Alabama Blues Project
712 25th Avenue
Northport, AL 35476
Phone (205) 752-6263
Fax (205) 752-6662 info@alabamablues.org
The ABP is a proud sponsor of the Alabama State License Tag Legislative Committee's Support the Arts, tags. Please consider supporting the arts in Alabama (or your state) through your local Probate's office by purchasing a tag that shows that you support the Arts! Funding from the Alabama Legislative Tag Committee goes toward the funding of the arts in Alabama!
On Thursday, September 16, 2010, Tuscaloosa will have a rare treat when internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Ruthie Foster will perform at the Bama Theatre in a benefit concert for the Alabama Blues Project. Doors open at 6 p.m. and showtime is 7 p.m.
Ruthie Foster, who hails from Texas, is a dynamic singer/songwriter/performer with a unique mix of folk, soul, blues, gospel and R&B. She has performed from choir lofts to folk bistros and onto stages in Europe and Australia. There’s Southern blues in her groove, rock in her rhythm, a blend of gospel redemption, country poetry and jazz elegance in her singing.
The concert will open with a set featuring the Alabama Blues Project’s intermediate and advanced bands, the latter of which performed in the prestigious International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase in Memphis this year.
Ruthie Foster is a 2010 Grammy nominee for Best Contemporary Blues Album with her latest release The Truth According to Ruthie Foster and a 2010 Blues Music Award WINNER for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year (with two previous nominations for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year). She has been featured on the covers of Blues Revue Magazine and Keyboard Player Magazine, and The Truth According To Ruthie Foster made it to #1 on both XM Radio’s B.B. King’s Bluesville and #1 on Roots Blues Chart this Spring.
Foster has a sound that ignores demographic lines and a charisma that can ignite any audience. Even as a young girl, she took in a variety of music: hymns from her mother, Beatles songs from her guitar teacher, 45s from her truck-driving uncle, old-school country from various country variety shows, and pop songs.
She studied music in Waco at McClennan Community College, and after a while she was fronting a blues band in biker bars and other venues from Dallas to San Antonio. Eventually, Foster joined the Navy, where she was signed up by Pride, a Navy ensemble that played the Top 40 and funk hits of the day at recruitment drives, mainly throughout the Southeastern states.
From there, Foster’s went to New York, where she absorbed more influences by performing at folk venues and collaborating with some of the city’s better songwriters. Supported by a contract with Atlantic Records, she expanded her lyrical and musical range. However, her writing began veering away from commercial pop and drawing instead from the roots that had nourished her personally and artistically in her youth. Foster moved back home to Texas, and since has progressed through five albums.
“Ruthie’s drawn comparisons to Ella and Aretha, but musically neither is really close,” observed the Philadelphia City Paper in one such rave. “What she does have in common with Fitzgerald and Franklin is the irresistible blaze. It’s impossible to look away, even close the eyes, for one second.”
The New York Post says of Foster, “Foster has a deep gritty voice with a little Janis and some Aretha that will please discerning soul and rock fans.” The Austin Chronicle stated, “Foster’s deeply soulful vocals dip into gospel and swing toward contemporary folk with R&B panache. When she sings a cappella, the heavens part.”
SPECIAL THANKS TO SPONSORS
As part of the 2010 Alabama Small Towns & Downtowns celebration, historic downtown Northport participated with a Heritage Festival and walking tour on May 22, 2010. The Alabama Blues Project was happy to be part of this fantastic event by putting on our first ever Open House!
The ABP celebrated with live music by the Alabama Blues Project advanced and intermediate bands, Music Maker's Dr. G.B. Burt, Debbie Bond and special surprise guest Little Willie Farmer. We also gave visitors a taste of what we have to offer a living blues museum with a history exhibition tour. A great time was had by all!
On Saturday, May 1st, the Alabama Blues Project presented Blues Extravaganza 2010. This free, family-friendly blues festival was held at the Northport Civic Center from noon to 7 p.m. The live show featured three After-School Blues Camp student bands as well as Alabama blues greats Microwave Dave, Bettie Fikes, Eddie Kirkland and more! This event was hosted by the Northport Downtown Merchants Association.
The Blues Extravaganza was the third annual unique musical celebration, bringing seasoned blues talent together with the young ABP After-School Blues Camp students and showcasing their combined Alabama blues power to the community at large. The 60+ students studied the blues all spring and were excited to share the fruits of their hard work and performing along side professional Alabama Blues Performers.
Microwave Dave and Eddie Kirkland are internationally known and regulars on the Alabama blues club and festival circuit. Alabama native Bettie Fikes flew specially from California for this wonderful show. Bettie is known for her blues, gospel and freedom songs and she is a star known across the U.S. and the world.
The After-School Blues Camp brings Alabama's rich blues heritage to the next generation of budding musicians and combines hands-on music instruction with a life-skills curriculum and blues music history. Over 60 Blues Camp students will be performed in three levels of unique blues orchestras: beginning band, intermediate band and the advanced band, which participated in the Blues Foundation's 2010 International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase.
Students and audience alike were also be treated to performances by the Blues Instructors, whose members have been teaching our young students throughout the semester. These great musicians include B.J. Reed, Bruce Andrews, Debbie Bond, Jesse Suttle, Brad Guin and more. It was truly a party!
