CRESTVIEW — The “bluegrass” B in the Triple B Cookoff's name is safe, but these days, it might also stand for simply “bands."
Triple B organizers want live performances that appeal to more attendees. And, as the event continues to grow and draw attendees from beyond Crestview and Okaloosa County, “we wanted to reach out to a broader audience,” Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce executive assistant Jennifer Pierson said.
REVFEST INSPIRATION
Pierson, who worked on festival budgeting and entertainment scheduling, said some of bluegrass bands were beyond the chamber’s Triple B budget.
However, having worked with RevFest — the Fort Walton Beach regional art and music festival — she was familiar with other bands suitable for Crestview’s cookoff, and saw a way to kick up the event’s entertainment without breaking the bank.
The result is exciting, Triple B Chairman Derek Lott said.
“We’ve got some real good bands this year,” he said. “The music talent part is great. They’re pretty big bands along the coast.”
BLUEGRASS ROOTS
While new bands to the Florida Lottery stage bring what Pierson describes as “jam-funk” and a “modernized ‘50s and ‘60s kind of sound," the event still honors its bluegrass roots.
Dismal Creek, of Santa Rosa Beach, boasts “an unlimited arsenal of bluegrass traditionals and old-time favorites,” the band's Facebook page states.
Vocalist and guitarist Jim Hall, banjoist Rick Stanfield, mandolin player and vocalist Neil Sebree, and upright bass player and vocalist Dub Bryant say their influences include, among others, Del McCoury, Hot Rize, Seldom Scene, Bill Monroe and Capt. John Hartford.
Their interests always include playing music almost everywhere imaginable: “front yard picking, backyard pickin’, in-house picking, basement picking, mountain top picking, desert picking, field picking, boat picking, steam powered pickin’, river pickin’, and car pickin’,” their Facebook page states.
SOUTH STAGE
Music bookends the Triple B, with the Florida Lottery Stage set up across from the Okaloosa County Veterans Memorial and the South Stage between Coney Island and Casbah Coffee Company on Main Street.
That stage traditionally features local acts, including rising stars, duos, gospel quartets and student groups. Its entertainment is organized by the chamber’s Arts and Culture Committee with the local Friends of the Arts' assistance.
Pierson said "there’s a little bit of everything for everybody."
“We like the idea of having more than bluegrass,” Lott said. “You may not like what I like and I may not like what you like, but at the end of the day, there’s lots of good music and people walking up and down the street enjoying it.”
ONLINE
For more on Dismal Creek, see http://dismalcreek.com, Facebook.com/dismalcreek and www.reverbnation.com/q/5og7gw.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Triple B: Diverse entertainment styles to enjoy at this year’s barbecue festival