Blues on the Bluff, 'the summer's best party,' returns for 30th year

North Mississippi Hill Country guitarist Kenny Brown performed during the first "Blues on the Bluff" concert-party to benefit independent FM radio station WEVL, but he wasn't on the bill. 

Remembers WEVL station manager Judy Dorsey: "When Joyce Cobb's guitar player didn't show up, I grabbed Kenny and said, 'You got your guitar?' When he said yes, I said, 'Well, you're on in five minutes.'"

That was 30 years ago. Saturday, Brown, 65, will be leading his own band on a gazebo stage near a steep bank of the Mississippi River as one of three musical attractions booked for what the radio station bills as "the summer's best party," Blues on the Bluff, a Memphis tradition for three decades.

Like many musicians and music enthusiasts, Brown appreciates WEVL, the commercial-free, listener-supported, volunteer-motivated, not-for-profit station located at 89.9 on the FM dial.

Launched from a Midtown home 42 years ago and now headquartered on South Main, WEVL hosts close some 65 programs throughout the week devoted to many different types of music, including gospel, rap, punk, folk, soul, country, reggae, zydeco, Celtic, "progressive ambient beat," "'90s shoegaze," "Hawaiian slack key guitar," and on and on and on.

Ten hours of programming is devoted to blues, dating from the earliest days of recorded music to the most recent Blues Music Awards winners; blues music also can be heard in the more eclectic programs that add soul, R&B, funk and rock to the mix.

(Full disclosure: The writer of this story hosts a long-running 6-8 a.m. Monday morning program on WEVL.)

Speaking by phone while traveling South earlier this week following a gig in Pennsylvania, Brown — who promises to play party-hearty "boogie music" during Blues on the Bluff — said his WEVL fandom took a hit when he moved deeper into the hill country environs of his late musical idols, including R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough.

"When I moved out of Memphis, I bought some land down in Mississippi and moved down there, and if I'd'a known it was one hill away from being able to pick up WEVL, I would've moved closer," he said. "When I want to listen to WEVL I have to get in my vehicle and drive about a mile east."

Broadcasting to a radius of roughly 50 miles around Memphis (the station also can be listened to online, at wevl.org), WEVL operates on a limited budget that is provided almost entirely by individual listeners during two annual pledge drives.

But since 1989, Blues on the Bluff also has been an important fundraiser for the station, as well as a valuable promotional event.

"Our mission statement says we are supposed to have 'an emphasis on the culture of Memphis and the South,' and there's no better way to do that than through the blues," Dorsey said. "It's a unique opportunity to come out and support WEVL and hear some great music in a really beautiful setting."

For some, that "beautiful setting" — the compact, sculpture-bedecked grounds of the National Ornamental Metal Museum, high on a river bluff, just south of the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge — is as much an attraction as the music. 

"It's one of my favorite shows, it's so nice and pretty right there, with the sunset on the bluff  — it sounds like I'm doing a commercial, but what the hell, it's great," said Holly Springs blues musician Lightnin' Malcolm, 44, the evening's first performer, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Malcolm will be followed by the Kenny Brown Band; the final act is Marcella & Her Lovers, a group led by second-generation Louisiana-meets-Memphis blues-zydeco adept, Marcella Simien.

In recognition of Blues on the Bluff's 30th anniversary, WEVL this year has enlisted a new beer sponsor, Memphis Made Brewing, a five-year-old Cooper-Young craft brewery that has created a new "Blues on the Bluff" beer to be sold exclusively at the event and at the brewery at 768 Cooper this weekend.

"We've been waiting to sponsor Blues on the Bluff since we've been a brewery, so when the opportunity opened, we jumped on it," said Memphis Made co-founder and sales manager Andy Ashby, 42. "It definitely fits in with our belief system. WEVL's a Memphis institution and we want to partner with Memphis entities. And because we're small we're pretty nimble, so we decided a fun way to be a sponsor would be to brew a special beer."

Ashby said the "Blues on the Bluff" beer, to be sold in collectible cans, would be similar to Junt, one of the company's year-round brews, but "we added a little bit of lime juice, to give it a little bit of a summer twist."

Speaking of beverages, Lightnin' Malcom said that while he enjoys many varieties of imbibements, none are as refreshing or as necessary to his well-being as the blues. 

"When I first hear it, I couldn't resist," he said. "I was like a baby crawling to some milk, trying to get some good blues."

He said he's happy to share his taste for this music in support of his favorite radio station.

Said Malcolm: "I love WEVL. It's powered by the people."

30th annual WEVL 89.9 'Blues on the Bluff '

6 p.m. Saturday, National Ornamental Metal Museum, 374 Metal Museum Drive.

Lightnin' Malcolm, 6:30 p.m.; The Kenny Brown Band, 8 p.m.; Marcella & Her Lovers, 9:35 p.m.

Admission: $25, or $20 in advance. Kids 11 and under: $12 at gate.

Food vendor: Central BBQ.  Beer vendor: Memphis Made Brewing.

For more information and advance tickets, visit wevl.org.