If you missed 2009 Blues Music Award nominees Homemade Jamz Blues Band on BET in June, you can catch them once again in July on national radio and television. They were interviewed by Tavis Smiley while they were in Los Angeles. The radio program will air sometime in mid-July, but the TV interview will air on Tuesday July 7. Check your local listings. For more information, click here.

BONTAJ COLLECTIVE ACTION FUND In conjunction with ticketing agencies like Ticketmaster, Live Nation Ticketing and Musictoday, and some venues and promoters, the concertgoers and artists are all coming together to raise money for charity with every ticket sold on The BonTaj Roulet Tour. With 25 cents taken directly from the ticket price, matched by 25 cents from Bonnie and Taj, and with Ticketmaster. Live Nation Ticketing and Musictoday stepping up to the plate to match the contributions, we hope to reach our goal of raising $1 for charity for every ticket sold on the thirty date BonTaj R... <more>

The 2009 Jus` Blues Music Awards Week is a unique entertainment event that attracts Blues & Soul music artists, industry professionals and fans from across the globe. It is credited with being one of the most important Award Shows in Blues & Soul music for African-American performers. Jus` Blues Music Awards Week consists of seven major events August 5th through August 8th on Beale Street as well as special events held in downtown Memphis. "Night of the Living Legends" August 5th - 7PM A formal dinner entertainment event at The Historical Daisy Theater in celebration of the 2009 Jus` ... <more>

The dates for the 2nd European Blues Conference which is set for July 29-August 1, 2009 in Notodden, Norway. The conference will be staged under the auspices of The Blues Foundation, the international organization based in Memphis, Tennessee. The host of the second conference is the Notodden Blues Festival and the conference will be held in conjunction with its world-renown festival. Accordingly, in addition to the Conference's great networking and educational opportunities, each attendee will be able to experience great Blues music, as well as the beautiful scenery and hospitality the Tele... <more>

The winners of the Miss Maryland 2009 competition were announced Saturday night. Brooke Poklemba, Miss University City, took home the big honor. She is a Rhodes College (Memphis) graduate and a former intern at The Blues Foundation. She can be seen on the 2008 Blues Music Awards DVD where she was one of young women who presented the awards to the winners. She beat out 19 other contestants in a talent, evening gown, and swimsuit competition. She will compete in the Miss America Contest later this year. After the big announcement, excited and exhausted contestants went back to the H... <more>

Check out the great article in the New York Times about Delmark Records' Bob Koester here.

Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC ) and The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are pleased to collaborate for a fifth year on The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad. JALC is now accepting band applications for the 2009-2010 program. American music groups from throughout the United States specializing in jazz, urban/hip hop and other American roots music including bluegrass, blues, Cajun, country, gospel and zydeco are invited to apply for the opportunity to travel abroad, particularly to countries not frequently visited by American musicians, to increase cross-c... <more>

The Blues Foundation is now soliciting nominations for persons to be considered by the Board Development Committee for inclusion on the ballot for The Blues Foundation's Board of Directors. All vacancies this year are in Board-elected positions (as opposed to member constituencies). The Board Development Committee is especially interested in receiving nominations from individuals who are in a position to lead and assist The Blues Foundation with a $2-3 million capital campaign to establish a permanent home for The Blues Foundation in downtown Memphis, one that will provide educational, au... <more>

Founder and producer of the Pocono Blues Festival, Michael Cloeren announces the Vermont Blues Festival will be held the weekend of August 21, 22, and 23, 2009 at Mount Snow Ski Area, West Dover, Vermont featuring 13 national recording artists including Mavis Staples, Elvin Bishop, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Shemekia Copeland, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, Guy Davis, Johnny Rawls, Lil' Dave Thompson, Wallace Coleman, Mississippi Heat, Studebaker John, and Samuel James. The facility is spectacular, stated Michael Cloeren, the 1996 recipient of the ... <more>

Calling all photographers of Blues Foundation events. Downtowner magazine is now taking submissions for its 8th annual Photo Contest. The 2009 theme is Memphis at Play. You all have some of the best photos that capture the fun side of Memphis with your shots at the International Blues Challenge and the Blues Music Awards. Deadline is July 20 and full contest rules are at www.MemphisDowntowner.com.

Put an ad on The Blues Foundation website and reach up to 20,000 blues consumers each month. Rates start at only $50.00 per month for a side banner ad. The Blues Foundation offers 3 locations for ads on our website: 1. Welcome Page Top Banner - this appears at the top of the welcome page, which is the 1st page most visitors to our site see. The content is usually a photograph. Ads are in a random order rotation so that a different ad appears each time the page is accessed or refreshed. Only 5 ads are now allowed in this location. The maximum size is 500W X 80H pixels. Maximum resolution is ... <more>

The Blues Foundation continues to increase its membership, but ever so slowly. We have more than doubled our membership in recent years and now have the most members ever, but the total worldwide membership still hovers around 3000!!! That is not good. We continue to gain new members but too many folks join and then fail to renew. We continually remind these folks but we currently have 2500 expired members in our database. Just think if we at 5000 or 5500. We know for many folks "money is too tight to mention" but the basic membership has remained at $25 for more than ten years.... <more>

Executive Director Jay Sieleman and his wife Priscilla Hernandez were recent guests of the Tercer Blues Festival International in Cali, Colombia. The goal was to introduce The Blues Foundation to Latin America and make some new friends. Jay was a presenter at a panel on The Blues Foundation, the international blues scene and blues as tourism. Check out the photos here.

Two hours of the 2008 Blues Music Awards, divided into two segments. The first feaures the presentation of the awards and performances by these winners: The Holmes Brothers; Deanna Bogart; Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy; Muddy Waters alumni (Margolin, Smith, Jones) w/ Johnny Dyer & Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Bobby Rush; Tommy Castro; and Watermelon Slim & the Workers. In addition, accepting awards but not performing Sam Lay, Koko Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Tab Benoit and Bettye LaVette. The second segment features the rest of the great nominee performances, including, among others: Jimmy "Duck" Ho... <more>

The Blues Foundation has updated its logos. Well, Jen Taylor of Vividpix and Design has updated our logos. Check them out here. Please update your website, newsletter, etc.

BMAs Reach New Heights on 30th Anniversary (By Don Wilcock) Reprinted with permission from BluesWax. If you are not already a subscriber to this weekly e-zine, you can sign up for free here. When Sirius-XM Satellite Radio host Bill Wax and Blues Foundation Executive Director Jay Sieleman walked into the Flying Saucer bar a block from Beale Street the day after the Blues Music Awards, the Memphis club welcomed them with a spontaneous and completely unplanned round of applause. The two had been the fulcrum for the most succes... <more>

It has become tradition to come up with a Blues Music Awards Top Ten, so here is this years list, but as Long John Baldry would've sang "It Ain't Easy" to limit it to only ten. 10. Is there no rest for the weary? Is the lobby now too small for the Blues Music Awards reception? It was packed like never before. The Marriott had pre-sales of drink tickets and enough bars, if you could get to one! In the ballroom, the tables were filled to the back for dinner. And wait until word spreads about how much fun this years show was. Back to the drawing board, I guess. 9. Marcia Ball has been a ... <more>

Check out Mark Goodman's photos here. Check out Aigar Lapsa's photos here. Check out Dusty Scott's photos here. Check out Bob Sekinger's photos here. Check out Mako Funasaka's photos here. Check out Arnie Goodman's photos ... <more>

A little over a year ago, ArtsMemphis, a perennial source of funds for The Blues Foundation, launched a new interactive cultural calendar at www.artsmemphis.org. Since then, the website has become the place to go to find out what is happening in the Memphis cultural scene. Some 100,000 people visited its site this past year and many of them were new visitors. While the majority of its visitors come from the area surrounding Memphis, they also have people checking out the website from outside Tennessee. In the past year, they have had over 900 event listings and more than 130 organizati... <more>

The Most Important Deejay In The Blues By Don Wilcock Reprinted with permission from BluesWax. If you are not already a subscriber to this weekly e-zine, you can sign up for free here. Something happened at this year's Blues Music Awards that pushed it over the line from great show to mythic historical precedent. I think it was partially the testimonies of so many artists that felt being a part of the family saved their lives figuratively and literally. Part of it was that so many of us were there together. Trust ... <more>

The Blues Foundation has contributed $1500 to the Georgia Transplant Foundation for the benefit of Carlos Capote from our HART Fund. The Georgia Transplant Foundation will match our contribution and will continue to match donations up to $10,000. Carlos is the lead singer/harmonica player with Atlanta's Breeze Kings, an IBC Band Finalist in 2005. Carlos is suffering from a hereditary kidney ailment which has left him with, at this point, 15% kidney function. He needs a kidney transplant. This is a very serious matter and a very expensive undertaking. In order to ensure that the... <more>

This is not a misprint. Though we are busy finalizing plans for the 30th Blues Music Awards coming up May 7, 2009, we are five months into the eligibility period for releases that will be considered for the 2010 Blues Music Awards. We have finalized tweaking the Nomination Process for the 2010 Blues Music Awards. To read all about it, visit here. You may now submit your eligible release--CD or DVD--(November 1, 2008-October 31, 2009) here. Remem... <more>

The dates for the 2010 International Blues Challenge will be January 20-23. This is one week earlier than usual and two weeks earlier than 2009. This is the date The Orpheum Theatre is available. The Board of Directors passed three rules applicable to the 2010 IBC at its meeting Friday February 6. Here they are: 1. Any organization presenting an act for the IBC must be affiliated with The Blues Foundation no later than the conclusion of the IBC of the preceding year to be eligible. (This year's IBC has concluded, so to sponsor an act in 2010, you have to already be an affiliate)... <more>

If you have not yet seen these hilarious videos showing what music would be like without the Blues, check them out and tell your friends. Click here. The videos are also on You Tube under "Without the Blues." Somebody is having fun!!!

The Blues Foundation and the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis have partnered to create a fund to which contributions will be accepted for the long-term endowment of The Blues Foundation. The Community Foundation has a professional staff to answer all your questions, though you should consult with your own financial planning team. For more information you may discuss with Jay Sieleman, Executive Director, at 901.527.2583 ext 12 or with Frank Horrell, CPA CFP, Director of Professional Advisor, Development at the Community Foundation at 901.722.0027. You should also consult with your... <more>

Looking for Blues music on your radio dial. A very helpful website for finding Blues radio programs is Mary4Music. When you go to the Blewzzman's site, you might just find something more of bluesy interest to you. And check out www.MountainofBlues with host and producer Michael Cloeren. Then there is Bluesville on XM Satellite Radio with host and good friend Bill Wax.

For information on summer blues festivals. Visit Blues Festival Guide or check out the list at Blues Revue. The Blues Festival Guide lists 530+ Blues Festivals in 2007. In case you are wondering. Here's how they breakdown by month. January = 12 February = 16 March = 12 April = 20 May = 58 June = 99 July = 105 August = 102 September = 69 October = 22 November = 17 December = zero