"They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad." So said blues great T-Bone Walker.
For local blues fans, Monday's news was definitely bad. It's off. No Blues by the Bay this coming Labor Day weekend.And as board member Bill Moehnke pointed out, "While the sponsorships have dried up, the headlining bands want more money. … Our mission is to help seniors and kids' music programs; we can't do that if we're losing money."
Another factor was Humboldt's unpredictable weather — rain has cut into attendance more than once since the festival's date was moved from mid-summer to September. The board considered downsizing by moving the show indoors but decided against it.As the festival board president Lynn McKenna put it in yesterday's press release, the board "decided not to produce a shrunken Blues by the Bay event" since, "attendees have come to expect a spectacular, two-day festival, with nationally recognized headline blues performers."McKenna began by saying, "We hope to be back, bigger and better than ever in 2014," but unless something major changes, it seems unlikely. In the meantime plans are afoot to add some big name blues acts to the next Redwood Coast Jazz Festival in spring 2014.
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