This is a new feature we’re adding to the website to give people an idea of what’s going on in the Blues world, what we’re doing in Blues world and hopefully answer questions you might about the festival.
I’ve had quite a few folks ask me how we decide on the bands we choose. Well, we start out with a budget – I hate budgets and Jennifer loves them – so right off the bat, there’s a bit of tension, and sometimes our staff gets put smack dab in the middle. Once we finally agree on a number (which BTW is NEVER enough) I start pouring through all the band requests, along with my memory of who I’ve seen that has blown my socks off, and I start playing “Where to spend the money”. I always start with my headliner act, then the lead up act and the one before that. I try hard to hire national acts that have done very well at other festivals and have a sound I think OUR crowd will like. That’s right – OUR crowd is different from a Chicago Crowd or even a Portland Crowd. Then I go to work to find acts that will provide good build up to the National Acts. I always want at least one Flagstaff local, but this year it looks like we’ll have 2. I usually always grab the Phoenix or Northern Arizona IBC band winners, it depends upon a good fit in the lineup. Then I go for regional bands – basically the western region. Then I try and fit in at least 3 national acts. This year we’re going to have acoustic acts in between the last three acts to keep the energy up and not so much of the thanking the sponsors and volunteers.. I want everyone to support our acoustic acts, because this is new and these people are troopers. They submitted videos and we chose the top 3. Next year we hope to have even more submissions, and grow this year after year.
Welcome to the B3 we hope you enjoy it!
