National Armed Forces Day/Blues & Booze In The Bury 2010

This event, in its fourth year in 2010, is a combination of a blues festival, a real ale festival and a chance to raise funds for charities, including  Help for Heroes and the Neurofibromatosis Association (NfA). Staged in the open-air in The Bury, at the heart of the beautiful historic town of Odiham in Hampshire. Blues in The Bury also helps celebrate National Armed Forces Day and gives the residents of Odiham a chance to pay tribute to the men and women who serve at RAF Odiham

The day began with a brilliant set by the Reverend Robert. A master of pre-war blues. He has delved deep into the styles of Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and other Delta blues giants. In 2004 he took first place at The National Slide Guitar Festival in North Carolina, USA. The Reverend is known for his true conviction and powerful delivery and got the day off to a great start.

Next on the bill was home grown Blues Man and one of the main organisers of the event, the man responsible for bringing the acts together for the day – Bob Long. Bob is a British blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player specializing in “the old stuff”. Most of what he plays are his interpretations of pre-World War II blues, jug band and ragtime material in particular music from the Mississippi Delta which is somewhere he visits frequently. Bob has performed at The Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, The Tommy Johnson Blues Festival in Crystal Springs and the legendary Ground Zero Blues Club. When at home, Bob hosts a monthly acoustic blues jam at the Platform Tavern in Southampton.

Then came Lewis Cohen, who appeared last year as one half of National Steel. Lewis Cohen is a phenomenal British bluesman; a rising star among the younger generation of acoustic blues players. His powerful vocals and exquisite slide guitar technique, combined with a repertoire of (sometimes obscure) numbers from the 1920s and 1930s, make him a lively and soulful performer and a hard act to follow.

Or maybe not too hard to follow if you’ve got Ben ‘Wiley’ Payton on the list? Ben Payton from Jackson Mississippi has been living the blues most of his life. Now in his sixties, he’s a “real deal” bluesman of the old school, singing and playing traditional material and his own songs on acoustic guitar. Ben’s appearance at Odiham was part of his first tour in the UK. Ben Payton was born in tiny Coila, Mississippi, in the hill country just east of the Delta. His early musical influences included his grandmother Mabel Johnson’s gospel piano playing and his Uncle Joe Birch’s blues guitar.

Ben Payton’s voice resonates with a passion for life and his skills as a guitarist evoke the tradition of the original Delta blues greats such as Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton, and Son House. Yet Payton has a style all his own.

Last, but definitely not least, the headliners for the day were Red Jackson. Featuring the mellow soulful voice of Phil Mills, with his jazzy finger-style or bluesy slide guitars and showcase harmonicas, backed up by the solid 12-year partnership of rhythm section Schultz (on a 2-drum kit) and Teej (acoustic double bass), Red Jackson have developed a laid-back but passionate approach to the blues. They perform a mix of blues styles: from the slow, haunting blues of the Mississippi delta to the rolling beat of Chicago, picking up street grooves from New Orleans, Texan boogie and a touch of hill-country ragtime along the way. This is the blues of the ’40s and ’50s, the blues of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, T-Bone Walker and Big Bill Broonzy to name just a few.

Several Charities benefited from the day including Help for Heroes which raised a total of £1400 and the NFA who made £550 from their wordsearch competition alone.

I love getting involved in community events and as the ‘official’ OTMG (Odiham Town Manager Group) photographer for the day it was a great chance to do my bit for Odiham and get some shots of the artists whilst enjoying some very cool blues, some chilled Cider and a lot of very hot sunshine.