http://www.louisiana-red.de/index1.html

However roadblocks appeared out of no where and soon she found herself exiting off that highway and into several years of belting out the blues, gaining an ever increasing fan base wherever she performed. Hitting the accelerator past 8 years we come face to face with Cee Cee's long awaited October 2008 release "Low Down Where The Snakes Crawl." Cee Cee now comes full circle with 11 songs that merge blues, soul and roots and drive the listener down the ‘coming of age' roads she found herself on as life took her from the huge potential success of "Spiritually Wet" deep into the recesses of dark soul with a heartbreaking divorce, to then finding herself starkly alone after losing her 2nd Partner to cancer.

Cee Cee's lyrics, arranging skills, and much touted "Janis-eske" vocals, merge beautifully with the solid rhythm and slide guitar of Rob "Slideboy" Andrews who was a sideman for many years in the Oakland Blues scene for Fillmore Slim and many others. With these two in the drivers seat, the listener travels down into the 'ache of loss' in the title track "Low Down Where The Snakes Crawl," and up and out at the end of the journey with the celebratory "Rolling Stones" style, "Spirit of The Shaman."

Cee Cee is a relatively new face on the Northwest music scene, having relocated in 2005, but she has already provided ample assurance with the release of "Low Down Where The Snakes Crawl," an increasing live performance schedule and continued requests for radio play, that she's got a ‘Panzer Division' of ‘life worn blues' ready to roll deep into the soul and gut and take no prisoners for many years to come.

Roy Brown - WASHINGTON BLUES Bluesletter

"The two songs you sent me from the new CD are "hot!" I'm working Track 11 "Done Love Wrong" and every time I give it air, I get phone calls from our loyal listeners who dig it, want to know who you are, and where they can buy it !!!"

Bill Nolan-WPKN-FM 89.5 & 88.7 New York/Connecticut

 For more: http://www.ceeceejames.com/

An American flag was flown on an F-15 Strike Eagle jet fighter last week during a combat mission in Afghanistan in honor of The Blues Foundation by the 492nd Fighter Squadron.

Rocky Nelson will bring the flag and the certificate from Afghanistan to Memphis to be presented to the Foundation during the Blues Music Awards.

Nelson is the founder and DJ of the Blues Power Hour radio show on Armed Forces Network's Freedom Radio in Kabul, Afghanistan, and started this Blues radio show for the troops after being inspired by the first Bluzapalooza tour to Iraq this past April.

For more on the Bluzapalooza: CLICK

"The idea was to find a way to inspire the world to come together," Johnson said. "To stop the hate. To see the commonality we share. I think that source of inspiration can be found in music."

The track is one of 10 that will be featured on "Playing for Change: Songs Around the World," a DVD/CD package available April 28 at Starbucks and retail stores. But "Change" isn't limited to shrink-wrapped CDs with your morning latte; under its banner, a five-stop tour with some of the project's myriad artists gets underway today at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and comes Monday to L.A.'s Knitting Factory. And co-founder Johnson calls "Change" a "multimedia movement," meant to "inspire, connect and bring peace throughout the world with music."

At some level, it seems to be working. The first track off the album is a cover of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" performed by 37 musicians from the Netherlands, Brazil, Spain and Russia, among other countries. The video for the song has already been viewed nearly 8 million times on YouTube since November. Check it out

The artists also take on a couple of Bob Marley classics. A version of "War/No More Trouble" even features U2's Bono, and American blues singer Keb' Mo' and Spain's Manu Chao perform with 35 musical artists in "One Love," the video of which was shown at the December opening of the L.A. Live complex.

"I was just happy to be part of something so special," said Keb' Mo', whose Grammy-winning 2004 album "Keep It Simple" Johnson engineered. "What he's doing is amazing."

The CD package and tour are just the latest venture under the Playing for Change umbrella; Johnson and his team have produced the documentaries "Playing for Change: A Cinematic Discovery of Street Music" and "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" -- both of which appeared at the Tribeca Film Festival.

