B’ville native hosts Great Salt City Blues Concert
By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
Blue Wave Productions lives up to its name with the return of the Great Salt City Blues Concert on Dec. 26 at the Palace Theatre in Syracuse.
Among the featured acts are the Kingsnakes, Los Blancos, Phil Petroff and the Natural Fact, the Hi-Jivers, Austin Jimmy Murphy and Kim Lembo and Blue Heat.
This year’s concert is the third in a series of 10, said Greg Spencer, owner of Blue Wave.
Spencer, a native of Baldwinsville, said the annual concert series began in 2016 with a twofold purpose: to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Blue Wave and to honor the lives of blues legends.
“When I originally started Blue Wave, which was in 1985, I started as a concert promoter, and became an independent record label,” Spencer told the Messenger. “To celebrate my 30th anniversary, I did a show at the Palace with the Kingsnakes, which was the first band I started with.”
The first Great Salt City Blues Concert was held in 2016 in memory of four of Syracuse’s blues greats: Roosevelt Dean, Kyle Shirley, Kelly James and Dave Olson. The first show was so well-received, Spencer said, that he decided to coordinate a second concert, ultimately agreeing to put on 10 in total.
“I didn’t plan on doing 10 shows until last year. When I was putting together the second show last year, I realized there’s too many people who want to be a part of this. There would be too many people to leave out if I didn’t do more,” Spencer said.
“A theme keeps everything together. It’s not a free-for-all,” Spencer said. “It is not a jam session. It’s a rehearsed concert.”
Spencer carefully curates his list of performers each year. He begins planning the Great Salt City Blues Concert in June, coordinating artists who complement each other and vetting the work of newer acts he might like to include in a future show.
“Some people have done more than one show, but I like to keep it at least 30 percent new artists. This year, it’s closer to 50 percent,” Spencer said.
This year’s show honors five national artists who are in the Blues Hall of Fame: Bobby “Blue” Bland, Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, T-Bone Walker and Johnny Winter. While the honorees are not from Central New York, the players featured in the Great Salt City Blues Concert are. For many of these performers, the Salt City show is a homecoming.
Now located in Nashville, Tennessee, two-thirds of the Hi-Jivers are returning to their roots. Vocalist Dawna Zahn and guitarist Austin John Doody hail from Auburn. (Bassist Hank Miles is from Seattle.)
“Austin John Doody and I have the pleasure of performing a few tunes at this killer event in December,” Zahn wrote on Facebook. “Big thanks to Greg Spencer for having us again this year!”
The Hi-Jivers performed at the 2017 concert as well.
“They were one of the highlights, and they were asked to play again this year,” Spencer said.
Singer Kim Lembo, who is now based in San Francisco, is reuniting with her former band, Blue Heat, for the first time in 19 years.
“There are so many other incredible Syracuse musicians for this iconic hometown show. I cannot wait to share this with all these wonderful people who have actively and divinely been keeping blues music alive and well in Central New York,” Lembo wrote about the show on Facebook.
Lembo added that the first apartment she rented on her own was across the street from the Palace.
“I wrote ‘Sunday Morning’ staring out the window at this theater,” she wrote. “I’m profoundly humbled to be coming home.”
If you go
What: 3rd Annual Great Salt City Blues Concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26; doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: The Palace Theatre, 2384 James St., Syracuse
Info: General admission tickets are available in advance for $25 plus service charges at the Sound Garden in Armory Square or brownpapertickets.com/event/3565868; $30 at the door.
