Principato • Buddy Ray & Frank Smoak • Rakish Bubban • Paul Rishell & Annie Raines • Duke Robillard • Robin Rogers • Roy Rogers • Tommy Sands • Son Seals • Savoy Brown with Kim Simmonds • Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats • The Shades • Eddie Shaw and The Wolf Gang • Slap Wore Out • Magic Slim & The Teardrops • Drink Small • Chris Smither • Toni Spearman • Speed Limit 35 • the subdudes • Reggie Sullivan • The Alexis P. Suter Band • The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band • Hubert Sumlin • Swamp Cabbage • Otis Taylor • Jimmy Thackery • Dave Thompson • The Elaine Townsend Blues Band • Eddie Turner • Joe Louis Walker • Rev. Marv Ward & The Blues Disciples (and Congaree) • The Watersons • Jack Williams • Johnny Winter • Rev. Billy C. Wirtz • Carolyn Wonderland • Craig Wright • WSNB

drink small skipp pearson

eddieturnerAND The trouble twins

carolyn wonderlandThe rev. peyton,s

big damn bandMILLBILLYelectricLakota John &KIN

SPECIAL HONORARY PERFORMANCES BY LEGENDS ,,the blues doctor,,

AND

plus

P.O. Box 50105 Columbia, SC 29250

803-708-4500

Word of Mouth Productions is a non-profit

corporation registered with the IRS and SC

Secretary of State’s Office.All donations aretax deductible.

HOW TO FIND USDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Memorial Parkin Five Points

2300 Greene StreetColumbia, SC

For more detailed information about ourfestival, including history, archives,

stories, photo galleries, and more, please visit

www.wordofmouthproductions.org Join the WOMP community on Facebook!

Through the years, Word of Mouth Productions has

hosted more than 50 shows, produced 20 Annual

Blues Festivals, and brought more than 125 recording

artists to Columbia audiences. Our multi-cultural

festival enriches the local arts environment, enhances

our collective sense of community, and attracts

music lovers from across the country.No coolers please, concession saleshelp keep our festival FREE. Please visit our

$1 DONATION STATION, complete our survey,and offer a smile for the contributions and

support of more than 100 friends and volunteers.

We recycle. Help us keep the park clean!

WORDOFMOUTHPRODUCTIONS.ORG

Program printed by

www.hardwaregraphics.comwww.sun-inc.com

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTING SUPPORTERS

Guest Emcee: Clair DeLuneHost of Blues Moon Radio / WUSC-FMand author of South Carolina Blues:

(Images of America)

from Arcadia Publishing(available

for purchase during today’s

festival)

BACKSTORY Fortunate friendships, non-mainstream tastes!

HEARTFELT THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS AND PATRONSFOR THEIR 20 YEARS OF KINDNESS

Kittrell TuckerMichael WingateBobbi Sonefeld Bill ThorpeBill GilesBill WagnerKevin WoodwardMyra CoxMac MontgomerySteve RingerRichard LaymanJeffrey BloomJohn PittmanCathy AlexanderJeff KoobMaria MadeoTom & Deb Holloway

Richard MerrittCharlie MerrittAnita Gotwals GravesTony BissellCurtis BestJane PattonGerrit JobisWernher WiebachWillie & Patty DurkinGene GravesDominic ComoThad MyersPamela Graves MurrayDebbie McDanielScottie MacRaeWendy Brinker TaylorPete Hein

Stephanie Graves-SwannTimothy GravesMichael MillerTim & Nancy BradshawSarah ScarboroughFerd SumnerGreg SeminoffRick PenadoSteve GulleyCarl SteenForever and always:Jules Pernell Paul PittengerRick SalaneDan BliekEd BuddinJudy Handly

IT’S BEEN A WILD AND CRAZY RIDE! A ride that began 24 years ago when three friends lamented the fact that so many blues and folk-music artists were bypassing their hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. One of the three, Jay Crouch, posed a simple question. “Why don’t we put on some shows ourselves?” Chris Judge and Geoffrey Graves exchanged glances and said, “Why not?” And with that, Word of Mouth Productions was born. Since its inception, WOMP has grown to encompass a loving network of friends and family who share a sense of community and love of live music. Over the years it has presented dozens of solo shows as well as 19 Blues Festivals in Columbia’s King Park. Nevertheless, no one could have imagined in 1991 that all these years later WOMP would stage its 20th Blues Festival in Columbia. But here we are, joyously presenting our 20th free concert, and it’s been a privilege and honor to bring these shows to the Midlands of South Carolina. WOMP has retained its grassroots spirit, and its network of friends continues to grow. So with love and affection, we thank everyone who’s helped us along the way, we hope you enjoy the show,and we’ll see you further on down the road. n

Thales Thomas “Skipp” Pearson, SC’s legendary Ambassador of Jazz Music, played professionally at the age of 14, and led his first commercial band at 15. Pearson spent 4 years in the U.S. Air Force before launching a 30-year music education career. He has shared the stage with renowned musicians, including Sam Cooke, Wycliffe Gordon, Patti LaBelle, Chris Potter, Otis Redding, Patti Austin, Fred Wesley, Dick Goodwin, Ron Westray, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti and many others. In 1998, Skipp was inducted into the S.C. Jazz Music Hall of Fame. The state Senate and House of Representatives have honored his extraordinary career and contributions to the world of jazz music. In 2003 Pearson received the state’s highest artistic honor, the distinguished Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for individual artistic excellence. n

FESTIVAL HEADLINER& SPECIAL HONOREE

www.wordofmouthproductions.org

NoonFEST

IVAL

KICKSOFF!

