Blues Festival kicks off at the Legion

The Swanage Blues Festival got off to a rip-roaring start on Thursday with a brilliant evening of entertainment at The Legion in the High Street. Opening the show was one of the festival’s most loyal supporters and musician, Hugh Budden, accompanied by Andy Stone.

With Hugh on harmonica and Andy on guitar, the duo covered songs including ‘Going up the Country’ and ‘Riders on the Storm’. Following their classic and accomplished Blues performance, was a newcomer to the Swanage Blues Festival, Marky Dawson, a talented pianist and singer songwriter.

Advertisement 
Marky Dawson at the Swanage Blues Festival
Marky Dawson performs at the Swanage Blues Festival

‘Whisky and Women’

Marky Dawson, who grew up in Poole, performed his own songs ‘Whiskey n Women’ and ‘I Hear You Knocking’ to a very appreciative audience. He also covered ‘ Ain’t No Sunshine’ and a fantastic rendition of Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘Great Balls of Fire’. Marky is well known for his incredible energy when he plays the piano and his version of this top tune saw his fingers moving at breakneck speed across the keyboard!

Whiskey n Women – Music and lyrics by Marky Dawson

The festival continues over the weekend with over 70 gigs from 40 bands including the hugely talented Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion, established Blues musician and founder of the Ealing Blues Festival, Robert Hokum, the powerful five piece Blues unit, Backwater Roll Blues Band and also Eric Ranzoni, the entertaining pianist who’s played all the major Blues festivals in Europe and appeared on the BBC2’s ‘Later with Jools Holland’.

Other venues

Venues in Swanage include the Grand Hotel, The Legion, the White Horse, the Waterfront, the Black Swan, The Centre and the Red Lion.

This is all for the price of a £10 wristband to cover the costs of organising the festival, which is run as a not-for-profit venture.

Share this story

Contact us

Do you have anything to add to this story?

We like to keep everything up-to-date, so if you know more, please help us by getting in touch.

Advertisement 

Top stories

Storm Ciarán sweeps into Swanage brushing away its flood defences Concrete blocks along Swanage seafront to protect against flooding were strewn across the road by the force of Storm Ciarán, while Studland beaches had about five years of coastal erosion ... 1 month ago BBC snubs Purbeck by filming Enid Blyton stories in Cornwall 1 week ago Polar Express magic arrives in Swanage for Christmas 3 weeks ago Crisis at Swanage Railway as £450,000 survival fund is launched 1 month ago Restaurant with perfect view of Swanage Bay to open in 2024 2 weeks ago

Most recent

Business is blooming in Swanage town centre Bucking the national trend of empty shop units, Swanage in Dorset is seeing lots more new businesses opening up in the heart of the seaside town. 11 hours ago Inspiring Christmas trees at Swanage festival 1 day ago Enchanted evenings light up Purbeck secret garden 2 days ago Swanage seafront survey result gives council splitting headache 3 days ago Plans for growth at Swanage community garden 4 days ago