South Street Headhouse Spring Festival this Saturday, May 4!!

This Saturday, May 4, South Street Headhouse District will hold its new signature street event, the South Street Headhouse Spring Festival from Noon to 8pm. The Spring Festival will be a free, all-ages celebration of the beginning of the festival season with the best tastes, sounds, and sights that the District has to offer. The Spring Festival will take place on South Street between 2^nd and 8^th and on the 2^nd Street Plaza between South and Lombard.  South Street will be closed for the day so over 30 of the District’s restaurants and bars can come out to serve up great food, drinks, and the tastes of cuisine from around the world. The music line up includes two artists listed in the Blues Collaborative -- Georgie "The Blacksmith" Bonds and Blue Jay Slim & the Tone Blasters - along with 2012 International Blues Challenge finalist Mikey Jr. & the Stone Cold Blues. It's going to be a great event that you need to check out!

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.

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.

Dukes of Destiny join the Blues Collaborative!

We're pleased to announce that the Dukes of Destiny are now listed with the Blues Collaborative. The Dukes of Destiny have been together for over 27 years, producing their own style of rocking blues and old school R 'n B. With a lineup of songs that include their unique arrangements of blues standards and heartfelt originals, the Dukes have recorded 4 CD's that have received wide critical acclaim. The Dukes are John Colgan-Davis, vocals and harmonica; CC, sax and vocals; Rich Curtis, bass and vocals, A.C. Steel, guitar and vocals; Bob Holden, drums and vocals; the legendary Chicago Carl Snyder on keyboards, and Arlyn Wolters on vocals.

Also, check out the Dukes' latest CD, Higher, on CDBaby or iTunes. Please welcome the Dukes of Destiny to the Blues Collaborative!!