Alabama Blues Project (APB) Update 2007

Our 2007 Spring Newsletter is Now Online!

SEE WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO SEE IT IN ITS ENTIRETY!

Dear Friends and blues fans,

There are so many exciting things happening at the ABP this spring - one is that our newsletter has a whole new look and is filled with lots of great Alabama blues news!

As the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel has declared 2007 “The Year of the Arts”, I am so glad that Alabama blues is alive and well and there is so much to report. This Spring’s highlights include our end of term beginning camp open house and blues extravaganza.

Mark your calendars for Monday, May 14, at 4.30 pm, and come check out a new crop of young blues musicians who have spent this semester studying harmonica, guitar singing or percussion along with blues history lessons and a life skills curriculum.

This annual event will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church at 113 Hargrove Road, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is guaranteed to be fun and entertaining for all!

Meanwhile, ABP advanced band The Project will be performing all over Tuscaloosa and even heading to Columbus, Mississippi, for the Market Street Festival on Saturday, May 5, 2007, again this year.

The Crawfish Festival in Tuscaloosa again is featuring lots of great Alabama blues including Caroline Shines, Topper Price, and Little Jimmy Reed – and ABP blues camp ban, The Project!

The ABP is returning on April 20th to Somerville Road Elementary in Decatur, Alabama, to do an educational performance and help the school celebrate the end of SAT testing for this semester – featuring Caroline Shines. We will also be touring the Baldwin County schools with Willie King!

The ABP exhibition Red Hot and Blue: A Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women will be at the University of Alabama Department of Women Studies until April 15.

Finally, don’t miss the Sucarnochee Folk Life Festival in Livingston, Alabama, on April 21 where we will be placing a historic marker celebrating the life and music of Vera Hall along with an art fair and lots of great live Alabama blues.

For information and lots of blues news, check out our newsletter, and for live performance dates, check Birmingham’s Magic City Blues Society’s calendar.

Best wishes for lots of good blues and a beautiful spring.

Debbie

Alablues@aol.com

IN THIS ISSUE

Read the latest news and meet the instructors at our ABP After School Blues Camp

Profiling Alabama Blues Artist Robert Thomas

Willie King's 10th Annual Freedom Creek Festival is coming up on the 25th & 26th of May. There will be a great lineup including Paul Oscher, T-Model Ford, Willie King & The Liberators, and of course ABP's very own The Project.

The outstanding Alabama blues singer Vera Hall will be celebrated in her birthplace of Livingston on April 21st when the Livingston Historical Commission will be unveiling a historical marker to replace her unmarked gravesite. Read about the event as well as her life and spiritual contributions to the blues.

The ABP is excited that Bill Lloyd of Wilhagen's will be presenting the third annual Tuscaloosa Crawfish & Blues Festival. Among the performers are our very own The Project and Caroline Shines. Get more details in our newsletter!

Willie King DVD documentary "Down in the Woods" is coming soon!

We are happy to hear that legendary Alabama native bluesman Sam Lay has recovered from a short stay in the hospital. Let's all send him our best!

The Alabama Blues Project will be presenting a blues artist residency at Aliceville Middle School. We are very excited to be presenting a six week curriculum that is made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Former Capricorn Records artist Scott Boyer recently had surgery for an arterial disease. Greats such as Greg Allman, Bonnie Bramblett, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Donnie Fritts, Paul Thorn, The Capricorn Rhythm Section, The Decoys and Nashville Star runner-up Zac Hacker will perform in Birmingham to raise money for his recovery. Read more about the Benefit Concerts for Scott Boyer.

[Extra notation from blogmistress: The Blind Boys of Alabama are performing at the Foundation Fightness Blindness fundraiser tonight (April 12/07) in concert at the Dominion-Chalmers United Church on Lisgar St. (at O'Connor St.) in Ottawa, ON, Canada.]

www.alabamablues.org