Friday, October 8, 2010

King Biscuit Time!

The twighlight scene on Cherry Street. I got to get me a Turkey leg. Michael Burks, Marsha Ball (how does she play with her legs crossed?), and Dr John and the lower 911 Band. The sign says:Be Polite! Its King Biscuit Time on the low side of the road.
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There is a light…and fluffy King Biscuit!

In a few hours I will head east to Helena for – the King Biscuit Blues Festival.  Because, I have just found out, it’s back.  Arisen from the dead or, more accurately, rescued from the grips of greed, from the cold hard corporate reality everything has a price – which means it is worth owning and fighting over.  Here’s the release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — October 7, 2010 — HELENA, AR
KING BISCUIT NAME IS RETURNED TO ARKANSAS BLUES & HERITAGE FESTIVAL
In a surprise announcement broadcast on the Main Stage at the opening of the 2010 Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival, Bill Sagan, founder and CEO of Wolfgang’s Vault said, “On behalf of the whole Wolfgang’s Vault family of companies, including King Biscuit, we are pleased to announce a rekindled partnership between King Biscuit and the Blues Festival. It our pleasure to announce that beginning next year, 2011, this Blues Festival will once again be named the King Biscuit Blues Festival in honor of the great historical music legacy we share.”
Six years ago blues fans and organizers of Helena, Arkansas’s King Biscuit Blues Festival received a shock when they discovered that a contract had been signed that effectively turned their long-lived name over to a management group from New York. As a result, the 25-year old event was forced to change its name from the ever popular King Biscuit Blues Festival to the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival.
After several years of effort, event organizers learned that the rights to the name had been sold to Wolfgang’s Vault, a private music-focused company established in 2002 dedicated to the restoration and archiving of live concert recordings and the sale of music memorabilia. After learning of Helena’s interest in having the King Biscuit name back, Sagan negotiated a new relationship with the Festival that will see the name return for the 2011 event.
“This is a dream come true for us to have the name King Biscuit Blues Festival back,” said Munnie Jordan, executive
director of this year’s festival. “This event is all about our heritage and our culture, and this really makes us happy and proud. I want to thank Bill Sagan and Wolfgang’s Vault for making this day possible for us–it’s really a dream come true,” Jordan said.
Bubba Sullivan, founding member of the Sonny Boy Blues Society, echoed Jordan’s comments, “We’re very thankful
to have the name back home. This festival is all about our history, and the name King Biscuit Blues Festival was a big part of that history. We look forward to once again being able to promote the 2011 event as the King Biscuit Blues Festival.”
 

What irked me most about this six year fandango was the short-sighted notion that those who bought the name also claimed the legacy.  Claim the name, move the festival, keep the magic. That was the theory, and it failed.  Because a legacy is a spirit, a soul, a sense of place and pride. 

I have been told that patience is simply the ability to accept reality and live in the moment.  So we did.  Carried on with our festival and made it better than ever.  And lo and behold, the good guys won.  There is a light on the low side of the road.