A Case of Blahs in Too Much Blues? : Pop: Some wonder whether producing a festival in Dana Point a week after Long Beach concerts borders on overkill.

Organizers of a three-day blues festival to be held here are hoping that come September, Orange County blues fans will take to heart the title of B.B. King’s signature tune, “Every Day I Have the Blues.”

By scheduling a large-scale event just a week after the 14-year-old Long Beach Blues Festival, and in the same month as four other similar events in or near California, promoters of the Orange County Blues Festival have raised eyebrows in the music community over whether there are enough blues fans to go around.

So far, the only bands signed up for the Dana Point festival, designed to be an annual event, are blues veteran Johnny Copeland plus local stalwarts Rod Piazza and Guitar Shorty. Event organizers say they have extended offers to some two dozen other acts, including several nationally known performers.

“To be candid, I wouldn’t do a blues festival anywhere near September,” said Ken Phebus, talent buyer for the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. “And I certainly wouldn’t do it anywhere (geographically) close to the Long Beach Blues Festival.”

However, a principal at Ritz Entertainment, the concert-promotion newcomer that is producing the event, said he expects the Orange County Blues Festival to thrive despite its proximity to the Long Beach blues show.

“Some Orange County residents go to the Long Beach festival, but I don’t think a lot of them do,” said Eric Jensen from the firm’s Dana Point office.

Said Cindy Young, vice president of marketing for KLON-FM (88.5), which produces the Long Beach Festival: “I would suspect that about 20% of our attendance comes from Orange County. We’re very close to Orange County and a lot of our listeners live there.”

Still, Jensen said, “We’ll have other reasons for people to come down besides the music, but the kind of acts we have will bring people in.”. Those “other reasons” include a food-tasting festival featuring 15 South County restaurants and an arts fair.

Like its Long Beach counterpart, the Orange County Blues Festival fits the mold of the multi-act, multiple-day outdoor blues concert that has become increasingly popular around the country in recent years.

“Every city is having blues festivals--you name a place, they have one” said Patrick Day, a Maryland talent agent who represents blues festival veterans Snooky Pryor and Earl King. “Over the last five years, the large-scale festivals are getting bigger and the new ones are popping up all over the place.”

Seating will be picnic-style in Heritage Park, which overlooks the ocean and Dana Point Marina.

Jensen hopes the weather, music and the ticket prices (expected to be $11 per day) will attract 10,000 people per day on the weekend.

In late August and September, Jensen said Ritz will put on a promotional blitz that will include radio and newspaper advertising and 1,200 cable television spots.

Year-old Ritz Entertainment has four full-time employees working on the festival and has begun distributing flyers and advertising in local blues publications, Jensen said.

But Phebus and others wonder whether a company that has never produced a major music event can make the three-day festival run smoothly.

“If you don’t have all your ducks in a row, it could be a disaster,” he said. “I really hope it’s a success. But inevitably when I see someone who isn’t known in the business try something like this, it’s a disaster.”

Ken Poston, who organizes the Long Beach Blues Festival for KLON, agreed that putting together a weekend music festival has many pitfalls.

“First of all, if I was trying to start it, I don’t know if I would go up against an established festival like ours,” Poston said. “They probably won’t affect us much, but I’m not sure how many people will go to a (weekend) blues festival two weeks in a row.”

Poston said that Jensen spoke with him several weeks ago and seemed to have a good grasp on the details that make a successful festival.

The festival has drawn sponsorship from local Bohemia and Samuel Adams beer distributorships as well as in-kind support from Orange County corporations, Jensen said. Organizers also hope to generate revenue from food and craft booths involved in the street fair.

“These festivals are so huge and costly, you have to have a large amount of return just to break even,” Poston said. “But it sounded like they have the right ingredients. Artistically, I’d love to see it work.”

Festival talent agent Mark Liddell, who has booked blues acts for the Heritage Brewing Co., says he is working on an eclectic lineup of blues talent.

“We’re going to have Delta blues, you’ll hear traditional blues, Cajun-zydeco music,” Liddell said.

While others in the local music scene wonder if Orange County fans will turn out for a large-scale blues festival, the Coach House’s Phebus said his experience has taught him one thing: “If the names are big enough, you’ll see them come.”