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Blues Rock Boat on WRNR Cruises
 | | David A. Colburn | | Dean Rosenthal's Blues Allstars jam aboard the Harbor Queen during Damian's Blues Cruise. |
The air’s too thick tonight to see the sun set, but bright orange and red spinnakers make up for it. One after another the colorful sails carry the local racing fleet toward its finish line, passing the Harbor Queen like a shower of confetti.
The up-close glimpse of the “spinnaker finish” is a maritime bonus for the music-lovers onboard the Queen for what must be one of the Colonial capital's hippest nights out. Now in its second summer season, the “Damian’s Blues Cruise” series, operated by WRNR Radio 103.1 and Watermark Cruises, blends a little barbeque, lots of locals and superb live blues by some of the region's best musicians.
Hosting the monthly blues cruises is WRNR’s master blues DJ Damian Einstein, whose listeners have been tuning in wherever he’s worked in the region since his 1970s days at the original WHFS 102.3 when the radio station was based in Bethesda.
"In my nine years, I’ve never seen anything catch on quite so quickly," says Capt. Melonie McDonnell, who pilots tonight’s blues cruise aboard the double-decked faux riverboat.
It’s a leisurely ride out of Annapolis Harbor toward the Severn River. The Maryland State House dome perches high on a hill. Midshipmen practice on lacrosse or soccer fields at water’s edge just this side of the Beaux-Arts dome of the U.S. Naval Academy’s chapel. For the first time this cement-still day, a breeze floats past, through the boat’s cabin, where the orange life jackets tucked in rafters above the stage signal that the band isn’t playing your typical bar gig.
Tonight, Annapolis-area guitarist Dean Rosenthal and his Blues All-Stars band take the stage and blaze into Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters tunes. Band members include former members of the late DC icon Root Boy Slim’s Sex Change Band like sax player Ron Holloway. Among his many gigs, Holloway spent four years playing with Dizzy Gillespie and now plays with Little Feat.
Holloway says his long history with Einstein and fellow cruise musicians helped draw him onboard.
"It’s always a pleasure to play with these stellar players, and to do so on a cruise out of Annapolis was just icing on the cake," Holloway says. "It doesn't get better than being on the relaxing water, playing for an enthusiastic audience with your friends."
Fans like Jeff Robinson, publisher of the "Real Estate Book" for Anne Arundel County, have been coming since the blues cruises started summer. The first time, he came by himself. But he’s been recruiting. "I’ve got two neighbors here," he says, looking around the crowded dance floor. "I’ve had as many as six."
The blues cruises this summer have been joined by a second WRNR-Watermark series, the Pilsner Urquell Rockin the River cruises, featuring music from modern rock to swing to ska.
Watermark also offers "First Friday" cruises with live jazz or Caribbean music.
The music cruises started as kind of a harmonic convergence. Years ago, as a contracting sound engineer, Jon Peterson, WRNR’s operations manager and DJ, had worked a Long Beach, Calif., radio station blues cruise that hosted Buddy Guy.
Schedules, Ticket Information
Damian’s Blues Cruise
June 11: Tom Principato, Unsung hero of the blues guitar
July 9: The Nighthawks, The World's Greatest Bar Band
Aug 14: Darrell Nulisch, Soulful performance
Sep 10: Debbie Davies, Blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter
WRNR Rock'N'River Cruises
June 25: Deanna Bogart
July 23: The Players
Aug 27: The Almighty Senators
Sep 24: The Pietasters
Tickets for all shows are $25 a person and can be ordered by calling Watermark Cruises, located at the Annapolis City Dock, at 410-268-7601 ext. 104.
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Once in Annapolis, Peterson saw the obvious maritime similarities -- as well as Einstein’s huge local and regional appeal and a chance for the radio station to reach deeper into its community.
"I thought it was a fabulous idea," Einstein says. "Anytime you can showcase the blues is a great idea to me. Just the idea of putting blues on a riverboat. The whole atmosphere bears a certain mystique."
The cruise’s reasonable ending hour - about 10:30 p.m. - offers a good opportunity to have some mid-week fun while making the most of the work week. Locals can enjoy a night out and still get a full night’s sleep before the next day’s work. And musicians can double play two venues in one night. "Not that they’re huckstering their wares," Einstein says. "A musician has to do that" to make ends meet.
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Allison Blake is the author of The Chesapeake Bay Book: A Complete Guide. Click to purchase The Chesapeake Bay Book.
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