How to go
What: 16th annual Lebanon Blues Festival, which includes eight bands, a classic car show, motorcycle show, food and drink vendors, kids’ games and 5K, 10K and 15K races
When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2. The car show runs until 6 p.m., the motorcycle show runs from 6 to 9 p.m., kids’ games run until 6, race check-ins start at 4:30, the kids’ race starts at 6, and the adults at 7.
Where: Downtown Lebanon
Cost: Free admission
More info: lebanonbluesfestival.org and www.lebanonohio.gov (for races)
Band schedule
11 a.m.: Tom Kaper
Noon: Cheryl Renee
2 p.m.: The Back Talk Blues Band featuring Gary “Guitar” Williams
3:30 p.m.: Miss Lissa & Company
5 p.m.: The Swamp Bees
6 p.m.: Robin Lacy & Dezydeco
8 p.m.: Wayne Baker Brooks
9:45 p.m.: Sonny Moorman Group
Every August for 16 years, Lebanon has had the blues. On Saturday the Lebanon Blues Festival welcomes seven Ohio blues musicians and one Chicago blues great.
That’s Wayne Baker Brooks, son of legendary Chicago bluesman Lonnie Brooks, who continues his father’s mix of Louisiana and Windy City blues, now, with an added hip-hop flavor, thanks two songs featuring platinum-selling rapper Twista.
“Blues has a simple 1, 4, 5 form and is the basis of all American music,” said Brooks. “I wanted to try something different.”
Then there’s The Swamp Bees, the former backup band to the late, great bluesman Eddie King whenever he visited Cincinnati.
And Tom Kaper, the Landen acoustic guitarist, who’s played at Doc’s Place in Lebanon since this mid-’90s. In the style of Ray Charles, but unplugged like Robert Johnson, Kaper kicks off the event.
The blues, said Kaper, originated from slave chants, which explains its emotion. In Cincinnati, the West End birthed the sound, which led to the development of King Records (famous for launching James Brown’s career). The sound trickled north.
“The festival draws players and audiences from many places. It evens competes with the Cincinnati Blues Fest, the same weekend,” said Kaper of the festival, which draws about 20,000 people annually.
Mulberry, Broadway and sections of Cherry and Mechanic streets will be closed for the event, which also features a classic car show and a motorcycle show. A beer garden, located in the park next to The Golden Lamb, will sell $4 MillerCoors, Fat Tire, Angry Orchard and Mike’s Hard for the duration of the festival. Food vendors include pizzas and hamburgers, as well as Cajun, German and Greek foods for $3 to $5.
Kids games will be available, as well as children’s and adult races sponsored by the Lebanon Parks and Recreation department. Pre-registration for the 5K, 10K, and 15K is $30, or $35 the day of the race, and free for kids under 12.
The Lebanon Optimist Club has ran the free festival for 14 years, with leading sponsors CenturyLink and Lebanon Citizens National Bank. Funds raised benefit the community, such as Lebanon’s Head Start and the Abuse and Rape Crisis Center of Warren County. Last year, the organization donated about $50,000 to 32 Lebanon and Warren County youth programs.
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