Jumping on the Blues

This weekend marks the third time Mac Arnold and his Plate Full O’ Blues band will host their Cornbread & Collard Greens Blues Festival all around the Upstate, and the event, which takes place Wednesday, April 29 through Saturday, May 2, promises to be the group’s biggest bash yet.

Aside from raising money for a great cause (the Ronald McDonald House Foundation, which assists families of children being treated at the Greenville Hospital System, providing shelter and much-needed emotional support) the festival highlights a veritable Who’s Who of blues legends. It’s widely known that the event’s namesake and featured performer, Mac Arnold, played bass with legendary artists including Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton, and John Lee Hooker. Less known, perhaps, is that by the time he was in high school, Arnold was performing as a part of J. Floyd and the Shamrocks, where he was joined on occasion by future soul-legend James Brown. Later in his career, he would go on to help launch the first black music variety show, and during his time in L.A. managed to get a credit playing bass on the popular television show Sanford and Son’s theme song.

Thanks to a legendary career and the impressive cast of characters he’s had the opportunity to work with, Arnold has been able to attract some impressive regional talent to join him on stage. In addition to celebrating a forty-year reunion with Charles Twilley, other artists who will perform as part of the festival include the WSNB Blues Band, Asheville’s Laura Blackley, Johnny House & The NighCrawlers, Spartanburg’s Shane Pruitt, Brandy Blackwell, and more.

With four days of festival performances that stretch from Black Mountain, North Carolina to Anderson, hitting Greenville and downtown Greer in between, getting your fill of the blues has never been easier!

Want to go?
Time TBD, Wednesday, April 29
White Horse Black Mountain
105C Montreat Road, Black Mountain, NC

8 a.m. to noon, Thursday, April 30
Burgundy Blues Jazz Club
134A N. Main Street, Anderson

9 p.m., Friday May 1
The Handlebar
304 E. Stone Avenue, Greenville

4-10 p.m. Saturday, May 2
Greer Family Fest
Downtown Greer
(864)517-9347
www.macarnold.com