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Welcome to DCMinnerBlues.com: Home of F.O.R. Blues Inc., Dusk til Dawn Blues Festival,
Blues Club/Hall
of Fame, bi-weekly Jam Band and more. contact:
dcminner@windstream.net |
PERFORMER'S BIO'S
will
update with more 2008 info soon |
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We have our
lineup! ...Guitar Shorty, Johnny Rawls, Andrew Jr. Boy
Jones, James Peterson. Leon Blue, Backup Blues Band, Miss
Blues, Oklahoma Ollie, Berry Harris, Tommy McCracken, Tony
Mathews, Selby Minner, Wanda Watson, Andrew 'Tolow 16' Mille
Jonathan Fox, Perry Thomas, Harper, Pat Moss, Blues Fire
Foley, Harry and Deb Blackwell, Deb Henning, Rowland Bolin,
Miss Dee and Tru Blu, Pure Silk, Kevin Phariss, Sunshine
Baby Ray, 2nd Generation, 3 Legged Dog (with Hardluck Jim
Johnson)........and more! actual schedule soon - and bios.
TheDUSK TIL DAWN BLUES FESTIVAL is AUGUST 29, 30, 31
in Renitesville at the
BLUES CLUB/HALL OF FAME ,
70 miles
SE of Tulsa – BA Exp, Hwy 51 South to 69 –
Stay on 69 thru Muskogee to the Rentiesville Oktaha Exit.
Turn right 4 miles, then Left (E) onto Rentiesville Honey
Springs Rd,
2 miles to DC Minner St and you are here.
(918) 473-2411,
dcminner@windstream.net
www.dcminnerblues.com
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Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame co-founders D.C. Minner
and wife Selby perform together at last year’s Dusk
Til Dawn Blues Festival.
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Click for BLUES HALL OF
FAME
bios, photos!
By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
5/21/2008
Last Modified: 5/21/2008 2:35 AM
When it comes to playin' the blues,
well, "nobody does it to get rich," said OK Blues Hall of
Fame co-founder Selby Minner in a recent telephone interview
from her home in Rentiesville.
Indeed, eight of this state's most noted blues performers
will be honored Saturday in a Hall of Fame founded by the
legendary bluesman D.C. Minner himself as a way to give back
to the music community.
"We realized that, when D.C. was inducted into the Oklahoma
Jazz Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and later the
Spot Music Awards Hall of Fame, that he could stop pushing
so hard," she said.
"To be recognized for a lifetime of dedication is a huge
achievement in itself."
In years past, the event has run concurrently with the Dusk
Til Dawn Blues Festival, an event also founded by the
Minners, in the heartland of Oklahoma blues — the tiny town
of Rentiesville. D.C. Minner recently passed away at age 73.
While he was growing up in Rentiesville during the
Prohibition years, his grandmother owned a corn-whiskey
hall.
In 1988, the Minners reopened its doors as the Down Home
Blues Club. It's now renowned for its all-night blues
showcases and preservation of the uniquely American
genre of blues.
INDUCTEES CLASS OF 2008, OK BLUES HALL OF FAME
Avalon B. Reece: A 45-year educator and band director
in Muskogee, known for her tough and motivational approach
to teaching. She was also the first black city councilwoman
in Oklahoma, for Muskogee County.
Tank Jernigan: The legendary Oklahoma City sax player
played for many years with D.C. Minner, backing artists like
Bo Diddley. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he arranged
all the horn parts for Ray Charles during his years at
Capital Records.
Little Eddie Taylor: This charismatic Oklahoma City
entertainer played guitar and sang with the Little Aces
Band.
Vernon Powers: He began in a doo-wop quartet in
Oklahoma City before switching to drums and touring the
nation with Larry Johnson’s New Breed band. He later joined
D.C. Minner’s Blues on the Move band and eventually went
solo.
Wayne Bennett: The Sulfur-born guitarist played with
many of the greats, including Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie,
Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Cannonball
Adderley, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon.
Paul Lewis: The Oklahoma City bassist played with
greats such as Bill Parker, Roscoe Gordon, Freddie King,
Little Willie John, Ted Taylor and the legendary Sam Cooke.
