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Photo Moments with the 18th Annual BFG Magazine!
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We shared the Blues Festival Guide magazine with the Adirondack Woodcraft Camp and Wilderness Adventure presenter at a Youth Camp Fair in San Diego, CA early last Spring.
*SEND US YOUR PIC WITH THE BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE MAGAZINE!
Don't have your 2020 magazine? Order one here! Once you receive, have fun, get creative and SNAP A PHOTO of you, your friends, and/or artists, etc. with the BFG magazine and EMAIL your photo, caption (120 words or less), a URL if applicable, and photo credit to your e-Guide editor!
*Are you are a BFG client? If so please reach out to your sales person so that thy can send you one!
The Blues Foundation is the official sponsor of our 2020 Blues Festival Guide!
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What's Happening Out There?
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Thoughts about venues opening or not... share yours!
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 Hey Blues Fans!! Some blues music venues are opening up around the country. Albeit, opening then closing. What are your thoughts and/or experiences?
We're interested in your thoughts:
- Have you attended or performed any live shows since the pandemic and where?
- If so, how was the vibe (i.e. joyous, awkward, attendance, etc.)
- If not, when will you feel comfortable attending?
Email me 100 words MAX and make sure to put "VENUES OPENING" in subject line (so it doesn't get lost in my email). Tell us where in the world you're located. Feel free to send me a pic of this blues music experience if you like, too.
Wishing you all good health and peace,
Michele
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Raised in the Mississippi Delta, the blues shaped music for generations
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Lici Beveridge/USA TODAY “Hallowed Sound”
(CLARKSDALE, MS) - Two men — one Black, one white — arrived at Stovall Plantation on the last day of August 1941.
John Work III, a professor from Nashville’s Fisk University, and musicologist Alan Lomax had set out to capture recordings of the music of the rural South for the Library of Congress.
They were in the blistering heart of the Mississippi Delta that produced Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson, a man who legend says sold his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar virtuosity at a crossroads roughly eight miles to the south.
Work and Lomax were looking for a sharecropper whose singing and guitar playing made him famous across the region. They found him, set up recording equipment in his flat-top wood shack and started the tape.
“Name: McKinley Morganfield,” their subject said in a recording released decades later. “Nickname: Muddy Water, Stovall’s famous guitar picker.”
Muddy Waters, as he soon became known, started his set with “Country Blues.” His guitar style, at once both soft and violent, accompanied a voice so powerful that it propelled him to international stardom.
Within a few years Waters was playing clubs in Chicago, where he electrified his sound. His music stands as a link between rural blues and rock music, influencing The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton.
But while the music spread and evolved in the decades that followed, the roots of the blues remain firmly entrenched in the Delta's fertile soil. For many here in the South, the blues is more than a musical genre, it is a way of life.
And like its roots, this genre's branches spread far and wide with a new generation of artists shaping its future. …Find full, indepth story
Images LT-RT: Bobby Rush by Eric Shelton, Muddy Waters Illustration by Brian Gray, USA Today Network, R.L. Burnside by Bill Stebber, Cedric Burnside by Joe Rondone, Trenton Ayers by Max Gersh
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While concert halls remain closed, you can find some outdoor music around town
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 Jeff Gardner, Tucson Local Media
(TUCSON, AZ) - Though few businesses have made it through COVD completely unscathed, music and performing arts continually rank as the industries most affected by the pandemic. Music venues like the Rialto Theatre and 191 Toole have remained closed for in-person concerts for nearly a year now. Luckily for some performers, safer outdoor events are becoming more common, and the push to support venues in need is strong as ever.
On Friday, Feb. 5, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero hosted a virtual town hall meeting, gathering local artists and musicians to discuss the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which includes $15 billion in grants to shuttered venues, to be administered by the Small Business Administration. The program can provide eligible applicants 45% of their gross earned revenue. In addition, Romero also announced that the City of Tucson is joining the Re-open Every Venue Safely initiative, which is a national collaboration of cities “sharing strategies and resources to best position their community for the reopening of live music.”
“The arts are important not just because they make us so unique and add love to our life, but also because they are a very important part of our economy,” Romero said. “With the new REVS initiative, Tucson will be working alongside other cities and local stakeholders to share best practices and position ourselves to successfully re-open our local venues—who have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic—as soon as it is safe.”
