Taste of the Blues to rock downtown Libby
Sam Waldorf
Reporter
Music will echo down the art-lined streets of Libby when the second annual Art Fair and Taste of the Blues festival comes to town on Saturday, June 21.
From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., local artists will have curbside booths on Mineral Avenue in between 4th Street and 6th Street as two Northwest bands, the Skivee’s and Three Eared Dog, jam to music from a previous generation.
Mineral Avenue will be closed to traffic between 4th and 6th streets.
The free festival gives people the opportunity to purchase half-price tickets to the upcoming Riverfront Blues Festival held in Libby on Aug. 8 and 9.
Bubba B’s Texas BBQ and Kootenai Kiwanis will also be on Mineral Avenue serving food.
Juanita Schikora is one of the local artists in the art fair. Schikora has been crafting dream-catcher earrings for 14 years.“It’s actually really hard to do,” she said. “You have to hold onto the piece and control the string at the same time.”
Schikora said the event is great for her because she enjoys being around other artists and learning from them. Twelve artists have signed up for booths; only five signed up last year.
Pam Peppenger, an event coordinator, said the festival began as an art fair before the idea to add live blues music was suggested.
The Skivee’s will perform from 2 to 4 p.m. and Three Eared Dog will come on from 6 to 10 p.m.
The Skivee’s are a teenage blues trio from Priest River, Idaho, and are back after performing in last year’s festival.
Nick Rusho, who will play keyboard, harmonica and sing vocals this weekend, said they are all excited to come back to Libby. “We had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people last time,” he said.
Rusho and his brother, Trevor Rusho (bass player and vocals), grew up on classic rock and blues, listening to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Led Zeppelin, Nick Rusho said.
“It’s so unique,” Nick Rusho said.
Nick Rusho and Trevor Rusho, like modern day“blues brothers,” said they are trying to bring the blues tradition to a younger generation.
Three Eared Dog is a blues trio from Missoula who have spent the past three years playing across the state.
Sam Ore, the group’s guitarist and vocalist, said blues is a type of music people can relate to.
“People in smaller towns think music is more of a treat,” he said. “A lot of people kind of rally around the blues.”
Three Eared Dog will add a horn section and a steel guitarist for their performance in Libby. Ore said they always get a good response from the older blues fans who share their love for an older generation of music.
“Western Montana is our bread and butter,” Ore said. “We love playing in bars in the middle of nowhere.”
When Three Eared Dog and the Skivee’s are not performing, music will be played from bands performing at the upcoming Riverfront Blues Festival in August.