Rocky Frisco: A pianist with the J.J. Cale band, the
Tulsa native is known for his contribution to the
blues-tinged rock style known as the Tulsa Sound, which shot
musicians like Leon Russell and Eric Clapton to prominence.
Jimmy “The Preacher” Ellis: He’s a former Tulsan now
living in Dallas who has performed with such acts as Little
Milton, Big Mama Thornton and T-Bone Walker.
“Hard Luck Jim” Johnson: He will be awarded the
music and media award for his years hosting shows on KGOU
from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
SORRY TO ANNOUNCE:
The day of the funeral was a
beautiful day and we all thank those who attended, sent
flowers, made donations to FOR Blues inc or sent us their
thoughts and prayers.
D.C. Minner photo by Michael Wyke, Tulsa World
As D.C. wished, we are continuing on with plans for another great Blues
festival here in Rentiesville. Labor day comes early this
year and so the dates are August 29, 30, and 31. This will
be number 18!
2008 - August 29, 30 and 31 more info coming SOON!
in the Daily Oklahoman
By George Lang
Assistant Entertainment Editor
D.C. Minner, who founded and operated
the Dusk 'Til Dawn Blues Festival in
Rentiesville for 17 years, died Tuesday.
Minner played the blues with the same
passion that he brought to running his
festival, and those who heard him play
guitar remember a man with a big heart and
endless determination.
“He had such a soulful feel, and you
can't separate his vocals from his playing,”
said
Jim Johnson, program director at KGOU
and host of the station's weekend blues
programming. “He was the full package.”
Born in 1935 in Rentiesville,
Minner and his wife, bassist
Selby Minner, founded the Down Home
Blues Club in 1989 at his grandmother's
former home, where she sold whiskey and
homebrewed Choc beer to local residents. In
2005,
Minner said that his grandmother's
do-it-yourself philosophy provided the
building blocks for his life's work.
“She said anything you like, you should
learn how to do yourself,”
Minner told
The Oklahoman. “That doesn't mean you
have to cook every sweet potato pie
yourself, but you need to be able to do it
yourself.”
Minner was a respected sideman who
played bass for
Bo Diddley,
Freddie King and
Chuck Berry while living in California.
But when he returned home, he also became a
blues educator as well as entertainer.
D.C. and
Selby Minner created the Blues in the
Schools program through the
Oklahoma Arts Council, performing music
in classrooms and talking to students about
the music.
The Minners won both a W.C. Handy Award
and the
Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues
Alive Award for their efforts.
D.C. Minner was inducted into the
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999.
“D.C.
Minner had so many accomplishments in
the world of the blues, but I most remember
him as a gentle man that loved blues music
and loved spreading his music to everyone
around him, especially children,” said
Joann McCarty, president of the
Oklahoma Blues Society.
Johnson, KGOU, said
Minner, who had faced several illnesses
and underwent dialysis, would often manage
his festival via walkie talkie from his bed.
“He was such a wise man, a gentleman,”
Johnson said. “He was just a sage, you
know?”
Services are pending at
Ragsdale Funeral Center in Muskogee.
(click here to: watch
video
of the Inductions held here May
26
- click on the above link or go to www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=_0_mFg7eq1I
)
ekvcate wants to share another video with
you:
Video Description ---- Promo video for Dusk
'til Dawn Blues Festival in Rentiesville,
Oklahoma, Labor Day Weekend, 2007. 30 seconds.
|
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D.C.
Minner knew the Blues is life
By James Beaty
Senior Editor
McAlester News Capital
“The blues ain’t nothin’ but a good man feelin’ bad.” —
Leon Redbone
Oklahoma music legend D.C. Minner has died, following a long
career making people happy by playing and singing the blues.
Minner, 73, died on Tuesday. The cause of death was not
released.
Minner, and his wife, Selby, have hosted the annual Dusk Til
Dawn Blues Festival in Rentiesville, near Checotah, for the
past 17 years.
Locally, they brought their Blues in the Schools educational
program to McAlester and once served as the featured concert
act at Hard Times Day Festival in Hartshorne. During his
career, he and Selby toured and played at hundreds of
concerts and festivals across the U.S.
McAlester News-Capital Editor Matt Lane has some personal
memories of Minner.
“For the Lane family, D.C. was not only a great bluesman,
but a great and dear friend,” Lane said.
“His house of blues was less than a mile from my family’s
old home place on Pumpkin Ridge.
“D.C. was good friends with my grandpa, Virgil Lane, and
especially good friends with my uncle, Curtis Lane.
“Our family, like many families, held get-togethers during
the summer. D.C. and Selby would often come and perform,”
Lane said.
“At one particular occasion, I thought I might sit in on
keyboards with D.C. and Selby.
“After playing about one measure of a familiar blues tune,
D.C. turned around and shot me a withering glance that drove
me from the stage,” Lane said.
After that, Lane just looked on and enjoyed the music of one
of the country’s best bluesmen.
John Peters, who hosts Jammin’ John’s Boogie Down Blues Show
on McAlester Radio’s 105.1 FM station from 6-8 p.m. each
Tuesday and Thursday, said Minner will be missed by the
blues family.
“He was the blues when it came to Oklahoma,” Peters said
today, citing Minner’s work with the schools and with his
blues festival.
“He taught us all. He brought so many young musicians and he
gave people a place to play.”
“He was Mr. Blues. We’ll miss him.”
D.C. and Selby Minner were honored with numerous awards,
including the Handy People Award from the Blues Foundation
in Memphis, Tenn. for their Blues in the Schools music
education program.
D.C. Minner is also a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of
Fame and the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. The street outside
the Down Home Blues Club has been renamed in his honor.
Born on Jan. 28, 1935, and brought up by his grandmother,
Lura Drennan, Minner grew up hearing acoustic blues played
at her juke joint in Rentiesville.
He later moved to Oklahoma City and played bass guitar with
a band known as Larry Johnson and the New Breed.
With that band, Minner played behind such future Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame members as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, as
well as the great Texas-Oklahoma bluesman Freddie King and
soul singer Eddie Floyd.
After moving to California, he started playing lead guitar
and met Selby in a club in the Bay area, where she played
acoustic blues.
They toured together for 12 years, with Selby now playing
bass guitar, before D.C. moved back to Rentiesville in 1988
and reopened his grandmother’s old place as the Down Home
Blues Club
In 1991, he and Selby started the Dusk Til Dawn Blues
Festival, which has become a Labor Day weekend tradition for
many lovers of blues music.
Funeral services are pending with Ragsdale Funeral Center in
Muskogee.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.
last year's poster...plans under way for 2008 August 29,
30, 31...please check back soon!
300 dpi version in Press
Room
D.C. Minner, blues musician and co-founder of
the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival, passed away
Tuesday. He was 73.
Born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma in 1935, Minner would
later say he knew he was going to play music for living when
he was a preschooler.
After serving as an Army medic in the Korean War, Minner
lived in California, where he played bass for Larry Johnson
and the New Breeds, which backed up O.V. Wright, Freddie
King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Floyd and Bo Diddley. He would also
meet his wife, Selby, while she was playing acoustic blues
in northern California. D.C. switched to guitar and the
couple toured as the blues duo Blues On The Move for 12
years.
In 1988, the couple turned Minner’s grandmother’s
prohibition-era corn-whiskey hall, The Cozy Corner, into the
after-hours club, The Down Home Blues Club. In 1991, they
would start the annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival.
The Minners would later create the Blues in the Schools
program through the Oklahoma Arts Council, performing music
in classrooms and educating students about the blues. The
couple won a W.C. Handy Award and the Blues Foundation’s
Keeping the Blues Alive Award for their efforts.
D.C. Minner was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of
Fame in 1999 and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2003.
UPDATE:
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 17:
11am - Memorial at The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in
Muskogee
3pm - Funeral at First Baptist Church & Honey Springs
Cemetery in Rentiesville
Later - Celebration at Down Home Blues Club in Rentiesville
“If you play blues to get rich, then you really are
making a mistake. So we don’t do this for the money. What we
do do this for is for the love of the music.”
- D.C. Minner
After the jump, tributes by friends and colleagues.
“Music has lost a great blues man today
in the passing of D.C. Minner. All of us involved with the
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame extend our sympathy to (his
wife) Selby and his family, and our gratitude that D.C. left
us all the gift of his music.”
- Sue Harris, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame President
“D.C. Minner had so many accomplishments in the world of
the blues, but I most remember him as a gentle man that
loved blues music and loved spreading his music to everyone
around him, especially children.”
- Joann McCarty, Oklahoma Blues Society President
“He had such a soulful feel, and you can’t separate his
vocals from his playing. He was the full package.”
- ‘Hardluck’ Jim Johnson, host of “Weekend Blues” and
program director at KGOU-FM 106.3
“He was just a fine fellow. I met D.C. eight or 10 years
ago when my son was in high school. One of Minner’s deals
was educational outreach. He encouraged young people to get
involved in music, So he toured the region and gave
workshops. He made music available to everyone.”
- Mike Jett, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame board member
“He knew music can do a lot for people and that people
can do a lot for music.”
- bassist Earnest ‘Bronko’ Carr
“He was the blues when it came to Oklahoma. He taught us
all. He brought so many young musicians and he gave people a
place to play. He was Mr. Blues. We’ll miss him.”
- John Peters, host of “Jammin’ John’s Boogie Down Blues
Show” on McAlester Radio’s 105.1 FM station
D. C. Minner
1935 - 2008 (this includes
the accurate list of awards etc. )
D. C.
Minner, founder and operator of the Dusk Til Dawn Blues
Festival, quietly left us on May 6th, 2008. The only child
of Clarence and Helen Pearson Minner, he was raised by his
grandmother, Lura Drennan, in Rentiesville, OK where he grew
up hearing acoustic blues played at her juke joint called
the “Cozy Corner”. D. C. received his education in
Rentiesville. He joined the U. S. Army and during this time
he married Miss Doris Haynes. D. C. later moved to Oklahoma
City where he played behind such future Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame members as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, as well as the
great Oklahoma Bluesman, Freddie King and soul singers O.V.
Wright and Eddie Floyd. After moving to California, he spent
a winter wood shedding in Humboldt County, where he taught
himself guitar and wrote twenty-eight songs. Needing a
workshop to try out his new material he returned to the Bay
area and met Selby in a club where she played acoustic
blues. They married and toured together as “Blues On The
Move” for twelve years, with Selby now playing bass guitar,
across the U.S. and overseas. The couple returned home to
Rentiesville, in 1988 and reopened his grandmothers old
place as the “Down Home Blues Club”. D. C. had a gift for
working with young students in Oklahoma Schools and across
the nation doing Blues in the schools. Oklahoma Arts Council
Director Suzanne Tate said D.C. was a highly esteemed artist
included in both the Council’s Touring and Teaching Rosters.
His tremendous efforts to promote the magic called the Blues
have made him an Oklahoma favorite. He will be greatly
missed, said Tate. D.C. received many awards and citations
including the Governor’s Art Award in 2006, W.C. Handy
Award- the KBA (Keeping the Blues Alive) Award in Education,
induction into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma
Music Hall of Fame, the Tulsa World Hall of Fame and
numerous other awards. On September 1st, 2006 , Gov. Brad
Henry declared “D.C. and Selby Minner Day”. May 17, 2008,
was declared D.C. Minner Day in Muskogee. But his favorite
honor was when the town of Rentiesville renamed part of the
Texas Trail that runs along the Blues Club D.C.Minner
Street.
D.C.
founded the Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc. as a
non-profit to oversee the continuation of the Festival and
the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame at the Family Home / Blues
Club in Rentiesville. He was very committed to seeing these
things into the future. With the help of friends Selby will
be keeping a band together, working through the OK Arts
Council as an educator and performer and "keeping
Rentiesville hopping"
with the Festival and other upcoming events.
(links at top of this page, lineup now complete, flyer below)
COMING to Rentiesville - during the FESTIVAL! Aug 29-31
rain or shine - every band on time!!
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FRIDAY Aug 29
JOHNNY RAWLS
& Selby Minner
Battle of the Bands & JAMS
THE KID’s VILLAGE
(all 3 nites)
Jahruba, Domenica
Joann Pat Duffy
Click here for all
Kid's Village
details!!!
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SATURDAY Aug 30
more more more
coming this
week!
& JAMS!
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SUNDAY Aug 31
TBA
JAMES PETERSON
Selby
Blind
JAMS
Gospel Show Sun:
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Dusk til Dawn Blues Festival 5 W's
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WHAT: |
Three days and nights, Three stages, indoors and
out... 35 bands, over 200 musicians, workshops,
kid's arts and
music activities,
bar-b-que. A fun time that attracts 4,000 people to
the historic rural Black Township Rentiesville,
the birthplace and home of OK Blues Legend D.C.
Minner. |
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WHEN: |
2007 - Aug 29, 30, 31, Fri Sat Sun -- 5 pm 'til 5 am nightly |
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WHO: |
Click to see
roster,
band bios
&
schedule. |
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What's Cool, What' Not: |
Bring chairs or blankets unless you come early. No
coolers or pets. |
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HOW
MUCH: |
Tickets are $15/day (about $1.50 a band!)
KIDS under 12 FREE! Volunteers FREE! |
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Volunteer Option: |
It takes a lot of people to do this - we have a
great deal for volunteers Volunteer Option: help us
out for 3 hours, get your $15 for that day BACK and
½ off on a T-shirt!
Click here for
details. |
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WHERE WE ARE: |
DC Minner's Down Home Blues Club in Rentiesville, OK
(pop. 66) is in the rural township of RENTIESVILLLE
OK. Just off of US 69, follow the signs into
Rentiesville to DC Minner Street and you are
here....Rentiesville is 15 minutes South of
Muskogee, 70 miles SE of Tulsa, 1hour West of Fort
Smith, 2 hours East of Oklahoma City -- 2 exits
north on US 69 from I-40;
Click for maps. |
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MOTELS: |
We recommend any major chain in Muskogee, 15 minutes
up US 69. Travel Lodge, Bacone Inn, Motel 6, Super
8, Ramada Inn. .... In Checotah the motel we
recommend is America's Best across from the truck
stop, near Wal-Mart.
More motel info. |
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CAMPING: |
Parking is free across the road. You may camp there
also, no hook-ups. Or Fountainhead State Park on
Lake Eufaula, first come first served, as it is a
holiday weekend. |
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SPONSORED BY: |
SPONSORS help make this happen...OK
Arts Council, The Muskogee Daily Phoenix, VSA Arts,
Budweiser, Coke, The Blues Festival Guide, Tom's
Golf Cars, the Muskogee Area Arts Council, KMOD,
KGOU, Preview, Tulsa World, IP, Entertainment Fort
Smith, Chef Eddie, SW Blues, BareBones Independant
Filmmakers, OK Blues Society (www.okblues.org), lots
of friends who come early and help...! |
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HOSTED BY: |
OKLAHOMA BLUES HALL OF FAME, FRIENDS OF RENTIESVILLE
BLUES INC.
(a 501 c 3 not-for-profit corporation) together with
DC and Selby Minner.
Click here for more
about F.O.R. Blues Inc. |
..Jahruba's Drum Circle
ALSO: The BLUES CLUB is OPEN each 'first Saturday'
Nite of the month.... $4 at the door...Selby
and Blues on the Move and
IT's A JAM! Pat Moss, Tiny Davis and more!
JAM BAND (open opportunity for learners) NOW
2nd and 4th Saturdays, 4 - 6
PM please call before you drive 918-473-2411
The E-Zine from Blues Festival Guide reported on our
2007 inductions:
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OKLAHOMA
BLUES HALL OF FAME INDUCTS HONOREES
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DC and Selby Minner and the Friends of
Rentiesville Blues Inc. hosted the 2007 Inductions
into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame Saturday May
26th. This was the first time the awards have been given
at an event separate from their annual Dusk til Dawn
Blues Festival, and it was a rousing success! There
were performances and jams by inductees Miss Blues,
Watermelon Slim, Tony Mathews, DC and Selby
Minner. Also youngster (age 12) Blue Fire Foley
performed, as well as Sunset and Sunshine. A full
slate kept the time worn juke joint DC inherited from
his family rocking until close to daylight!
