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| The Blues Foundation to Honor Blues Patrons at January Awards Ceremony in Memphis The Blues Foundation will honor 15 individuals and organizations with its 2016 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards during a recognition luncheon Friday, January 29, 2016, in Memphis, Tennessee. Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the KBA Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to blues music. The KBA ceremony will be held in conjunction with the 32nd International Blues Challenge, which begins January 27 and features the final rounds of the world's largest and most prestigious blues music competition, as well as seminars, showcases, and receptions for blues societies, fans, and professionals. The KBAs are awarded by a select panel of blues professionals to those working actively to promote and document the music. KBA Committee Chairman Art Tipaldi notes, "this year, the Board eliminated KBA categories as a way for the Committee to honor individuals who have excelled in a variety of KBA categories. Thus the slate of 15 winners includes individuals who have made a difference with their lengthy commitments to the blues. At the same time, the Committee made sure to continue to recognize larger, comprehensive entities like an affiliated organization, a North American festival, an International festival, a blues club, a record label, and a blues radio." The 2016 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recipients are: 1. CHENANGO BLUES FEST 2. NOEL HAYES 3. ERIC SUHER 4. SHARON McCONNELL-DICKERSON 5. CENTRAL IOWA BLUES SOCIETY 6. FRED DELFORGE 7. TODD GLAZER 8. CAHORS BLUES FESTIVAL 9. YELLOW DOG RECORDS 10. ERIK LINDAHL 11. RADIO STATION KZUM 12. SCOTT CVELBAR 13. DARWIN'S BURGERS AND BLUES 14. ALAN GOVENAR 15. GREG JOHNSON A summary for each recipient follows this press release. Tickets to the KBA ceremony are available online at www.blues.org or by calling 901-527-2583. The International Blues Challenge is sponsored in significant part by ArtsMemphis, ArtsZone, Beale Street Merchants Association, BMI, Everfest Mobile App, First Tennessee Foundation, Gibson Guitar, Jontaar Creative Studios, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, Saint Blues Guitar Workshop, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Tennessee Arts Commission, and VividPix & Design. Media sponsors include American Blues Scene, Beale Street Caravan, Big City Rhythm and Blues, Blues Festival Guide, Blues Matters!, Downtowner, Elwood's Bluesmobile, Living Blues, and Music on the Couch. The Blues Foundation's Mission Statement reads, "To preserve blues heritage, celebrate blues recording and performance excellence, expand worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensure the future of this uniquely American art form." Based in Memphis, TN and founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has 4, 000 individual members and 200 affiliated local blues societies representing another 50, 000 fans and professionals around the world. Its signature honors and events – the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues Challenge, and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards – make it the international center of blues music. Its HART Fund provides the blues community with medical assistance, while its Sound Healthcare program offers musicians health insurance access. Blues in the Schools programs and Generation Blues scholarships expose new generations to blues music. Throughout the year, the Foundation staff serves the worldwide blues community with answers, contact information, and news. For more information, contact: Barbara B. Newman, President & CEO, The Blues Foundation, 421 South Main, Memphis, TN, 38103-4464; 901.527.2583; barbara@blues.org 2016 Keeping the Blues Alive Award Recipients CHENANGO BLUES FESTIVAL The Chenango Blues Festival was first held twenty-four years ago and has been run ever since by largely the same group of committed blues fans, supplemented by some new younger members. The nonprofit group has no paid positions and takes a "by fans, for fans" approach to all of its activities. The festival features continuous music on two stages, on-site camping, and a free Friday opening night. Headlined in year one by Anson Funderburgh with Sam Myers, other artists to appear include Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, Rod Piazza, Irma Thomas, North Mississippi All-Stars, Dick Waterman, Fabulous Thunderbirds and many more. The festival is always two weekends before Labor Day at the Chenango County Fairgrounds in Norwich, NY and its many regular fans look forward to this late summer stop on the festival circuit. The Chenango Blues Association also runs a Free Thursdays concert series in July and August. NOEL HAYES Noel Hayes has been a blues patron since he first heard Charlie Musselwhite live in 1977. As a result of his extensive blues knowledge, in 1985, Noel was asked to play music from his collection on listener-supported KPOO radio and talk about the artists. He has hosted his own live-streamed show on Wednesday mornings since 2000. Working tirelessly to bring blues to the Bay Area and