Blues and Brews

Playfully imagine legendary bluesman B.B. King scratching out the lyrics to “How Blue Can You Get” seated at a bar owned by August Busch, brew master.

A heavenly pairing, Blues and Brews, returns to Reynoldsburg Saturday, September 12th in Huber Park.  

Beer

In its fourth year, Blues and Brews is the baby of thirteen annual Reynoldsburg events and festivals. The summer Tomato Festival is, of course, the granddaddy of them all. They’re planned and overseen by Jennifer Clemons, the City’s Events and Communications Director. Clemons’ job is akin to being the wedding planner for a community of forty-nine thousand people.

The preeminent taste at Blues and Brews is the variety of craft beers from Reynoldsburg’s own Eastside Brewery. Situated across from the YMCA and Huber Park, Eastside Brewery presents Blues and Brews attendees with a late summer sampling of its flavorful hops and barley concoctions brewed for Octoberfest, the venerable autumn German festival.

“Blues and Brews is unique to Reynoldsburg,” says Clemens, despite other cities doing blues, brews, and even barbecue. But Clemons would rather have residents experience a variety of food trucks, including locals Tyler’s Pizzeria & Bakery and Bruster’s Ice Cream, newly located to the retail development opened at Main and Lancaster Avenues.

As for the music, Clemons compares the blues to bluegrass, describing “its raw emotions and storytelling as attractions.” Assisted in the past by a member of Reynoldsburg’s Mill Street Blues Band, Clemons now books the entertainers. Last year’s headliners included favorites Joe Waters and Terry Davidson and the Gears.

Also popular last year, Blues and Brews hosted a harmonica seminar, with the first fifty attendees receiving free harmonicas. In between performances by the bands, participants were coached on playing the obscure ‘mouth organ,’ not an instrument easy to play.

Beer Gathering

“Family Friendly,” Clemons says of  Blues and Brews.” An opportunity to “pull up a lawn chair outdoors at a laid-back vibrant event” attended by neighbors, some you know, and others you’ll get to know.

“That’s community engagement,” says Clemons.  She remains passionate about it in her job, adding that annual events and festivals also provide opportunities for residents to learn more about invited civic organizations. She says events and festivals like Brews and Blues serve Reynoldsburg businesses, contributing directly to the local economy.

So, it’s okay, Clemons says, to bypass the food trucks and bring dinner from a local restaurant or pack a picnic basket. She invites topping off your cooler with ice and relaxing at Blues and Brews like it’s your own backyard.

Blues and Brews and festivals like it “make Reynoldsburg home,” Clemons believes, “gaining the city a reputation throughout the metro area.” Last year’s event generated record attendance and was talked about by residents long after the last ‘wah-wah’ of the guitar pedals had gone silent.

More information about Blues and Brews, including blues artists and activities, is available on the Reynoldsburg City website: https://reynoldsburg.gov.