Hurts So Good: Blues on the Mesa Brings Top Musicians and Soulful Sound to Colorado Springs

It’s ironic, how joyful people are about performing the blues. Maybe singing and playing down ’n’ dirty music helps exorcise some demons. It’s also joyful to be a blues supporter — just ask Amy Whitesell. She and her husband, George, are the brains behind Blues on the Mesa. This is the fifth year the festival will draw music fans to Gold Hill Mesa’s Community Center and its lawn, with plenty of space for fans, vendors and the stage.

This year’s lineup: Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster; guitarist-singer Mike Zito; pianist-singer-songwriter Eden Brent; guitarist Jack Hadley with singer Peaches Embry; and guitarist-singer Grant Sabin.

“Eden, Mike and Ruthie have all won Blues Music Awards this year, which is very prestigious in the blues world,” Amy Whitesell says.

The performers are excited about performing in Colorado Springs.

Zito, who grew up in St. Louis, started playing the blues as a child and has been a professional musician for 37 years. “I enjoy the live atmosphere and the audience and the excitement that something different might happen each show,” he says.

For all of them, the interplay with the audience is their favorite part of being a musician.

“Performing is like a conversation. I leave a little bit of myself with every audience and take a bit of the audience back home with me. It’s how I grow as a musician and as a person,” Brent says.

She toddled her way to the piano while growing up in Greenville, Mississippi, home of the world’s oldest blues festival. Foster and Zito are two of her favorite musicians, and she says it’ll be like a family reunion.

Hadley is also looking forward to seeing former collaborators. “I had an opportunity to play with Mike Zito in the past, and I’ve shared the stage with Eden Brent as well. My band opened for Ruthie Foster a number of years ago. Headlining acts of this caliber raise the bar for opening acts, and the audience is in for a real treat.”

Hadley was born into a military family in the Philippines, but now lives in Boulder. Sabin, a longtime local favorite who’s now based in Fort Collins, can’t wait for his first time performing at Blues on the Mesa.

“I love connecting with an audience,” he says. “Through music, especially blues music, there is a conversation to be had between me and the audience that cannot be had otherwise.”

When the Whitesells started Blues on the Mesa, people were eager to get away from pandemic constraints and spend money. If it weren’t for sponsors, the event couldn’t continue. Despite the community support and devoted volunteers, it’s basically a two-person job organizing the event and the Whitesells are hoping to pass the baton to the next generation.

“The business is for sale,” Amy Whitesell says. “I would be more than willing to stay on for a couple of more years with someone and walk them through. But yeah, we’re getting to the age where this is exhausting.”

The Whitesells have owned and operated A Music Company for about 19 years. Collaborating with radio station KRCC, they produced Blues Under the Bridge from 2006 to 2019, when the space became unavailable. “Blues Under the Bridge had a baby, and it’s called Blues on the Mesa,” Amy Whitesell says.

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