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Watch Conan O'Brien and Chicago Schoolchildren Sing the Blues

Highly Recommended!  Hysterical

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Between Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor, many blues greats have called Chicago home. But now the city has some new members to add to its blues ranks: Conan O’Brien and a class of first grade children.

In a supposed effort to introduce children to the genre, Conan visited the Frances Xavier Warde Elementary School in Chicago to enlist their help in writing a few songs about the woes of being seven. The hysterical results are full of stolen teddies, food aversions and irrational childhood fears. Oh, and some really cute, sassy kids playing the harmonica. You can watch the clip below.

The 28th Annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival Slashes Ticket Prices!

“Let’s Party!” Friday with Kenny Neal on the Bandshell and Super Chikan in the Tent

“High Octane Blues” Saturday, with 10 acts on 2 stages, BlueSKool, and free Workshops

“RiverRoad” Sunday, honoring MVBS Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Bobby Rush and Lonnie Brooks

DAVENPORT, Iowa—The 28th annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival June 29-July 1 is sure to be the best bang for the blues buck! With three-day festival tickets only $37.50 in advance, attendees will enjoy some of the best contemporary and traditional blues in the world—for less than $2 per act.

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society (MVBS) today announced the festival lineup of 24 acts—including blues legends, up-and-comers and award winners—who will be performing on two stages June 29-July 1, at LeClaire Park in Davenport, Iowa. Produced by MVBS, the event is one of the longest- running blues festivals in the nation, and the only major blues festival in the U.S. produced entirely by volunteers.

The festival kicks off with “Let’s Party” Friday and a new start time—6:30 p.m.—with gates opening at 5:30. Revving up the fun is youngster phenom Matthew Curry and his band The Fury on the Bandshell stage, while Earnest Guitar Roy takes us down to Mississippi on the Tent stage. Blues Music Award nominee and Roomful of Blues alumnus Sugar Ray Norcia on harmonica leads his band the Bluetones next on the Bandshell, followed by Baton Rouge’s award-winning guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Kenny Neal. Over in the Tent, International Blues Challenge semi-finalists Liz Mandeville and Donna Herula show why they represented the Windy City in Memphis, and Super Chikan with his band The Fighting Cocks will be crowing Mississippi style.

“High Octane Blues” Saturday offers an eclectic mix that’s sure to stir the blues-loving soul. The Terry Quiett Band from Kansas kicks it off on the Bandshell, followed by Ohio’s Ray Fuller & the Bluesrockers, the Memphis soul of “The King of Beale Street” Preston Shannon, and Guitar Shorty—a one-time brother-in-law of Jimi Hendrix, and ending up with headliner Coco Montoya, protégé of legends Albert Collins and John Mayall. First up in the Tent is Bryce Janey from Marion IA, who represented the state of Iowa at the International Blues Challenge in the solo-duo category in Memphis. Next is Blues Music Award nominee Doug MacLeod, who will also present a free workshop about slide guitar. The Ernest Dawkins Quartet from Chicago adds jazz to the mix, followed by the deep blues of Kansas harmonica-guitar duo Moreland and Arbuckle. Sure to blow the roof off the Tent is headliner piano powerhouse Kelley Hunt and her band. 

On “RiverRoad” Sunday, the festival honors Mississippi soul-blues icon Bobby Rush, whose show in the Tent will be part acoustic and part his usual party with dancing girls. Legendary guitarist Lonnie Brooks will also receive a RiverRoad Lifetime Achievement Award, on the Bandshell, before a long set with his sons—stars themselves—Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks. Rounding out the Bandshell performances are Oakland CA pianist Lady Bianca and Kansas City siblings Trampled Under Foot. The Tent performances start with the River Music Experience’s Winter Blues Kids led by Hal Reed and Ellis Kell, followed by the country blues of Paul Geremia (who also gives a workshop on 6 and 12-string guitar styles), and the smoldering soul of Mississippi’s Johnny Rawls.

The mission of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society is to educate the public about the native art form of blues-related music and to keep the blues alive. On Saturday and Sunday, The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival offers free workshops for adults in the Freight House (on Ripley Street across the tracks from LeClaire Park), a free photo exhibit of blues artists and past festivals also in the Freight House, and BlueSKool for children in LeClaire Park. The workshops and BlueSKool give participants a chance to learn from the masters.