Media awards were given to writer and managing editor Jack
Fowler of the McIntosh County Democrat (the Checotah
paper) and the Muskogee Phoenix. The
Phoenix
has created and inserted the Dusk til Dawn Blues
Festival program into their general circulation since
the festival's infancy in 1993. The editor of the
Weekender, Leif Wright, received the award for
the
Phoenix
.
Baskets and trophies went to the inductees. Their photos
are now on the Hall of Fame wall in the Blues Club.
Selby Minner said "At some point we hope to build a
concert hall upstairs which will be the true Hall of
Fame, complete with exhibits of our inductees. We work
to honor musicians and others with a lifetime in this
music and
Oklahoma
roots. We are starting with inscribed bricks people can
order which will create a walk of fame in from the
corner. The corner of
DC
Minner Street
and
John
Hope Franklin Blvd.
"
Minner is an Oklahoma blues legend who started his
career as a bassist working in the bands of Chuck
Berry, Bo Didley, OV Wright and Freddie King....He
started singing and writing songs and switched to lead
guitar in the early 70's. DC grouped with his
wife/bassist/vocalist Selby Minner in
California
in 1976. After 12 years living on the road performing
the couple settled back in Rentiesville and has been on
the OK State Art's Council Touring Arts and Artist in
Residence rosters since the early 90's.
Having been included in 5 halls of fame around the state
himself, Minner is proud to share the spotlight and
honor other worthy players - while they are alive, if
possible. The Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc has been
created to keep the Festival and Hall of Fame moving
forward well into the future.
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D.W. Moore |
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918 - 473 - 2411 |
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OKLAHOMA
BLUES HALL OF FAME
RENTIESVILLE OK
2006 inductees: Elvin Bishop, Jr.
Markham, Selby, Steve Pryor, Frank Swain, James
Walker & D.C. Got Lifetime Achievement
DC ends set at OK MUSIC
Hall of Fame
Induction to a standing
ovation!
Photo:
Beth Seim
Click for HALL OF
FAME
bios, photos!
we
had a GREAT TOUR.
Tom& Cheryl Yearnshaw
Blues Festival Guide - see their review of Fest from the Blues Fest
E guide below
SPONSORS
include:
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Labor Day Wknd, Fri-Sat-Sun
Click for complete D-D
details
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DC performs
at his Rentiesville Blues Festival; photo Fred
Marvel
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NB: NEW
e-address:
dcminner@windstream.net |
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Quick Links
to All
the News ON THIS SITE: ...
(click for
details)
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Link to our
OK Arts Council Touring Arts ROSTER
listing:
www.arts.state.ok.us/Pages/rosters/otproster2003/otpfolk/dcselby.html
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BLUES in the
SCHOOLS click ABOVE on Main
Menu
|
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Blues
performer D.C. Minner sits in the middle of
his 16th annual Dusk To Dawn Blues
Festival in Rentiesville, on Sept. 2. Minner
returned to his
Oklahoma
hometown
in 1979 and stayed.
MICHAEL WYKE /
Tulsa
World
story:
Black Town Tour
info
| |
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FEST REVUE
Great review in the Blues Festival
Guide's E -Zine!
quote:
ON
THE BLUE HIGHWAY WITH
TOM
AND CHERYL
It’s
Just A Family Affair…
 The
16th Annual Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival was held
over this past Labor Day weekend in the
Rentiesville, Oklahoma back yard and home of
founders DC and Selby Minner, . Back yard
and Home??? That’s
Right!!! But there’s a story here.
Tradition, too.
Years
ago, DC’s grandmother ran a “corn whiskey
house” on this hallowed site in rural Oklahoma.
When DC and Selby decided to take some of
the “move” out of their road-weary band,
“Blues On The Move,” DC grabbed Selby and
headed “back home,” where they moved into
Grandma’s old place, settled into the ‘quiet
life in the country’ (HA!!!), and set part of
their house aside to be ‘The Down Home Blues
Club’.
Dusk
Til Dawn -- that’s 5 PM to 5 AM, folks,
‘cause it’s usually warm in Rentiesville in
the daytime -- grew from its origins as an annual
event at the club. A few years back, as the
show got bigger, DC and Selby converted their
unofficial not-for-profit child into a full
fledged, official 501(c)(3) non-profit
‘teenager,’ including many from their
dedicated ‘family’ of volunteers on the Board.