...Read full story
[In Tucson check what the Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation is presenting at Hotel Congress, plus find blues at Monterey Court Studio Galleries and Café, and more. You can also support 16 of Arizona’s independent music venues by purchasing apparel at their collaboration website here.]
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Got the blues? Listen to these 25 essential Mississippi Delta blues songs
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 Lici Beveridge- Mississippi Clarion Ledger-USA Today Network “Hallowed Sound”
(JACKSON, MS) - Blues is inspired by place — the railroads, fields and slaughterhouses where the musicians once worked by day; by the triumphs and struggles in life; by love found and love lost.
And no place has produced more influential American bluesmen and women than the Mississippi Delta. So it's only fitting to celebrate some of the most noted musicians who came from Mississippi or whose ties to the genre were formed here.
These 25 recordings encapsulate the broad reach of Mississippi's influence on the blues: “Yellow Dog Blues” – W.C. Handy (1919), “Spike Driver Blues” - Mississippi John Hurt (1928), “Mississippi Boweavil Blues” - Charley Patton (1929), “Walking Blues” - Son House (1930), “Hard Times Killing Floor Blues” - Skip James (1931), “Crossroad Blues” - Robert Johnson (1936-37), “Rosie” - Unidentified Mississippi State Penitentiary prisoners (1939), “That’s All Right” - Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup (1946), “Dust My Broom” - Elmore James (1951), “Baby Please Don’t Go” - Muddy Waters (1953), “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” - Willie Dixon (1954), “Don’t Start Me Talkin’” - Sonny Boy Williamson II (1955), “Smokestack Lightning” - Howlin’ Wolf (1956), “Boom Boom” - John Lee Hooker (1961), “Poor Black Mattie” - R.L. Burnside (1960s), “Born Under a Bad Sign” - Albert King (1967), “Mary Had A Little Lamb” - Buddy Guy (1967), “The Thrill is Gone” - B.B. King (1969), “I Wanna Do the Do” - Bobby Rush (1979), “She-Wolf” - Jessie Mae Hemphill (1981), “Keep Your Hands Off Her” - Junior Kimbrough (1982), “Shimmy She Wobble” - Othar (Otha) Turner (2001), “Mississippi Woman” - Denise LaSalle (2010), “High Minded” - Jarekus Singleton (2014), “Catfish Blues” – Jimmy “Duck” Holmes (2019).
…Find various artist photos and song descriptions
Click here to listen to these songs on Spotify
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"Virtual Black, White, and the Blues" Mar 25
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 (GRANTS PASS, OR) - You’re invited to a night of Blues music, art and storytelling at the Grants Pass Museum of Art “Virtual Black, White, and the Blues” event, taking place 6pm-7pm (PST), Thursday, March 25. There will be a pre-show at 5:30pm. This is a two-part program: the livestream event and the online auction. Click on the livestream before the event goes live on Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 6PM (PDT).
This event will be a celebration of the museum's mission and an opportunity for you to support the work they do to ensure that their programs and exhibits are accessible for the community. You’ll get a chance to watch Blues performances, hear stories of impact from museum leaders and artists, as well as updates on upcoming programs and projects.
There will also be an opportunity to support their work through direct gifts and an online auction. The auction runs March 21-28.
This event is no charge but please RSVP plus learn more here.
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Can't Stop The Blues (CSTB)
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This Week on Can't Stop The Blues
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 Can’t Stop the Blues is a not-for-profit, volunteer run virtual platform for the blues, founded in mid-March of 2020 as a response to the Covid pandemic.
We are here to bring money to the bands and music to the fans. 100% of all tips go directly to the artists’ own accounts. Thus far we have helped over 200 artists. Please enjoy and donate if you can.
Coming up this week only on Can’t Stop the Blues:
• THURSDAY 2/18:
9pm EST: Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88’s - From The Vaults
10pm EST: Kurt Allen Band Live from B Bar
• FRIDAY 2/19:
9pm EST: The Nashville Trio: feat. Meg, Jenny, & Sheridan
10pm EST: Backtrack Blues Band Live at Utah Blues Festival
• SATURDAY 2/20:
9pm EST: Motown Dance Party with The Mike Dangeroux Orchestra - 2 Hour Extravaganza!
