July 2013

Hey All!

Hard to believe it’s not only summer, but the weekend is almost over already. As long as this last winter was, all we can hope for is that we get some extended fall, cause there sure was no spring, and so far not much summer like weather since Memorial Day. I had a guy telling me yesterday that though he was born and raised in the Chippewa Valley, if this is what it’s going to be like in the future here, he’s going to move. Life is too short! His words, don’t blame him though. Last year was unrelenting heat and drought, this year has been heavy wet snow in April & May, lots of rain and cool weather.  Just wait, mosquito/bug season is just arriving. Fun Stuff!

Tuesday Night Blues had to go inside for the first two weeks of the season, but finally got outside for week 3 with Bryan Lee & the Blues Power Band. Not as many folks attending as we’d expect but about 500 showed up for the show at Owen Park band shell for this Grammy nominated artist. We gave him a rousing Chippewa Valley welcome. The band said we have something really special goin’ on here. They loved it.

What? You say you have never been to Tuesday Night Blues? Sorry, you are missing one of the premiere concert series/fests in the country. We have artists from all over the country asking to be included in the schedule. Sorry, Guys, only 14 nights this summer. We have bands begging to be on the schedule, but still need some sponsors to help put on these shows. If you haven’t made it to Tuesday Night Blues yet, you can only kick yourself if/when it is only a memory. The final show of this season will be the 81st presented by the CVBS.

The difference between TNB and any of the other concert series going on in the Valley is we have always paid the bands a decent rate for a mid-week gig from 6:30-8:30 p.m.. It is important to Tuesday Night Blues to treat bands with professional respect. Tuesday Night Blues/CVBS is a not for profit entity with no other motivation than to bring entertainment to you, and give you some background/history of both the bands being presented, and of some blues legends and pioneers as well. Our reward is not financial, it is the thanks and appreciation received from both the bands that are playing and the awesome folks attending week in and week out. Tuesday Night Blues fans are the best in the world!!!

Coming up in July is an excellent lineup. Closing out June is Code Blue with Catya & Sue Orfield on June 25th. This band is full of awesome talent and plays over half their set in original tunes. July 2nd starts out the holiday week with one of the hottest blues and funk bands in Wisconsin, Left Wing Bourbon! If you haven’t heard this group, Shame On You! You only have yourself to blame when the kids ask if you ever heard them back in the day!

July 9th Charlie Parr will give us an encore appearance. It will be the first show he has done at Owen Park band shell. Last year he played our annual sojourn to Phoenix Park on the 1st Tuesday of August. Deepwater Reunion returns to TNB on July 16th. This hardest working blues show band will be making their 5th appearance at TNB, coming from all over the Badger state. They travel from Manitowoc, Eagle River, Wisconsin Rapids and Sun Prairie just for the chance to play their “Small Town Blues” for you!

July 23rd Steve Meyer and the True Heat Band will be back again to rock you socks off with their take on John Lee Hooker to Stevie Ray Vaughn. We’ll close out July with Ross William Perry and his band doing some awesome renditions of Jimmy Reed to Jimi Hendrix. These mud ducks know how to mix it up, man.

Blues On The Chippewa has a schedule taking shape. This will be a 3-day event for the 2nd year, with big names all 3 nights. I heard a rumor Sunday includes Lamont Cranston with Bruce McCabe. Keep checking back at http://www.bluesonthechippewa.org/  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.

June 2013

Hey All!

If you are reading this it must be getting close to summer. Does it feel like it yet? I sure hope so. As I’m writing this, it was summer like today. Awesome! Love it! Only thing, I missed spring somewhere. I know it arrived in March, but I don’t think it ever got itself unpacked. Oh, well, I guess some years are like that. I just don’t really remember one quite like this one.

Here’s a quick reminder for ya . . .The 2013 Northwoods Blues Festival is Memorial Day weekend in Trego, WI at the Heartwood Conference Center & Retreat. Friday it’s Howard Luedtke & Blue Max, Reverend Raven & The Chain Smoking Altar Boys with Westside Andy, Chris Beard, then Joe Louis Walker. Joe is the newest inductee to the National Blues Hall of Fame, Wow! Saturday it’s The Rhythm Roosters, Mojo Lemon, Kenny Neal, after brewing on that all day erupts with Ana Popovic. Go to www.northwoodsbluesfest.com for ticket, camping and lodging info.

Tuesday May 28th Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & Blue Max get the 5th season of Tuesday Night Blues at Owen Park started just like they did in season 1. How do you follow a local legend? Only with another 13 Tuesday nights of great music including two Grammy nominated artist on the schedule this year! The 3rd week of the TNB season will feature Bryan Lee. The “Braille Blues Daddy” of New Orleans will grace our stage with his band on his way to play at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago the following Friday night. According to Duke Robillard “Whether he’s wailing a Freddy King inspired blues ballad, stomping out low down and dirty blues, or getting down with a super funky New Orleans groove, Bryan Lee is gonna grab your soul and squeeze it till you scream in blues ecstasy.”