The ABP would like to thank everyone who supported our Evening of Art and Blues fundraiser. The crowd enjoyed live blues from Willie King and the Liberators, Microwave Dave, Debbie Bond, Carroline Shines, 2BLU, Doobie “Doghouse” Wilson, Simple Interest, and the some of our very own Blues Camp kids!
The auctions were a great success thanks to the generous businesses and talented artists who donated wonderful items – particularly North River Interiors of Tuscaloosa, Picture This for outstanding framing services, and our fantastic auctioneer, Jerry Pearson!
None of this would have been possible without the sponsorships of L&N Station, Harrison Galleries, Mercedes-Benz, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Kwik Kopy Printing, Jim Walter Resources, Stephens Insurance and Financial Services, Nick’s Kids Fund, McAbee Construction, Barkley GMC, HardSteel, J&L Signs and Stamps, Tuscaloosa Toyota, First Federal Bank, Emergi-Care Clinic, Maxx Mailing Service, Jamison, Money, Farmer & Company, Hampton Inn, OZ Records, Jim Myers Drug, Banks Quarles Pumbing, Wal-Mart on Skyland and Harry Lee Equitable Insurance Company. We also acknowledge the tremendous support we receive from the Children’s Trust Fund, the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
We would also like to thank restaurants contributing food which include Chuck’s Fish, DePalma’s, Angeline’s, Jason’s Deli, Kozy’s, McAlister’s, Edelweiss, Snap Decisions Catering, Mugshots, Fig, Evangeline’s, Mary’s Cakes and Willy T’s.
We would also like to thank our many volunteers, Dr. Buster Allaway’s UA M.S. Marketing Class, Buddy Pate, John Sikes, and a fabulous committee and Board of Directors!
The funds raised will help us continue raising awareness of Alabama’s rich Blues culture, history and our award-winning blues camps and school residencies. Please visit us online at www.alabamablues.org for more information and to find out how you can help!
Cara Smith, Program Director
Alabama Blues Project
The Alabama Blues Project thanks the community for its turnout and enthusiasm for the Honeydripper film premiere at the Bama Theatre. We were very grateful to have director John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi here for the event. They were both very pleased with all the support shown for the movie and the ABP.
We would also like to extend special thanks to the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa County – particularly Pam Pennick, without whom this could not have been possible. Thank you also to Jeremy Butler, the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences, Tommy Fell, Josh and Rebecca Rothman, Joanna Jacobs, Dr. Sarita Elizabeth Cox, Jarrett Hudson, Omar Dinkins, our extraordinary Board of Directors, and all of our friends for your much appreciated help.
While Honeydripper is fiction, the tradition of blues in Alabama is very real. It is our mission at the ABP to preserve and promote this heritage. Alabama, unlike Mississippi, has not yet realized its potential for cultural tourism that is possible through the effective promotion of the blues in our state. Our dream is to have a living blues museum with space for teaching and performance, as well as exhibition space for traveling and permanent collections, and archival storage to appropriately preserve the rich blues history that exists in this state. Click here for more information about our preservation projects.
To help promote the 2007 Freedom Creek Blues Festival on May 25-26, this program is a rebroadcast of Rebecca Ryals interviewing Willie King at the 2003 Freedom Creek Blues Festival in Old Memphis near Aliceville, includes musical examples.
Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Alabama Folk Heritage Award Winner
This program is a rebroadcast to help promote the Alabama State Council on the Arts' "A Celebration of the Arts Awards" held May 16th, 2007 at the Davis Theater in Montgomery where bluesman Jerry "Boogie" McCain received the Alabama Folk Heritage Award. In the radio program Folklife Specialist Anne Kimzey interviewed Jerry McCain about his life and music career at his home in Gadsden Alabama. Musical examples are included in the program.
Debbie Bond and Alabama Blues Project Blues Camp, September 2005
Barbara Edwards, Deputy Director, conducts an interview with Debbie Bond, Executive Director of the Alabama Blues Project. The Alabama Blues Project is a non-profit organization, located in Tuscaloosa, which focus on the promotion, documentation and presentation of the Blues.
Joey Brackner, visits the 2004 Black Belt Roots Festival in Eutaw, Alabama. He talks with festival organizers, craft artists and a Fayette County step group that performed at the recent event.
Joey Brackner interviews singer/songwriter and folklife researcher Russell Gulley about his musical career and new CD Back to the Swap. Musical examples are included.
This program is a broadcast of a 1991 Radiovisions series that features bluesman Johnny Shines. Radiovisions is a production of Russell Gulley and the Big Wills Arts Council of Ft. Payne Alabama. The Radiovisions series of programs were initially released as audio cassettes. This particular program is a brief biography of the late Johnny Shines and his music.
PHOTO GALLERIES OF THE 2009 BLUES EXTRAVAGANZA IF YOU'D LIKE TO ORDER PRINTS, PLEASE CONTACT MICHAEL ADAMS AT
(205) 792-4831 OR photomca@yahoo.com AND HAVE FILENAMES ON HAND
Barbara Edwards, Deputy Director, conducts an interview with Debbie Bond, Executive Director of the Alabama Blues Project. The Alabama Blues Project is a non-profit organization, located in Tuscaloosa, which focus on the promotion, documentation and presentation of the Blues.
The Alabama Blues Project thanks the community for its turnout and enthusiasm for the Honeydripper film premiere at the Bama Theatre. We were very grateful to have director John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi here for the event. They were both very pleased with all the support shown for the movie and the ABP.
