Denver, CO (PRWEB) January 15, 2009 -- Mile High Marketplace is proud to announce the first annual Mile High Blues Festival on August 8th and 9th 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Denver's blues scene has been without a major Blues Festival for over 5 years but the drought is over with the NEW Mile High Blues Festival. The Festival is loaded with 2 days of nationally renowned and Grammy-winning blues recording artists; plusmany artists who were recently nominated for the 2009 Blues Music Awards (BMA). A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit the Colorado Blues Society to support keeping the blues alive in Colorado.

The line-up includes blues artists such as C & C Records Recording Artist and guitar great Bernard Allison (son of blues icon Luther Allison), singer-songwriter Curtis Salgado (the inspiration for John Belushi's Blues Brothers character) and acclaimed guitar virtuoso Jimmy Thackery. One of the hottest rising stars of Blues with 4 BMA nominations including Best New Artist and Album, the magical Eden Brent will perform. Also on the line-up are renowned national artists such as the legendary Grammy Award-winning John Hammond, Memphis singer-songwriter Reba Russell and a special guest star appearance by Rick Estrin & the Night Cats formerly known as Little Charlie & the Night Cats. Ryan McGarvey will perform a special tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn and local favorite Delta Sonics will kick off the festival. PLUS more to be announced soon...

The 2-day event will be held at the NEW Mile High Marketplace Event Center, the newest addition to the 80-acre Denver landmark long known for the Mile High Flea Market. The 25,000 square foot tented venue will offer guests a unique festival setting for listening to some of the finest blues music around including all the things that make a blues festival great such as plenty of food, BBQ, cold beer and festival merchandise to choose from. Included in the price of the concert ticket is free parking and admission to Mile High Marketplace with acres of additional entertainment, shopping and family fun.

Mile High Marketplace is conveniently located at I-76 and 88th Avenue just minutes from downtown Denver. Tickets go on sale in March 2009. General admission tickets are $25 per day in advance or $20 per day if purchasing both days. Tickets at the gate are $30 per day. VIP tickets will also be available. Kids under 12 are free.

For more information, visit www.milehighbluesfestival.com and watch for artist bios, pictures, feature stories, festival activities and more.

The third annual Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival is bigger and better than ever with four nights of world-class blues music accompanied by the Florida's best Gulf Coast seafood cuisine. Join us February 19th -22nd with Jonny Lang, Elvin Bishop, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and many more in Clearwater, FL for the performance of a lifetime. Visit our website for full line-up and visitors travel information.

Friday 2/20
Lil' Malcolm &the House Rockers
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes

Saturday 2/21
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
Jonny Lang

Sunday 2/22
Marcia Ball
Kenny Neal
Elvin Bishop

http://www.clearwaterseablues.com/

Our Blues Festival Guide magazine editor Michele Lundeen has been invited as a international delegate and panelist to the 2009 Blues Summit IV and will participate in roundtable discussions such as Festivals, Media and Blues in the Schools. Panelists at the Summit include a diverse and prestigious lineup such as Jay Sieleman of the Blues Foundation, Jostein Forsberg (Notodden Blues Festival), Chip Eagle (Blues Revue), Jean Gullermo (Blues sur Seine), Amos Garrett (veteran musician), Rob Bowman (Professor in Ethnomusicology) and many, many more. Michele is not only our editor and a respected, award-winning singer/songwriter/bandleader, but is also one of San Diego county's presenters of BLUSD's Blues In The Schools program, has been a founding member and longtime editor of two Blues societies and owns a graphics/print broker business.

Showcase concerts will be featured on the evenings of Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18. Admission is free for Blues Summit IV registered delegates. For venues and schedule, click here.
The Summit culminates on Monday, January 19 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre with the 12th Annual Maple Blues Awards gala, Canada's national celebration of homegrown blues talent.
www.torontobluessociety.com/summit/index.html

On Monday, the Baytown Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to reject a Washington County Agricultural Society application that would have made the County Fairgrounds the site of the fledgling Deep Blues Festival for the next five years. "It just plain limits the opportunities we have to be self-supporting," Agricultural Society President Dan Dolan said after the meeting. "We need events - dog shows, horse shows, blues festivals, whatever - to generate revenue to support the fairgrounds and have the fair."

