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Sounding Board
Sierra Blues Society featured in the latest edition of Big City Blues! The October/November issue of Big City Rhythm & Blues (www.bigcitybluesmag.com) magazine has done an excellent featured article (pg. 55) on our society. We would like to thank Robert Jr., Shirley Mae and the entire staff of Big City for their recognition of our efforts to perpetuate the blues art form. Check it out for yourself ! Thom
Myers
Remembering Tulla Tulla Bisnar, a dedicated supporter and advocate of blues music in northern California, died on August 21 from cancer at her Grass Valley home with her loving family by her side. She was 52. Tulla loved the blues and became a vital part of the regional blues music scene. She was a mainstay at area events, and forged personal friendships with many blues artists. You could count on finding her smiling face and warm presence at blues venues from Sacramento to Marysville, Redding and beyond. Tulla basked in the music, but she also became involved behind the scenes. She served on the board of the Sierra Blues Society, and was active in both the Sacramento and Shasta Blues Societies. She enthusiastically helped to spread the word when there was live music to be enjoyed, and she celebrated those occasions with her friends and fellow blues lovers. Tulla touched many lives outside the music scene as well. She worked with special needs children in the Nevada County School District, where she created the cardshop program that gave the students a creative outlet while raising revenue for the school. On a personal level Tulla raised an incredible family, daughters Kaia and Tiana, and sons Christopher and Clinton. She married Harry Bidasha of Live Oak in March, who as a blues musician himself shared her passion for the music and the people it brought together. A memorial fund has been created and combined with the Sacramento Mickey Traina Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is overseen by the Shasta Blues Society. Proceeds for the dual fund will provide financial assistance to recipients for college as well as help support the Nevada Union High School Workability program to which Tulla devoted her working career. Memorial gifts are being accepted at any Citizens Bank branch or mailed to the bank at P.O.Box 1420, Nevada City, CA 95959. Be sure to specify that your donation is for the Tulla Bisnar-Bidasha Memorial Fund. Tulla will be missed by all who knew and loved her, but the positive energy and unconditional love for those around her that she brought into the world will be with us forever.
Blues
In The Schools Again, we'd really like to Thank Encore Music Center, and Larry Gosch for stepping up to the plate on this fund-raiser. When you're patronizing their business, please, take a moment and give 'em a personal Thank You! Encore
Music Center
Sierra Blues Society members tie the
knot.... My wedding to Jan Kelley on the first day out was my favorite moment! After 2 incredible days of Blues fun,
my new bride and I thought a shore
excursion would be a good break. So off the ship we went with
adventure in mind. After wandering
around a simmering (HOT) Cabo San Lucas for a while we found
the Cabo Wabo Cantina. So we went
in for some relaxation. Well, who the hell can relax when The
Original Low Riders and Zac Harmon
show up? So we had to have ANOTHER GREAT TIME before we went
back to the ship. Honest.--Bob
Cosman Grass Valley, CA
THE
CUP OF LOVE
PROJECT The Cup of Love Project (CLP) was established to reach cancer patients and survivors in need of hope, emotional support and guidance to let them know they are not alone. A tea cup/saucer or coffee mug is gifted to cancer survivors or patients currently undergoing cancer treatment. The cup symbolizes love, hope, and prayers for inner strength and empowerment as they travel through their cancer journey. On June 1st the Sterling Hotel in midtown Sacramento was host to the debut gala, with many dignitaries present to honor the invited cancer survivors and their guests. Ms. Molly Ximenez, founder and president of the CLP, presented hats, scarves, and cups to the survivors present. The Sierra hills blues band Level Seven performed with Kathy Young, their female singer who is also a cancer survivor, being recognized along with the other survivors. In addition to providing the music, the Sierra Blues Society, in collaboration with Ms. Sally Katen, Executive Producer of Blues for the Cure, donated a generous gift basket to be raffled. A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Jan Kelley, SBS Board member and cancer survivor, by Molly Ximenez. http://www.sierrabluessociety.org/cert.htm
SIERRA BLUES
SOCIETY PRESENTS
My favorite bartender of all times is Don Jensen. We first became acquainted when he worked @ the former Sam's Hof Brau on 17th & J Streets in Sacramento approximately 20 years ago. That's when you could hear the Blues several times a week there, generally featuring Johnny Heartsman on his Fender, Hammond B3 & flute; and with Rex Kline on the drums & always someone sittin' in to complete the sound. The Blues sound, ya know? Don seemed to be always there & always cheerfully servin' up the suds & mixes. With many vying for his attention; he never faltered. We blues women especially appreciated his watching over us, making sure the 'unfriendlies' didn't bother us. When Sam's closed and it transformed into Hamburger Mary's, Don made a great jump (2 blocks) to the old Torch Club on L St. Happy were we who didn't know where to wander when Sam's closed, and here was Don @ the Torch! A friendly & familiar face, someone who always seems to know your name. Don has always loved and supported the Blues, helping to promote local musicians and events, sending e-mails, helping Marina line up bands for the Club, you name it. In the course of all this, he's benefited by meeting some great Blues artists, such as Lowell Fulson, Luther Tucker, Mem Shannon and many more. On Sunday, February 19th, the Sierra Blues Society proudly presented Don with the Honorary Life-Time Membership Award (plaque) in recognition of Don's "keepin' the blues alive." This is an honor bestowed annually at the Society's Birthday Party, this year commemorating their 9th year of bringing the Blues to the Foothills and beyond. Don continues to pour 'em at the "new" Torch on 15th between I & J. C'mon in sometime & "bend his ear."
PITT
PROFESSOR'S GOAL IS TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN OTHER SUBJECTS THROUGH MUSIC What do Woody Guthrie, Neil Young, James Brown, Dolly Parton, Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette 71% of schools cut music A study released in March by the nonpartisan Center
on Education University
of Pittsburgh professor of music Deane Root wants to tap into Teaching teachers "There is nothing in education school which teaches
prospective Effect on students Mark Albright
has taught history at St. Agnes Academy in Another music project Voices Across Time is one of several independent
projects funded December 15, 2005 BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter Cyril Neville boarded Amtrak's City of New Orleans train with a full head of steam. He joined singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie earlier this month for the first leg of a 12-day journey from Chicago to New Orleans, playing concerts along the way to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Neville, however, won't be on the train when it rolls into his old hometown. He won't be going home at all. Neville, 56, percussionist-vocalist and youngest member of the Neville Brothers -- the first family of New Orleans music -- has vowed not to return to New Orleans. During a heartfelt conversation before embarking on the train journey, Neville explained he and his wife, Gaynielle, have bought a home in Austin, Texas. Cyril Neville joins his nephew Ivan Neville, as well as the Radiators and the Iguanas (who are scheduled to play at FitzGerald's in Berwyn on New Year's Eve), as popular New Orleans acts who have settled in Austin. Some even perform in an ad hoc band known as the Texiles. They sing a different song about the promised recovery of New Orleans. "Would I go back to live?" Neville asked. "There's nothing there. And the situation for musicians was a joke. People thought there was a New Orleans music scene -- there wasn't. You worked two times a year: Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. The only musicians I knew who made a living playing music in New Orleans were Kermit Ruffins and Pete Fountain. Everyone else had to have a day job or go on tour. I have worked more in two months in Austin than I worked in two years in New Orleans. "A lot of things about life in New Orleans were a myth." Cyril Neville and his family lived in the Gentilly neighborhood. Their home now is uninhabitable. "I am not a fish," he said. "I cannot live under 6 feet of water. In the 9th Ward and Gentilly they are going to do mass buyouts, bulldoze everything and make it green space. In my estimation, those are golf courses and other places where African-American people won't be welcome. There's nothing wrong with my house except that water destroyed everything we had in it. The foundation is fine. The house is still there. Same thing with our neighbors. So what are they talking bulldozing? Lasting impact "For a lot of us, the storm is still happening." The Neville Brothers performed at September's "From the Big Apple to the Big Easy" hurricane benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cyril Neville wore