January 2013

The first season of Tuesday Night Blues Unplugged November 13th with Lucas K & The Coolhand Saints. The Saints put on a heck of a show with not a bad crowd for the opener, Mojo Lemon got the windows steamed up for the December show. Wow! Both of these great bands had the “house” rockin!  So come on out and get heated up with some red hot acoustic blues! We’ll keep you warm all winter long!

Coming in January we’ll be featuring the red hot styling’s of Left Wing Bourbon! With Derrick Biederman keeping them on time (drums), Jacob Ulwelling lays down some big bottom (bass), so Tim Caswell (keyboards & vocals), Jason Keisler (guitar & vocals) and the effervescent Faith Ulwelling (vocals) can take you on a journey from funkytown to soul city and send you home with a smile on your face and some boogie in your step while some rockin blues is goin’ through your head. Good stuff! You don’t want to miss it at the Unitarian Universalist church, it is a great venue for these acoustic style concerts. There is plenty of parking there with two public parking lots across both streets and easy access to downtown Eau Claire eateries. The “church” is located on the corner of 421 S. Farwell in Eau Claire and is easy to find.

As usual, the music will start at 6:30 p.m. and will go for a couple of hours.

Tuesday Night Blues Unplugged will be on the second Tuesday of each month through May.

January 8th   we will warm up the new year with the some heat from Left Wing Bourbon

February 12th   will feature those blues sweethearts Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & “Magic” Deb Klossner

March 12th  Davey J & The Jones Tones will get us rocking our way in to spring with their Texas style

April 16th   the Sue Orfield Band keeps things jumping and rolling with their special blend of tunes

May 14th   Code Blue w/Catya & Sue will be the finale for the unplugged series and get us warmed up and ready for a summer full of blues and boogie!

So, be sure to put these dates on your calendar and come join us the 2nd Tuesday of every month from now until May when the summer season takes off!

Please be safe this New Years Eve! Do go have a good time, but if you are drinking make sure you have a designated driver to ferry you. I really don’t want to read about you in the paper.

Check out our website for where your favorite bands are playing New Years Eve and through January.

The website has been undergoing some changes lately. We have added the survey section and feedback can be provided. There are also new links for membership, mailing lists and even sponsor information for Tuesday Night Blues. We have the entertainment calendar on the home page and there are links to many of the bands (and there scheduled events) at the Chippewa Valley Blues Society website www.chippewavalleyblues.com and the Tuesday Night Blues Facebook page www.facebook.com/tnblues for more info. Don’t forget to tune in to WHYS 96.3 Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for Snapshot’s blues show 

Give me some feedback about what you’d like to see more of in this column. Drop us a card or letter to:

Blues Notes
c/o GNP Report
PO Box 473
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Or go to ChippewaValleyBlues.com

And click on the “send a note to the webmaster” link at the bottom of the page. I’m not the webmaster, but we’re good friends, and I’m pretty sure he’ll let me know what you had to say. While you’re there, check out the survey on the Tuesday Night Blues page and let us know what bands you think we should make sure to have next year, or what we can do to make it an even better event. We appreciate your comments!

November 2012

This is usually a time of year with little to talk about. In the past I have provided some blues history and discography and/or another recap of events of the last year. I will do those again, too. Well, I’ll try not to get too nostalgic about the year gone by. The history and discography’s I really like. How about you guys? Give me some feedback about what you’d like to see more of in this column. Drop us a card or letter to:

Blues Notes
c/o GNP Report
PO Box 473
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Or go to ChippewaValleyBlues.com

And click on the “send a note to the webmaster” link at the bottom of the page. I’m not the webmaster, but we’re good friends, and I’m pretty sure he’ll let me know what you had to say. While you’re there, check out the survey on the Tuesday Night Blues page and let us know what bands you think we should make sure to have next year, or what we can do to make it an even better event. We appreciate your comments!

We have gotten so many comments that the season is just too short and that folks would love to see more music through out the year, we decided to do something about it. Starting on Tuesday November 13th we will be presenting the first in a monthly series of concerts we have decided to call Tuesday Night Blues Unplugged.

It is a cooperative effort with the good folks at the Unitarian Universalist church we will present a schedule of seven concerts before the summer season begins. The UU has been putting on musical events for years, and it is a great venue for these acoustic style concerts. There is plenty of parking there with two public parking lots across both streets and easy access to downtown Eau Claire eateries. The “church” is located on the corner of 421 S. Farwell in Eau Claire and is easy to find.

