Big names in the blues world like Eric Gales and Victor Wainwright will perform, along with many other top-notch blues veterans and a host of exciting new up-and-coming artists on Friday and Saturday night, as well as Sunday afternoon for brunch and an acoustic wind-down.

The big March 18-20 weekend will be a celebration of the exodus of winter and the rebirth of the McLure Hotel and Conference Center — known to locals at the historic McLure House. The landmark hotel in downtown Wheeling was recently acquired by Roxby Development, which is working to write an exciting new chapter for the McLure and other historic properties that anchor the Friendly City.

In fact, idea for the WinterBlues ’22 was forged in the wake of the collaboration between Roxby Development and the Heritage Music BluesFest, which for more than 20 years has been one of the biggest summertime draws to Heritage Port in Wheeling — as well as one of the biggest draws to the McLure Hotel in terms of guests.

Bruce Wheeler, founder and longtime executive director of the Heritage Music BluesFest, said that working with Roxby President Jeffrey Morris has truly helped open doors for new ventures in live music and entertainment in Wheeling.

Victor Wainwright

“Roxby partnered with the BluesFest this past summer,” Wheeler said. “Jeffrey came on board around the time he bought the McLure Hotel, and at that time, I really wasn’t sure I was going to do BluesFest.”

A year before that in 2020, all of the pieces were already in place for the 20th anniversary of the Heritage Music BluesFest just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation. The pandemic forced the festival — like all other live events – to be canceled, or at least “postponed” — from that summer to a later date.

At the same turbulent time, Wheeler had parted ways with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra after a 20-year career there — the last 10 serving as the WSO’s executive director.

“I didn’t have a full-time job anymore,” Wheeler said of the “iffy” prospect of putting on BluesFest 2021 while the pandemic was still a major, unpredictable factor. “I couldn’t afford to take a hit.”

Wheeler had approached the Wheeling Convention and Visitor’s Bureau for backing, but the CVB was also taking a major hit in revenues in the wake of the pandemic, as the city’s bed tax is a key source of its funding and people went months without doing much traveling during the height of the COVID restrictions.

Joanna Connor

It was at that time last year when Morris was in contact with the CVB and caught wind that Wheeler was considering the possibility of another summer without BluesFest.

As the new owner of the primary downtown hotel that is always full on BluesFest weekend, Morris certainly wanted to see the show go on, and he was determined to help make it happen.

“He called and said ‘you have to do BluesFest,'” Wheeler noted. “So we got together and figured out what he could do to mitigate my risk in the weekend and make sure that we went through, and we agreed that if everything went well, then maybe we’d see what the future holds.”

The 2021 BluesFest was held, and everything did go well, leaving both men happy with the results.

“And I was then offered a position with Roxby as the director of entertainment with the idea that I would produce other events — at the McLure, at the Scottish Rite, at the waterfront, etc.,” Wheeler explained, noting that these events not only help bring vibrancy and commerce to Wheeling, they also help put occupants into the hotel rooms at the revitalized McLure House. “That’s when the idea of WinterBlues came about.”

Tony Holiday

A ROCKIN’

INDOOR PARTY

The WinterBlues Fest carries a huge lineup that would be worthy of an outdoor summer festival at Heritage Port, which can accommodate up to about 5,000 people.

On the other hand, the McLure House ballroom on the hotel’s second floor can hold up to 400. Wheeler said this presents a unique opportunity to see stellar blues acts in a much more intimate setting.

Despite a new booking system and some transitional issues, everything is right on track. The big event promises to be a groundbreaking coming-out party for both the McLure House and for Roxby Entertainment, the newest arm of the growing company that is working from all angles to help reinvent the city of Wheeling.

Vanessa Collier

“The hotel is full for the weekend,” Wheeler said, noting that there are still tickets available online, and there should be tickets available at the door next weekend, as well. “During the last two weeks, there’s always a big push of last-minute people.”

Since Roxby purchased the McLure, they had resorted to obtaining temporary liquor licenses for events there. Today, the entire hotel is fully licensed, allowing adult beverages to be sold from not only the lounge but in the ballroom and even the guest rooms with mini bars in the future – which had been a goal of Roxby’s.

This weekend, the McLure House Bar & Grill is celebrating a soft opening from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. (both last night and tonight) with pool, darts, dancing, food and drinks. The soft opening is serving as somewhat of an appetizer for next weekend’s main course of entertainment with WinterBlues.

Wheeler said the lounge will also serve as sort of a second stage for WinterBlues Weekend.

“We will probably do some BluesDays in the lounge in the future, too,” he said.

Ben Prestage

Although spring is right around the corner, WinterBlues is marking the very last week of winter. It originally had been scheduled to take place in February, but that was when the omicron variant of the coronavirus was sweeping the nation. So the event was rescheduled.

“We’ll celebrate a send-off of the winter blues,” Wheeler said.

Revelers can also celebrate that the end of the pandemic appears to be near. In fact, the WinterBlues initially had required that all guests produce a negative COVID test upon entering the indoor venue. Just this past week, however, that requirement was reconsidered in light of the continuously improving COVID numbers.

