Blues & Brews on Poverty Bay

Beer, blues, and a beautiful Pacific Northwest location. This is my kind of festival. And it’s happening on the Puget Sound shores on September 10th.

“The blues comes right back to a person’s feelings, to his daily activities in life. But rich people don’t know nothing about the blues, please believe me.”
—Jimmy Rushing

Poverty Bay Blues & Brews is a small beer festival, the kind where you bring low-seated camp chairs and blankets, camping out comfortably in front of the stage. The music is loud and the beer is flowing. With beers in hands, folks all around you are tapping their feet, nodding their heads, and swaying to the deep and rockin’ rhythms.

The Blues Masters

Little Bill & the Bluenotes 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.	Rod Cook & Toast 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Fabulous Roofshakers 3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.	Left Hand Smoke 5:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.

From traditional slow movin’ to more modern rockin’ blues, this festival has a little bit of everything. Plan to stay all day or come out for a couple of sets; give each a listen (click image).

The Brews Masters

To complement the blues and brews, there’s BBQ bratwurst and the B&E Market’s famous Tri Tip. How do you spell delicious? Y-U-M-!

Helping musical dreams come true by drinkin’ beer

In our state, all beer festivals are held to benefit some nonprofit group. And just who are you helping by attending this festival? Kids! And not just any kids. You’re helping local kids who want to play music. You’re helping kids toot their horns! The festival promoters tell us—

“Music means different things to different people. To children, learning to play a musical instrument is a meaningful activity — it’s fun and it builds relationships that can last a life time. To youth, music opens up the world — its history and its many cultures — and provides opportunities for teamwork and meaningful forms of self-expression. Educators know that music benefits students academically, especially in mathematics, science, history and world languages. Our community understands that music education helps a person lead a richer, fuller, more meaningful life — and an arts-rich community is a more desirable place to live.”

The Highline Music4Life program gives every student in the Highline Public Schools access to instruments, so they can participate in instrumental and vocal music programs. Their initial goal is to collect 500 working condition instruments and supplies for 50 percent their 4th and 5th grade students. In the years to come, Highline Music4Life expects to expand and include a broader range of ages and grade levels, as well as additional music education programs.

As a grade school band kid, this is a drinking cause that I can get behind.

The details

Saturday, September 10th | Noon ’til 7:00 p.m.
Des Moines Beach Park, Des Moines, Wash.
Rain or shine, no pets, no kids. Must be 21 or older, with ID
Tickets at the gate: $30
Advance tickets: $25, available at Corky Cellars, 99 Bottles, Des Moines Drug
Sponsor: Rotary Club of Des Moines