Page 46 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2019

Hot Blues, Warm Hearts

The San Diego Blues Festival. Photo by Jon Naugle - Naugle Photography
By Stacy Jeffress between the event and the food bank’s mission to provide
For Jim and Paige Payne of Springfield, MO, it was not nutritious food to people in need. “Our model has allowed
enough that they volunteered at a local drop-in center to feed us to thrive since our organization got started in 2011,” he
explains. “It should be a model for how blues festivals can
the hungry; they fervently wanted to raise money for the cause. survive in the current climate.”
It seemed natural for them to combine two of their passions
North of the border, the Calgary International Blues
to create the Stomp The Blues Out of Homelessness Festival Festival partners with Alpha House, a nonprofit offering
nine years ago and contribute the proceeds to organizations several programs for individuals impacted by substance
that help people. “The blues has a connotation that people abuse. Alpha House benefits by having a free booth at the
are living down in the dumps, down on their luck,” says Jim event to provide information about their street teams, housing
Payne. “Through the blues festival, it could maybe provide program and detox facility. Festival producer Cindy McLeod
a way out.” In 2018, their event raised $7,500 for Women has been delighted to observe Alpha House clients become
in Need of the Ozarks, a nonprofit organization that assists members of the blues family, including one individual who has
single women with practical needs such as housing payments become security team lead for the festival’s late-night venue.
and utility bills. Those of us active with our local blues societies are well
Blues music not only heals the soul, it also generates aware that a significant strategy for sustaining the blues genre
thousands of dollars for charity every year through the festivals is to match kids up with instruments, provide them with musical
we love to attend. There are countless examples of festivals education and get them up on the stage. Many festivals
that raise money to fight hunger and homelessness, provide designate their proceeds for connecting children to the blues
musical instruments and opportunities to kids, and support through Blues in the Schools, community arts programs and
health-related charities such as organ transplant networks. We the development of young artists.
shine a spotlight here on just a small sample of the generosity Blues from the Top, a festival produced by the Grand
displayed by blues festival promoters and fans for these and County Blues Society in Winter Park, CO, supports Blue Star
other worthy causes. Connection (BSC), a project that brings youth and music
The San Diego Blues Festival, now in its ninth year, is together. BSC provides instruments to kids and young adults
owned by the Jacobs & Cushman Food Bank, which has been dealing with cancer and other challenges. Since 2005, BSC
the beneficiary of nearly $1 million and 12 tons of food since has reached over 800 young people and donated instruments
the event’s inception. Producer Michael Kinsman credits the to 65 children’s hospitals and music therapy programs.
festival’s success and longevity to the fact that it is owned by a In Indiana, the Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano
nonprofit organization and the resulting symbiotic relationship Festival presents free piano workshops after school, sends

44 Blues Festival Guide 2019