Blue Plum Festival Packs Music, Arts, Crafts, Food, Fun into Two-Day Event

Jazz it up.
That’s what organizers aimed for with the 10th Annual Blue Plum Festival. Slated for June 5-6 in downtown Johnson City, this year’s festival features more jazz music, more children’s activities, arts and crafts vendors, food, fun and well, just plain more.
“Because it is our 10th anniversary and because it has grown every year,” said Dianna Cantler, Blue Plum Festival director, “we knew we could expand the festival.”
For example, last year’s festival featured a smattering of jazz from local musicians. This year’s festival features an entire stage devoted to jazz with locals along with such national acts as Joe McBride and Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade.
“Jazz was incredibly popular last year,” Cantler said.
That’ll suit Miss Tess mighty fine. Based in Boston, she and her early era-styled jazz band are gradually making inroads into the Southern music market.
“Down South we hear things like, ‘Wow, we don’t get your kind of music down here very much,’ ” Miss Tess said on Monday afternoon by phone from on the road in South Carolina. “This is our seventh or eighth tour down here, so I think we’re building a fan base.”
Not an easy thing to do, build a following. Add to that the fact that despite four albums, radio has thus far ignored Miss Tess’s golden era jazz style.
“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “It’s a lot of driving. It’s playing a lot of low-money gigs. But we’re surviving.”
If Cantler’s wishes prevail, then Miss Tess will thrive and not merely survive while at the Blue Plum Festival. Yes, Miss Tess will have CDs on hand to sell, and yes, folks who attend may well have more money to spend on such things than at most festivals.
“Everything is free,” Cantler said. “You have to pay for the food or if you want to buy a T-shirt or a hat, but otherwise, it’s free. I think people appreciate that.”
Businesses in downtown Johnson City sure do.
“It brings more people to downtown Johnson City, which was the goal when we started out,” Cantler said, “to bring more people to downtown Johnson City.”
Bluegrass fans who trek to the Blue Plum will get an earful from the likes of such acts as the Travelin’ McCourys. Fans of blues and gospel should appreciate the Lee Boys. Country fans, there’s Shenandoah.
As for Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, well, they’re jazz. Sort of.
“The jazz people say, ‘Oh, you’re too folk’ and the folk people say, ‘Oh, you’re too jazzy,’ ” Miss Tess said. “But it’s just Miss Tess music.”
That translates to evocative 1920s and ’30s saloon-styled jazz. Filter in some folk, a wee bit of country and touches of such songsmiths as Tom Waits and jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.
“We stand apart. I feel good about that,” Miss Tess said. “I strive to be creative and genuine and true to myself.”
Festivals can experience a difficult time doing that, standing apart. Many festivals have little by way of originality and thus do not reflect the community. Not so with Blue Plum, Cantler said.
“It’s a community event,” Cantler said. “If people walk away saying they had a great time, that makes us think it’s a success.”

IF YOU GO
What: 10th Annual Blue Plum Festival
When: June 5-6, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Where: Downtown Johnson City
Admission: Free
Info: (423) 467-2583
Web: http://www.blueplum.org

MISS TESS AND THE BON TON PARADE
Web: http://www.mistessmusic.com
Audio: http://www.misstessmusic.com/music.html

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE
MAIN STAGE – JUNE 5
4:30 p.m.: Dehlia Low
6 p.m.: Buck Hoffmann Band
7:30 p.m.: Sol Driven Train
9 p.m.: Goose Creek Symphony

MARKET STREET STAGE
4:30 p.m.: Squashblossoms
5:30 p.m.: Alathea
6:45 p.m.: North Fork Switchgrass
8 p.m.: Bull’s Gap
9:15 p.m.: Shenandoah

JAZZ STAGE
5:45 p.m.: Christabel and the Jons
7 p.m.: Jazz Doctors
8:30 p.m.: Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade

JUNE 6
MAIN STAGE
1:30 p.m.: Larry Keel & Natural Bridge
3 p.m.: Malcolm Holcombe
4:15 p.m.: Sierra Hull
5:45 p.m.: Lee Boys
6:45 p.m.: Travelin’ McCourys
9 p.m.: Acoustic Syndicate

MARKET STREET STAGE
4:15 p.m.: Folk Soul Revival
5:15 p.m.: Slow Motion Trio
6:15 p.m.: The Two Man Gentleman Band
7:45 p.m.: Cutthroat Shamrock
9:15 p.m.: Scott Miller & The Commonwealth

JAZZ STAGE
3 p.m.: Frito Puente
4:15 p.m.: Walter Hall
5:30 p.m.: Blue Trillium
7 p.m.: Unlimited
8:30 p.m.: Joe McBride

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .