Orange County Blues Festival

The Orange County Blues Festival is an annual event held at Dana Point, California. Some of the artists to have appeared there are Canned Heat, Johnny Copeland[1] and Etta James.[2] Similar to the Topanga Canyon Blues Festival, it attracted in the same state, it attracted some of the major blues artists in the United States.[3]

Background

The festival ran from September 24 to the 26th. It was located at Heritage Park, Dana Point. The festival came about one day as a result of a discussion between Portland Blues Festival organizer John Vincent and resident of Dana Point, Jim Oakes. With the popularity of outside festivals increasing, it seemed like a good thing for Orange County. It was organized with the Portland Blues Festival as a model. In addition to the main stage for the headlining acts, another stage was seat up for school bands play. There was also a fine arts fair with between 35 and 50 stall booths. Some of the proceeds of the festival were to go to a youth recovery program. The promoter for the 1993 event was Eric Jensen.[4]

Issues

In 1994, the organizers / partners of the festival were involved in a legal dispute. There were issues of the name rights of the festival, from the festival. Jim Oakes claimed he was the owner of the festival name. Former partners John Christian and John Dew were wanting to organize a rival blues festival as well.[5]

The festival was set to go ahead in September 1994 but there was a conflicting event that stopped it. Jim Oakes had applied for a permit for the festival to be held from the 24th to the 25th but it was discovered by city officials that a wedding had been booked for the 24th and to be held at the park. City officials informed Oaks that the wedding had first priority. To complicate matters even further, another festival also named the Orange County Blues Festival was set to take place on October 1 at Doheny State Beach. The organizers of the Doheny State Beach festival were the former partners of Oakes.[6]

Later years

It seems likely that artists and acts that included Chase Walker Band, a young 3 piece blues band were appearing at another venue in 2014 that was using the same name.[7]

Artist schedule

1993
1994
1995

References

  1. ↑ Los Angeles Times September 27, 1993 O.C. POP MUSIC REVIEW : Blues' Different Shades : Festival in Dana Point Showcases Regional Styles and Vibrant Local Scene Bill Kohlhaase
  2. ↑ Los Angeles Times Etta James 1993
  3. ↑ Orange Coast magazine November 1993 Page 32, September: OC Exclusive: Blues Festival
  4. ↑ Orange Coast Magazine November 1993 Page 32 September OC Exclusive: BLues Festival Mark Dowdy
  5. ↑ Los Angeles Times July 08, 1994 O.C. Blues Festival Creators Locking Horns in Court Frank Messina
  6. ↑ Los Angeles Times September 20, 1994 Dana Poiint: Wedding Bells Nix Planned Blues Festival by Frank Messina
  7. ↑ Pegasus Magazine Issue 8 / Winter 2014 Page 32 Talent, Fine Tuned: Two Pegasus Alumni Give New Meaning to...ART by Anne Tchekmedylan
  8. ↑ Los Angeles Times August 11, 1993 Blues Legends and Locals to Mingle at Fest Frank Messina
  9. ↑ Harp-L archives project Mon, 12 Jun 1995 Artist Itenerary Update
  10. ↑ Los Angeles Times August 10, 1995 Wilson Pickett, Healey Band to Headline 2-Day Blues Fest Frank Messina
  11. ↑ OC Weekly Thursday, Sep 16 1999 He Smoked! by Buddy Seigal

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