And they've generated music videos that feature collaborative and individual songs from musicians around the globe.

Even so, many of the performers have never met. Their names may not be well-known. Most have never stepped foot in a recording studio. But through music, commonality emerges.

"Music is a universal enjoyment," said Johnson, 35, who founded the organization along with producer Whitney Burditt in L.A. "We wanted to highlight all that it does and can do."

The crew's interaction with the various musicians through their travels inspired the establishment of the Playing for Change Foundation, which aims to offer facilities, technology and musical instruments to artists and their communities, including working with South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng to build the upcoming Mehlo Arts Center, a creative writing school for youth in Johannesburg, South Africa. (All musicians on the CD/DVD and tour were compensated for their performances, a spokesman said, with featured performers due to receive royalties; specific figures were not available.)

The idea for Playing for Change sprang from an otherwise daily practice for Johnson: waiting for a New York subway. But on this particular day a decade ago, there were two monks performing as crowds of morning commuters huddled around.

"Here were people who normally would rush by one another," Johnson said. "But they were suddenly standing side by side. And it was the music that did that. It brought them all together."

A few months later, Johnson was in Santa Monica when he heard the lyrics of "Stand by Me" drifting toward him. A street musician, Roger Ridley, was performing King's 1961 hit, and Johnson ran over to hear. When Ridley agreed to be recorded and filmed, Johnson's globe-trotting ways soon followed.

For years, Johnson and his circle flew with recording equipment and cameras in search of little-known musicians for what would become Playing for Change -- its name evoking the coins thrown to street musicians as well as the transformation music inspires, Johnson said.

The musicians are recorded in different pockets of the world -- New Orleans, South Africa, Himalayas, Jerusalem -- and under streetlights, in doorways or parks or against hilly backdrops. The performances are then edited together, allowing the strangers to collaborate despite thousands of miles of distance between them.

Those collaborations can reach more ears now that they've been compiled into the CD/DVD package. The project will be released on Hear Music, the joint venture between Concord Music Group and Starbucks, and will also feature musician interviews and videos for the songs.

"Mark strikes me as a messenger," said TV producer and Concord Records owner Norman Lear, who became aware of Johnson's efforts from a friend. "He wants to change the world, and we want to help him. If Paul McCartney and Ray Charles can sell records at Starbucks, so can all these unknown musicians. It's not about the name. It's about the music." 

The contest is open to all young blues musicians at least 12 years of age, but no older than 18 years of age, as of May 09, 2009. Entries must be on VHS or DVD videotape and be postmarked by March 31, 2009 For complete rules and a downloadable application form please visit the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation website at www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org or at Sonicbids.com

The winner of the New Generation Award will receive a Gibson "Robert Johnson" edition guitar, a Robert Johnson harmonica, a certificate signed by Claud Johnson (son of Robert Johnson) and an invitation to perform at theRobert Johnson Birthday Blast on May 9, 2009 with transportation and lodging for two provided by the Foundation. The Blues Jam is the spring festival sponsored by the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation will be held at Chataugua Park in Crystal Springs, Ms. Among this year's performers are Robert Johnson's grandson, Steven and the 2008 winner, Gabriel Lambirth.
The family and heirs of blues legend Robert Johnson provide services to all generations of blues artists and to preserve and perpetuate the rich heritage of Delta blues music through the the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation.

Robert Johnson, "King of the Delta Blues Singers", was born in Hazlehurst, MS in Copiah County, on May 8, 1911. Crystal Spring, MS is the sister city and host of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation Spring Festival which commemorates the birth of the Mississippi blues legend. Johnson is one of the most admired and influential Delta blues artists despite his short life and the small number of recordings that he left. His songs, such as "Sweet Home Chicago", "Come on in My Kitchen", and "Crossroad Blues", are blues classics - played by thousands of blues artists and adapted by rock 'n' roll artists such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton.