TNB will present great bands presenting with a little rock, funk, soul, and maybe even some country or reggae mixed with their blues stylings.  The “best of the valley” will be present in the form of Mojo Lemon, Left Wing Bourbon and of course Blue Max. If you haven’t heard Revolver yet, be sure to treat yourself on June 4th and hear the collaboration of Nick Foytick & John Nietz and the rest of this explosive blues band. The Tommy Bentz Band is back on June 18th with an infusion of southern rock & boogie. Then in time to turn up the heat and get your blood boiling it’s Code Blue with Catya & Sue, not to mention Lucas (K) Fischer, Randy Sinz & Mr. Drum Machine, John LeBrun. And that’s just June! There’s more to come! Heck just to give you a hint, we keep things rockin’ with a funky beat in July with Left Wing Bourbon on the 2nd to start the fireworks for the holiday week.

Check out the entertainment calendar on the home page of Chippewa Valley Blues Society website (bands be sure to send us your schedules), you can find links to many of the bands at  www.chippewavalleyblues.com and more info at the Tuesday Night Blues Facebook page www.facebook.com/tnblues.

We can always use more sponsors to keep Tuesday Night Blues going. If you’re interested contact us at the website. There are links for membership, mailing lists and more sponsor information for Tuesday Night Blues.

Blues On The Chippewa has a schedule taking shape. This will be a 3-day event for the 2nd year, with big names all 3 nights. I heard a rumor Sunday includes Lamont Cranston with Bruce McCabe. Keep checking back at http://www.bluesonthechippewa.org/  for more info.

I know I said it before, but it’s worth repeating, the Chippewa Valley Blues Society recently joined The Blues Foundation as an affiliate member. This organization coordinates nationwide events and has an annual international competition for the best blues band. The Blues Foundation also maintains and coordinates the Blues Hall Of Fame. We hope to send a representative from here to that competition soon.

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.

May 2013

Hey All!

 Any one ready for spring yet? Hopefully by the time this hits the streets we’ll be able to sit out in the sunshine and enjoy the backyard. This winter realllly doesn’t want to go away. Keep believing, spring will come, and summer right on it’s heels. So get ready.

 The Sue Orfield Band created some time for Sparky (Paul Hinz) & Mike Schlenker to get us warmed up on April 9th. It was great to see Paul back on stage again. Those guys were scheduled to be the opening act for Tuesday Night Blues Unplugged, but Paul experienced some serious health issues that prevented that from happening. It was worth the wait, and then a tune or two with Paul Joining SOB and Josh Gallagher sat in on piano, too!

 Next up on May 14th Code Blue w/Catya & Sue will be the finale for the unplugged series this year. 6:30 at the Unitarian Universalist church, plenty of parking and easy access to downtown Eau Claire. 421 S. Farwell in Eau Claire is easy to find, just a block east of Barstow.

 Don’t forget, coming up Memorial Day weekend, The 2013 Northwoods Blues Festival is going to be May 25th & 26th in Trego, WI at the Heartwood Conference Center & Retreat. Friday fires right up with Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & Blue Max, followed by Reverend Raven & The Chain Smoking Altar Boys with Westside Andy sittin’ in, then Chris Beard, and capping Friday night will be the newest member of the National Blues Foundation Hall Of Fame Joe Louis Walker. Wow! Saturday starts rockin with The Rhythm Roosters, then Eau Claire’s own Mojo Lemon leads in to the awesome Kenny Neal, which is only warming the crowd up for that blues siren Ana Popovic, current covergirl for WhatzUp magazine and a new album “Can You Stand The Heat” just released. That is an awesome lineup. Go to www.northwoodsbluesfest.com for ticket, camping and lodging info. Tickets for the two days are $60 in advance and $70 at the gate.

 The 5th season of Tuesday Night Blues at Owen Park begins Tuesday May 30th with Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & Blue Max, followed by another 13 Tuesday nights of great music. We have two Grammy nominated artist on the schedule this year!

 The 3rd week of the season TNB will feature Bryan Lee on June 11th. A New Orleans legend Bryan will grace our stage with his band on his way to play at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago the following Friday night. Find out more about this awesome performer at http://www.braillebluesdaddy.com . According to Duke Robillard “Whether he’s wailing a Freddy King inspired blues ballad, stomping out low down and dirty blues, or getting down with a super funky New Orleans groove, Bryan Lee is gonna grab your soul and squeeze it till you scream in blues ecstasy.”

On Tuesday June 4th Revolver will make an encore appearance at Tuesday Night Blues. June 18th the Tommy Bentz Band will return to Owen Park, followed on June 25th by Code Blue w/Catya & Sue. That will just get the season started.

Every week TNB will present great bands presenting blues stylings mixed with a little rock, funk, soul, and maybe even some country or reggae here and there.  The best of the valley will once again be present mixed with some of the best in the region. We have excellent local talent that is often better known in Europe or even other parts of the country than in our own backyard of western Wisconsin. They and we appreciate your support! The entertainment calendar is on our home page (bands be sure to send us your schedules), 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.

 If you’re interested in being a sponsor for Tuesday Night Blues contact us at the website www.tuesdaynightblues.com. There are new links for membership, mailing lists and sponsor information.

 Blues On The Chippewa will continue to bring us amazing talent from around the country and Midwest as well. I hope to bring you word about that schedule soon. If you are interested and want to volunteer or contribute go to http://www.bluesonthechippewa.org/

 There are many great musical events that are available, but very few have such high quality and are essentially FREE. Hard to beat that!

 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.