Thank you for 13 marvelous years of this free phenomenon!
The 14th Annual Columbia Blues Festival is slated for Saturday, October 11, 2008 in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park.
Stay tuned for details...

Meanwhile, we are in the grant proposal, fundraising, logistics planning phase of this journey. We need to gas up so we can adequately accommodate our volunteers, sponsors and musicians in this year-long effort. Suggestions welcome! Hip us to new ideas, potential sponsors and advertisers, thoughts, music, etc. We're all ears.

Word of Mouth Productions, (WOMP), began in the fall of 1991 after years of discussion about the lack of diverse live music in Columbia. Born of a love for folk music of all origins, WOMP began producing small, one or two-man blues and Celtic acts in small clubs around Columbia. In 1992, WOMP staged five performances culminating in a free concert produced for the Columbia Museum of Art featuring the legendary Nappy Brown. The State newspaper's Michael Miller wrote in an article titled Underground Movement in it for the Music, Not the Money, “They’re at it again this week when an appropriately named promotion team called ‘Word of Mouth Productions’ presents English folk singer Pete Morton at Rockafella’s, followed by the return of Chris Smither to the Five Points club. Shows usually start at a decent hour, because like we said, these folks have day jobs.”

WOMP followed with two significant concerts in 1993. Sold out crowds were treated to two of Ireland’s most honored musicians – Len Graham and Cathal McConnel at the State Museum followed by a British folk Christmas show at the University of South Carolina’s Drayton Hall by England’s Waterson family.

In 1994, WOMP produced several shows including a performance by Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, formerly of Fairport Convention at the State Museum and a show by the subdudes and two time Grammy award winner Keb' Mo', who exploded on the blues scene with multiple nominations and taking three of blues most prestigious Handy Awards. By 1994, WOMP had a devoted following who would come to shows because of their involvement rather than a familiarity with the musicians.

An early benchmark of things to come was “Live on Main,” a free street concert in downtown Columbia at the corner of Main and Hampton in front of the new Columbia Museum of Art. The show featured Duke Robillard, Nappy Brown, Griff and The Crude Earles. This event was made possible by sponsorship of the City of Columbia, First Union Bank, The State newspaper, and Time Warner Cable. Many of WOMP's shows, including “Live On Main,” have been featured on the cover of “The Weekend Section” in The State newspaper.

In 1994, WOMP became involved with Columbia’s First Blues Festival hoping to broaden the horizons and size of audiences. This was also an opportunity to offer a free concert to Columbia residents and visitors. Since the inception of Columbia’s Annual Blues Festival, WOMP has worked diligently to offer this festival as an annual event with all volunteer labor. WOMP has built a network of volunteers – family, friends and new friends who have expertise in fund raising, sound and light engineering, stage production, art and graphics, television production and many other areas that allows WOMP to be so successful in what they do.

In recent years, besides producing Columbia’s Annual Blues Festival, WOMP brought England’s The House Band, blues man Corey Harris, the legendary John Hammond, The Brock McGuire Band to sold out shows at Workshop Theatre and a standing room only performance with Jorma Kaukonen at Town Theatre. Word of Mouth Productions is viewed by the musical community as a rich feature on a sparse landscape.