Robert Johnson was a gifted singer, guitarist and songwriter whose life story is wrapped in mystery and legend. Only two photographs are known to exist of him and he recorded only 29 songs before his death in 1938 at the age of 27. Many of his contemporaries believed that he met the Devil at a lonely crossroads at midnight and made a deal to sell his soul in return for becoming the greatest blues musician of all time. More likely, he was blessed with enormous talent and spent a lot of time learning from other blues masters and honing his skills. He achieved some success and fame from recordings and performances during his life and was scheduled to perform at the first "Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall when he died. Although his burial place remains uncertain, it is generally accepted that his death was not accidental. Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband (or girlfriend) while performing at a juke joint near Greenwood, Mississippi and died on August 16, 1938.

Johnson's music lives on through his recordings, which were first released as a compilation by Columbia Records in the 1960's. In 1990 a complete two-CD box set of all his recordings (every take of every song) was released and over a million sets were sold. His music also lives on through the many blues musicians alive today - old and young, throughout the United States and around the world.

The Robert Johnson Blues Foundation hopes to ensure that Robert Johnson's legacy and the delta blues heritage continue into the future by recognizing and assisting young blues musicians through the New Generation Award.

 For more: CLICK

Film critic Roger Ebert calls it enchanting.

Dancing moons, monkey musicians, a half-dozen animation styles, all the result of three years of work by Brooklyn-based cartoonist Nina Paley, who wrote, directed and produced the film.

And perhaps the strangest and most unlikely aspect of Sita Sings the Blues is that Paley is giving it away.

For free.

You can download it here.

The happy little film is actually inspired by a low point in the cartoonist's life, but there's no need to spoil the story when you can stream it live on Google.

Or watch her dazzling colours and animation techniques in high definition.

Paley is releasing the film in many formats to give it maximum exposure. She estimates Sita cost her about $80,000 plus $50,000 for the rights to the music (more on that shortly) and $160,000 in living expenses.

So, why the generosity?

"I thought about it a good long time before I did it," Paley said in an email to CBC news. "The decision was motivated by both stick and carrot. Stick: the conventional distribution system isn't working any more; independent filmmakers make virtually no money via commercial distributors anyway; copyright today functions as censorship. Carrot: letting people share the film gives it the widest possible exposure and outsources the otherwise expensive and laborious work of distribution, archiving and promotion to the audience; freedom feels great."

Make a donation
Not that she wouldn't mind a donation. The Questioncopyright.org website has made it easy for fans to donate to help Paley with her bills. Because, behind Sita 's story of supernatural struggle lies a titanic clash over copyright.

Torch songs accompany the burning of Lanka. (Nina Paley)Much of the soundtrack to Sita is provided by the music of Annette Hanshaw, the 1920s singer who popularized Am I Blue?. The copyright on her recordings was never renewed, but in the U.S. at least, elements of the work remain protected. The rights holders initially wanted a lot of cash before Paley could release her film. Eventually, they came to an agreement: if she paid $50,000 for the rights, she could release as many as 5,000 copies of Sita on DVD. Promotional copies would be exempt.

And that's why Sita is free. It's a promotion.

Some have suggested that Paley should have negotiated the rights before finishing the film. She feels now that the technology has finally arrived to allow a person to make a feature-length film of their own, the copyright laws often prevent independent filmmakers from having their films released.

"I would do nothing differently," said Paley "It costs money even to talk to the copyright holders; when we tried approaching them directly, they gave us the runaround. So, I had to pay a rights clearance house (and a lawyer before that). I didn't have that money back when I started, any more than I have it now. And licensors offer no special discounts for contacting them early. The only 'deals' they make are because someone knows someone who knows someone. That's how the middlemen stay in business. I had other things to do, like actually make the film, and I had no money. I'm glad I focused on making the film."

Since she released the film on the internet, Paley has earned some money by selling Sita merchandise.