Sponsors for this year’s festival include River Cities’ Reader, the Illinois Arts Council, the Riverboat Development Authority, the City of Davenport, KALA radio, Alcoa, Humanities Iowa, Premier Jewelry and Loan, and The Lodge Hotel & Conference Center.

Advance three-day festival tickets are available for only $37.50 or $12.50 per day through Thursday June 28. Advance tickets can be purchased at Hy-Vee stores in the Quad Cities, Clinton, and Muscatine; at Rascals (1414 15th Street, Moline); at The Muddy Waters, 1708 State Street, Bettendorf; and at the MVBS office (by check only) at 102 S. Harrison in Davenport (call first: 563-32-BLUES). One-day tickets will be sold at the gate for only $15 each day. Children ages 14 and under will be admitted free if accompanied by an adult with a ticket.

It takes over 200 volunteers to produce the Festival. The MVBS is still seeking volunteers for shifts June 29-July 1. Volunteers receive free admission on their day of service as well as a  

commemorative t-shirt. Volunteers should register online at www.mvbs.org. 

For 27 years, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival has attracted legendary blues acts, making it one of the most highly regarded blues festivals in the nation. According to the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, the festival’s economic benefit to the area is $2.3 million annually. For more

information about the festival, lodging and the complete schedule of artists, visit www.mvbs.org

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The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is Now Taking Submissions.

Now is your chance to enter what the NY Times calls “the songwriting competition to take note of,” and for a chance to share in over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including a Grand Prize of $25,000 cash and over $25,000 in prizes. Renowned for having the most prestigious judges of any music competition in the world, ISC’s judging panel is comprised of high-profile recording artists and influential music industry professionals. Judges for this year include: Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, John Mayall, James Cotton, Bruce Iglauer (President, Alligator Records) and many more. For entry information and a complete list of judges, please visit:

www.songwritingcompetition.com

THIRD ANNUAL SPIRIT OF KANSAS BLUES FESTIVAL

THIRD ANNUAL SPIRIT OF KANSAS BLUES FESTIVAL 2012

GATHER UP THE FAMILY/FRIENDS LAWN CHAIRS AND COOLERS AND JOIN US FOR SOME FUN IN THE SUN AND A WHOLE DAY OF GREAT BLUES!

THERE WILL BE VENDORS ALSO AT THE FESTIVAL

THIS FESTIVAL IS FREE ADMISSION-YEAH YOU READ IT RIGHT FREE

Mark calendar for July 4th – Spirit of Kansas Blues Festival at Shawnee Lake. Ramada is the host hotel, so call for your special rate! Ask for the “SOK” rate code. The number is 785-234-5400.

For more information on The Spirit of Kansas 2012 Festival 2012 and map please follow this link 

Hickory Smoked Musical Festival Moved To New Venue

After many hours of planning, and awaiting word on the state of Hickories Park for this year's Hickory Smoked Musical Festival, which is presented by Visions Federal Credit Union and the Tioga County Council on the Arts, it was deemed necessary to relocate the 12th annual concert, planned for July 28, to Rudin's Farm on Gaskill Road in Owego, N.Y.

This move, according to organizers, isn't a bad one. Since hosting the Harvest Moon Festival that benefited scholarships for students pursuing degrees in agriculture back in 2000, Terry Rudin has maintained a desire to host another concert at his Gaskill Road farm and venue.

Rudin is already host to the annual Farm Days event that takes place over Labor Day, and has constructed a stage for concerts like a recent Susie McEntire event, which drew a large crowd.

According to Rudin, having the event at his farm is a perfect fit. "It helps out the community," said Rudin, "it's a good thing."

The event, scheduled for July 28, from 12:30 to 10:00 p.m., will take place at the stage located at the 4890 Gaskill Rd. farm, and will feature a lineup of performances by Carolyn Kelly and the Roosevelt Dean Band, The Sim Redmond Band out of the Ithaca area, Blues Plate Special, Dirt Farm, Randy McStine and Michael Wu with Red Spring, Eric Ross Blues Band, One Click Culture and Hi-Way Fruit Market.

Carolyn Kelly will headline the July 28

Hickory Smoked Musical Festival event

at Rudin's Farm on Gaskill Road in

Owego, N.Y. with Roosevelt Dean's Band.

This blend of Blues, Roots-Reggae and Progressive Rock will offer something for everyone's listening pleasure. The festival, as in recent years, will be opened with the Star Spangled Banner sung by Owego's own Andrea McBride.

