Page 6 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2018
P. 6

PUBLISHED BY RBA Publishing Inc.
         dba BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE                                           Greetings
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         PUBLISHER Kaati: Kaati@BluesFestivalGuide.com
         EDITOR Irene Johnson: Irene@BluesFestivalGuide.com
         BLUES FESTIVAL E-GUIDE NEWSLETTER EDITOR Michele Lundeen  Here at the Blues Festival Guide (BFG), we are happy to report
                                                                that blues festivals, as a whole, are healthy. We’ve got the
         SALES MANAGER/MARKETING DIRECTOR                       pulse on blues festivals worldwide and the beat is strong.
         Cheryl O’Grady-Yearnshaw: cogblues@att.net
                                                                Yes, every year some festivals drop off the grid. Just last
         EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS                                 year, a few festivals wiped out due to inclement weather,
         Albert Cummings, Claire Henderson, Stacy Jeffress, Michele Lundeen,
         Jim O’Neal, Regi Oliver, Lynn Orman Weiss, Jim Pugh, John Shipley, Bill   including 112-degree heat and hurricanes. Festivals with
         Wharton, Don Wilcock, Rev. Billy C. Wirtz              cash  flow  or  organizational  problems  take  a  break  to
                                                                recuperate then come back stronger than ever. Others lose
         PHOTO & ART CONTRIBUTORS                               their grant money and can’t survive without it. And some,
         Aqua Design, Jeff Beeler, Courtesy BluEsoterica Archives, Christiaan Breur,
         Chicago Defender – ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Courtesy Shemekia   like the Santa Cruz Music Festival hit the pause button on
         Copeland, Dave Corry, Courtesy Delta Cultural Center, William R. Ferris   reality,  simply  because “The  challenges  and  expenses  of
         - Courtesy Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library - University of   delivering a quality music festival have grown larger and
         North Carolina at Chapel Hill, © Eric Gorder 2006: egorder@gmail.  more daunting over the past few years.”
         com, Amanda Gresham, John Hahn, Duane Heaton, Claire Henderson,   It seems though, that for every blues festival that fades away,
         Eric Ilasenko, Courtesy Bettye Kelly, Makena Lee Photography, Jennifer
         Mardus Photography, Courtesy Barbra Marks, Joseph Mayers, Courtesy   a new one comes on the scene. It can be an origin story like
         Mississippi Blues Commission, Matt O’Brien, Jim O’Neal, Courtesy Pryor   the small group of blues lovers in Panhandle, Idaho, who
         Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History - University of Arkansas,    were so far from a blues festival, they started their own with
         © Joseph A. Rosen, © Marilyn Stringer, Courtesy Teeny Tucker, Amy van   a field, a flat bed and a Facebook page. Or, often, a local blues
         Singel, Kirk West, Ruth Wharton, Robby Yamilov         society starts up a festival to bring the blues to their area
         ADVERTISING SALES                                      and further educate the community. Some festivals arise out
         Cheryl O’Grady-Yearnshaw, Heather Penrod-Rudd, Tom Andrews   of the desire or need to support a charitable cause. When I
         ADVERTISING TRAFFIC COORDINATOR Heather Penrod-Rudd    asked one promoter why she started the San Felipe Blues &
                                                                Arts Fiesta in San Felipe, Mexico 12 years ago, she answered,
         ADMINISTRATIVE/DATABASE MANAGEMENT Heather Penrod-Rudd  “We wanted to bring the blues to Baja! Why? Because we are
         DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Heather Penrod-Rudd               f*@!!!ing crazy. Crazy for the blues that is!”  Well, we are crazy
         DESIGN & PRODUCTION/WEBSITE Goran Petko                for the blues too, and crazy about all the blues festivals we
         CONSULTANTS Nancy Edwards, Michele Lundeen, Tom Yearnshaw  can choose from.
                                                                And  then  there  are  the  tried-and-true  festivals  that  have
         The opinions of the contributors are not necessarily the views of
         RBA Publishing Inc.                                    been able to stick around through it all, celebrating decades
                                                                of success, such as the MS Delta Blues & Heritage Festival,
         FRONT COVER                                            which  is  in  its  41st  year,  and  the  Bentonia  Blues  Festival,
         On the cover is dynamic duo Laura Chavez and Nikki Hill tearing it up
         at the 2017 San Diego Blues Festival. Laura Chavez, the uber-talented,   celebrating its 43rd year.
         longtime collaborator of the late Candye Kane, is one of the top female   This  2018  Blues  Festival  Guide  is  sponsored  by  the  Blues
         rhythm and blues guitar virtuosos in America and was part of 2017 Ruf   Foundation,  and  we  share  in  their  mission  to  preserve,
         Records Caravan of Blues. Carolina fireball Nikki Hill is a Blues Music   celebrate  and  expand  awareness  of  the  blues.  Get
         Awards “Contemporary Blues Female Artist” nominee and an inimitable,   adventurous  this  year,  go  to  a  blues  festival  you  haven’t
         soulful, raw, roots-blues rocker. Between the two of them, they are a force
         to be reckoned with.                                   previously attended. Patron these festivals not only to keep
                                                                them going, but to enrich your own love of the blues.
         FRONT COVER PHOTOGRAPHER
         © Marilyn Stringer                                     See you at the festivals!
         www.MJStringerPhoto.com                                Kaati & The Blues Festival Guide Crew




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