It seems fitting that an original tune titled “Long Pour” will be among those on tap at Saturday’s Fifth Annual BBQ Blues & Brew in downtown Columbus.
The headlining Amanda Webb Band from Brown County will uncork that rocker to satisfy musical thirsts with these opening lines:
“Crazy — that’s what I’m gonna seem, just to get you to listen to me.
“Relentless — that’s what I’m gonna be, just to get you to hear me.
“I gotta get your attention.”
Make no mistake, lead singer and keyboardist Webb will catch your attention with a powerful voice that she shifted in recent years from IU music school classical to rollicking, soulful sweet.
“When I first tried to sing blues (years ago), it was awful,” Webb said, speaking from the home she and husband/band guitarist Brian Webb live in near Bean Blossom. “I had to learn how to sing with a more pop-oriented technique. There were obvious things (from my college training) that just didn’t fit.”
The five-piece group, covering artists such as Koko Taylor and Tracy Chapman, often opens a song with her husband’s polished guitar work, followed by Amanda Webb’s vocals. And her adjustments seem to have paid off.
Now, it appears she might have earned at least a bachelor’s in blues, and with some distinction.
These days, she can whisper and she can wail, and you’d never really know she had to work hard for her funk. Hear the group groove into Susan Tedeschi’s “It Hurt So Bad,” when Amanda Webb turns her voice all rough and gritty, and you, too, can feel the pain.
“The blues are really raw,” Amanda Webb said. “And really emotive. There’s no room for fake. You’ve gotta be keeping it real.”
Downtown restaurant owners Steve Leach of The Garage Pub and Grill and Kurt Schwarze of Fourth Street Bar & Grill comprise an organization called Fun On Fourth, and organize the annual outdoor gathering that they mentioned drew an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people last year.
As always, Leach sees the BBQ Blues & Brew’s attraction as simple. He answered a question about appeal with a question: What’s not to like?
“It’s family friendly,” Leach said. “No admission. Great food with wonderful pitmasters coming from as far away as Cleveland. Craft beer and full liquor. A wonderful kids area with a rock climbing wall and bungee jump and bounce houses and all that fun stuff.”
If you go
What: Fifth Annual BBQ Blues & Brew, sponsored by First Financial Bank. Features live blues, a range of area pitmasters preparing everything from ribs to nachos to barbecued sandwiches and desserts, a variety of craft beers and other liquor, plus games and activities for children and others. Organized by Fun on Fourth.
When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Music schedule: The 145s (blues, soul, rock, pop), noon; Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel (blues rock), 4 p.m.; The Amanda Webb Band (blues rock and pop), 7 p.m.
Where: Washington and Fourth streets in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free.
Information: Facebook page for BBQ Blues & Brew.
For more on this story, see today’s Republic.
