UnTap Fun at Blues and Brews
The 2012 UnTapped Blues and Brews Festival is dedicated to the joy we experience when Blues and Brews are brought together. We are bringing award-winning bands from across the land to Kennewick for the 16th annual UnTapped Blues and Brews Festival.
- Tommy Castro and the Painkillers was the 2008 and 2010 winner of the prestigious Blues Music Awards for the Best Album, Artist of the Year, & Entertainer of the Year. "Memphis soul-drenched R&B…top-of-the-line blues.”
- Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne with Russell Jackson will really get you up with their funky booie woogie house rockn blues. "You’ll jump, you’ll jive and have a great time.”
- The 44s are the brightest stars in the Southern California scene. Their in your face style of Blues will send you into dance convulsions! “Their music’s a disease we all enjoy catching.”
- Lionel Young Band makes his electric violin sing like a Gibson. His act will have you grinning from ear to ear! “… a medium for the union of classical precision and the passion of blues.”
- Sammy Eubanks mixes Blues, Rock, & Country into a perfect concoction of high energy, good vibes, and the need to dance. “The best voice in the Northwest.”
Joining our national blues acts will be award winning and high-energy regional bands including:
- Jimmy Lloyd Rea & The Switch Masters (“…cripplingly loud Blues”)
- Mia Vermillion (pipes like Janis Joplin)
- Millionaires Club (gravelly rock-a-billy blues)
- Roberson Beese & Flores (fun and passionate)
- Kenny James Miller Band (rock’n blues that will knock you over)
- Vaughn Jensen (untamed, high energy blues)
UnTapped will again team with the Washington Blues Society and the Walla Walla Blues Society to host an International Blues Challenge qualifying event. Bands from our region will complete for a slot in the finals to become the Washington State representatives at the Blues Foundation event in Memphis, Tennessee in February 2013.
This powerful line up of talent will perform at two UnTapped venues. On Friday, May 11th the Festival will launch at Clover Island in Kennewick. On Saturday, the Festival moves to the Benton County Fairgrounds where the Oak Street Stage in Kennewick will be surrounded by fans of Blues and Brews
We expect more than 35 breweries serving more than 70 choice brews this year. Each year UnTapped draws the finest microbrewers from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. 2011 featured local favorites including Ice Harbor, Atomic, Rattlesnake, Whistran, Laht Nappur, and Horse Heaven Hills, as well as regional powerhouses like Deschutes, Iron Horse, Snipes, Full Sail, Rouge, Fish, Paradise, and Yakima Craft. From beyond the Northwest we enjoyed the brews of Lost Coast, Sierra Nevada, Diamond Knot, Ninkasi, Mad River, and Stone. Expect another powerful line-up of breweries in 2012.
In association with the Mid-Columbia Zymurgy Association we will conduct the fourth annual “People’s Choice” Award for the favorite breweries attending the festival. Past winners of this prestigious award have included Ice Harbor Brewery, Iron Horse Brewery, Old School House Brewery, Snipes Mountain Brewery, Full Sail Brewery, and Whistran Brewery.
Clover Island Inn will again be our Blues Weekend Headquarters and the Inn is offering a tasty special rate that will chase your financial blues away. This year we offer convenient on-site camping with special rates at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Ticket prices for Saturday's UnTapped remain unchanged for the fifth consecutive year. This year we are also offering a VIP ticket which will provide stage side seating, and complementary beverages and appetizers.
All profits from the sale of beer, wine and water benefit local charities. Working with our partner Columbia Energy Charitable Foundation, this year's charities are:
- Girls on the Run of the Tri-Cities -- a life-changing, non-profit prevention program for girls in the 3rd through 8th grade.
- My Friends Place at Safe Harbor Nursery – a shelter for homeless teens in our community who currently have no such available alternative.
"Diamond Dave" Nichols - Festival Organizer