Sallie Bengston - Nola Blue, Inc.

Sallie Bengston with Benny Turner

Lancaster County is better known for chow-chow and pretzels than gumbo and po’ boys, but blues artists from Louisiana have found a home for their music with Nola Blue Inc., a boutique company based in Lancaster that provides management and label services for blues musicians.

Founded in 2012 by Sallie Bengtson, the company has established three record labels: Nola Blue Records, Blue Heart Records and MoMojo Records.

Three artists associated with the company are performing at the Reading Blues Festival: Clarence Spady & The Electric City Band (Nov. 17), Dave Keyes (Nov. 19), and Benny Turner, whose free concert with Davell Crawford on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. in the DoubleTree Hotel Reading Amphitheater will be sponsored by Nola Blue.

No one would have predicted that Bengtson, a Reading native, would be presiding over a roster of traditional blues musicians from Louisiana’s Delta area, as well as other blues hubs.

Her family, formerly the owners of Maier’s Bakery in Reading, were deeply involved in classical and church music, and supported the arts in the local community. Her father, Bruce Bengtson (formerly Maier’s CFO), has been a church organist for many years, and her mother, Ruth Anne Bengtson, is also a trained church musician. Sallie’s brother, Matthew Bengtson, is a respected concert pianist and professor of music at the University of Michigan.

Sallie Bengtson laughs when asked about her different path. “I discovered pop music in middle and high school,” she said, “I was always the black sheep of my family, listening behind closed doors.”

While she studied piano and flute privately, she chose not to pursue music, and wound up earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management at Albright College.

“I had 10 solid years of business experience working at Maier’s Bakery,” Bengston said. “It gave me a feeling of pride in ownership and in who I was working with.”

After the family sold the bakery, Bengtson -- who had married and moved to Lancaster and had a son, Aidan (now 14) -- became a stay-at-home mom. Missing the business world, she opened a franchise location of Gymboree Play & Music and ran it until, after she divorced, it became “too much” for a single parent.

So how did she make the leap into the music business?

It all started in her early 20s, she said, when a friend invited her to go with her to listen to a blues band. “My reaction was, oh no, that’ll be depressing,” she said, chuckling. But after assurances that that was not the case, she went along, and “it just grabbed me from that first night.”

Soon she was a regular at Reading’s Top of the ROC and other venues where blues music was a staple. Early favorites were Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal and Tab Benoit. Then, through recordings, she discovered the late Freddie King and fell in love with his legendary blues style.

And then, through her growing community of blues friends, she found out that King’s brother, Benny Turner, was still living in New Orleans and performing as a sideman. During her many visits to NOLA’s music scene, she got to know Turner.

“He’s so generous with his time and his stories, with everyone,” she said. “I always said to him, ‘You should write a book!’”

Her friendship with Turner, her conviction that he needed to perform as a soloist rather than a sideman, and that his story was worth telling, resulted in her founding Nola Blue Inc.

“I had closed Gymboree and I was wondering what was next for me,” Bengston said. “And then I started thinking: why can’t I write a book?”

She approached Turner about writing his autobiography together, and he agreed. He also revealed that he had a partly finished CD but had run out of money before he could complete it. Bengtson, realizing that he needed to release a recording to go with the book, helped him finish the CD, learning about the recording business along the way. The result, “Journey,” launched the Nola Blue label in 2014, on Turner’s 75th birthday.

Soon after that, the book, “Survivor: The Benny Turner Story,” was published. Since then, he has released three more albums on the label.

“I discovered I really enjoyed combining my business experience with my passion for the blues,” Bengtson said. “When you love something, you can sell it just by your innate enthusiasm.”

As she oversaw Turner’s transition from career sideman to front man, Bengtson began to attract more blues artists, who were impressed with her commitment to service and hands-on nurturing. The current Nola Blue Records catalog includes 18 albums and assorted singles.

By then, Bengtson had an extensive network of contacts among blues artists and related businesses in the blues community. One of these was Betsie Brown, the highly respected owner of Blind Raccoon, a promotional services company for blues, roots, rock, R&B, soul, Americana and folk genres. After working together on Turner’s second album, the two women entered an agreement in which Blind Raccoon would do all the promotion for Nola Blue, and Bengtson would handle all the social media strategy and management for Blind Raccoon.

In 2020, Bengtson and Brown launched Blue Heart Records, a full-service label championing multi-generational blues and roots artists. “That has taken off like a meteor,” said Bengston, who credits the pandemic shutdown for forcing musicians to hunker down and create recordings for a year and a half. “We’re still riding that wave.”

Bengtson is well aware of the history of exploitation of blues musicians by some large record companies. “I want no part of that legacy. The music is so important, and it’s so special and valued. And it’s very hard to be a musician in this world. It’s hard to find someone who will work on their behalf. I want to make their life a little easier. And they’re so appreciative!”

Her plans to continue to grow Nola Blue include hiring professionals. Last year she hired Tyler Faulkner, a fellow Albright graduate who earned a degree in Music Industry Studies. She said his solid background in music business has made him indispensable.

Bengtson is also beginning a cooperative relationship with Lancaster-based Right Coast Recording, a recording studio co-owned by Blue Heart musician Bobby Gentilo. She hopes to connect musicians to Gentilo, “who has a similar philosophy to mine.” She may one day add a booking or artist management division, since “there is so much need for those services.”

Through her last decade of working in this field, Bengtson said: “I’ve discovered who I am… my job has changed me. It has given me new perspectives on the lives of these musicians. Like Frank Bey, who got a posthumous Grammy nomination for his last album (on Nola Blue). He was so joyful and upbeat, while living in the worst poverty, unable to get medications for his condition. The beauty of the music comes out of that.”

“It heals me, it heals the artists, and then it goes out there for people to hear and enjoy.”