Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival draws dozens of performers, aids charities

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Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival draws dozens of performers, aids charities
May 14, 2009
By Sam Sessa
baltimoresun.com



For years, every time Don Hooker drove over the Bay Bridge, he would look down at the nearby Sandy Point State Park and imagine throwing a blues festival there.

"It's just a gorgeous setting - right on the bay with a view of the Bay Bridge," he said.

Hooker, a blues fanatic who worked in computer sales, had never put on a festival - or concert of any kind - before. But his love of blues music and sheer determination led him to organize the first Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival in 1998. It was an explosive hit, bringing more than 13,000 people to the park over the course of two days, even though it rained.

Since then, it has become one of the biggest music festivals in the Mid-Atlantic region. The next one is this weekend.

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"Originally, my concept was a picnic in the park," said Hooker, a 55-year-old who lives in Dunkirk. "It turned into something more than that."

Hooker isn't trying to make money from the festival, either. Hundreds of people volunteer to help work the festival, which Hooker books and runs with his daughter Sarah. Each year, they donate all of the net profits to various charities. Whether he makes or loses money, he promises a baseline contribution to one or two charities.

"Some years are great," he said. "Some years I lose my shirt."

Proceeds from this year's festival will benefit the Special Olympics of Maryland, Camp Face and We Care and Friends. Camp Face helps children with facial disabilities build up confidence and We Care and Friends helps fund drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

Over the years, Hooker raised close to $800,000 for charity, he estimates.

"It's better than sitting down at the end of the year writing checks to charity," he said.

Hooker's favorite moment? In 2000, he was walking out of James Brown's trailer backstage when Brown stopped him and handed him $2,000 in cash for charity.

"I got a little choked up," Hooker said. "It was the first time any artist at any of the festivals gave back. It was nice to see it."

In the past several years, the festival has gone from an annual event to a more sporadic one. Hooker put the festival on hiatus in 2003 and 2004, and when he retired in 2005, he brought it back as a biannual event.

This year, Jonny Lang and Los Lonely Boys headline a roster with dozens of performers. Though the festival bills itself as a celebration of the blues, not all of the artists are strictly blues groups. Rock 'n' roll and a number of other genres sprung from the blues, so a wide variety of bands are welcome at the festival, Hooker said.

"You can hear blues in anything," he said. "Blues is a foundation for all kinds of music."

When Hooker looks back at the more than 10 years since the festival started, he marvels at the community of blues lovers it has brought together. People have held family reunions during the festival. Some couples have met there.

"People just have a great time," Hooker said. "They all have smiles on their faces. It's incredible. It's like Woodstock - but without the drugs."