Folks trying to decide which of the many Central Oregon Fourth of July events to attend have a new contender to consider: the Central Oregon Blues & Crawfish Festival, which takes place at Creekside Park in Sisters next Thursday through Saturday.
Sisters residents Tom & Cheryl White are the founders of the festival, which was an idea two years in the making, Tom says. By teaming up with veteran concert booker Ryan Funderburg, they've assembled an impressive lineup and a broad spectrum of talent, including John Lee Hooker, Jr., along with Kenny Neal, the Ty Curtis Band, Stephanie Slade, Joe Leonardi, Jon MacLennan, T-Bone Stone, Lisa Mann, Blue Moon Society, Keegan Smith and Zsa Zsa. They've paired the music with some down-home Cajun food: fresh crawfish, red beans and rice, shrimp creole and jambalaya.
Hooker's the headliner at 8:30 Thursday night (the music begins at 4 p.m.), and then there's blues action all afternoon and well into the evening on Friday and Saturday (with live blues at what will no doubt be a raucous after-party at Bronco Billy's each night from 9:30 to midnight).
So how'd they manage to put together such an ambitious project? Years of practice. Tom has been in the music biz for years, playing drums and bass for a number of artists since the ‘90s (although he's been playing music since he was in high school in the '70s). He's played in festivals all across the country and has been involved in producing festivals in Dallas, Nashville and Los Angeles. (By the way, his own band, Big Fish, is included in the lineup Thursday night).
When they aren't busy running a music festival, the Whites can be found overseeing Amp Media Group in Sisters. The company encompasses a record label, recording studio, publishing company and concert promotion.
Tom says they're expected 3,000-5,000 people during the weekend, and folks from northern California, southern Washington and Idaho have reserved campsites. Should be fun!
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