Get your blues fix Saturday in Laurens
SCAC grant assists blues festival
The Piedmont Blues was born in Laurens. Now, the city is bringing back this heritage with the Piedmont Blues and Roots Festival, made possible by the SCAC’s Festivals Program grant.
Laurens County was the birthplace and home of prominent blues artists Rev. Gary Davis, born in Gray Court, and Laurens native Pink Anderson. Other blues artists such as Willie Walker, Lil McClintock, and Arthur Guitar Boogie Smith were also born in Laurens.
After the first successful Piedmont Blues and Roots festival in 2022, the 2024 festival is returning on Saturday, May 4. The fun starts at 2 p.m. and continues into the evening in downtown Laurens. The festival is free to the public. The 2024 lineup includes performances by Jerron Blind Boy Paxton, Veronika Jackson, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, the Holler Floppers ft. Ali Kafka and Hunter Holmes, all of whom preserve and perform traditional music.
The goal of the city of Laurens in hosting the festival is to preserve and celebrate the heritage born in the small rural community.
“We’re excited to see the return of this festival, especially since it celebrates our unique contribution to the work of music and that distinct aspect to our local history and culture,” Mayor Nathan Senn said.
For more information, visit the official Piedmont Blues and Roots Festival website.
Click images to enlarge.
Festivals grant just getting started
The city of Laurens was awarded $5,250 through an FY24 Festivals Program grant, the category’s inaugural year. In all, the SCAC is happy that 20 organizations, with awards totaling $125,560, took advantage of the opportunity to present festivals like Piedmont Blues and Roots throughout the state. (Visit this link to review these and other current SCAC grant awards.)
The grants support community-based festivals in South Carolina that increase public engagement and participation in arts and culture. Funding up to $7,500 is available, though only one award that large was made in FY24.
If you interest in using one of these grants for a festival, you need to represent a S.C. nonprofit organization (arts & non-arts) or unit of government, like the city of Laurens, to be eligible to apply. Colleges and universities, though, are ineligible. Special consideration will be given to festivals in underserved communities; those communities in which people lack arts programs, services, or resources due to geography, economic conditions, cultural background, socio-political circumstances, disability, age or other demonstrable factors.
The term “community” can refer to a group of people with a common heritage or characteristics, regardless of whether they live in the same location.
Applications for FY25 closed last month, unfortunately… but the SCAC expects to reopen the category for FY26 funding by next spring. Count on The Hub to keep you updated.