We will kick off the first season of Tuesday Night Blues Unplugged November 13th with 22 oz. Porterhouse, a minimal version of Sparky & The Wipers (it could be all of them) which features the musical and vocal talents of Paul Hintz and Mike Schlenker. These guys have been around the Chippewa Valley a long time and put on a great show. As usual, the music will start at 6:30 p.m. and will go for a couple of hours.

From there we will put on another event every month through May. All of these events will be in the second Tuesday of each month. The schedule is set as follows.

December 11th  Mojo Lemon performs their first ever acoustic show

January 8th   we will kick off the new year with the a little heat from Left Wing Bourbon

February 12th   will feature those blues sweethearts Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & “Magic” Deb Klossner

March 12th  Davey J & The Jones Tones will keep us rocking our way in to the spring

April 16th   the Sue Orfield Band will keep things rolling with their special blend of tunes

May 14th   Code Blue will get us warmed up and ready for a summer full of blues and boogie

So, be sure to put these dates on your calendar and come join us the 2nd Tuesday of every month from November to May!

The website has been undergoing some changes lately. We have added the survey section and feedback can be provided. There are also new links for membership, mailing lists and even sponsor information for Tuesday Night Blues. We have the entertainment calendar on the home page and there are links to many of the bands (and there scheduled events) at the Chippewa Valley Blues Society website www.chippewavalleyblues.com and the Tuesday Night Blues Facebook page www.facebook.com/tnblues for more info. Don’t forget to tune in to WHYS 96.3 Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for Snapshot’s blues show.

October 2012

There is a chill in the air, the gridiron warriors are nursing their wounds and celebrating the victories, kids are already making their Xmas lists and preparing costumes for Halloween. The school year is well under way and summer is just a memory. Soon the blaze orange will be airing on the line to rid it of any mustiness from storage and the deer will be in rut. Seems like summer rushed by at the speed of a prairie fire. Hot and dry, it was consumed by days of activity and each day led to the next so quickly it seemed that it was gone before it was started.

The Chippewa Valley and western Wisconsin was alive with a great wealth of musical entertainment. Blues On The Chippewa expanded to three nights and two days of regional and national artists making their music and entertaining a record number of attendees. Tuesday Night Blues swelled the benches of the Owen Park band shell nearly every week from Memorial to Labor Day with folks that were delighted by the talented offerings of the musicians, who were so happy to have the opportunity to present their creations and lyrical renderings for the throngs that found their way to that magical setting, in the shade, under the trees, next to the Chippewa River. It has been a wonderful experience watching that crowd drift in off the street and filter through those trees to gather, once again, in the festive, midweek setting. I can still smell the barbecue, burgers and brats at these festivals we are blessed with here. The blessing has come in the overwhelming appreciation expressed by not only those who attended, but also by the performers in their great appreciation for being included, and hopes that they will be again. It was a really good summer.

Unfortunately it was pretty disastrous for many farmers. The drought that trashed so many crops continues, and when agriculture suffers we all end up paying the bill. As we proceed toward the harvest we will be hearing more about that. With gas at $4 a gallon and grocery prices rising rapidly, be sure to count your blessings and help your community when and where you can. We are all in this together. Rugged individualism sounds pretty macho, but history has proven that in times of crisis it is a sense and effort of community that solves problems and provides more of an ability to survive hard times.

Some things to look forward to will be showing up at ChippewaValleyBlues.com on the events calendar on the home page. Be sure to check it often to find out where your favorite bands are playing. This calendar changes often, so check back often. One event you will want to put on your calendar is the 3rd Annual production of “Stage Fright” the recreation of The Band’s movie “The Last Waltz”. Organized as a fundraiser for “Feed My People, this concert is performed on Thanksgiving night by 30 or more of the area’s best musicians portraying the awesome array of talent that was gathered for the original over 2 nights. This is a must see event! The venue has not been announced for sure as of this writing, but I have been assured that most of the performers have been lined up and rehearsal has begun. I will keep you updated at both the website and on Facebook.

The website has been undergoing some changes lately. We have added a survey section and feedback can be provided. There are also new links for membership, mailing lists and even sponsor information for Tuesday Night Blues. There are links to many of the bands (and there scheduled events) at the Chippewa Valley Blues Society website www.chippewavalleyblues.com/ and/or the Tuesday Night Blues Facebook page www.facebook.com/tnblues for more info. Don’t forget to tune in to WHYS 96.3 Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for Snapshot’s blues show.

Thanks for lending me an ear! We’ll be seein’ ya around.