• SUNDAY 2/21:
8pm EST: Winter Blues Fest 2021 - A Cincy Blues Soc. Presentation
• TUESDAY, 2/23:
8pm EST: Mindi Abair’s Wine+Music Sessions
Follow this link for the shows at Can’t Stop the Blues and YouTube
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Cincy Winter Blues Fest 2021 Live Streaming Feb 21
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 Cincy Blues Society, in conjunction with Can't Stop The Blues, is pleased to present the Winter Blues Fest 2021 Live Stream on February 21, 2021 at 8-11pm EST. The stream will be broadcast at the Can't Stop The Blues Facebook Group page.
The Blues Fest features ten great blues acts from Cincinnati, Ohio, including finalists and semi-finalists in the International Blues Challenge, and an up-and-coming young artist who’s a Blues Music Award nominee and is currently in the top 15 of the Living Blues Magazine radio chart.
Blues in the Schools, John Ford, The Wallens, Jimmy D. Rogers, Jelly Smooch, Ben Levin, Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds, Ricky Nye, Lil Red and the Rooster, Chuck Brisbin and the Tuna Project.
The artists have 15 minute sets. Artists will be available to chat with fans during the live stream. Hosted by Bob Herrmann and John Lamping.
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CD, Single & DVD Releases
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Eric Johanson :: BELOW SEA LEVEL
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 For his solo Nola Blue Records debut, Below Sea Level, Eric Johanson teamed up with two other scions of southern rock and blues, Luther and Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars). Sessions at the famed Zebra Ranch Studios in the North Mississippi Hill Country captured the raw energy of the music in a fresh and timeless way that the Dickinson’s refer to as the sound of the Memphis Underground.
“Brilliant musicianship, contemporary, well-structured songs, this is a masterpiece from a blues musician who shows great artistry.” - Blues Matters
The combination of Luther Dickinson’s production skills with Johanson’s earnest songwriting, embracing vocal style and formidable guitar skills, mixed with the joyous bombast of Cody’s drumming and the deft bass playing of Terrence Grayson from the Victor Wainright Band, created a sumptuous sonic stew.
Below Sea Level features 12 original tracks and was one of Billboard's Top 10 Blues Albums.
“Offers everything from roots/rock barn burners, swaggering shuffles and a bit of psychedelia, to moving ballads and acoustic roots/blues—all with outstanding, elegant guitar playing.” - Rock and Blues Muse
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Mary Stokes :: COMIN’ HOME
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 “Irish vocalist extraordinaire Mary Stokes continues progress in musical collaboration with the sensational Irish guitarist Sarah Michelle and partner Brian Palm. For several recording projects and in preparation for live shows, Mary Stokes has fine-tuned her authentic blues sound for which she is widely known, while at the same time reinterpreting original material,” writes The Sound Café.
“With recent successes including a critically acclaimed show in Liverpool’s world renowned Cavern Club - by invitation from Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister and Director of the Cavern, and the release of a new album Comin’ Home, including a new interpretation of Bessie Smith’s “At The Christmas Ball,” the album which garnered critical acclaim and airplay in the run up to Christmas!
In addition to Sarah Michelle on guitar, The Mary Stokes Band features sidemen Brian Palm on harmonica, with Chris Byrne on bass and Robbie Barrett on drums, and Dermot Stokes on Piano. Recorded in Dublin, the album was expertly mixed by renowned rock legend Pete Holidai (the Radiators from Space, Trouble Pilgrims) and mastered by Joe Chester.
In a musical history spanning two decades The Mary Stokes Band has performed with B.B. King, Fats Domino, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Lowell Fulson, Johnny Copeland, Jeff Healey, Rory Gallagher, Carey Bell, Lurrie Bell, Pinetop Perkins, Georgie Fame, Louisiana Red, Lefty Dizz, John Campbell, U.P. Wilson, Eddie Kirkland and many other blues greats.
Mary Stokes and her band have toured throughout Ireland, Europe, and the U.S.A, performing at numerous festivals and in many of the most iconic Blues Clubs in the World.”
Comin’ Home has had widespread accolade and acknowledgement as an authentically “live” Blues album, displaying the power, passion and blues feel that Mary Stokes and her band are renowned for.
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Which Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise Hits Your Groove?