Also, during this year's event, the organizers will pay tribute to Michael Burks, last year's headliner for the event. Burks, who has performed at the music festival twice since its inception, passed away suddenly earlier this year. His death rocked the blues community.

To pay tribute to Burks, the festival will be playing some of his tunes while the performers set up the stage for their show. Master of Ceremonies Mo Taylor will also share words about Burks' accomplishments, and his guitar mastery.

The Sim Redmond Band, new to this year's lineup, has been a staple to the "Grass Roots" festival in Trumansburg, serving as Friday evening's headliner each year.

Now, The Sim Redmond Band will make its way south for a performance at Rudin's Farm. The band, which has gained notoriety in International markets for their eclectic style of roots music, will feel at home with the stage that sets below the rolling fields at Rudin's Farm.

This concert is anticipated to be the best yet!

The cost of the show is $15 in advance by purchasing at select Visions Federal Credit Union locations, at John's Fine Foods, at Price Chopper in Owego, at the Chemung Canal Branch on Main Street in Owego, or at the Tioga County Council on the Arts offices located at 179 Front St. in Owego, N.Y.

You can also purchase your ticket online by visiting  

www.tiogaartscouncil.org, or by phoning (607) 687-0785. Tickets purchased on the day of the event will be $20.

FINGER LAKES GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND DANCE

Join us July 19-22 in Trumansburg, NY (near Ithaca) as we celebrate four days and four nights of music, art, and evolution.  The 22nd annual GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance will feature 70 bands on four stages, including our hosts Donna The Buffalo, Jamaican reggae legends The Meditations, rulers of the American reggae scene John Brown's Body, Sahara desert blues diva Khaira Arby, New Orleans' own ReBirth Brass Band, country music superstar George Jones, globe-conquering Malian rappers SMOD, Zimbabwean freedom fighter Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, songwriter and social commentator Jill Sobule, sacred steel kings the Campbell Brothers, Ithaca's own world-pop phenomenon the Sim Redmond Band, Native American blues rocker Keith Secola and his Wild Band of Indians, rulers of Miami's Haitian music scene Revelation Mizik, Latin dub rock jammers Locos Por Juana, afropop-funk-soul fusionists Thousands of One, and dub mashup JSan and the Big Mean. All proceeds from the GrassRoots Festival benefit the arts, education, and the global fight against AIDS.  Visit www.grassrootsfest.org for more information, tickets, camping info, the full lineup,  band descriptions, and more!

TALL CITY BLUES FEST, Midland, Texas

Tall City Blues Fest, nestled in downtown Midland, TX, will host more than 23 different performers this year! "Located in the heart of West Texas, halfway between Dallas and El Paso on the I-20 corridor, Midland was a perfect void begging for a blues festival", said Lisa Grissom, Producer of this year's Festival.

In it's 2nd year, this Festival showcases award-winning blues acts accompanied by emerging talent across four stages (3 Outdoor + 1 Indoor). The Festival also offers educational clinics, a Zydeco street dance, a Gospel Brunch & Blues Jam, family activity areas, juke joints, midnight jam sessions, interactive hospitality stations, art & memorabilia auctions and food vendors. 

This year's headliners are Tommy Castro (Saturday Night) andJames 'Boogaloo' Bolden Blues Band (Friday Night). Tommy Castro is a multi-time Blues Music Awards winner and James Bolden, having been B.B. King's Band Leader

 for 32 years, is also an award-winning performer. Bolden & his band have been voted Best Blues Band by Downbeat Magazine, received a W.C. Handy Award for Best Blues Band of the Year and performed at the White House for five Presidents with B.B King & the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

In addition to the music, this year's Festival will also offernine different educational clinics, including harmonica 101 & advanced, harmonica for kids, blues bass 101, country blues finger-picking, bottleneck slide, acoustic blues, songwriting and cigar box guitar building. In addition to the clinics, Apple (in conjunction with Best Buy) will be conducting Garage Bandand iPhoto demonstrations and the Festival will also hostThe Real Blues Tour, a multi-media, travelguide performance that showcases the history of blues beginning in the early 1900's.

Tall City Blues Festival is an indoor/outdoor, family-friendly music festival. Our mission is to create an experience like none other that brings award-winning blues & roots music to West Texas and makes people feel enlightened, joy-filled & loved.SAVE THE DATES: July 26-29, 2012!

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Video Of The Week

Lightnin' Hopkins - Rainy Day Blues

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