'The more I let go, the more money seems to be heading back toward me. There's enormous untapped power in the audience. '
- Nina Paley, filmmaker"[Sita] has only been free for two weeks now, but I can see a big increase in demand for purchasable items like DVDs and T-shirts," she said. "Now, I'm scrambling to make those available. Hopefully, people will still be interested in a month or so, when these products are finally ready. To anyone else considering doing this for money: make your purchasable products available at the same time you free the work! Use the unlimited resource to sell the limited resource." 

The evenings' line-up includes:
The Soul of John Black, The Mannish Boys Revue & guests (Jackie Payne / Steve Edmonson, Candye Kane, Lynwood Slim, J.T. Lauritsen), Jason Ricci & New Blood, Los Fabulocos with Kid Ramos, Hollywood Blues Flames with Junior Watson & Johnny Dyer, and
SPECIAL GUESTS!

For more: CLICK

2pm - 7pm Outside
8pm - 12am Inside
$5.00 Entry Fee for a great afternoon & evening of Live Blues Music

As we present
National Blues Artist
ROBBIE DUCEY BAND

with opening acts of
THE CAPTIVA BAND
&
TOMMY LEE COOK
DANNY SHEPARD
& THE ALLSTARS

Hope you all can make it out there the weather will be once again great...

For more: CLICK




ALSO IN FLORIDA.........




Surfing the Blues Surf Contest April 4 & 5 at Jax Beach Pier





For the sixth consecutive year, the Florida Surfing Association, SUNRISE Surf Shop and the George's Music Springing the Blues music festival have joined forces to present the Surfing the Blues Spring Surf Fest on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5.

Spectators can expect to see the area's top surfers competing for $1000 in cash, while soaking up the sun and the fantastic music from the Springing the Blues festival that is just footsteps away from the event.

This year's Surfing the Blues contest kicks off at the south end of the Jacksonville Beach Pier on Saturday morning with qualifying heats in 5 shortboard divisions, including Boys 14 and under, Juniors 17 and under, Open Shortboard, Open Women, and the Open Pro Challenge. There is a $25 entry fee for amateurs and $100 for the Open Pro.

With this popular contest offering huge crowds, everyone is guaranteed to see some of the best surfers in the region. In past years internationally-ranked Northeast Florida natives Asher Nolan, Gabe Kling, and Karina Petroni delivered spectacular, crowd-pleasing performances. This year's event is sure to live up to past competitions with local up-and-comers Cody and Evan Thompson, Shane Murray and Ryan Briggs

Entry forms for the Surfing the Blues Spring Surf Fest are available at the SUNRISE Surf Shop and online at www.floridasurfing.org. All entry forms and fees must be received by April 1, 2009.

The makers of the video games plan to release versions targeting discrete music genres to help boost stagnant sales.

LA TIMES- The Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games have become huge hits, generating $1.6 billion in North American sales last year from players who love jamming along with music legends. But now customers may be singing an old blues classic: "The Thrill Is Gone."

After surging 68% in 2008, sales of music games are expected to be stagnant this year. Though new versions still do well, they don't catch fire the way they used to.

It's unclear whether the craze is winding down or simply being hurt by the recession. Either way, the slowdown is disappointing some of the huge corporations that have made big bets on the genre.

Viacom Inc., whose MTV division owns the rights to the Rock Band franchise, said last month that sales of Rock Band 2 were lower than it had hoped and cut into the company's profit.

Music games are "certainly losing steam," said Evan Wilson, senior research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. "This year will establish the direction that this genre will go. Maybe it continues to take off. Maybe it tops out at 15% of the software market. Or it could just turn out to be a fad. I think the latter two scenarios are most likely."

Viacom and Activision Blizzard Inc., which publishes Guitar Hero, have unveiled separate plans to keep the party going.

Activision intends to release twice as many Guitar Hero games this year as in 2008, starting with a version due out March 29 that features music from heavy metal band Metallica. The Santa Monica game juggernaut also plans to release DJ Hero at the end of the year, tapping into a new slice of music fans who are into electronica, rap and hip-hop.

