40 Years Later: Those 40 year-old photos on the cover harken back to the beginning of the Toronto Blues Society. A teen-age Jeff Healey jamming with his mentor, Steven C, Jackie Richardson at the first Women’s Blues Revue and many of the pioneers of the Toronto blues scene. See who you can recognize? Photos courtesy of the TBS’ original Executive Director, Barbara Isherwood who nowadays is more likely found lecturing on art and photography for the U of T or Hot Docs. On Friday, June 6, The Toronto Blues Society will be celebrating our 40th with a great party at the Long Branch Social Club, 3595 Lake Shore Blvd W. in Etobicoke (Doors / Dinner 6PM). Long time TBS boarder Gary Kendall brings his Mighty Duck Blues Band to provide the entertainment and there will be lots of special guest performers to help us celebrate 40 years of blues in Toronto. Get ready to dance, mingle, and enjoy some fantastic tunes with fellow blues enthusiasts. We will have New 40th Anniversary TBS T-Shirts for sale, a 50/50 draw and a Silent Auction for a collectors edition acoustic guitar signed by over 30 Iconic Blues Artists.
Tickets https://torontobluessociety.com/40th/

Meanwhile, Canada’s newest blues society, The Escarpment Blues Society, is celebrating their one-year anniversary with a big show on May 27th at the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre.  The stellar lineup includes Chuck Jackson, Steve Strongman, Sandra Bouza, Selena Evangeline, David Rotundo, Ira Walker, Spencer Mackenzie and  The EBS All Stars: Colin Lapsley, Jesse O’Brien, Dave King & Roly Platt.  https://escarpmentbluessociety.ca/

Blues in Aurora: Angelique Francis is back in the GTA with her first gig at the shiny new Aurora Cultural Centre with Jay Blues in support on June 7.   This marks a return to blues after the pause of the Aurora Winter Blues Festival, a February favourite but crushed by covid like so many things.  The Aurora Cultural Centre is in partnership with Music Aurora and will span four days under one roof, watch this space for details.  Sue Foley is also bringing her “One Woman Guitar” show to Aurora on June 21.

In The Studio: Canada’s pre-eminent music scribe, Larry LeBlanc, has turned the tables and is in the process of making a blues album with another LeBlanc, New Brunswick bluesman J.P. LeBlanc.  Larry has co-written most of the tracks and brought in producer Colin Linden and his Nashville posse as well as his friend Cajun music legend Steve Riley from the Mamou Playboys to play accordion on four tracks, and doubling fiddle on one of the tracks.  The album will be called  “All In My Blood” and is shaped by years of push-and-pull between JP’s life on the road touring Canada, Louisiana, and Europe, and his role as a family man and father growing up in a tight-knit bilingual community in Atlantic Canada. Stay tuned for more on this exciting project and hats off to Larry!

Congratulations to Julian Taylor who has been selected for the Massey Hall & Roy Thompson Hall’s first-ever Artist in Residence program. This year-long residency will take place across multiple spaces throughout Allied Music Centre and is its first ongoing residency program that offers comprehensive support, including mentorship, studio time, live performance opportunities, creative collaborations, and professional development at Allied Music Centre – Canada’s newest cultural ecosystem and home of Massey Hall.  We’re losing track of all the awards and nominations coming his way and now Julian was also just nominated for two CMAO (Country Music Association of Ontario) awards.

More Congrats: On the other side of the pond, Shemekia Copeland has been named the winner of the Blues Act of the Year for the 2025 Jazz FM Awards (a UK station not to be confused with our own jazzFM91). The award ceremony took place April 24th, at KOKO in North London. Jazz FM is a British digital radio station and streaming service.