Dear Friends
Welcome to the Alabama Blues Project's first new format, web-based newsletter - I hope you like it! There are four chapters, and you can go directly to them by clicking the links below. As usual, there is so much to report I don't know where to begin, so this newsletter is a sampling of the many acitivites and events we have been involved with over the past few months.
1. Recent Events
2. Alabama Arts Radio Series
3. For Your Diary
4. Vera Hall Memorial Fund
Please let us know what you think of the new format.
The Alabama Blues Project is funded by grants and donations from many individuals and organizations, and we are very thankful to each and every one who has helped us. We would especially like to thank the generous ongoing support from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Children's Trust Fund of Alabama, and the National Endowment for the Arts. These organizations have given tremendous ongoing assistance to our after-school and summertime blues camp, "Blues in Schools" programs, and educational exhibitions. We very much appreciate the excellent work of these organizations in promoting the arts and art education in the state of Alabama.
With the help of these sponsors and many other generous individuals and organizations, we are expanding our after-school and summertime blues camp. This year we will be providing blues camp for two advanced bands, an intermdiate level and a beginners group. Recruiting for blues camp has already started, and we hope to have a total of around sixty students by the time we are fully up and running in February 2006. Many thanks to the Covenant Presbyterian Church on Hargrove Road, Tuscaloosa, who are again generously providing space for the blues camp.
With best wishes
Debbie Bond, Director
debbie@alabamablues.org
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The ABP events celebrating The Year of Alabama Blues Women are proving a huge success! Our traveling exhibition, Red Hot and Blue: A Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women, is traveling all over the state being seen by thousands, young and old! We are so thankful to the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Tuscaloosa Consortium on Higher Education for making this exhibition possible.
Here are some photos of recent events:
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Education Curator Stephanie Burak discusses the ABP traveling exhibition, Red Hot and Blue: a Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women, with a group of elementary students as part of the Auburn Parks and Recreation Sixth Annual "Adventures in Art." This program ran from September 12 - 16, at the wonderful Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center. Thousands of students from the Auburn City Schools enjoyed a week-long multi-disciplinary arts program that featured a wonderful range of music and visual arts programming. |
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| Caroline Shines, performing with Debbie Bond and band at the Auburn City Parks and Recreation "Adventures in Art" program. |
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| APB blues band leading an interactive blues workshop with elementary students at the Auburn City Park and Recreation " Adventures in Art" program. |
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| Sylvette Shines, granddaughter of the late great Johnny Shines, hosting the ABP traveling tent exhibition: Red Hot and Blue: a Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women, September 4, at the Magic City Blues Society Blues Fest 2005 in Linn Park, Birmingham, Alabama. |
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| Sweet Claudette and Debbie Bond get down at the Magic City Blues Society Blues Fest 2005, in Linn Park, September 4, Birmingham. |
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| Freedom Creek Blues Festival, May 28, 2005: (left) Blues women Sweet Claudette, Caroline Shines, Debbie Bond, and Elnora Spencer. (right) ABP President Steven Hobbs, Board Member Dolores Royal, and Director Debbie Bond at the ABP booth accompanying the traveling exhibition Red Hot and Blue: A Spotlight on Alabama Blues Women. |
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Saturday, October
8 - West
Wing Fling, Montgomery, Alabama
The Alabama Department of Archives and History will celebrate the opening of
its new wing with activities for all ages. Among them will be The Antique Corner,
an identification, evaluation, and preservation service and performances of
traditional bluegrass, gospel, and blues music.
The Alabama Traditional Music tent will be filled with sound starting with the
Sullivan Family at 9:30 and 11:45, the Birmingham Sunlights at 10:30,
and Sacred Harp (shape note) singing at 12:45. Lil' Jimmy Reed will finish
the day with down-home juke joint blues beginning at 2:00pm. The self-taught
musician from Enterprise, Alabama, picked up guitar and harmonica from nightclubs
near his home, emulating the style of Jimmy Reed. He has opened for Bobby Blue
Bland and plays many festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival.
Other events of the West Wing Fling include children’s activities, living history encampments, lectures and books by Alabama authors, and of course, tours of the new west wing. The Department of Archives and History was created in 1901, the first department of its kind in the country, and it served as a model for other states.
For more information please phone Sherrie Hamil at 334 353 4712 or email to sherrie.hamil@archives.alabama.gov. Saturday, October
15 and Sunday, October 16 - Kentuck
Festival of the Arts, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Selected for two years as one of the Top
Twenty Events in the Southeast Tourism Society and presented with
an Alabama Governor's Award, Kentuck annually hosts more than 30,000 visitors.
It features an outstanding
presentation of arts and crafts in a
variety of artistic styles ranging from folk to contemporary arts, as well as
traditional arts. Each of the 250+ artists participating in the Festival
is either invited as a guest artist or is juried, based on the quality and originality
of their work.The guest artists are nationally recognized folk and visionary
artists whose powerful visual images continue to capture national and international
acclaim.
In addition, two stages offer continuous performances of legendary blues, bluegrass, folk, country, gospel, classical and alternative rock, while food vendors serve a variety of delectable fare including ribs, gyros, Cajun and vegetarian. This years blues lineup features Willie King and the Liberators and Debbie Davis!
For more information please call 205 758 1257. |
November 1
through November 30
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The Alabama Blues Project has established a fund to honor the life and music of Vera Hall. Proceeds from this fund will be used to purchase a historical marker to be placed in Livingston near the cemetery where Vera Hall lies buried in an unmarked grave. The Vera Hall Memorial Fund is in collaboration with the Sumter County Historical Society in Livingston, Alabama, who will help with the design, placement and funding of this important project. The goal of this endeavor is to honor and help bring attention to the life and artistry of Vera Hall, and bring the rich music culture of the Alabama Black Belt region to a wider audience. So far we have raised about 65% of the amount needed. The Alabama Blues
Project is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and all contributions to
this fund are tax deductible. If you would like to help, please send
your contribution to: |