Get ready for a full day of live music, great food, and fun. The Up The River Blues Festival will be bringing top-notch musical performers from 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. to Louis Engel Waterfront Park in Ossining on Saturday, Sept. 13. Along with first-class blues bands, there will be food trucks, a beer garden and craft vendors. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs – get comfortable and stay all day. It’s free and open to the public, thanks to the event’s sponsors and community partners.
In its second year, the Up the River Blues Festival is the brainchild of musician and blues aficionado Bill Votava. Drawing inspiration from B.B. King’s legendary and powerful Thanksgiving Day performance at Sing Sing Prison in 1972, Votava was determined to honor the blues icon by recapturing that same spirit and sharing the joy with a new generation of blues fans.
Festival organizer and drummer for bands, The 3Bs and BlueFireSoul, Votava describes himself as a fan of all musical genres. It has been his goal to present blues to his hometown of Ossining for years and is thrilled to share his passion with the community again this year.
“Blues music is emotion; the expression of pain, frustration, joy, desire and everything in between,” said Votava. “The sharing of those most basic, common emotions brings the artist and the audience together.”
Votava tells River Journal that he couldn’t have put the festival together without the support of Gayle Marchica and Paul Toscano. Marchica, who had served as president of the Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce, brought her years of experience and expertise in organizing large events to help make the blues celebration a reality. Toscano, president of Hudson Valley Blues Society, helped curate the lineup, which includes King Solomon Hicks, Willa & Company, The Traveling Riverside Blues Band, BlueFireSoul, Backbone featuring Simone Ayers and Big Frank and Mike Smith.
New York-born Solomon Hicks will be headlining the festival. Hicks won the 2021 Blues Music Awards for Best Emerging Artist for his 2020 CD release, Harlem, and tours internationally.
Singer-songwriter Willa Vincitore was inducted into the New York State Blues Hall of Fame in 2018 and has been building a fan base across the Hudson Valley since the mid-1990s. She spent the early part of her stage career backing Alligator Records artist Chris O’Leary.
Big Frank and Mike Smith Juke Joint Duo, award-winning, legendary blues musicians, will be performing in between acts.
The Traveling Riverside Blues Band has toured throughout New York with Toscano on harp (harmonica) and guitarist Johnny Youngblood.
BlueFireSoul is a local powerhouse four-piece up-and-coming group of performers. Fronted by veteran blues vocalist Tara Weiss (European touring company of Hair in the 80s), and 2021 Road-to-Memphis-Challenge winner guitarist Adam Power.
Backbone, a blues staple throughout the region, features the Hudson Valley’s rising star, powerhouse vocalist, Simone Ayers.
- Up the River Blues Festival
- Saturday, Sept. 13
- 12 p.m.-8 p.m.
- Louis Engel Waterfront Park, Ossining
