February Blues News
In January our Battle of the Blues Bands winners' "Hurricane" Elaine Hudson and Earl "Guitar" Williams competed in the Blues Foundations International Blues Competition in Memphis. There were 121 bands from all over the world entered. 58 of these entrants made the semi-finals and only 11, fewer than ten percent made the finals. Proud to report that our bands represented Alabama well and both made the semi-finals. We would like to thank the Alabama State Council on the Arts whose grant helped substantially with the stipends we were able to give our winners to assist with their travel and accommodation costs of going to Memphis. The grant also allowed us to give each of our competing bands a high-quality video of their performance in our competition which they can use to critique their performance and for promotion.
February 22nd 6:30pm CharlZ with a Z presents a Tribute to James Brown the Godfather of Soul at Workplay. Charlz Wilson was the funky bass player at our Blues Ball. He is a long time Birmingham musician. I've seen his Prince Tributes. They were great shows and I'm sure this show will be great. I'd encourage you to attend. Tickets $20+ TICKETS
Saturday February 28th @ 7pm we have a BlueStages featuring the The John Bull Trio. John Bull is a dynamic blues, jazz, and soul singer/harmonica player, John stretches the traditional boundaries of blues harmonica over all these genres. The result is a unique blend of American music that's both uptown and lowdown. John is a member of the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame and is an instructor for the Alabama Blues Project. He is also an accomplished visual artist and his artwork is available at many of his shows. Attendance is limited to 45 and tickets must be purchased before the day of the show. Follow the TICKETS link for more information and to register for the event. TICKETS
Sunday March 1st @ 3pm Thomas Trussell and Magic City Mojo will be playing our first Sunday Blues at Elysian Gardens. $10 donation requested.
Upcoming Jam's:
1st Friday Jam at Ranelli's - March 6th @ 7:30pm
3rd Thursday Jam at True Story Brewing February 19th @ 7:30pm.