a T-shirt saying, "Ethnic Cleansing in New Orleans." Before the storm hit, 68 percent of New Orleans' 451,000 residents were black, according to wire reports. By early December, about 100,000 people had returned -- and Mayor Ray Nagin has acknowledged they are mostly white. When the storm hit New Orleans at the end of August, the Neville Brothers were performing in New York. The family and band first regrouped in Memphis, Tenn. "Memphis was the same scene as New Orleans in that there were three clubs with 3,000 musicians trying to get gigs," Neville said. "New Orleans has Tipitina's, House of Blues and the Maple Leaf. The decision to go to Austin was a no-brainer. There was a good music scene." None of the Nevilles is back in New Orleans. Art and Aaron are residing in Nashville temporarily (their future plans are uncertain), and Charles has lived in rural Massachusetts for 10 years. "Up until the storm, Aaron, myself, Art and Kermit Ruffins were some of the only musicians who had 'made it' who were still living in New Orleans," Cyril Neville said. "Now you got cats that come down there every now and then to be king of a parade or whatever. They couldn't find helicopters to get people off of roofs, but they found helicopters to bring certain people in for photo ops. I'm not mad at anybody, but at the same time we put a lot into that city and never got what I think we should have got out of it." Austin holds promise Alligator Records recording artist and 2005 Grammy nominee Marcia Ball is a longtime staple of the Austin music scene. She was born in Orange, Texas, and reared in Louisiana. (She's also on the New Year's bill at FitzGerald's.) Neville singled her out as one of the Austin artists who embraced New Orleans musicians. "Austin has so much to gain from Cyril," Ball said in a phone interview from New York. "He was always the social conscience, the message man. He's worked with kids and set up educational groups. He's already approached Austin High School. Austin is a different kind of town than New Orleans, which has been a dead-end street for a lot of people for a long time. You can be the best graduate in a New Orleans public high school and there's nothing for you." "New Orleans and Austin musicians have had an affinity for each other's groove for a long time, going back to my days with the Meters when we played Armadillo World Headquarters [in Austin]," Neville observed. "On any given night we would end up with five or six guitar players onstage with us, be it the Winter brothers [Edgar and Johnny] or the Vaughan brothers." Cyril and Gaynielle Neville now appear in a weekly Tuesday set called "New Orleans Cookin' & Jukin' " at Threadgill's in Austin. Gaynielle cooks red beans and gumbo, and they perform with their group Tribe 13, which includes Austin vocalist Papa Mali. "The way we have been accepted in Austin is such a pleasant surprise," Neville said. "We were treated like family." Neville linked up with the Guthrie family about 18 months ago. He was looking for songs for an upcoming solo album and discovered the Native American rock band Blackfire. They had recorded Arlo's "Mean Things Are Happening in This World." "That song jumped out at me, so I did my version," Neville said. "For years I have wondered how can I get in contact with Arlo and Willie Nelson -- people who have the same kind of attitude and consciousness I have and who want to use their art the same way I'm trying to use mine. I got that consciousness from Woody Guthrie." Joined up with tour Neville heard about this month's "Ridin' on the City of New Orleans" benefit and finally called Arlo. "Arlo asked me, and I came," he said of his participation on the tour, playing the Dec. 5 concert at Chicago's Vic Theatre and the Dec. 7 show in Kankakee. "I had obligations for the end of the tour, but I had these days free, so I came to do what I could. "People are talking to me, but some of the people I know went through much more than I did. There are 3,000 children missing in New Orleans. [The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children places the figure at 1,300.] Hundreds of bodies are waiting to be identified. The people of New Orleans have been scattered to the four winds. Their lives were determined by people in Washington and Baton Rouge before the storm hit. Without African Americans having ownership, economic equity and the same type of things the French Quarter gets -- like tax cuts -- the city will never be the same. The 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Wards should have their own tourist commission. Build our own hotels and restaurants in those areas. The key is ownership. Then I would think about going back and living there. But we're still practicing American democracy. How can we ever bring it to somebody else?"
Courtesy of Mick Martin
Hi
Folks, This is brand new information and so most are not even
aware of it but Ben Taylor http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-6376177-1.html
October 28, 2006
Hey Ya'll! I would really like to weigh in on this article that was run in the latest edition of Blueswax. I ve been watching this circus for the last several months and with this latest information I have finally had it up to my eyebrows . >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (Article as distributed on Blueswax, 11-24-05) King Biscuit Leaves Helena After 65 Years: Beale Street developer and landlord Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc. has reached an agreement with New York-based King Biscuit Entertainment Group Inc. to host a fall music festival in Memphis, Tennessee, tentatively titled the King Biscuit Music Festival. The agreement comes less than three months after the famous King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas was forced to drop the King Biscuit name. The new music festival is scheduled to kick off in October, the same month as the original festival in Helena. After 20 years of Blues under the King Biscuit name, the original festival changed its name this year to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival, because King Biscuit Entertainment and the Sonny Boy Blues Society, which produces the Helena festival, could not come to an agreement on the use of the King Biscuit name. It was reported that King Biscuit Entertainment wanted $15,000 for permission to use the trademark name. After many years of letting them use the name for nothing, we wanted to have an agreement for the usage or license and we couldn't come to terms, so they decided they wanted to move on and use the Arkansas name," said George Alexandrou, King Biscuit Entertainment chief operating officer. "There are no hard feelings. We're just going different ways." King Biscuit Entertainment officials are planning to bring in new, contemporary Rock acts to spice up the lineup and attract more concertgoers. King Biscuit officials aren't naming artists they hope to attract, but the company has relationships with major record labels like Sony, Warner Brothers, and Universal. King Biscuit Entertainment would also like the King Biscuit radio show, broadcast since 1941 from KFFA in Helena, to broadcast from Beale as well. King Biscuit Entertainment recently signed a deal to have the show broadcast on satellite provider XM Radio, to launch on Deep Tracks XM channel 40 in late January, and XM will do a ramp-up week of shows during the final week of December. "The beauty of this series is that it truly captures the excitement of what was happening in Rock in the 1970s and '80s," said George Morris of XM. "It remains the benchmark series for fans of live Rock." Helena officials said they expect to compete against the souped-up, Beale-based festival. "They are targeting the October date so that people will tie it in to the Helena event and they're trying to use the good will we've built into the name to support their event in Memphis," said Wayne Andrews, executive director of the Sonny Boy Blues Society and Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival. "I wish there had been a way to work together because Helena and Memphis are so related musically," he said. Performa and King Biscuit Entertainment are also cooking up a caf that will operate on Beale under the King Biscuit banner. "This will give us a signature place where business people, tourists, and residents can go for breakfast," said Performa Chief Executive John Elkington. King Biscuit Development LLC, a separate entity owned by King Biscuit Entertainment and Performa, owns all rights to the King Biscuit Flour Co., including the trademarks, logo and name of the flour that was first distributed to grocers by a Helena wholesaler. Above item courtesy of: Memphis Commercial Appeal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Having been involved with non-profits struggling to help the blues art form and history for many years, it gets extremely disheartening to witness actions by corporate interest-only entities, such as Performa Entertainmnet and King Biscuit Entertainment, that rape the very essence of the culture of the blues. This power grab and domination of the rich history of the name King Biscuit goes beyond the scope of greed and rides shotgun with sheer stupidity. First they buy out the name, then they take it away from the very people that have kept the name alive, set a new festival date right down the street (so to speak) on top of the original, and now they re gonna transplant the Flour Hour to Beale Street. Why, this is paramount to blasphemy as far as I m concerned! Until such time as these imbeciles come to their senses, I, for one, will not be supporting Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc., King Biscuit Entertainment Group Inc., nor any of their subsidiaries, in any of their ventures. I will also be taking a real hard look, in my personal and volunteer efforts, at any, and all of the corporations, or organizations, that support them in their endeavors! I will also make it part of my mission to share my opinions and response to my entire network. Most every organization that I am familiar with has preservation somewhere in their mission statement. I would suggest that anyone that doesn t respond to this attack on the history of the blues art form should consider removing it from their statement. If you d like to relay your opinion and views to Performa and King Biscuit, like I am, you can contact them at; John Elkington c/o Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc 901-526-0110 or Kevin Cain KCAIN@kbfh.com c/o King Biscuit Entertainment Group, Inc. info@kbfh.com I also wish to make clear that everything that I ve stated are my opinions, and mine alone. They do not represent the opinions or view of any of the organizations that I work for, or with. Thom Myers President Sierra Blues Society President - Blues Heritage Alliance Producer / Broadcaster KVMR FM Nevada City, CA Broadcaster KFOK LPFM Georgetown, CA Committee Member Georgetown Divide Community Broadcast Committee of the American River Folk Society
BANDS UNITE TO SUPPORT BLUES ON GRAND IN LEGAL BATTLE Four Iowa blues bands will appear in a benefit performance to help the Des Moines nightclub pay its annual performance rights licensing fees on Sunday, November 26. Blues On Grand, located at 1501 Grand Ave., is embroiled in a legal battle with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), which collects fees from radio, television, night clubs and retailers for use of music broadcasted, performed live or played in stores and pays royalties to song writers and publishers. The four bands The Bob Pace Band, Hot Tamale & The Red Hots, Sumpin Doo and Matt Woods & The Thunderbolts will be performing between 4:30 p.m and 10 p.m. at the famed club. Suggested donations of $5 will be received at the door. Free food, silent auction, and raffled items are also on the agenda. Blues On Grand was founded in 1999 and has been the Des Moines performance home for most major touring blues artists in the country, as well as for regional and local blues bands. The club won the Blues Foundation s coveted Keeping The Blues Alive Award in 2002 as the nation s Blues Club Of The Year. Owner Ron Boone and Manager Jeff Wagner have recently been contesting with BMI over a judgment they were unaware of for unpaid licensing fees. The club s receipts have been confiscated under a court order on multiple occasions. Says Wagner; "High music licensing fees are no doubt one of my toughest struggles in the owning and operating of a live music venue dedicated to the blues genre. I truly hope that our blues heroes or their families are getting what's due them." Contact Info: To donate silent auction or raffle items contact Scott Allen via email at scott@vividpix.com. Other inquiries please contact Jeff Wagner at Blues On Grand by calling 515.244.3092
Hi folks! The petition to allow the King Biscuit name to come back to Helena now has over 400 signatures. I want to thank the folks who have shown their support of The Sonny Boy Blues Society s quest to use the name, but we need more support. If you haven t signed the petition and support the Blues and want The King Biscuit Blues Festival to remain in Helena, please take a minute and sign the petition. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Most of you have heard about the big rip-off of The King Biscuit Blues Festival name by Performa Entertainment Real Estate in Memphis. In short, the NYC company "King Biscuit Entertainment", who produced the rock shows for radio in the early 70s, won the rights in a New York court to the King Biscuit name and leased the use of that name to Performa. Performa is now planning to hold a festival just across the river from Helena, AR (where "The Biscuit" is held) on the same weekend as the original festival, bringing in hip-hop and pop acts, and calling it "The King Biscuit Music Festival". They also plan to force the "King Biscuit Time" radio show off the air at KFFA in Helena, where it has been broadcast from since 1941, so that they can broadcast it from Beale Street. they are also planning to open a chain of "King Biscuit" restaurants. This move of pure corporate greed is a huge slap in the face to all Blues fans. They are stealing the heritage of the best free festival in the country and trying to steal festival goers and income from an impoverished area in the Delta, the place where it all started. It may be legal, but it is WRONG. An online petition has been started to help combat this injustice and return the King Biscuit name to the festival that has nurtured it for 20 years. Please help by signing this petition and boycotting the Memphis Festival and any project Performa is involved in. It s simple to do. Just click this link, sign the petition. You have to include your e-mail address, but rest assured it will be kept private. Only one person (me) can see your e-mail address if you choose to keep it private. My only agenda is to bring The King Biscuit name back to the Helena Festival, and your e-mail address is only needed, and will only be used, for confirmation purposes. Please show your support as a Blues fan and help us bring
the "Biscuit" back where it belongs! http://new.PetitionOnline.com/Biscuit/petition.html
The goal of the Sierra Blues Society is to arouse the Blues appreciators in the Sierras to sponsor, promote, and preserve the Blues art form and put the area in touch with the Blues movement. .....Watch Sounding Board for articles, views, and opinions about the Blues and the Blues Community. If you have you have something you feel the Blues Community should know about, let us know. If it's Blues worthy you will see it here. Send your info to: info@sierrabluessociety.org Thank you.
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