PORT TOWNSEND — B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award winner Janiva Magness, one of the most venerable performers at now-closed Upstage nightclub here, is coming back to town Thursday, Aug. 1.
Magness and her band will give what will be the last Upstage-sponsored show, said the club’s owner, Mark Cole. The 7:30 p.m. concert will take place at the American Legion Hall, 209 Monroe St., with tickets at $25 in advance or $30 at the door.
For reservations, phone The Upstage number: 360-385-2216.
“An entertainer might equal, but no entertainer will surpass, Janiva’s show,” said Cole.
Magness has an armload of awards including 2013 Song of the Year for “I Won’t Cry,” on her album “Stronger for It.”
In 2009, Magness became only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to win the B.B. King prize; she has also won the Contemporary Blues Female Artist Award four times.
Magness is as fierce about her chosen cause as she is about her music. A spokeswoman for Foster Care Alumni of America, she promotes foster care and foster children on her concert tours and on her website, www.Janiva
Magness.com.
As for The Upstage, Cole said that although the Aug. 1 show is the last under the club’s name, he is not finished with live music promotion.
