Eatonton honors native Blues man Howell with BBQ

Published 12:24 pm Wednesday, May 3, 2023

EATONTON – For the second year in a row, the red bricks and railroad tracks will provide the background – rain or shine – for the new Eatonton tradition named in honor of a groundbreaking native in the recording industry.

What better way to cure the blues than a little BBQ?

It’s The “Peg Leg” Howell BBQ & Blues Festival on Saturday, May 6, from 2 to 10 p.m. Admission is free, coolers, lawn chairs and pets on leashes are welcome, and there will be plenty of food vendors and musical acts on the Eatonton City Center Stage behind Barrel 118 on North Jefferson Street..

Eatonton Main Street Manager Lauren Singleton gave the biographical history of “Peg Leg” Howell, who was born Joshua Barnes Howell in 1888 and then left his hometown of Eatonton at the age of 35 for Atlanta with the goal of making it big as a musician. It all started on the streets of the capitol city, where people could find him singing the blues and playing guitar.

“They call him ‘Peg Leg’ because he ended up losing one of his legs after an argument with his brother-in-law, who ended up shooting him in the leg,” said Singleton. “His biggest claim to fame was that he was the first recording artist on Columbia Records for country blues. That happened when he was in prison, so his first release was called ‘New Prison Blues.’”

He was 38 years old at the time in the mid-1920s, and he wrote the song while in prison for bootlegging. Howell passed away in Atlanta in 1966.

For the BBQ and Blues Festival, Singleton expects twice as many vendors as there were in last year’s inaugural event. She said 25 food vendors are signed up, and that’s both BBQ and non-BBQ.

“I do understand not everybody eats BBQ,” said Singleton. “Then we’ll have about 10 non-food vendors, small businesses, merchandise vendors.

“So there’s lots of food to nibble on while you’re enjoying the great music. It’s not just strictly blues music. We are going to have a little bit of everything.”

The opening act is DJ Magic Mike of Eatonton. TGLIVE is a group from Savannah that does R&B, pop and soul. Slide guitarist John Emil will play traditional blues. The Trouble Tones is another traditional blues group from Atlanta.

“Black Koffee likes to call herself Black Koffee, no sugar, no cream,” said Singleton about the southern soul artist who will have an hour-long set. The headliner, West Love, will take the stage around 8:30 p.m. with the 478 Band, all from Valdosta.

“She made her start singing live on social media,” said Singleton. “She’s pretty much a social media phenomenon.

“We just want people to come out and have a great time in downtown Eatonton.”