"For us, this is all about expanding into a new genre of music and bringing people into games who have never previously been into music games," said Kai Hwang, president of Red Octane, the Activision studio responsible for the Guitar Hero franchise.

Hwang, who acknowledged that sales in North America were starting to cool, said the company would make a big push in Europe and Asia by adding bands from those regions to its song lineups. He also said Activision would launch games targeted at discrete music genres, segmenting the market the same way the music industry sells records under separate labels.

The splintering of games means no individual title is likely to rival Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which generated an unprecedented $1 billion in sales for a single title.

"They can still try to attract people through segmented offerings," Wilson said. "It's a classic consumer products strategy: Market the same product to different types of consumers."

Viacom's MTV Games business, which sold 2 million copies of its $189.99 Rock Band 2 instrument kits at a loss during the fourth quarter, is looking to make up the difference by selling more song tracks. It makes little or no money on the guitar controllers, drum sets and microphones, but selling music to play on those instruments is lucrative.

"As we move forward in 2009, we will be more focused on the software side of the business for Rock Band, which enjoys significantly better margins," Viacom Chief Financial Officer Thomas Dooley said in February during an earnings call with analysts.

The company said it had sold 37 million song downloads to Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co.'s Wii game consoles.

MTV also is betting that the Sept. 9 release of its game based on music from the Beatles will help rescue the franchise from a hard day's night battling Guitar Hero for market share. Rock Band continues to trail Guitar Hero, which enjoyed a two-year head start.

Both companies, however, are slogging through a tough economy.

"Consumers just aren't spending as much as they used to," Hwang said.

That's all the more reason for Matt Cloud and Ricky Hayner to continue hosting their free Rock Band parties every Thursday night at Big Wang's, a restaurant in Hollywood.

About 40 people turned out last week, about as many as when Cloud and Hayner started throwing their event 18 months ago.

"With the recession, people are still looking for cheap things to do," said Cloud, a 27-year-old assistant sound editor who lives in Hollywood.

"Nothing's cheaper than having a couple of beers and pretending you're a rock star. People still need to have fun."

Harty Wiedemann- Blues Boys Talent  

The explosive 6'5 23 year old Ben Robinson has been booked on local and national Television outlets such as the Donny and Marie show, Martin Short, Nickelodeon, the Late Show with David Letterman and the list continues to grow. He is considered by Guitar Player magazine to be one of the best up and coming players in the country.

Paul Shaffer had this to say: "Ben was the best to ever sit in with the show, he is a very soulful player".

After seeing him play the legendary Billy Gibbons was blown away, "I have seen a lot of hot blues players in my day, but I ain't never seen anyone play the blues like Ben".

"I and my team are very excited about joining Harty's great roster, he is one of the most honest and hardworking agents in the business". Ben Robinson

For booking information, please contact Harty at Blues Boys Talent. http://bluesboys.com/home/

KENNY NEAL CAME TO THE BLUES THROUGH HIS FATHER, RAFUL, WHO GAVE BUDDY GUY HIS FIRST BREAK. ONE OF KENNY NEAL'S FIRST BREAKTHROUGHS WAS PLAYING BASS WITH BUDDY GUY, BEFORE BRANCHING OUT ON HIS OWN. HIS NEW CD IS THE GOSPEL-DRIVEN AND SOULFUL LET LIFE FLOW. IT SHOWCASES HIS GREAT VOICE, GUITAR AND HARMONICA TALENTS, AND TERRIFIC SONGWRITING. JOIN ELWOOD THIS WEEK ON THE HOUSE OF BLUES RADIO HOUR, WHEN OUR GUEST KENNY NEAL WILL TALK ABOUT HIS LIFE IN THE BLUES, AND HE WILL TREAT US TO A LIVE PERFORMANCE.

     visit www.TheBluesMobile.com
     for times and stations in your area