Saturday's Giving Hunger the Blues 21 to be Biggest Event Yet

SARASOTA – Over the past two decades, Giving Hunger the Blues has morphed from a one-day fundraiser in a historic music club, to an epic Sunday block party, to a multi-event, multi-venue bayfront music festival to rival the very best in a state choc full of them. This weekend, promoter Peter Anderson will take the GHTB to a whole new level.

GHTB started out as a relatively small, Sunday afternoon affair in George Generoso's legendary 5 O'Clock Club to raise money for the Sarasota Food Bank–a few blues bands jamming through a full day, a canned-food item the price of admission. The event caught on quickly and soon had to be moved out onto Hillview Street with a large stage right up against U.S. 41.

Generoso, who founded the event to honor his mother, chaired GHTB until 2013. But as he neared retirement (George sold the 5'O earlier this year), he stepped aside, and there was no event in 2014. It looked to be the end of the road for one of local music fans' favorite days of the year. That's when Anderson, who'd been on the GHTB board, approached Generosso about bringing it back.

In 2015, Anderson revived the festival on Hillview Street, this time to benefit the Mayors Feed the Hungry program. The event was a success but ran into a literal roadblock the next year, when Hillview was closed for a major construction project. Serendipity intervened. Anderson, who has a way of looking at just about anything and imagining a way it can be done on a larger scale with more creative vision, was able to stage the event on the grounds of the Van Wezel, this time with two stages, a VIP lounge, food trucks and craft beer. Instead of the heavily-trafficked Tamiami Trail behind the stage, the backdrop would be perhaps the single most gorgeous sliver of Sarasota Bay.

Ship of Fools. Photo by Jim Hartzell

Two things have always set GTHB apart. Foremost, it's a 100 percent volunteer effort that puts all of its proceeds into the mouths of our community's most vulnerable. It also defies popular conviction that music fans won't buy a $20 ticket to see an event that showcases mostly local artists who they can often see for a $5 cover, or even free, at other venues.

As Anderson has proven, our local music fans are more than willing to plunk down a few bucks (especially for a worthy cause) in order to see their favorite local bands on a much bigger stage and under much brighter lights than is usually the case. This year, Anderson has made even more monumental of a shift. For starters, the main event will take place on Saturday, competing with more events, but offering most attendees the chance to take in an all-day event without having to get up for work in the morning.

"We moved the event to a Saturday to maximize attendance through the end of the show, so folks don’t have to party on a school night!" said Anderson with a laugh. "This also gave us the ability to secure the venue for two days, in order to load in the event on Friday and produce our Giving Hunger the Boo’s Halloween party onsite Friday night (8 p.m. to midnight and featuring Reverend Barry & Funktastic Soul, who'll return on Saturday) rather than at a separate venue like last year."

The other big shift is the music. As the event grew, it began to migrate away from being blues-centric, incorporating a wide variety of genres and hence drawing bigger crowds. This year, Anderson, a jazz aficionado whose family lives in New Orleans where he's attended 19 of 22 Jazz and Heritage Festivals, will add a jazz stage in partnership with the Jazz Club of Sarasota.

Jazz Stage Headliner Marion Meadows

"As a rabid consumer of live jazz, it has always been a dream of mine to produce a jazz festival," said Anderson, who noted that most of his festival inspiration comes from his Jazz Fest experiences. "One of the main reasons I moved the event to the Van Wezel is its expandability on the property. That and an enthusiastic agreement from the Jazz Club of Sarasota to co-produce the Jazz on the Bay stage sealed the deal."

Anderson, again, always thinking bigger, admits that he's considering more stages and even a two-day festival in the future and hints at funk as the next genre to compliment the menu.

This year, the line-up again features some of the region's very best acts and is heavy on bands known for their live performance prowess. Sarasota-based Grateful Dead cover band Ship of Fools will make their GHTB debut in early afternoon, an addition that has the formidable local Deadhead community brimming with excitement. Ship of Fools has steadily built a growing following, but made a quantum leap this summer with their two performances on Dana Lawrence’s Summer Jam tribute shows.

Rj Howson (L) and Twinkle (R). Photos via artists' Facebook page.

They'll be followed by Twinkle & Rock Soul Radio, arguably the most popular live act in the area. A former Warner Brothers recording artist who once upon a time had a soft-rock sound, the addition of RSR has taken the Sarasota native's music in very exciting directions with the true stadium-rock-quality riffs of guitarist Lenny Brooks, bassist Tony LeClerc and drummer Benny Puckett driving hard under the songstress' versatile, velvety voice. Whether the band is performing from its deep catalog of stellar originals, or doing interesting takes on everything from Led Zepplin to Janis Joplin, Twinkle & RSR know how to put on a show.

Last year's headliner, southern-rock/blues guitar virtuoso Rj Howson, will return in the 5 p.m. slot. Howson brought down the house at last year’s GHTB with searing guitar solos over Great Southern's Mike Kach's Hammond B-3. Soon after, Howson released his debut album, Set it Free (review), and the Chicago transplant, who left a career as an engineer to pursue music full-time, parlayed the success into a number of bigger gigs, including opening for southern rock legends Molly Hatchet on St. Patrick’s Day.

Mainstage headliner John NŽmeth

Howson will be followed by another notable south Florida blues guitarist, Albert Castiglia, formerly of Junior Wells’ band. The headlining act will also stay true to the event’s blues roots, when John NŽmeth, a two-time Blues Music Awards winner and top-shelf harmonica player, lays down old school blues with a high-energy kick. In addition to his solo work, NŽmeth has backed some of the genre's biggest names, including Junior Watson and Elvin Bishop.

As a huge jazz fan myself, I can attest that there are not a lot of opportunities to see multi-artist events in our area, but Anderson has again curated an exciting schedule of performers, headlined by smooth-jazz icon Marion Meadows, one of the very best soprano sax players in the genre. Meadows will be joined on the jazz stage by Gumbi Ortiz & New Groove City, Synia Carroll & The Billy Marcus Trio, Hot Club SRQ, the Sarasota Jazz Project and the Booker High Jazz Ensemble.