The spirit of Elvis will be alive and well in Busby for the eighth annual Blue Suede Music Festival, which runs Aug. 19-21 at the Busby Sports Grounds.
More than 4,000 are expected to turn out for the Elvis tribute festival, which has been put on each year by event creator Trudy Taphorn since 2008.
Among the highlights of the festival’s line up is a performance by the Blackwood Quartet, who will make their fourth straight appearance this year.
Mark Blackwood, founding member of the Blackwood Quartet, is carrying on the family gospel-singing tradition. His father was a member of the original Blackwood Brothers Quartet, Elvis’s favourite gospel musicians.
Ever since their first year at Blue Suede, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based group has happily returned each year.
“They love it and we love singing for them. We love the people and we love doing the gospel side of the Elvis show,” said Blackwood.
The visit will mark the group’s second performance in the area this year. The quartet performed at the Westlock Gospel Chapel May 1.
Taphorn and the Blackwood Quartet go back several years when they met during Taphorn’s trip to Elvis Week in Memphis. It was there that she invited them to come play the Busby festival.
“The Blackwood Quartet was performing there in one of the big shows. I told my sister that I have to meet these guys,” said Taphorn.
“I waited until the very end and I spoke to Mark then and told him about my festival.”
Taphorn said she at first hadn’t expected anything to come of the meeting.
“I was just letting him know that I am a huge Elvis fan and this is what I do. And he said ‘we would love to come to this’. I wasn’t expecting that reaction,” she said with a laugh.
“We hit it off great and now she’s a good friend of ours,” Blackwood said.
The following summer, the Blackwood Quartet headed north of the border to attend their first Blue Suede.
“After we played the first year we just enjoyed always coming back. We have a lot of friends there. We enjoy performing there,” Blackwood said. “You’re out there in that field and everyone’s just enjoying the music. It’s a rousing and a fun feeling.”
Taphorn said the first year that the quartet sang, the fans weren’t quite sure what to expect.
“Some people think ‘oh, a gospel quartet? Yeah, not interested,’” Taphorn said. “I think they sang for maybe ten minutes, just to give people a little hint of what was happening the next day ... and you could just see jaws dropping.”
The Blue Suede festival will also feature a meet and greet with the Blackwood Quartet and the 16 confirmed Elvis performers. A meet and greet with all performers is set for Friday at 5 p.m. during the classic car show.
Since it was first put on, the festival’s attendance has grown every year. The addition of the Blackwood Quartet to the line up has only made more Elvis fans flock to Busby every August.
“It’s fantastic,” Taphorn said. “They just bring so much to the festival.”
