DOWNTOWN — The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival is back and bigger than ever.
Now in its sixth year, the festival is expanding to six venues in 2015 after breaking away from its original locale, the shuttered Congress Theater, last year. Veteran bluesman Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater on Friday night will kick off the festival, which will run for more than six weeks and present headliners including Marc Broussard and Robert Randolph & The Family Band.
"I realized that as it gets cold out those styles of music go away for the winter, and in my head, there’s no reason why that should happen," festival founder Mike Raspatello said. "Calling it the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival, it needed to include more of the city."
The fest this year will host more than 30 acts on 23 nights at six venues: The House of Blues in River North, Concord Music Hall in Logan Square, the West Loop's City Winery, the Aragon Ballroom in Uptown, Thalia Hall in Pilsen and SPACE in Evanston. The festival began as a one-day event with 25 acts in 2008 at Congress Theater.
Raspatello, who went "down the rabbit hole" of bluegrass after getting into jam bands as a teen, said he prefers spreading the shows across the city. He likened the new approach to a long-running film festival.
"Venues are already doing this in a piecemeal way," he said. "The idea is to bring more acts and bring more shows."
Clearwater, who has been part of the Chicago blues scene since the 1950s and turns 80 years old on Saturday, is happy to perform at his fourth fest and play another "birthday show" at SPACE. He recorded a live album there last year, and Friday night the Skokie resident will perform two 1½-hour sets.
Though Chicago's blues scene has changed mightily since the days of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, Clearwater — who is recording a studio album — said he enjoys the next generation of artists in the genre, including Randolph and Ronnie Baker Brooks, who is also performing at the festival.
"Don't get me wrong, the foundation is still underneath it," Clearwater said. "That's what makes the blues the blues: it's got a foundation that's unshakable."
Check out the the fest's website for more details.
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