Florence welcomes inaugural Pee Dee Blues Bash

Fourteen musical acts will perform at 11 different locations this weekend as The Pee Dee Blues Bash kicks off its inaugural year.
The festival got underway Thursday with a performance by the Deb Callahan Band at the National Bean Market Museum in Lake City. Tonight, the beat goes on as Veronika Jackson and Charlie Sayles & the Blues Disciples, featuring Tony Fazio, take the stage from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Drs. Bruce & Lee Foundation Library. At 9 p.m., Apple Annie’s will play host to Studebaker John & The Hawks. Creek Ratz will have the Daddy Mack Blues Band. Juke Joint Johnny & Drew Baldwin will be at Indigo Joe’s. Bill Lupkin & The Chicago Blues Coalition will perform at J. Michael’s, while Victor’s Bistro will play host to Motherless Chillin’.
These acts and others will perform Saturday at the South Carolina Pecan Festival in downtown Florence. The blues will continue Saturday night at Friday night’s venues as well as Redbone Alley.
The bash will culminate Sunday with a performance by the legendary Drink Small at the Barnes Street Activity Center in Florence. Known as the patron saint of Palmetto State blues, Drink Small was born in 1933 in the Lee County community of Bishopville. “The Blues Doctor” first recorded in 1956 for Vee Jay Records (with The Spiritualaires of Columbia) before embarking on a long and storied career that has led him through blues, R&B, funk, and everything in between. Razorwire guitar and a unique basso profundo voice make him instantly identifiable, and for many South Carolinians, he is the point-of-reference when it comes to the blues. He is the S.C. Folk Heritage Award winner and a member of the S.C. Hall of Fame.
“We are very excited to have this variety and quality of performers here in Florence,” said Tom Marschel, event organizer and president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.“It is a great opportunity for the community and visitors to immerse themselves in the wonderful genre of blues during the festival.”
Marschel said he began thinking about the possibility of a organizing a blues bash in Florence after meeting Gary Irwin during the Low Country Blues Bash in Charleston. Irwin, a promoter and musician who performs as Shrimp City Slim, handles the low country event as well as blues festivals in Camden and Greenwood.
“Growing up in St. Louis in the 1960s, I became somewhat of a blues afficianado at a young age,” Marschel said.
“So my wife Marilyn and I go to the Lowcountry Blues Bash. During that festival, we went to see a French blues band, and I ended up talking to Gary, who is the director of the Lowcountry Blues Bash. We talked blues, and that was about it,” he said. “Then fast forward several months later to the Camden Blues Festival, and I ran into Gary again. I asked him why he had never performed in Florence, and he said no one had ever invited him. So I invited him, and that’s kind of how the whole thing got started.”
Irwin and Marschel began looking into potential venues for a festival in Florence, and Marschel said he was overwhelmed by the positive response he got.
“This is the only thing I’ve ever done where nobody has said, ‘no,’” Marschel said. “Everyone I asked to get involved immediately got on board and got excited about it. Because of these sponsors and this community, the whole festival is free. There’s no fee for any of the performances. It’s going to be a great, great weekend and just the first of many more to come.”