Baytown residents and officials said they are sympathetic to the Agricultural Society's need to find new revenue streams but are not willing to tolerate the noise that comes along with outdoor music festivals. "Amplified music wreaks havoc on our neighborhood," said Baytown resident Steve Ogren, "We live here. This is our whole weekend ... and it's intolerable."

The first Deep Blues Festival was held in River Falls, Wis., and it moved to the County Fairgrounds last year for its second event. The three-day festival featured 45 bands and drew about 550 fans July 18-20. While festival organizer Chris Johnson said he didn't receive any complaints last year, several Baytown residents turned to oppose its return at a public hearing Monday night.

"We get the noise from the Fairgrounds running through our yard all day and all night," said Douglas Lake. "I appreciate the fair's position, but I oppose this application."

After hearing similar comments from several residents, the town planning commission unanimously recommended the Agricultural Society's request be denied. In the meeting that followed, town board members took their recommendation.

"I love the fair - noise is the only issue," said board member Michael Amundson. "I think it's telling that the guidelines we're talking about come from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. ... Noise is a form of pollution, and (the Agricultural Society is) basically asking for the right to pollute at will."

When Agricultural Society representatives protested, Amundson said he questioned the group's apparent willingness to risk alienating its neighbors over the $2,000 the Deep Blues Festival had agreed to pay this year.

"I don't understand how this has become so adversarial over such a small amount of money," he said. "You don't seem to be a penniless organization. ... Let's try a different approach."

After the meeting, Dolan said he and his board are trying to proactively address declining fair attendance and the loss of other events by creating new revenue streams in the hopes they will grow in the future.

"We're running pretty lean, and every penny counts," he said.

Johnson - who lost money after investing more than $30,000 in last year's event - said he wasn't surprised by the town's decision, but he was still disappointed by it.

"I would have loved to come back here. It's a great open-air place that doesn't disturb many people," the 45-year-old Hudson, Wis., resident said.

Now that the Fairgrounds are off the table, Johnson said he expects to hold the Deep Blues Festival July 15-19 in Minneapolis, in the parking lot between the Cabooze and Whiskey Junction.

http://www.deepbluesfestival.com/

Memphis' all-blues dance exchange, now in its second year, is coming around again. Watch out: it just may knock you out this time! We've got a double shot of authentic blues & venues... with high-energy blues bands to get your heart pumping, plus the smooth sultry sounds that gave birth to Stax. DJs from around the country will spin a range of blues styles to give you the best of both worlds at Bluesalicious.

At Bluesalicious, it's all about rockin' Delta Blues, Juke Joints and late nights. We've got authentic Blues everywhere you go in this city, but you won't find any pretty dance halls here. This weekend is all about immersing you in the unique culture of Memphis, where even our blood runs blue. We want you to experience the Home of the Blues, so we'll take y'all to some of our favorite dance spots -- and even show you around town during the day. At night, get ready to really rock out til the sun comes up. What else would you expect in the Home of the Blues & Birthplace of Rock'n'Roll? 

For more: CLICK 

Based on a children's book by Walter Dean Myers with pictures by Christopher Myers, this stage adaptation was written by Jerome Hairston. Blues Journey follows the life of a seasoned Blues performer, Willie Brown, who shares stories of his life and the history of Blues music. The cast will feature Kearstin Piper Brown (Big Mama Bailey), James Flanagan (The Man in White), Keith N. Johnson (Willie Brown), and Kevin Ray Johnson (The Great One, Young Willie).

