Swingin' to the blues in Wallace
WALLACE - Visitors will soon be singing the blues in Wallace, but there's nothing depressing about it.
"We don't do a lot of that 'my dog died, Delta blues," said event organizer Craig Heimbigner. "We're mostly about playing dance music and it's a lot of fun."
The 2014 Wallace Blues Festival will feature music and dancing in the streets July 11-13, a weekend of 19 acts performing in five different locations. Bands and performers such as Sammy Eubanks, Bakin' Phat, The Fat Tones, The Baja Boogie Band, Doghouse Boyz and VooDoo Church will play the Red Light Garage, the Cedar Street stage, the Fainting Goat, the beer garden and the main stage at Cedar and Seventh streets with music starting at 7 p.m. Friday. It will continue from 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday with more on Sunday.
"It's fun everywhere," Heimbigner said. "All of our bands are known for something. They're all unique and they all have their fans."
The festival, now in its third year, has been awarded the Inland Empire Blues Society's Empire Award for best blues event/festival in the Inland Empire for two consecutive years. The event draws between 2,000 and 3,000 people who come to enjoy the music out in the open air. Several streets will be closed to allow for listening, dancing and wandering enjoyment.
A $10 "Blues Brunch" pancake feed will be served Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m. in the Elks Lodge, located at 419 Cedar St., where diners will also receive a second serving of the Sara Brown Band, which plays Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. on the Red Light Garage deck.
"She played it last year," Heimbigner said. "We just about sold it out."
The 2014 Wallace Blues Festival is presented by Too Far North Productions. Advance tickets are $30 and can be purchased through all TicketsWest outlets as well as at The Long Ear in Coeur d'Alene, Daley's Cheap Shots and the Bronco Inn in Spokane Valley and 4000 Holes in Spokane. Wallace locations include Harvest Foods, the Wallace Inn and the 1313 Club. Tickets will be $35 at the door. Children 12 and younger will be $10 at the door only. New this year: Tickets for Shoshone County residents with photo ID will be $20 at the door only. Tickets sold in town during free-music Friday will be $30. All ages are welcome.
RV parking and tent camping are available for $10 per night and include hot showers and bathrooms. A shuttle to camping and to the Silver Mountain Resort runs all weekend. Hotel, camping and festival schedule information is available at www.wallacebluesfestival.com.