Blues News

The Blues Foundation has set up a Fund for Tracy Nelson. Checks should be mailed to The Blues Foundation, 49 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103 and marked for "Fund for Tracy Nelson. In the late hours of Saturday, June 5, a substantial fire broke out in Tracy's home. She and her partner Mike Dysinger escaped, but the 100-year-old family farmhouse, situated on eight acres outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and most of its contents, were destroyed. Two of their nine pets died. "Five fire trucks...

The following questions and answers were extracted from an interview with Tom Pettty by Greg Kot, Calgary Herald in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Q: So you basically recorded the band live? A: Yeah, we'd never done it to this extent on a Heartbreakers record. We rarely went for a guitar solo or finished vocals as we were recording the basic track. We were more in record-making mode on past albums. We threw that idea out the window this time. We weren't trying to construct something fo...

The Blues Foundation will draw from among its members on September 1 to determine which lucky member will receive a cabin for two on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise sailing from San Diego on October 17-24. Among the many musical guests are Irma Thomas, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Elvin Bishop, Marcia Ball, Tommy Castro and Kim Wilson. In addition, Los Lobos and the Low Rider Band will be onboard. Second p...

It is with deepest sorrow that we report on the sudden and unexpected passing of legendary blues guitarist Phillip Walker. He died of apparent heart failure at 4:30 AM, early Thursday morning, July 22, 2010. He was 73 years old. Born February 11, 1937 near Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the small town of Welsh, Phillip Walker's earliest musical influences came via the Cajun and Creole rhythms he heard as a youngster. A second cousin to Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and huge admirer of T-Bone Walker,...

The 19th Annual Pocono Blues Festival slated for July 23, 24 and 25, is one of the biggest blues festivals on the East Coast located in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania is an annual pilgrimage for lovers of real deal blues and roots music. Customers travel 30 states and 10 countries. This year’s lineup features 20 national acts performing over the three day period on three stages headlining Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Mavis Staples, Chicago blues legends Pinetop Perkins, H...

Mickey Thomas recently became a member of The Blues Foundation. Mickey did an outstanding job as a presenter at the 31st Blues Music Awards in May, suggesting that there may be some acting ability to go along with his vocal skills. Mickey has a new release out The Bluesmasters and Dave Rubin, Guitar Edge Magazine has this to say about Mickey and the release. Real soul transcends all genres of music. R&B "got soul," to only state the most obvious, but the best rock "got soul," too...

Congratulations to the first Generation Blues honorees – Brandon Bailey, Cale Hawkins, Will Jacobs, and Hunter Wolfe. Brandon, 18 from Memphis, TN, will be attending Blues We...

On Tuesday, June 22, Blues Hall of Fame member and Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipient Sonny Payne will host his 16,000th King Biscuit Time on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. That is right 16,000! Let's do some math--16,000 shows divided by 5 shows a week is 3200 weeks. Say he took two weeks off each year so that is 50 weeks a year or a total of 64 years. 2010-64=1946. Daaang!!! Folks will be helping Sonny celebrate at the Delta Cultural Center on Tuesday.

There's no question that Mississippi is the birthplace of the American blues, and its Mississippi Blues Trail network of highway markers is an ongoing effort to commemorate the genre greats who came from the magnolia state. The trail, which currently has around 100 markers, has begun to sprinkle markers in places outside of Mississippi that are part of that state's musical heritage. This summer, one of these markers will be erected in downtown Rockland. Paul Benjamin, co-founder and co-produc...

Blues music has been featured in the Wall Street Journal twice in the month of June. One story is very upbeat and the other about as predictable as it claims the music is. Check them out and decide for yourself. The story on the Rhythm Road entitled " America's Music Ambassadors" featuring The Blues Foundation's 2009 International Blues Challenge solo.duo winner Little Joe McClerran can be found

Here are the winners. We will tell you the rest of the story soon, but we stayed up kind of late last night. Long after the Awards were over, the lobby of both the Cook Convention Center and the Memphis Marriott Downtown looked like the party was just getting started. The buzz, the vibe the night of good feelings. Congratulations to all winners, all nominees, all the stellar performers and to Buddy and Bonnie for making it even more special!! 1. Acoustic Album - You Got to Move David...

Blues Foundation SUPER volunteers, Joey and Carmen Weaver would like to announce the birth of Luke Judson Weaver, born June 18th at 9:30pm. He weighs 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21" long. We understand everyone is doing great! Welcome to the family Luke!

Dusty Baker, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, recently became a member of The Blues Foundation at the Blues VIP level. As many of you know, Dusty is a big blues fan and co-presented with Elvin Bishop at the 2007 Blues Music Awards. He has not been able to attend since then because, well he has been busy in May managing the Cincinnati Reds, who by the way had a great month of May (21-9) that took them to first place in the National League Central Division. They continue to battle with St. L...

Many of you know Wesley Smith from the days he took care of The Blues Foundation membership among other things. He is now the Executive Director of the Greenville/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Best wishes to Wesley, Laura and their newborn daughter Lollie. Carmen and Joey Weaver, SUPER volunteers for The Blues Foundation, are also proud first-time parents. Luke Judson Weaver was born June 18th at 9:30pm. He weighs 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21" long. Mother and son are both do...

BLUES SUMMIT: JAMES COTTON & FRIENDS FEATURING TAJ MAHAL, PINETOP PERKINS, SHEMEKIA COPELAND & HUBERT SUMLIN June 24, 2010, Blues Hall of Fame inductee (2006), Smithsonian Institution inductee (1991), and veteran of the legendary Muddy Waters blues band, James Cotton leads an all-star line-up of blues giants including blues patriarch Pinetop Perkins and the inimitable Taj Mahal. In two distinct sets, one electric and the other unplugged, Cotton will be joined by Shemekia Copeland, daug...

The Blues Foundation is now soliciting nominations for persons to be considered by the Board Development Committee for inclusion on the ballot for The Blues Foundation’s Board of Directors. The nominations must be received on or before Wednesday, June 23. That is only two weeks, but if for serious candidates, that is plenty of time. Nominations are sought for the following constituencies: -- Affiliate Organizations; -- Agents, Managers, Publicists & Attorneys; -- Artists, Compose...

Big Party tonight!!

The Blues Foundation announces the expansion of its youth education initiative with Generation Blues. This scholarship program will allow qualified applicants under the age of 25 to study their instrument of choice at reputable camps, seminars and workshop programs at Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival, Augusta Heritage Center and Fernando Jones' Columbia College Blues Camp. Camps, seminars and workshops attended by Generation Blues scholarship recipients may take place throughout the ye...

30th ANNIVERSARY STAR STUDDED BLUES MUSIC AWARDS DVD IS AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 1st The Blues Foundation announces the release of its 30th Anniversary Blues Music Awards DVD. There is no other place you will find such a stellar collection of today's blues music stars. The show itself is a more than six hour extravaganza but all the performers were captured on this two-hour DVD. There were great pairings like Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur singing "What About The Soul of The Man," Curtis Salgad...