Published: September 10, 2009 09:37 am      

BLUES FESTIVAL: Nighthawks and more this weekend!

The year was 1976 and Toby Rotella was hanging out at the Belle Star, an old honky tonk near the slopes in Ellicottville.

Rotella was impressed with a raucous band he saw there called the Nighthawks who played a mix of blues and soul and rock. He loved the Washington D.C. musicians’ ability to work the crowd. And, he liked their tattoos. They were loaded with tattoos.

The band went on to play a wide assortment of impressive gigs including a tour with Greg Allman, concerts with the legendary Muddy Waters, BB King and an evening at D.C.’s Kennedy Center with Pinetop Perkins. They even wound up doing some of the music for episodes of “Homicide,” on NBC and “The Wire” on HBO.

The Belle Star burned down several years later and Rotella went on to open a nightclub in Niagara Falls called the Imperial Garage, built from an old car showroom on Third Street. For a handful of years in the early 80s it was the hot spot for blues lovers, drawing some of the biggest names in the business.

The irregular reunions Rotella has held to honor the memory of his blues garage have grown into this weekend’s second annual Blues Festival in downtown Niagara Falls where — wait for it — the Nighthawks will be the featured act.

“They’re America’s number one bar band if you ask anybody in the blues world,” Rotella said recently. “They started touring in the early seventies and they’re still touring. No other bands have toured longer.”

The Nighthawks also influenced the second act Rotella booked for this weekend’s festival.

Jimmy Thackery used to be a Nighthawk but then broke with the band in 1986. Thackery, who now leads the Devastators, has toured Europe and Japan, is a noted guitar player and vocalist, Rotella said.

“He can imitate Muddy Waters on slide almost better than anybody in the U.S.,” he said. Waters, a legendary blues musician who performed at the Imperial Garage, was noted for his ability to play the slide, which is a piece slid up and down the guitar strings to vary the length and pitch of the notes.

Among the other performers at this weekend’s festival is Richard Ray Ferrill, a Niagara Falls native that Rotella calls “the number one national blues act to come out of Niagara Falls.”

“He did his internship in Europe,” Rotella explained. “For twenty-five years he played in the streets and in concert halls all over Europe. Now, he lives in Philadelphia.”

Ferrill has opened for acts including Joe Cocker, Jeff Healey and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

The free event, to be held in the new West Mall in downtown Niagara Falls, will also include The Electras, a Chicago-style rock and blues band who will jam with Ferrill Friday night.

“The Electras are the original house band of the Imperial Garage, they’re like our alumni,” Rotella said. “We bring them back every year to pay homage to my bar because if there wasn’t any Imperial Garage there wouldn’t be any Niagara Falls Blues Fest.”

Also performing:

n The Thurman Brothers: The brothers open the show on Friday playing their blues, southern rock, and rock and roll. “This is one of Niagara’s best local bands,” Rotella said.

n Guitarist Maria Aurigema, who recently opened for Blue Oyster Cult at Tuesday in the Park at Artpark; Four on the Floor, the Blues Hounds from Irving, NY; and Problem Child.

n Jack Thurman with the Junk Yard Dogs will perform at 11 p.m. Saturday at Legends for the 2010 Blues Festival Kickoff Party.

The event will open Thursday night with the 10th annual Pine Avenue Blues Cruise with classic cars and bikes departing at 6 p.m. from Old Falls and Third Street and parading to Sal Maglie Stadium. The car and bike show will be followed by a Blues Festival kickoff party at Mr. B’s, 2201 Hyde Park Blvd., featuring Billy’s Blues Band.

Contact reporter Michele DeLucaat 282-2311, ext. 2263.