October 2010

Summer's gone and before long the holidays will be approaching rapidly. It has been a very productive summer for the Chippewa Valley Blues Society and associated groups. We have produced and/or sponsored a great series of events this year.

Beginning with Lust For Blues III in March with three excellent bands, we got the year off to an excellent start.  Nearly 150 paid the admission in support of our primary fundraiser, which was held at the Metropolis Resort in Eau Claire.

The Tuesday Night Blues Series presented fourteen different bands throughout the summer. Unfortunately we were forced inside to begin and end the season, but the crowds were always enthusiastic and appreciative of the musical offerings, as well as our efforts to produce a series that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. TNB had its first Motorcycle Show and a second opportunity for young musicians to showcase their talent on Young Blues Night. There were seven different non-profit community organizations sponsored and the response was very good. A cumulative total of roughly 4000 enjoyed these concerts. Tuesday Night Blues has now put on 29 concerts the last two summers and is being recognized as a great enhancement to the quality of life in the Chippewa Valley. We want to thank all the bands, our generous sponsors, our tasty and creative vendors and especially the wonderful, faithful fans for making this series a weekly mini-fest. There were many new members gained for the Chippewa Valley Blues Society, and we will continue to try to provide them good reasons to belong.

The third presentation of Blues On The Chippewa was hugely successful. Thousands came to Durand to enjoy all the free music presented in the Memorial Park and in the bars afterward. The Car & Motorcycle shows had a terrific turnout. The Pepin County Food Pantry benefited greatly from all the contributions of edibles and cash. What a great annual event! Sixteen Bands and even more performers and it’s all FREE!

I want to recognize, again, all the support for the above events that has been forthcoming from the good folks at Shari’s Chippewa Club. Rob, Shari and Dan Callan originated the idea for Blues On The Chippewa and organized the original effort and recruited the community support that has culminated in a community event that now attracts attendees from the entire upper Midwest and beyond. These same folks have been involved in the Chippewa Valley Blues Society from it’s inception and have hosted many meetings and a couple Christmas parties for us. They have continued to host open jams on Sunday evenings for not just the blues, but country and bluegrass, as well as singer/songwriters. There is always something going on there. We were really happy to see the recognition Shari’s received on local TV. Thanks for all you do!

A shout out goes to WHYS radio in general and Snapshot especially, for promoting the Blues on his Sunday morning radio show. He had many of the performers live on the radio on 96.3 AM. That is a great community service. If you can’t get them on your radio, you can catch them on the web at whysradio.org.

In future Blues Notes, I will bring you some histories and more info about performers, concerts in the region and other blues news from around the country.

Thanks for lending me an ear! See ya around!