The Hammer Blues | The Story of The Hamilton Blues Society
- Dev Team
- 27 Mar 2015
Hi, my name is Big Johnny Blue and I love the blues, especially blues played in Hamilton. I have been playing music in Hamilton for almost 45 years, and the thing that always puzzled me is why Hamilton is a hotbed of talented singers and musicians in any genre of music, but especially in the blues. I have dubbed Hamilton’s own blues sound “The Hammer Blues”, because of its distinctly gritty sound that makes it different from any other blues on the planet.
Blues musicians in Hamilton all have the same passion for telling their story in song. The list of Hamiltonians is endless: Jackie Washington, King Biscuit Boy, Rita Chiarelli, Brian Griffith, Sony Del Rio, Jack De Keyzer – the list goes on. We would need a few pages to give them all homage.
Back in 2010, I wondered why Hamilton did not have a blues society to give the blues community a place where musicians could come together as a musical family. When I saw that almost every single large city in North America has a blues society, I decided we should have one too.
I got off my butt and started contact- ing the other blues societies and quickly found out that there is a lot of work involved in getting a blues society started. Apparently Hamilton once had a blues society in the 1970’s that lasted for about a year or so before folding. I couldn’t find out who the organizer or members were but I was determined to raise it from the ashes and make it work!
I don’t often do things the conven- tional way because that takes too long, so in March of 2010 I made an event page on Facebook called “HAMILTON BLUES SOCIETY JAM and MEETING”. I really took a chance in hosting this event not knowing if I would be laughed at or met with open arms. We had that first jam and meeting at the old St. Peter’s Church on Main Street East. Let me tell you it was a great time with blues musicians who just wanted to play music, meet likeminded people and promote the Hamilton blues music scene. That cold March evening we formed an interim board of executives, planned another jam session, and rest is history as they say.
Skipping forward to today, the Hamilton Blues Society is positive member of the Hamilton music scene. We have since become a not-for-profit organization and we help our community by holding food drives every time we have a monthly jam session. The Hamilton Blues Society is blessed with members who care about others and give freely and abundantly to our neighbours in need. The HBS also runs a series of toy drives for kids of all ages stating in September each year to make sure that all kids will have a great Christmas. In our toy drive this year, we are including seniors who are shut-in and alone during the holiday season. For the past two years we have been working with St. Matthew’s house here in Hamilton to make sure we can help our neighbours.
In 2014 the HBS board had decided that Hamilton needed a blues festival because we did not have one. We therefore created the first annual Hammer Blues Fest. It was an astounding success! Audiences enjoyed great musicians like Hamilton’s Bucket List, Jack De Keyzer, Harp- dog Brown, Alfie Smith, The Vaudvillian, Hammer Blues Band, The Smoke Wagon Blues Band and The Brant Parker Trio.We have already started planning our new fall Hammer Blues Fest for 2015, though it will be hard to top 2014!
Our first five years have been quite an up-and-down ride, but the future looks brighter and brighter. The Hamilton Blues Society is here to stay and will keep blues music in the forefront of Hamilton’s music scene. I am very proud of our board and membership for putting community first, even before the music. For this I am ever so grateful.
Music makes a vibrant and prosperous community and Hammer Blues will always be a part of it.
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