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Big names sold on Nanaimo's Summertime Blues

What: Nanaimo’s Summertime Blues Festival Where: Maffeo Sutton Park When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday Tickets: Single day pass $52.50 Full festival pass $146 (nanaimobluesfestival.
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Tommy Castro and the Painkillers are among the acts lined up to play the Summertime Blues Festival in Nanaimo.

What: Nanaimo’s Summertime Blues Festival
Where: Maffeo Sutton Park
When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Tickets: Single day pass $52.50 Full festival pass $146 (nanaimobluesfestival.com)

 

Three years ago, the Summertime Blues Festival decided ramp things up a few notches.

It took some persuading and finagling. However, artistic director Grant Payne and his team have succeeded in their mission to bring bigger names to the Nanaimo festival.

This year, the three-day Summertime Blues Festival — which formerly focused on local talent — will host such national and international blues acts as Tommy Castro, Savoy Brown, Sue Foley and Rick Estrin.

That’s not to say Vancouver Island acts are overlooked. The bill includes Blue Moon Marquee and David Gogo from Nanaimo, as well as Victoria’s David Vest and Summer & the Sinners.

The Nanaimo Blues Society, which stages the annual festival, was founded in 2004. Payne, a former radio announcer and musician, became the artistic director in 2014. He was determined to increase the event’s scope.

“I wanted to move it up from being just a small local festival that had only local bands,” he said.

The first year, Payne scored such notables as Canned Heat, Jim Byrnes and Harpdog Brown. He said this season’s roster is the best so far.

California-born Castro is a critically acclaimed guitar-slinger who was named B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. Estrin first came to renown as the singer for Little Charlie and the Nightcats, a long-running American blues band.

The festival’s 2016 lineup includes guitarist Rick Vito, a former member of Fleetwood Mac. Also performing are the Harpoonist and the Axemurderer (a.k.a. Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers), a gritty blues harp/guitarist duo from Nanaimo who’ve “just exploded” on the international blues festival circuit, Payne said.

Savoy Brown, formed in 1966, is a legendary British blues-rock band featuring original guitarist Kim Simmonds.

“He’s in his 70s and he’s still just pounding it out. They’re probably sounding better now than they were 10 or 15 years ago,” Payne said.

In order to hire blues musicians with name recognition, the Summer Blues Festival boosted its budget to $150,000. In part, this was accomplished by staging fundraising concerts throughout the year.

As well, Payne is able to persuade big names to play for a smaller-than-usual fee. He manages this by explaining the Nanaimo Blues Society is a non-profit society run by volunteers passionate about the blues.

“It’s been a bit of begging and pleading on my side, getting artists to take less than they’d normally be getting,” Payne said. “It’s a hard sell.”

His silver tongue might be inherited. His father was a well-known broadcaster with CJCA radio in Edmonton for 47 years. Payne was a radio announcer as well, working for Edmonton rock station K-97.

Nanaimo has a loyal blues audience. Yet Payne said he and the Nanaimo Blues Society hope to bring in new audiences, too. Part of the challenge is convincing the uninitiated that blues music can be fun.

“A lot of people have this picture in their head that blues is slow and depressing. If you come to the festival, you’re going to see a lot of people dancing and having a great time. The music is really upbeat and uptempo,” he said.

achamberlain@timescolonist.com