Toronto Blues Society | » Loose Blues News – September 2013

Loose Blues News – September 2013

Published September 4, 2013 in Loose Blues News, News
FATHEAD

Fathead Gets King: Veteran guitarist Papa John King will be joining Fathead, replacing Teddy Leonard who was playing with the band for 18 of their 21 years. John has played with such notable artists as, Ian Hunter, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Page,Mick Taylor as well as being the regular guitarist for Rita Chiarelli and Danny Brooks. In the early years Papa John played in seminal Toronto bands such as Hott Roxx and the Hogtown Heroes. He was the house guitarist at the famed Club Bluenote, backing R&B greats such as Martha Reeves, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and the great Solomon Burke. Papa John’s first gigs with the band will be Oct. 6 in Huntsville at the Etwell Concert Series and in Thorold at the Canal Bank Shuffle Blues Fest on Oct. 19th.

Blues in the Garden: The free annual Blues in the Garden art display and live blues performance takes place 2pm-5pm during the Queen West Art Crawl on Sunday September 22. There will be a performance by 2013 TBS Talent Search winner Sugar Brown as well as bbq (dietary options available) and beverages available for purchase, including Dan Aykroyd Wines.

Get A Blues Education: Larry Greene will be starting up his informative course on Blues Music. This is a 6 week course at University of Toronto St. George Campus New College starting September 12 until October 17 on Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8:30. Guest speakers will include John Valenteyn, Gary Kendall, Donnie Walsh and Jackie Richardson. For more information on how to register visit learn.utoronto.ca or call 416 978 2400.

Mississauga Blues: The newly renamed Folk Music Ontario conference(was Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) will be home to two TBS initiatives at Mississauga’s Delta Meadowvale hotel over the October 17-19 weekend. Thursday night a series of performers will showcase (including Al Lerman, Fraser Daley and Digging Roots) for talent buyer delegates on hand. In addition, a partnership between the TBS, FMO and the Association of Native Development in the Visual and Performing Arts (ADVPA) will coach several emerging first nation artists through the conference with mentoring, showcase appearances and career development opportunities. This first time effort is tagged “Blues Underground” and is supported by the Provincial Ministry of Culture through the Cultural Strategic Initiatives Fund. This is the same resource that helped produce the Digital Dollars series for musicians and industry professionals.

Job Opportunities: If you consider yourself a music lover and also one with industry knowledge there could be a job for you. Ontario announced a three year $45M project fund to advance the music sector and word is that it will be housed at the OMDC. There are five positions, a manager, two consultants and two coordinators. You could have a great influence in how the 45M ends up being distributed and or how the criteria of grant applications will work and whether funds will be available direct for live music, agencies, festivals, recording studios, events, and award shows. See more information on their website via this short link – http://goo.gl/NpVnzL

Paradis Joins The Board At The Blues Foundation: Gary Paradis,Vice President and Treasurer of the Ottawa Blues Society has been elected to the board of the prestigious Blues Foundation. Gary is responsible for initiating and chairing the organization of the very successful Canadian Showcase at the IBC, where he played a key role in developing a cooperative working relationship with the Montreal Blues Society to jointly organize that showcase as well as the hospitality suite at the Blues Summit.

Wasaga Beach Blues Festival: The Third Annual Wasaga Beach Blues Festival will be taking place September 13 to 15 at the Stonebridge Town Centre. The Legendary Downchild Blues Band featuring Chuck Jackson on lead vocals will play the Main Stage on Friday. Tons of other performers will be there as well, such as, D’Mar & Gill, Irene Torres & The Sugar Devils, Dexter Allen, The Last Waltz -Tribute to The Band, Mark Bird Stafford’s Junior Jam, The Paul James Band and The Mississippi AllStars. Tickets for the banquet are $75 and are available at the UPS Store in Wasaga Beach in the Stonebridge Town Centre. Call 705-429-7030 or email [email protected].

More Ontario Blues Festival Fun: The West Coast Bluesfest takes place Labour Day weekend in Goderich and features performances by Steve Strongman, Bill Durst, Douglas Watson R&B Revue, The MacKenzie Blues Band, Rick Taylor and more. visit westcoastblues.ca.
Later in September, The Hamilton Blues Explosion presents Four Blues Legends in Hamilton at Hamilton Place on Friday, September 27. Matt Guitar Murphy, Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater, Sugar Blue and Alvin “Youngblood” Hart are teaming up to rock Hamilton with some amazing Blues. The whole shebang starts with a wonderful FREE arts and music fair featuring local area musicians and vendors. The good folks who run the Hamilton Blues Lover’s blog (http://blueshamilton.blogspot.ca/) are offering a chance to win a pair of tickets to the main show. Email them at [email protected] and type Explosion into the subject. There’ll be a draw for two pairs of tickets. The entry deadline is September 15, 2013.

Candye Kane Needs A Helping Hand: Candye Kane has been living with cancer for years now, touring and fighting this disease. She has struggled to continue touring but alas she must check into a hospital. She is asking for any donations to help with her dire situation. Fans and friends can help her out with a paypal money transfer to [email protected] or you can send her a check at: candyekane 315 S. HWY101 #47 Encinitas CA 92024.

Counterpoint Introduces Steel Summer Edition Blues Harmonica: The harmonica is available in the key of C in two versions: ‘Blues’ has holes 1 to 6 of a standard 10 hole harmonica which equals 12 tones. The ‘Folk’ version has holes 4 to 9 of a standard 10 hole harmonica, lowered one octave. The Big Six Classic is packaged in a tin can which doubles as a resonator for many interesting sound effects. You can learn more about these harmonicas here http://goo.gl/az9jBH.

Pocono Blues: Our festival producing friend Michael Cloeren has put successful editions of the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Pennsylvania Blues Festival behind him this summer. Stellar reports came out of both as they featured top talent in Penn State (Shakura S’Aida!). Speaking of pens, the folks who pulled the plug on the nineteen year run of the Pocono Blues Festival (and Michael’s former partners) ran into trouble with the law as their trade in Oxycodone came under investigation according to reports. Next up for Michael is the Blast Furnace Blues Festival in Bethlehem over the September 16-18 weekend.

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The Toronto Blues Society acknowledges the annual support of the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and project support from FACTOR< and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Broadcasters, The Canada Council for the Arts, the SOCAN Foundation, SOCAN, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.