“The World United in Celebration of the Blues!”
NEW YORK, NY – On Saturday August 1st, 2015, the NYC Blues Society presents the 3rd annual International Blues Music Day Festival at Club Groove in the West Village (125 MacDougal St at 3rd St, New York, New York from 1pm-9pm. This year’s Festival offers 8 hours of premium live Blues music featuring 12 “Electric Blues Masters.” Participating NY area and touring blues artists include: Andy Story, Chris Bergson, Johnny Childs, Dean Shot, Sweet Georgia Brown, Oz Noy, Brandon Santini, Sonny Hudson, Jason Green, Stew Cutler, David Coppa & Adam Gussow. Doors 12:30pm, showtime: 2:00pm – 9:00pm. Ticket price: $15 advance, $20 at door.
As in past years, the Festival will coincide with over 100 simultaneous worldwide blues music concerts in over 50 countries, to commemorate International Blues Music Day. Participating states include: Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington & Wisconsin. Participating Countries Include: Argentina, Armenia, Austrialia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philipines, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Worldwide toast to the blues – In the spirit of global unity, Blues fans around the world will also participate in an international “Toast to the Blues” at 7p.m., in their respective time zones.
The NYC Blues Society promotes blues talent, blues venues and events that contributes to the Blues Music community in the greater NYC area. As a service to the field, the society website also features the most comprehensive monthly Blues Calendar in the area, which lists hundreds of Blues events (ranging from concerts and jams, to festival and community events) within a 75 mile radius of NYC, including all five Boroughs, as well as most of NJ and NY State – all in a free and easy to use format.
In August, 2011 a grass roots petition launched advocating the creation of International Blues Music Day (IBMD) – a day of musical unity to “to celebrate, promote and preserve the rich legacy, tradition, and future of the great American art form and international language known as blues music.”
Within a few months 15,000 thousands of members from around the world, comprising of blues enthusiasts, musicians, celebrities, and promoters joined in. The annual date to celebrate IBMD was set by consensus as the First Saturday in August, at the height of the blues festival season, with worldwide inaugural events on August 3, 2013.
IBMD is the brainchild of world renowned blues musician Johnny Childs who also stars in the film The Junkman’s Son and serves as the President of the NYC Blues Society. The IBMD organization and the NYC Blues Society are the lead organizations charged with planning, promoting and producing this annual, worldwide celebration.
www.internationalbluesmusicday.com