MIDLAND Known as the “Guitar Whisperer,” blues singer Noah Wotherspoon and the members of his band are one of numerous acts that will be performing in the Permian Basin next week for this year’s Tall City Blues Fest.
After a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the first year back for the Tall City Blues Fest.
It’s not the first time that Wotherspoon, who resides in Kentucky, has performed at Tall City Blues Fest and he’s excited to be returning.
“On many levels, we’re thrilled to be coming back,” Wotherspoon said. “We’ve performed at the festival several times now. It’s always phenomenal. They always get a diverse, incredible roster every year. It’s just been a unique festival.”
The festival, which features some of the top blues music groups from across the country, will take place at 3 p.m. Sept. 24 at The Destination venue in Midland.
A VIP kickoff party will take place before the start, from noon-3 p.m.
Not only will this year mark the return of the Tall City Blues Fest for the first time since 2019, but it will also mark the 10th anniversary.
“It’s a festival that we would’ve had in 2020 (and 2021) had COVID not thwarted our efforts,” Tall City Blues Fest Producer Lisa Grissom said. “We haven’t had a festival for the last couple of years. We’re very excited about this year’s fest.”
There will be a bunch of things that’ll be different from the last edition of the festival.
This year’s Tall City Blues Fest will be the first time taking place at The Destination. In the past, the fest has taken place in downtown Midland.
It was moved due to construction.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make that work this year with the new park so we had to find a new venue,” Grissom said.
Still, Grissom said she is excited about this year’s venue.
“They’re absolutely amazing to work with and have been outstanding venue partners,” Grissom said. “They have just as much interest in the success of this year’s fest as we do, and that’s been a blessing.”
Also different this year will be that the festival will be just one day. In the past, it was a two-day event.
“This year, we consolidated it all into one day,” Grissom said. “What’s making it all work is The Destination.”
The concert schedule will last from 3-11 p.m.
“We have seven acts that we’re going to showcase on that stage,” Grissom said. “Because this is the 10-year anniversary, we went with festival favorites from past years.”
The headliner for this year is Mr. Sipp. A Mississippi native, Castro Coleman (aka Mr. Sipp) is one of the top three fest favorites and will be making his return to the Permian Basin this year.
Wotherspoon will be the final act.
“We’ve made a lot of friends and I’m a big fan of the acts,” Wotherspoon said. “This year, they have Mr. Sipp who I know and love. The Tall City Blues Fest has always been great to us. During the COVID situation, there was a feeling of whether we’d get to play again so this is a perect example of being able to return that we’re really grateful for.”
Mr. Sipp made his first appearance at the Tall City Blues Fest back in 2013.
“I’m very excited,” Coleman said. “I tell people that Tall City Blues Festival is actually the first blues festival that i played in as Mr. Sipp. I had just started. … That’s how fresh and new I was.”
He’s been back to the Tall City Blues Fest a couple of times ever since.
“He has so many awards and accolades that it’s really too long of a list to mention,” Grissom said. “He kind of has this scandoulsy, enchanting style of playing and performing. When he played Tall City in years past, he just won people’s hearts and it catapulted him into the top three of our all time fest favorites.”
Not surprisingly, the name Mr. Sipp is derived from his state’s name.
“I wanted to represent my state as a whole and I knew the venture that I was going into, I was going to shine a light on my state in a positive light,” Coleman said. “The state backed it, and they’re grateful for allowing me to use it and grateful for who I am.”
Beginning the music will be The Corbells who won last year’s Greater West Texas Blues Society’s Solo/duo act.
“The purpose of that is to hold a competition that’s specifically geared toward blues,” Grissom said. “The greater West Texas Blues Society held that last year and they selected a solo duo group and the other group was the John Sprott Blues Band out of Lubbock. Both of those acts got sent to Memphis to compete among 250-plus bands from around the world.”
The John Sprott Blues Band will take the stage at 7:15 p.m.
After The Corbells will be the Tony Barker Band performing on stage, followed by Jhett Black.
The group In Layman Terms will perform at 5 p.m. and will be followed by Dirty Red and the Soulshakers at 6 p.m.
After the John Sprott Blues Band performs, Mr. Sipp will take the stage at 8:30 p.m.
Wotherspoon will close out the evening when he hits the stage at 10 p.m.
“We have several other artists on the lineup that have played the fest before,” Grissom said. “We also have a sprinkle of a few new acts.”
Performing at the sponsor and VIP party before the event will be KT and the Blues Scientists.
“We’re very excited,” Kevin Taylor of the KT and the Blues Scientists said. “Playing at the Tall City Blues Fest has been on our bucket list. We want to play at as many festivals as we can. We’ve been all around the world and the United States getting to do our thing. We’re pretty excited.”
Vendors will also be at the festival.
“There’ll be a kids corner that has a snow cone truck, face painting, cornhole and other activities,” Grissom said. “It’s an opportunity for general admission folks to come in early and scope out their spots for the kids to enjoy the activities. We have a whole food truck court that we’ll be hosting as well.”
With the return of this year’s festival, Grissom is excited for this year’s event.
“People are excited, especially after not having the festival the last two years,” Grissom said. “We’re excited. There’s a lot of high energy that’s revolving around the festival and the anticipation of it right now.”
If you go
- What: Tall City Blues Fest
- When: 3 p.m. Sept. 24
- Where: The Destination in Midland
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/n69pe6u5
