Page 96 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2018

On stage at the UBM Europe’s Spring Showcase in the Netherlands in 2016.
Photo by Christiaan Breur
The newest milestone for UBMNA program artists is laying
tracks at the Falcon Recording Studio in Portland, OR, working
with a production team including Hammerman, Gresham,
Fleschner, other program mentors and Jim Pugh of Little
Village Foundation. At print, the team is mixing, mastering
at Greaseland Studios with Kid Andersen and readying the
project for a summer 2018 release!
A growing number of blues artists support, celebrate and
mentor the UBMNA band and program, including Bobby
Rush, Tommy Castro, Kenny Neal, Janiva Magness, John
Nemeth, Vasti Jackson, Lisa Mann, Karen Lovely, Curley
Taylor, Doug MacLeod, Curtis Salgado, Nick Schnebelen,
Lee Oskar, JJ Thames, Markey Blue, Brigitte Rios Purdy, Julie
Amici, Duffy Bishop and Shemekia Copeland, among many
others. Joining the band as associate artist ambassadors
when their performance schedules permit are Christone
“Kingfish” Ingram and Marlana VanHoose. Rounding out the
newest addition to the UBMNA team is Houston-based Sara
Grace and Campfire Soul, the first youth mentors.
Barbara B. Newman, president and CEO of the Blues
Foundation, agrees, “United by Music is not just about
young people. It makes a statement that the blues transcends
everything. It doesn’t matter what challenges you might have
or what your life has been like. It’s music that’s powerful and
community building, and it makes a statement that everybody
and anybody who wants to create music, should be able to
create music – and the rest of us want to hear it!”
United by Music North America is a non-profit organization
that is made possible through volunteer support, individual
donors, public grants and private sponsorships. To learn
more about the program, check out their show schedule or
make a donation, visit ubmna.org.

Casting call! Are you or someone you know musically talented
and with a developmental delay or challenge such as autism?
Are you interested in having UBMNA perform or start a program
in your community? Contact Barbara Hammerman or Amanda
Gresham: 253/225-7655 or BarbaraHammerman@gmail.com

94 Blues Festival Guide 2018