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Our Artists & Headliners Stay & Play, They Don’t Hit & Run!!
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 LRBC#35 Southern Caribbean: Oct. 24~31, 2021 From Ft. Lauderdale, Fl To Willemstad, Curacao; Oranjestad, Aruba & Half Moon Cay (Bahamas Private Island) On Holland America’s Ms Eurodam. Cabins & Info HERE
 LRBC #36 Eastern Caribbean: Jan. 29~Feb. 5, 2022 From Ft. Lauderdale, Fl To Tortola, St. Thomas & Turks And Caicos On Holland America’s New Flagship Ms Rotterdam. Cabins & Info HERE
Visit Reservations Or Call (816) 753-7979 To Reserve Your Cabin!
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LEGENDARY RHYTHM & BLUES CRUISE 313 Lawrence St., Kansas City, MO | (816) 753-7979 | BluesCruise.com
- More Than A Cruise… More Than A Festival… More Than You Can Imagine! -
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Anson Funderburgh & Sam Myers
"Come On" (let the good times roll)
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Holidays, Birthdays and... Just In Case
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 February is Black History Month
"Hard times ain't nothing that music won't help heal..."
Birthdays upcoming of note:
Feb 18-Irma Thomas (1941); Feb 19-Sam Myers (1936-2006), William "Smokey" Robinson (1940), Robert “Bilbo” Walker (1937-2017); Feb 20-Jimmy "Papa" Yancey (1898-1951); Feb 21-Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell (1903-1962), Nina Simone (1933-2003); Feb 23-Johnny Winter (1944-2014); Feb 24-Willie Kent (1936-2006); George Thorogood (1950); Feb 25-Ida Cox (1896 or 1898-1967); Feb 26-Antoine "Fats" Domino (1928-2017), Bob "Bear" Hite (1943-1981)
 Just in Case:
February 18th is "National Drink Wine Day." Wine has been a staple in human culture since its invention in 7000 BC. Some ancient societies even worshipped it!
February 22 is "National Margarita Day." The margarita, triple sec, tequila, and lime juice, was created in 1938 in Mexico and is widely considered the official drink of having fun. It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere!
Oh, who's watching the clock?!
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Missed your copy of the Weekly e-Guide?
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BFG Twitter-Instagram-Facebook
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Join Blues Freaks at our Tweeter feed & on Instagram
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Hey, come on over and Join 13,800+ Blues Freaks at our TWITTER feed @BluesFestGuide
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  Also Follow us on INSTAGRAM with 8,000+ BluesersSee awesome, bluesy festival photos
from our team and fellow blues lovers!
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Get your Face in our Book
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Then please drop on by and "LIKE" us to get
a daily dose of blues related stuff!
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Print & Digital Versions Available
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Blues Festival Guide Magazine Print & Digital Editions
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 (ARCATA, CA) — As well as our weekly Blues Festival e-Guide weekly newsletter, RBA Publishing offers the annual Blues Festival Guide magazine in both print and digital formats.
Blues legend Bobby Rush calls our magazine: The Roadmap to Everything Blues. Indeed, our annual offers something for everyone, all blues related, of course, and our engaging editorial comes from aficionados in the blues community.
To order a hard copy mailed to your home, send $9 to RBA Publishing Inc. P.O. Box 920, Arcata, CA 95518. To read the 64-page magazine online, visit our website and find our digital version in the upper lefthand corner. You can also order back issues if we have in stock.
Blues Festival Guide is a division of RBA Publishing, Inc, which specializes in blues publishing, publicity and marketing.
...Click here to read cool mini descriptions of these fine articles
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Radio Submit Roots Blues Airplay Chart (click chart for more)
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Billboard Blues Album This week
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Billboard's Top 2 Blues Albums - Week of Feb 20, 2021
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  #1
SELF MADE MAN
Larkin Poe
#2
BY REQUEST
A. J. Croce
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We've Got You Covered with Live Streams & Online Concerts
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Blues Festival Guide Magazine Media Platforms Feature Live Streams, Online Concerts & more
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The Blues Festival Guide platforms are fast becoming the main portal for blues live stream and blues online concert events.