1PM

5PM

7PM

3PM

8PM30

Lakota John &KIN

An old soul with a passion for the blues, Pembroke, NC’s Lakota John Locklear is a prodigious blues guitarist of Lumbee and Lakota lineage. He and his musical family Lakota John & Kin (his mama Tonya, dad Sweet Papa John, and sister Miss Layla) carry on the tradition of the country blues masters and harmonics of the Piedmont styles. Reflective of their heritage, they also preserve their Native American roots and music. n

Folk Heritage Award winner singer/harmonica player Freddie Vanderford, guitarist Brandon Turner, drummer T.J. Jeter, Franklin Wilkie on bass, and special guest guitar wiz Rickey Godfrey are Mill Billy Electric. Over time the band has honed it’s musical style as mainstays of the Upstate music scene. Born and raised in SC mill towns and ingrained with an affinity for traditional blues, the band is sometimes referred to as The Travelin’ Wilburys or The Highwaymen of the Piedmont. Heavily influenced by “front porch pickers,” their unique take on Piedmont-style blues, country, gospel, and folk music has established Mill Billy Electric as regional favorites, performing before sold out crowds and packed houses near and far. n

Carolyn wonderland

MILLBILLYelectric

skipppearson drink small

eddie turner AND THE

tRoUble TwiNs

9PM15

the Rev. Peyton,sbig damn band

the blues doctor

The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band bridges genres and eras with intensity and effortlessness buoyed by the Rev.’s supercharged six-string virtuosity — a unique style inspired by their Delta blues heroes, but taken to new, original heights. Strong on authenticity, the band blends blues, ragtime, folk, country, and other traditional styles with the modern energy of do-it-yourself, homespun, punk-fueled rock. Performing tunes plucked from their lives and community, it’s a mix that’s won fans from all corners of the Americana, blues, and rock worlds. Blending the foundational playing of great country bluesmen with early-rock vigor and licks played by old-timey fiddle players of the 1920s and ’30s, the band bangs out machine-gun rhythm, ladles in generously sinuous licks, and tosses off fluent fills and accents. “We believe in the stories we’re telling and in the way we play,” says the Rev., “and on stage or off, there’s nothing fake about us.” n

Freddie VanderfordBrandon TurnerFranklin WilkieT.J. jeterRickey Godfrey

Austin blues-rocker Carolyn Wonderland is a genre-bending singer/songwriter/pianist/trumpeter/guitarist. She began performing soloas a teen in Houston and later with her band the Imperial Monkeys. While firmly entrenched in the blues, Wonderland sports a diverse range of other influences – country to zydeco, surf to Latin, boogie to jazz – she has performed with such like-minded predecessors as B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, the Allman Brothers, Delbert McClinton, and Buddy Miles. Wonderland, whose powerful voice garners comparisons to Janis Joplin, has never forgotten where she came from. Blending the hard-won lessons of her life with stories from the world’s most beloved songwriters, she creates a musical menu of sustaining, satisfying songs as food for thought to her legions of fans. Carolyn is a tireless advocate for the homeless and for peace. From classic blues licks to gospel crooning and her famous whistling to peace anthems, Wonderland spends every ounce of energy in her 5’4” frame to bring her music and spirit to the masses. n

Otherworldly. Scorching. Polyrhythmic. Chilling. All have all been used to describe the ethereal guitar playing of Eddie “Devil Boy” Turner. His style is an amalgam of the Afro-Cuban rhythms of his heritage and the influences of his native Chicago blues, jazz, R&B, and psychedelic rock. The Cuban-born singer/guitarist cut his teeth in several rock, punk, and R&B bands contributing to his incomparable spacey-yet-resounding solos. An ever-evolving artist, Turner

runs the gamut between blistering guitar to deep Delta Blues, with chops and techniques developed over the course of his unique genre-melding career. Turner first picked up a guitar at the age of 12 and his music showcases the diverse influences of the Afro-Cuban sounds of his homeland and the deep blues of his adopted country.A diverse blend of rock, voodoo blues, and R&B peppered with African rhythms, Turner‘s music moves the feet while simultaneously haunting the soul. You can call Eddie Turner a bluesman (we do), but the guitarist-singer holds a much deeper pedigree in his diverse love of rock, funk, and jazz. n

Drink Small (his real name) was born in 1933 in Bishopville. Known worldwide as “The Blues Doctor,” he plays virtuoso blues guitar, two-fisted piano, and sings Southern roots music in the biggest, deepest bass voice in the blues. He is a recipient of the S.C. Folk Heritage Award and enshrined in the S.C. Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. The breadth of his repertoire is fascinating in itself, but even more impressive is his depth as a performer in any chosen genre. He may suddenly shift from solo acoustic blues to a smooth soul ballad with horns to who-knows-what. He can be gruff and rough, clean and modern, or light and bouncy, altering his voice and guitar to suit the mood. Rated one of America’s top gospel guitarists before turning to blues in the late ‘50s, Small started out “boogalooing on Saturday, hallelujahing

on Sunday” by playing guitar at house parties and in church, later joining the Spiritualaires, a gospel group that performed at the legendary Apollo Theater. His expressive sound falls right between B.B. King and Bo Diddley. But, Drink’s got something extra: his gospel backgroundgives his music a reverenceand mouth-watering soulful-ness. Earlier this month, Drinkwas bestowed the NationalEndowment for the ArtsNational Heritage Fellowshipfor his artistic excellence andcontributions to our nation’straditional arts heritage. n