Everything
about Dusk Til Dawn is a ‘family’
affair. The Minners are still very dedicated
and integral to the show, taking the lead role in
organizing and presenting the event and in
performing twice nightly for the three-day show.
Their extended ‘family’ includes 12 Board
Members, over 100 volunteers, and thousands of
dedicated fans. Many of these folks have
been returning each year since the very beginning.
Several
weeks before the show, volunteers, some who come
several thousand miles to help, begin to work the
magic that transforms the ‘back forty’ into
the festival site. Three-foot tall grasses
are mowed into a comfortable ‘lawn.’
Power is run so vendors can sell t-shirts,
jewelry, barbeque, fried fish, candy, ice cream,
and even ‘fried pies.’ The Kid’s
Village sprouts up around an old school bus (the
Kid’s Village is just too much and gets a
paragraph of its own below), and a circus-sized
tent miraculously appears before the main outdoor
stage to complete the ‘mirage.’ The
“Down Home Blues Club,” which is now in
semi-retirement and only open once a month, gets a
quick dusting, some posters and lights to liven
its interior, and its Festival time.
DC, Tony Mathews, Selby Minner
 This
year’s show presented 30 bands on three stages
over the three-day run. The mix, as it has
been from the beginning, was rich in the Oklahoma
blues tradition (James Walker, Tony Matthews,
and Barry Harris – to name just a few) but
also included national and regional acts such as Rory
Block, James Peterson, and Johnny Rawls.
The line up even included several groups of
young blues musicians from as far away as Dallas,
and to keep things moving between acts, a rich
variety of acoustic blues was presented throughout
the evening.
In
keeping with DC’s and Selby’s active
participation in the Oklahoma school system
through their innovative ‘Blues in the
Schools’ programs, the Kid’s Village has also
been a big part of the event. Face painting,
costumes, ‘dragons’ (a la Chinese New Years
parades), clay pottery, and puppet shows are made
lovingly available by a group of exceptional
volunteers. These are all hands-on
activities, keeping young minds occupied while the
hypnotic sounds of blues slowly soak into the
young minds that will be the future of the blues.
This Kid’s Village is unlike anything we’ve
seen before!!!
Around
5 AM Monday morning, the mirage begins to fade.
The corner of Rentiesville Road and DC Minner Road
slowly begins its transformation back to a
peaceful country corner, the echoes of 30 great
bands being slowly absorbed into the still
Oklahoma dawn. The Down Home Blues Club lets
out a slow sigh as it slips back into the comfort
of semi-retirement, and the grasses are already
starting to grow back. But this is truly a
play land with a once-a-year mission to spread its
owner’s vision of The Blues far and wide.
There
are fitting footnotes to this story and to DC and
Selby Minner’s long devotion to the blues
tradition. Over the weekend, Selby Minner
(along with Elvin Bishop, Junior Markham, Steve
Pryor, James Walker, and Frank Swain) was
inducted into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame, DC
Minner received a “Lifetime Achievement
Award” from the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame, and
September 1, 2006 was declared DC Minner Day
throughout Oklahoma by Governor Brad Henry.
‘Congratulations’ are indeed in order for all.
After saying goodbye to our
new found family in Rentiesville we’re back on
the road in Blues Country and will keep you
posted.
-- Tom and Cheryl Yearnshaw
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In 1935, Blues legend D.C.
Minner was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, on
the spot where the Down
Home Blues Club now sits and where his
family has operated a business since
1911.
For years he
traveled the nation as a bassist with Blues
legends Freddie King, O.V. Wright, Chuck Berry,
and Bo Diddley. He then started his own band
and met his bassist and wife, Selby, who
was living and singing in Berkeley,
California. They toured for 12 years
non-stop as the Blues on the Move; AZ, NM,
CA, WA, OR, RI, MA, etc.
In 1988, they returned home to
re-open his Grandmother's Cozy Corner as the Down Home Blues Club,
which is gradually being transformed into a living
Blues museum. The couple founded the annual
Dusk 'til Dawn Blues
Festival in 1991.Their friends came on
Board as Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc in
2003.
Go to "About DC
and Selby" for more bio
info. |
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