“Because of the way trends are going, we won’t require testing, but we will have free PCR testing available in the lobby for anyone who wants it,” Wheeler said, noting that representatives of Roxby Labs will be on hand to perform voluntary testing.

Because the McLure House is sold out of rooms for the weekend, organizers are recommending that out-of-town visitors consider the Hampton Inn, which has a shuttle service. There are several other hotels available in the area for travelers, too, Roxby officials noted, but they added that they hoped to see a strong showing of local music fans from the Ohio Valley at the big event, as well.

Similar to the BluesFest’s Backstage VIP, the WinterBlues Weekend will have a Front Stage VIP, complete with a guaranteed great seat, a meal on Friday, a couple of meals on Saturday and beverages.

Music starts at 5 p.m. Friday with an act Wheeler has been trying to snag since seeing her in Chicago before the pandemic — guitarist Joanna Conner, whose most recent album was produced by Joe Bonamassa.

“I’ve been trying to get her to Wheeling for two or three years now,” Wheeler said. “I’m really excited to have her.”

Crowd favorites and BluesFest veterans like Gales and Wainwright anchor each night, with newcomers and up-and-comers like harmonica wiz Tony Holiday, sax player Vanessa Collier and one-man-band Ben Prestage bringing some new flavor to the festivities, along with many more.

There will be late night sets by Billy Price on Friday and Billy the Kid on Saturday, along with a special Sunday Blues Brunch prepared by Roxby Executive Chef Adam Luiso, with acoustic sets from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. by Austin Walkin’ Cane, Charlie Barath and local blues juggernaut Izzy Stetar.

The main stage will obviously be smaller than that of BluesFest, Wheeler said, noting that is why he intentionally did not book 12-piece and other larger bands for WinterBlues. There will be a dance floor and round tables with adequate spacing for maximum comfort.

It’s not going to be any different than going out to a restaurant,” Wheeler said. “There will be a decent amount of space in between the seats, with six to a table and reasonably spaced seats. We’re going to try to keep some social distancing in the room.”

The intimate setting and array of blues artists on hand will create unique opportunities for impromptu jam sessions, sit-ins and friendly chats with many of the musicians who will likely be hanging out in the crowd when they are not performing on stage.

Weekend passes will be available, as will single-day tickets for Friday or Saturday, as well as a separate ticket for just the Acoustic Sunday Brunch. There will be food, drinks, live music and lots of fun – but there will be one thing missing next weekend.

“We’ll have everything there except for green beer,” Wheeler said, noting that it will be St. Patrick’s Day weekend. “It’s a great time – especially if you don’t like green beer.”

FUTURE EVENTS ARE COMING

Heritage Music WinterBlues Weekend is just one of the many projects in the Roxby Entertainment pipeline.

“BluesFest will be happening in August – and hopefully we will be able to announce the lineup at WinterBlues,” Wheeler said. “We have in the works – and we’re looking for a date from the city at Heritage Port – to do an Americana Fest. It will probably be sometime in the fall. That would be the one additional kind of major festival that would happen this summer, along with BluesFest. Next year, we’ll probably add two more.”

Wheeler said he signed a three-year commitment with Roxby, and he added that the partnership not only solidified the BluesFest’s continued legacy in Wheeling, it helped present an opportunity for him to eventually pass the torch.

The prospect of potentially losing BluesFest during the pandemic after two decades of putting so much hard work and passion into it was heartbreaking, Wheeler confessed.

“Even though I agreed with my family that I couldn’t afford to take a financial hit since I was ‘retired’ from the symphony, … it hurt,” he said. “It really hurt that I had built this thing over 20 years, and it might go away. I didn’t realize how vested I was in it and how much it meant to me.

“Still knowing that I’m no spring chicken, I would like the BluesFest to go on and on and on.”

With events taking shape over the next few seasons and the next two years, Roxby Entertainment is poised to continue writing the next chapter of BluesFest by the same means Roxby Development is fighting to help write the next chapter in the history of Wheeling – with motivated young people who believe in it.

“And then BluesFest can go on after I’m long gone,” Wheeler said.

For more information about Heritage Music WinterBlues Weekend or the 21st Heritage Music BluesFest, visit heritagemusicfest.com.

Heritage Music WinterBlues Weekend performance schedule:

Friday, March 18

Joanna Conner

Ally Venable

Vanessa Collier

Eric Gales

(late night) Billy Price

Saturday, March 19

Miss Freddye

Ben Prestage

Kara Grainger

Tony Holiday

Albert Castiglia

Victor Wainwright and the Train

(late night) Billy the Kid

Sunday, March 20

Acoustic Blues Brunch

Austin Walkin’ Cane

Charlie Barath

Izzy Stetar

Charlie Barath

Austin Walkin' Cane

Bruce Wheeler, director of entertainment for Roxby Development — and longtime executive director and founder of the Heritage Music BluesFest in Wheeling, has put together a stellar lineup for the first WinterBlues Fest ‘22 in the ballroom of the McLure House hotel downtown. A full weekend of live, top-shelf blues music is on tap for March 18-20. (Photo by Eric Ayres)