Nick Berard
Members of the Clyde Stubblefield All Stars at the High Noon Saloon. They close out Saturday’s festivities at AtwoodFest.
Although he was a staple in the live music scene for decades, legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield never got around to playing AtwoodFest.
But he got close.
Early this year, AtwoodFest organizers started working to finally get Stubblefield up on stage at the east-side festival. But Stubblefield died in February, at age 73, after a long battle with kidney failure. “This was Clyde’s home turf,” says AtwoodFest music programmer Rökker. “We tried, but he passed before we could get him.”
To honor Stubblefield’s decades of contributions as a founder of funk and soul music, the festival’s organizers are pulling out all the stops this year: They have named a stage after the “Funky Drummer,” and will hold a dedication ceremony just before the recently re-tooled Clyde Stubblefield All Stars headline the festival Saturday night.
Joey Banks, leader of the Stubblefield All Stars, says Stubblefield would have been very pleased with the honors.
“We’re keeping it fun and we’ll keep everyone dancing — that’s what he would want,” says Banks, adding that the band is now playing more of Stubblefield’s original tunes as well as covers of songs from soulstress Sharon Jones, who also recently died. “We’re doing funk, just straight-up funk these days. He was very happy with all that before he passed away and I know he’d be happy with all that’s being done today and at AtwoodFest.”
A few young drumming students will join the band onstage. A protege of Stubblefield, Banks now teaches drumming and leads the Black Star Drum Line. He has also been a part of the effort to fund a scholarship in the drummer’s honor. The Clyde Stubblefield Scholarship Fund recently named Ben Lokuta, a drummer who plays with Distant Cuzins, Black Star Drum Line and Mad Brass Sound Sport, as its first recipient. “We’re taking his loss and turning it into a positive,” says Banks. “We’re keeping the music alive and his beat alive.”
A number of new acts and attractions are also slated for AtwoodFest, which runs July 29-30 along Atwood Avenue between Winnebago and Division streets.
“We’ve got three stages, 25 bands, 20 local food vendors, 50 other vendors [and] 14 varieties of beer,” says Ginny Jenkins, fest organizer and local neighborhood association chairperson, adding that the fest draws about 20,000 people each year. “It’s a party in the street but it’s not a huge area, so you don’t have to walk five miles to get to anything and that’s the largest beer variety of any of the festivals this year.”
Notable attractions include a much-expanded Maker’s Market, where attendees can make robots, modify bikes or create jewelry with LEDs; a virtual reality station; and an old-school video game arcade. A community collaborative art project, “Say It Forward” will allow neighbors to trade messages.
For music, Rökker is stoked for Nashville rockers SIMO, Minneapolis’ jam band PHO and the folksy tunes of Chicago’s Mr. Blotto, as well as crowd-pleasing local acts like the country and jazz crew of Steely Dane and the funk and disco of VO5.
“I’m trying to create a dilemma for you in choosing which stage to go to,” jokes Rökker.“We also booked some really, really good bands to open — there are no mediocre times to catch a show.”