beyond, Noel has brought many musicians to San Francisco, inviting them to stay at his home to ease their financial burden, getting them gigs, and helping back several recordings. Musicians Noel has interviewed include - Floyd Dixon, Gatemouth Brown, Honeyboy Edwards, Ruth Brown, Howard Tate, and Johnny Copeland, as well as Elvin Bishop, Joe Louis Walker, Mighty Sam McClain, and Denise LaSalle, among many others. He has also graciously emceed several IBC events for The Golden Gate Blues Society and was Blues DJ of the year from the Bay Area Blues Society in 2008. ERIC SUHER While still in high school, in 1983, Eric Suher began working in various roles for the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (NRBQ), launching a promoting career that has spanned four decades. In 1995, Suher purchased the Iron Horse Music Hall in downtown Northampton, MA, in order to insure its place in the community, and, shortly thereafter he also purchased and renovated the historic Calvin Theater (built in 1924) and Pearl Street Nightclub. As steward of these three venues, Suher has kept this small New England college town on the map for the live blues circuit. The walls of the 170-seat Iron Horse have many stories to tell, bearing witness to performances by a who's who of the blues, including veterans such as Willie Dixon, Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Winter, Koko Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Mose Allison, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds as well as newer names on the scene such as Shemekia Copeland, Albert Cummings and Samantha Fish. When the Horse can't hold 'em, the 1, 300-seat Calvin Theater has accommodated larger crowds for legends like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Warren Haynes, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, and Robert Cray. But nothing beats great live blues music up close and personal at the Iron Horse. SHARON McCONNELL-DICKERSON Sharon McConnell-Dickerson's Life Masks of legendary blues musicians is a stunning collection that celebrates the trailblazers of the music. The 59 Blues Legends Life Masks capture every facial nuance and detail. Legends like Othar Turner, Sam Carr, Dorothy Moore, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Little Milton, R.L. Burnside, James Cotton, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Taj Mahal, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Henry Townsend, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Rush, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Koko Taylor, and Odetta are some of the masks McConnell has lovingly created. This was all accomplished as Sharon was losing her sight. Since 2005, McConnell-Dickerson has shared her exhibit with galleries and blues festivals around the world, including the National Civil Rights Museum and the Blues Music Awards both in 2009, and a large part of her collection will be on display at the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame beginning in December of 2015. CENTRAL IOWA BLUES SOCIETY The Central Iowa Blues Society was founded in October 1992 and has been affiliated with the Blues Foundation since 1993. During the course of its existence, the society has weathered many storms, including crises of finances, membership and leadership, and had witnessed countless partnerships, programs, venues, blues acts and members come and gone, but, standing the test of time, CIBS has remained committed to the same purposes and goals under which it was formed. Its programs include the Winter Blues Fest, which began in 1994 by bringing national and local musicians together at various indoor venues during the winter months, and the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame, which has inducted 59 deserving blues artists and industry supporters with Iowa ties since 1999. The Iowa Blues Challenge began in 1994, has been produced in cooperation with other Iowa Blues Societies since 1997, and was such a successful model that in 1999, the Blues Foundation adopted much of Iowa's challenge format to become the International Blues Challenge. Throughout its history, CIBS is very proud of its many partnerships with area charitable and community groups helping support worthy causes while spreading the news about the Blues. FRED DELFORGE Though he's a world class photographer and writer, Fred Delforge is best known for developing his website, www.zicazic.com, 15 years ago as a portal to promote all forms of blues and other styles to his European audience. His site includes new reviews of over 750 CDs and over 400 live reports every year from volunteers around the world who attend festivals, the IBCs, BMAs, European Blues Challenge, and who report daily activity. From a modest 1, 000 visitors a month when the site began, it grew to 30, 000 four years later and then to 100, 000 at its best. Then seven years ago he created a new team for Zicazic now with 15 persons, photographers, writers, and web engineers. In addition to writer and photographer for his site, Fred is also a four-year member of the European Blues Union Board of Directors. In 2011 write your comments about the article :: © 2015 Jazz News :: home page |