The tour is set to kick-off in Rockville, MD at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center (January 10), and it will reach 32 cites in 22 states. The production will feature lighting design by Andrew Cissa, set design by Daniel Conway, sound design by Kevin Hill, costume design by Erin Nugent, and music direction and compositions by Stephen M. McWilliams.

For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Even without the draw-you-in Zeppelin tag, Down the Tracks could serve just as well as a historical jaunt through the blues of Charley Patton and Son House through the electrifyin' of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, up to the English skiffle and folk booms. All of which took place well before the 1969 release of debut Led Zeppelin, where - according to one interviewee here - the band "pumped the blues with steroids."

And you can easily see why young, white, pasty-faced English teens would be attracted to American blues music with its raw, manly, and blatantly sexual power. The DVD does have a weakness in its unfortunate dearth of actual musical performance video. The absence of Zep songs and footage is understandable, given the probable high cost of their licensing fees.

But it's curious that there's so little - and then only snippets - of players like Son House, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Bukka White. Elvis's guitar picker Scotty Moore, also noted as a huge influence on Page, doesn't even appear in a photo. As a result, Zeppelin's music is explained an awful lot by talking-head music writers and blues historians... mostly white males, middle-aged and often bearded.
 Click here for the rest

Over the course of his celebrated career, Buckwheat Zydeco has played for President Clinton, performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics (to a worldwide audience of 3 billion people), and gigged with everyone from Eric Clapton (with whom he also recorded) and U2 to The Boston Pops. He has appeared in a number of theatrical films and on too many television programs to mention, including The Late Show With David Letterman, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News and many others.  

According to Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer, the addition of Buckwheat Zydecoto the label is huge. "Buckwheat Zydeco is the iconic figure of Louisiana zydeco music worldwide. It's a thrill to bring an artist of this stature to Alligator. More important, he still tears it up at every show. His energy level and accordion chops are just amazing, and he's a terrific, soulful singer. And he's no slouch on Hammond organ, either. I'm also excited to reunite Buckwheat with Steve Berlin of Los Lobos as producer. Berlin produced Five Card Stud, one of Buckwheat's finest albums, so we're expecting Buckwheat's Alligator debut to be just as good, if not better. Also, Buckwheat has been booked for years by Concerted Efforts, a great agency for American roots music." 


ALLIGATOR RECORDS SIGNS TOMMY CASTRO

Alligator Records is proud to announce the signing of blues/rock guiarist and vocalist Tommy Castro. Winner of the 2008 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Castro is known not only for his scorching musicianship, but also for his gritty vocals and soul-drenched songwriting. He is recognized as one of the absolute best players, singers and live performers around. Guitar Player called Castro "the hardest working bluesman on the scene today. He has a vibe somewhere between Booker T. & The MG's and The Rolling Stones." Playboy declared, "Castro throws rock and two bits of soul in his blues. He has the voice, the band and the guitar to pull it off." Castro will record his Alligator debut this month, with John Porter (B.B. King, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy, Keb' Mo', The Smiths, Otis Rush, Billy Bragg, Roxy Music) producing.  

Joining Alligator is a high point in Castro's career. "I feel that in signing with Alligator I'm making a major step frward. I'm excited about the new release and grateful for the opportunity to record for a label with such a rich history in blues and American roots music."

Iglauer is equally thrilled to have Castro in the Alligator fold, "Tommy Castro has earned his huge and devoted fan following the old-fashioned way-by delivering thousands of totally knockout live performances, coast to coast. His music rides the fine line between blues and Memphis soul, and his energy level is unbelievable. He's certainly a guitar hero, but even more than that, Tommy is simply a great singer, very soulful and very intense."

For More: CLICK

Taj Mahal is a tremendous friend to blues music, and a giant of roots music and he's got a new record! Join Elwood this week on the House of Radio Hour, where Taj is the special guest.  Elwood will play his new CD, MAESTRO featuring Jack Johnson, The Phantom Blues Band, Ben Harper, Ziggy Marley, Los Lobos, and more!

visit www.TheBluesMobile.com
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