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JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE

The King Bees Host Second Annual Winter Blues Fest at the Hayes Center January 23

Story by David Brewer

On Friday, January 23, the High Country’s own King Bees will return to the Hayes Center for the second annual Winter Blues Fest featuring North Carolina musical legends Roy Roberts and Pop Ferguson.

Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville and Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni were unsure how Winterfest crowds would react to a gritty blues concert at the Hayes Performing Arts Center last January. The duo, better known as two thirds of The King Bees, have played virtually every venue in the High Country, but the intimate theater setting was leaps and bounds from some of the juke joints the band has rocked in their more than two decades together.

But when the curtain went up and Big Ron Hunter ambled out to center stage, the capacity crowd came to life, soaking in every blue note until Georgia bluesman Chick Willis’ last song came to a rousing close.

Not surprisingly, Winterfest organizers wanted The King Bees to bring the blues back to the Hayes Center for this year’s 11th annual event for the second annual Winter Blues Fest on Friday, January 23. Smoking blues and r&b performers Roy Roberts and Pop Ferguson lend their considerable talents to one of Winterfest’s most anticipated events. Both Roberts and Ferguson have performed alongside The King Bees at their annual New River Blues Fest in West Jefferson.

North Carolina musical legend Roy Roberts

The Bees cut their teeth going to the Deep South and Mississippi Delta and honed their skills sitting in with and backing up blues titans such as Bo Diddley, Mojo Buford, Tinsley Ellis, Lazy Lester and Ronnie Earl. Learning at the feet of the greats prepared them to forge a smoldering, soul-stirring sound all their own.

Logging tens of thousands of miles between concerts and festival appearances in locales as varied as Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, New York City and all over the High County, The King Bees, with their deep musical sensibilities and unquestionable joy in performing, have proven night after night that they can rock the blues in any language.

Pop Ferguson is native of the North Carolina foothills who can lay down righteous Chicago blues à la Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf, as well as the unmistakable sounds of Blind Boy Fuller and John Lee Hooker. Growing up the son of a preacher man, Ferguson learned a host of gospel songs and a strong church singing technique. But the blues were taboo in his house, forcing him to sneak off to listen to radios and jukeboxes and absorb the sounds of Delta, Chicago and Piedmont styles, as well as those of local foothills musicians.

North Carolina musical legend Pop Ferguson

After a varied and colorful career that saw him perform from West Virginia to Detroit to Japan, and assorted adventures that took him from church to prison and back to church again, Pop found himself befriending and performing with blues violinist Papa John Creech and the great Etta Baker. These days, Ferguson teams up with his son Clyde Jr. on bass and, in the company of The King Bees, conveys a powerful electric blues impact.

Rounding out the threesome is Tennessee-born and internationally acclaimed singer, guitarist and producer Roy Roberts. As an 18-year-old aspiring bluesman, Roberts was taken under his wing by none other than soul legend Solomon Burke. The rising star subsequently picked up touring gigs with the likes of Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and Stevie Wonder and later fronted his own band, The Roy Roberts Experience, on the Southeastern beach circuit.

The next three decades saw Roberts use his encyclopedic musical knowledge to successfully release records spanning soul, country and gospel. During the 1990s, the award-winning Roberts returned to his blues roots and hit the blues circuit with a vengeance, entertaining from France and Italy to New York City. His soul-drenched vocals, incendiary guitar and impeccable showmanship ensure his place in blues history. Living Blues Magazine said of Roberts, “This man knows a thing or two about soulful music! He gets you to sit back, lean in and really listen.”

Tickets for the Winter Blues Festival are $20 for adults and $14 students and can be purchased by calling the Hayes Center box office at 828-295-9627 or online at www.hayescenter.org.