As fast as an online event is announced, the Blues Festival Guide team makes the announcement and link go live in a special section on the top-ranking Blues Festival Guide Website, as well as on their social media platforms ( Facebook with 195,000 Followers, and Instagram @bluesfestguide with 8,000 Followers). This service is provided for free to the artist as well as the viewer.
Even though music festivals and clubs are on lockdown across the globe, there are loads of brand-new music and live concerts via live stream, both small and large, local and international, that can be watched from the safety of your couch on your own TV, computer or phone.
With almost 20 years of experience delivering blues music and blues music news around the world, Publisher Kaati Gaffney says, “We are experienced digital marketers specializing in live music events. During this time of pandemic, while festivals and events are virtual, it is our pleasure to provide this service.” ...Find more about BFG or to contact us to share your events
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To view entire calendar of festivals & Live Streams, click here!
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ATTENTION:
FESTIVAL PROMOTERS
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LIST YOUR FESTIVAL ON OUR
WEBSITE FOR FREE HERE
To ensure that your festival also appears here in the e-Guide Festival Calender EMAIL |
Not all upcoming blues festivals/events are listed here at certain times of the year due to space constraints. Unless highlighted, festivals are no longer inked due to increasing spam
For a complete list and links see our comprehensive website.
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NOTE: Highlighted/Linked events are paid "Featured" ads. For complete list & links go to our website Festival page!
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*CORONAVIRUS UPSETS:
Please click through the festival links on our site for most current updates
Can't Stop The Blues
Thurs-Sun 9PM EST
Facebook, Universal
Maple Blues Awards
Feb Mondays
Feb-1-2021 - Feb-22-2021
Facebook, Universal
RESCHEDULED SAT MAY 22
Whitby Rhythm & Blues Festival
Feb-20-2021
Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK
Virtual Cincy Winter Blues Fest
Feb-21-2021
Can't Stop The Blues Facebook
RESCHEDULED SUN MAY 23
Southport Blues,
Rhythm & Rock Festival
Feb-21-2021
Southport, United Kingdom
RESCHEDULED to SAT OCT 9
Bluesberry Festival
Mar-06-2021
Covington, Louisiana, USA
RESCHEDULED to SAT JUNE 19
Cleethorpes Blues,
Rhythm & Rock Festival
Mar-06-2021
Cleethorpes, United Kingdom
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please go to our website
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RESCHEDULED to SAT JULY 10
Chelsea Blues, Rhythm & Rock Festival
Mar-13-2021
Fulham, London, UK
RESCHEDULED to DEC 3-5
Looe Blues, Rhythm
& Rock Festival
Mar-19-2021 - Mar-21-2021
Looe, United Kingdom
Blues on Reid
Apr-10-2021
Port St. Joe, Florida, USA
Juke Joint Festival
& Related Events
Apr-15-2021 - Apr-18-2021
Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA
Bob Sykes BBQ & Blues Festival
Apr-24-2021
Bessemer, Alabama, USA
15th Clarksdale Caravan
Music Fest
May-8-2021
Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA
Leeds Blues, Rhythm
& Rock Festival
May-09-2021
Leeds, United Kingdom
Kimbrough Cotton Patch
Soul Blues Festival
May-14-2021 - May-16-2021
Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA
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Please stay safe and optimistic!
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We are thinking of you and wishing you good health!
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RBA Publishing/Blues Festival Guide
P.O. Box 920, Arcata, CA 95518
Call 707-630-3304
RBA Publishing, Inc. in business since 1993, is a boutique blues-specific PR and marketing firm based on the West Coast. We help musicians, festivals, labels and music-related brands. Our digital campaigns target fans, industry and influencers. We are masterful at email marketing, social media, fan acquisition and long-term marketing plans. Our media services are supported by people who understand and love the blues genre. Publishers of annual the Blues Festival Guide magazine, our top-ranking website, and e-Guide newsletter with approx 30,000 weekly subscribers, we have been blues industry leaders for over 18 years. Please contact us at 707-630 3304 or EMAIL to findout how we can help you!
Information both editorial and advertising in the Blues Festival E-Guide is believed to be correct but not guaranteed. Double check info carefully before you attend any event or send money for anything. We do not do CD/DVD reviews nor write the news... we just share and report it.
We also welcome your e-Guide suggestions, critiques and questions. You can reach our E-Guide editor, Michele Lundeen via EMAIL.
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Hey blues lovers! Got 
