T-Bone Walker Blues Fest restrospective
As we look forward to this year’s T-Bone Walker Day taking place on October 19th, I thought it may be fun and valuable to look back on the inception and legacy that is the T-Bone Walker Blues Fest in Linden. For any who don’t know at this point, the establishment of the T-Bone Walker Day as a local holiday was pursued for two key reasons. The first and primary reason was to honor Aaron Tibeaux “T-Bone” Walker as a Lindenite who went on to have profound contributions to the blues genre. The second reason, however, was to raise funds to hopefully one day bring back the full-fledged blues festival that took place here in Linden from 2006 to 2013.
Beginning in 2006, the T-Bone Walker Blues Fest was established by the Linden Economic Development Corporations as a way to honor T-Bone and as part of an initiative to create more tourism-based events for the city of Linden. Over its first two years, the festival was brought about as a result of the hard work of LEDC staff Russell Wright and Kayla Williams in addition to the dozens of volunteers who participated in the event as well. The festival also saw great support from another native son of Linden as well. Don Henley—another Lindenite who’s contributions to music history are well known—actually helped obtain the two headliners for the festival for its very first year. Mr. Henley’s support of the festival continued year after year for its entire tenure in the city of Linden as well.
Going into its third year, the festival had grown significantly and with that growth, came the need to become an entity of its own. A non-profit, 501c3 corporation was established with a board of directors consisting of accomplished individuals from all walks of life and with professional backgrounds from multiple industries across the entertainment spectrum. In addition to its board of directors, there also came the establishment of an advisory board for the festival. In fact, Mr. Walker’s granddaughter—Bernita Walker—was an active participant in said advisory board.
Despite its rapid growth, the festival always retained its focus in honoring T-Bone and celebrating the blues genre as a whole. As it progressed, the festival also became a wonderful platform for elevating young talent and allowing more seasoned artists to share their experiences with those younger generations. Younger players like Kayla Reeves and Colton O’Neill were often featured at the festivals in addition to the more well-established musicians like Jimmy Vaughan and Duke Robillard. A particularly heartwarming, generation-spanning moment took place one year when 95 year old David “Honeyboy” Edwards called then seventeen year-old Marquise Knox up to the stage to play during one of his sets.
2013 was the last year for a fully-fledged T-Bone Walker Blues Fest to take place in Linden. With its departure, the city lost a crucial part of its musical and cultural heritage. Thankfully, as you might know, the story does not end there. The festival was brought back in part last year by the LEDC as a local holiday—the T-Bone Walker Day. The holiday is being observed again this year on October 19th with an afternoon event downtown followed by a blues concert at Music City Texas Theater.
It is the hope of those involved that this holiday can one day grow to be what the festival was to Linden in years past. When asked to cite what he believed the true value of the festival was, former LEDC Executive Director Russell Wright stated, “The key to the blues fest was that it brought a diverse group of peoples together to celebrate one of Linden’s native sons.” This sentiment mirrors the intent of the organizations and volunteers working to make the T-Bone Walker Day happen today—a resolute purpose to preserve and celebrate our city’s heritage as well as a dedication to a more unified Linden.