Georgie Bonds to open the Briggs Farm Blues Festival!

Blues Collaborative listed artist, Georgie Bonds, was selected to be the main stage opening act for the Briggs Farm Blues Festival on Friday, July 12 in Nescopeck, PA. This is the 16th year for the Briggs Farm Blues Festival. It's a fabulous 2-day event with some great music and plenty of food and activities for everyone. This year's main stage headliners include Shakura S’Aida on Friday evening and Lurrie Bell on Saturday. Georgie Bonds opens the main stage line-up at 4:30pm on Friday. In addition, Blues Collaborative listed band Nate Myers and the Aces will be playing on the Back Porch Stage at 4:40pm. Click here for ticket information.

The Porkroll Project Wins Billtown Blues Association's Festival Audition!!

This past Sunday, March 24, the Porkroll Project competed in the Billtown Blues Association's Festival Audition at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport, PA. For the second time in 3 years, the band came out on top. As a result of winning this competition, the Porkroll Project will be the opening act for the  Billtown Blues Festival on June 9 and will represent Billtown Blues Association at the 2014 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. Porkroll competed with two other outstanding Blues bands -- the Hawks Blues Band and the Dirty Mojo Blues Band -- and the results were very close. The winner of the Solo/Duo competition earlier in the day was Greg Burgess. As always, the Billtown Blues Association put on a fantastic and well run event with a large and enthusiatic audience. Good luck to the Porkroll Project and Greg Burgess in Memphis next year!

Announcing the Blues Collaborative News Blog

We're still working our way into the 21st century with our communications, so we've created an online Blues Collaborative News blog where we'll be posting news articles about the Blues Collaborative bands and other relevant Blues news. The news articles will be posted on the Blues Collaborative web site, on our newly created News page. You can also access the blog postings directly by pointing your web browser to bluescollaborativenews.blogspot.com. If you subscribe to RSS feeds, you can subscribe to this news feed using bluescollaborativenews.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss. Finally, the latest news will be included with each issue of the Blues Collaborative weekly newsletter. (This article is itself linked into the newsletter from the Blues Collaborative News blog.) The blog also allows you to comment on any of the articles or share them with friends on Facebook and other social media sites. We welcome your feedback on this new feature or other new features to help you stay up-to-date with the Blues. Keep the Blues alive!!

Performers announced for 2013 Chester County Blues Barbecue

The Coventry Lions Club has announced the performers for the 4th annual Chester County Blues Barbecue, which raises funds for the charitable activities of the Lions Club. This year's line-up features 3 great Blues artists, including two the are listed with the Blues Collaborative:

• Dukes of Destiny
• Georgie "The Blacksmith" Bonds
• Michael Hill's Blues Mob 

Tickets are now available for advance purchase. Check out the Chester County Blues web site for details on the event, information on the performers, and to purchase tickets. This is always a great event and raises money for some very good causes. Here are the details:

2013 Chester County Blues Barbecue

Saturday, June 8, 2013

2pm to 7pm

Wyndsor Farm

2550 Ridge Road

Elverson, PA 19520

Benefit Show for Minding Your Mind at Steel City Coffeehouse, March 9

The Blues Collaborative band, the Porkroll Project, will be peforming on behalf of  Minding Your Mind on March 9 at the Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville, PA. Minding Your Mind's mission is to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness among adolescents and to encourage individuals who need help to seek treatment. Because the age of onset for most brain disorders is often during adolescence, it is important to provide proper information to students, parents, and school administration working with this age group. Minding Your Mind does amazing work in support of adolescents and their parents. It's a great organization that deserves your support.

The purpose of this event is to increase the awareness of the services provided by Minding Your Mind for those who may benefit from our services as well as for those who may be motivated to become supporters of the work we do at Minding Your Mind. The doors open at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm.