When was the last time you saw a three piece family blues band with two left handed guitarists? Let alone a blues band with strong vocals both female and male? Trampled Under Foot, winners of the 2008 International Blues Challenge, is like no other blues band you will ever see. Danielle is an amazing blues singer and an excellent bassist. Kris fires right in the pocket on the drums and sings as well. Nick is a strong singer and an accomplished guitarist, winning the 2008 Albert King Award from the IBC.

TUF books venues and festivals world wide, having performed at numerous national and international blues festivals.

WINNERS of the 2008 International Blues Challenge!

WINNERS of the 2008 "Albert King Award"!

WINNERS of the 2007 Kansas City Blues Challenge!

NOMINATED for Pitch Magazine's 2007 Music Awards "Best In Kansas City" Blues Category!

http://www.trampledunderfootkc.com/

BLUES BOYS WELCOMES NERAK ROTH PATTERSON TO IT'S FAMILY OF FINE BLUES TALENT
 
NERAK ROTH PATTERSON may go down as the Bluesman of the 21st Century!
Having such heavies as Guy Davis and Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull play on
your CD's is no small feat and Nerak has navigated the Blue waters of the music
world well at a young age, and stands firmly as captain on the 'Deck of his Ship'!

He released his 1st CD BLUESDADDY in 2004 & then followed up quickly with
BROWN ANGEL in 2005! Hitting the club and festival circuit with his band he
made more stellar friends such as the great BB King. Seeing Nerak's show live
one understands how he caught BB's eye. Hot sizzling guitar playing, precise
tone and real deal blues vocals along with a top flight band make this
Bluesman's Shows the kind you don't want to miss!
 
NERAK & the Band will be opening for B. B. King at the STRANAHAN THEATRE  -  in TOLEDO, OH  at 8:00 PM on October 2, 2008

For more on NERAK ROTH PATTERSON visit www.bluesboys.com and listen to
Truckin Man’s Blues, featuring Ian Anderson & other great songs!

In 2001, The Blues Foundation established the HART (Handy Artists Relief Trust) to provide assistance to Blues musicians and their families in financial need due to a broad range of health concerns.

The Fund helps with acute, chronic and preventive medical and dental care, as well as funeral expenses.

Disbursements began in 2003 and have been used to provide assistance for healthcare and funeral expenses. Grants generally range between $250 and $1500.

"I just want to thank you so much for your generosity towards me during this crazy health challenge...for helping me obtain a grant from the HART Fund. It has been so wonderful to have the luxury to focus on healing without worrying about mounting bills. Your compassion has really helped me and my sons during this crisis." - Candye Kane (pictured above)


Over the years, contributions have been made by our members and other donors and donations have also come from specific benefit events. Funds donated to the HART Fund are dedicated 100% to artist relief efforts. Contributions may be made online here or by sending a check to: The Blues Foundation (HART Fund), 49 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103.

Requests for funding should be made by contacting The Blues Foundation, calling 901.527.2583 ext 12 or by e-mail to HARTFund@blues.org

At the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which took place on 21 September in Los Angeles, the producers of the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago / Great Performances on PBS received an award for Not-Exclusively-Made-For-Television Variety, Music, Comedy Event Program.
The producers are Eric Clapton, Peter Jackson, James Pluta, Scooter Weintraub, John Beug and David Horn.

Emmy Awards are presented in the United States by The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences each year for excellence within various areas of the television industry.

Blues-singer Maxx Maxwell is smart, talented, and gorgeous--at least since she had her nose fixed, went blonde, and bought a push-up bra.  Her band, Maxximum Blues, is really taking off, thanks to the talents of guitarist Jimmy Nashville.

But then Jimmy plunges to his death from his ninth-floor window.  The cops say it was suicide, but Maxx decides to investigate on her own.  Her quest reveals a surprising number of people who had reason to kill Jimmy, and the reader is kept guessing until the final pages.

Here’s what Mark Coggins, award-winning mystery writer and creator of August Riordan, the bass-playing detective, had to say about Sweet Man Is Gone:

“In an evocative, stripped-down writing style, Ehrhart drops us smack dab in the middle of the New York indie music scene and Maxx's struggle to solve the mystery surrounding the death of a bandmate, never sparing the grit, humor and hand-to-mouth nature of this intriguing world she clearly knows firsthand. A satisfying debut that reads as much like memoir as a work of fiction--so effective is Ehrhart's voice and narrative skill.”

Peggy Ehrhart is a former college English teacher who took up blues guitar in midlife.  One thing led to another and eventually she formed her own band.  The musical details in Sweet Man Is Gone are drawn from real life--as are the stresses and strains within Maxx’s band.

If you like the blues and a good mystery, check out  Sweet Man Is Gone.
available from:
Amazon.com 
BarnesandNoble.com. 

Visit Peggy Ehrhart on the web at www.PeggyEhrhart.com. 

Hurry! There are less than three weeks left to enter the International Songwriting Competition (ISC), and ISC has made it even easier for you to submit your songs! Instead of searching for packing materials and trying to find time to get to the post office, you can enter online with your mp3s. It's very easy and fast. Visit them at www.songwritingcompetition.com to enter online. If you'd like to enter through the mail, click here for an entry form and more information.

ISC gives away over $150,000 in cash and prizes to 62 winners (not to mention the press, recognition, exposure, and kudos!). The Overall Grand Prize includes $25,000 (US) in cash - the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition in the world - and over $20,000 in prizes. ISC welcomes entries from songwriters throughout the world, whether you're an amateur recording in your basement or you've just finished a new studio album.

New Category For 2008: (ISC) has added a brand new Music Video category this year and has solicited many high-profile judges in the music video arena to judge the entries, including Amy Doyle (Sr. VP of Music and Talent, MTV); Rick Krim (Executive VP Talent and Programming, VH1); and more. This is your chance to get your video seen by the industry executives who actually make the decisions about which videos get played.

Entrants may submit songs in any of the following categories: Pop/Top 40, AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Rock, Country, Americana, R&B/Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Gospel/Christian, Latin Music, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica, Comedy/Novelty, World Music, Children's Music, Lyrics Only, Teen, Performance, and Music Video. Multiple songs may be submitted in each category or the same song may be entered in more than one category.

A total of 55 high-profile music icons and industry executives have joined together to judge the 2008 ISC. Consistent in its tradition of having such esteemed judges, ISC continues to raise the bar for songwriting competitions. The opportunity to have these judges hear your songs offers you an unprecedented chance to access these hard-to-reach, influential decision-makers - the movers and shakers in the music industry. ISC judges might even include some of your favorite recording artists - songwriters who have influenced your music.

Bosses at AMC theater chain have pulled Dakota Fanning's new movie Hounddog from their 5,117 cinemas across the U.S. over mounting pressure from family values groups upset about a rape scene in the film.

Officials at Concerned Women For America are leading the charge to boycott the movie, in which Fanning's character is raped. The controversial Deborah Kampmeier film was supposed to hit movie screens late last year, but protests from family organizations led to legal investigations in certain parts of the country and the stalling of the movie's release.

Prosecutors in North Carolina, where Hounddog was filmed, reviewed the movie in November and interviewed crew members, producers and Fanning, who plays a nine-year-old girl in the film, and declared that although some people might find the film "disturbing and distasteful," there was no evidence that the scene constituted "sexual activity" under North Carolina law, and cries of child exploitation were dismissed.

Promoting the film last week, director Kampmeier told WENN, "I feel a lot of compassion towards these people that are so angry about the film. Rape is a really tough subject and the film deals with issues that are really painful to look at and I think that a lot of people don't have the support in their life to look at their own lives; to look at their own pain. Instead they're facing their pain and projecting their anger and their fear onto my film. A lot of agendas are being projected off this film that have nothing to do with the film and they're being projected onto it by people who haven't actually seen the film. It's too bad."

"I didn't make the film to make a controversial film or a social commentary. I made the film for my heart and if it touches someone else's heart that's what it's about for me." And the writer/director isn't alone in stating that her movie is an important one that should be seen; officials at U.S. women's organization NOW is urging their supporters to rush to cinemas.

Hollywood NOW President Lindsey Horvath says, "Hounddog is a film that calls you to action. It returns innocence to the adolescent discovery of sexuality, and restores hope for those whose innocence has been taken. It's a brilliantly poignant film that clearly depicts how free expression of female sexuality remains unacceptable in today's world, and what survivors of sexual violence must do to reclaim their bodies and selves from their perpetrators. We need more women in Hollywood like Kampmeier to uncover society's oppression of women."

The film went on limited release in America last week. Jill Scott plays Big Moma Thornton in the drama taking place in the 1960s American South. The film also features Piper Laurie and Robin Wright Penn.

The story revolves around a troubled 12-year old girl who finds solace from an abusive life through blues music.

Blues music is delicately woven throughout this touching film to create a colorful tapestry of a melancholy life that finds release and healing through the music of Elvis Presley, whose character appears in the movie, albeit briefly, and the singing of the Blues.

Four musicians who have profoundly influenced the Minneapolis “West Bank” sound since the 1960's, Willie Murphy, “Spider” John Koerner, Tony “Little Sun” Glover and the late Dave “Snaker” Ray will be among this year's inductees into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame in a ceremony to be held at the Minneapolis Eagles Club (2507 E 25th St) on Sunday October 19th beginning at 5 pm.

The Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame honors musicians, people and businesses that have significantly contributed to the promotion and tradition of the Blues music genre in Minnesota over the past 20 or more years. Awards are given in five categories:  Blues Performer, Non-Performer Supportive of the Blues, Blues Literature, Blues Recording and Blues Song.  Nominations were accepted from the general public and then voted upon by members of the Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society.  The 2008 roster of inductees is:

Willie Murphy - “Blues Performer”
It is impossible to classify Willie Murphy as just a “blues” performer.  His musical vocabulary defies and cuts across the simple classifications of blues, rock, reggae, soul, funk, jazz and rhythm & blues.  An accomplished musician, composer, band leader and social commentator, Willie Murphy has been performing since the 1960's locally, nationally and internationally.  He piloted what is arguably the funkiest Minneapolis R&B band of all time, Willie and the Bees, through every dance hall and dive bar in the upper midwest in the 70's and 80's.  He has continued to perform and record to the present day both as a solo artist and in various band configurations including the Angel Headed Hipsters.  Whether he is conveying the pain of losing a lover with his voice, transporting listeners to the tropics with exotic rhythms on the keyboard, or mesmerizing his audience with a searing crescendo on his Parker guitar, Willie Murphy always delivers a soulful, honest performance.

Koerner, Ray & Glover - “Blues Recording” for Blues, Rags & Hollers
Recorded at the Woman's Club in Milwaukee, WI on March 24, 1963 and originally released in June of that year as a translucent red vinyl, 300-copy pressing on the Audiophile label, Blues, Rags & Hollers arrived at precisely the moment in the history of American music when “folk” musicians began to turn their attention to the heritage of Black music in this country.  Covering tunes by Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sleepy John Estes and others along with their own original compositions, Blues, Rags & Hollers not only established the beginning of the West Bank “Whomp Bom” blues sound in Minneapolis but it also helped pave the way for the 60's blues revival in Minnesota and the nation.

Dave Ray - “Blues Song” for “It's All Right”
Part of the 1963 Koerner, Ray and Glover album Blues, Rags & Hollers, “It's All Right” features a solo performance by Dave Ray on vocal playing six-string guitar, bottleneck-style.  According to Paul Nelson's 1963 liner notes, “It's All Right” was improvised entirely in the studio. Dave succumbed to lung cancer on Thanksgiving Day 2002 leaving behind a rich legacy of recorded music.  This early song is an excellent representation of his skill as both a guitarist and a vocalist interpreting the blues form of American music.

Scott Miller - “Blues Literature” for Rock Keyboard
Published by Hal Leonard Corporation in 2003, Rock Keyboard is an instructional keyboard book with a “play-along” CD covering many different styles of rock and blues music.  The play-along CD features a live local band including Scottie Miller, John Iden, Mark O' Day and Paul Mayasich.  Scottie “Bones” Miller has distinguished himself as a performer both on the local scene and nationally.  In 2005 he represented Minnesota at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN and finished among the top five finalists in the solo/duo competition.  In 2006 he toured as the keyboard player with “Bo Diddley & Friends”; Alvin Youngblood Hart and Ruthie Foster.  His CD Livin' Between The Black ‘n White was nominated as the Minnesota entry for “Best Self-Produced CD” in 2006 for the Blues Foundation's “Keeping the Blues Alive” awards.

Tom Asp - “Non-Performer Supportive of the Blues” for Photography 
Tom Asp has been supporting Blues artists and music through photography in Minnesota for over 20 years and was the first and principle photographer for the Twin Cities Blues News. Tom's work has been published in Blue Monday Monthly, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, City Pages, local newspapers, Blues Review Magazine, Rolling Stone, Guitar Player Magazine and other publications.  Tom's work has been featured in exhibits at the Blues Saloon, Narrows North, Sativa Blues, The Blues, Muddy Waters, Black and White, Doc Powell's Restaurant and others as well as on numerous  LP and CD cover and liner photos.

The Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in August 2002. Through volunteer efforts we lend support, pay tribute to and honor our local blues musicians through Profile Events, Road to Memphis competitions, and the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame. The Blues Foundation in Memphis awarded the Electric Fetus a 2007 "Keeping the Blues Alive" Award through our efforts. We have compiled profile booklets of some of the musicians and we have had historians at Hess-Roise Company document the Cabooze Bar, KFAI Radio Station and the Electric Fetus retail store. Our “Blues For Kids” program has introduced young people to the joy of playing a musical instrument in the hope that it will inspire them to become future musicians or at least help them to appreciate this musical genre called the Blues.

www.gtcbms.org

 
In a breakthrough that will facilitate new ways to offer music to consumers online, the Digital Media Association (DiMA), the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), together with the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), today announced an agreement on how music creators will be compensated for music distributed through certain online models.  

The agreement, in the form of draft regulations submitted to the Copyright Royalty Judges, proposes for the first time mechanical royalty rates for interactive streaming and limited downloads, including for subscription and ad-supported services. The agreement proposes a flexible percentage of revenue rate structure, with minimum payments in certain circumstances.  

Limited download and interactive streaming services will generally pay a mechanical royalty of 10.5 percent of revenue, less any amounts owed for performance royalties. In certain instances, royalty-free promotional streaming is allowed. Outside the scope of the draft regulations, the parties confirmed that non-interactive, audio-only streaming services do not require reproduction or distribution licenses from copyright owners. 

The agreement does not address royalty rates for physical product or permanent music downloads. The Copyright Royalty Judges are expected to issue a ruling on those rates on or before October 2.  

“This historic agreement is the foundation for a new generation of music distribution,” said David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO. “This agreement will ensure that songwriters and music publishers continue to thrive in the digital age. I am grateful for the good faith efforts of everyone involved in the discussions leading to this important announcement.” 

“This agreement provides a flexible structure to support innovative business models in the digital music marketplace that will benefit music fans, creators and online services," said Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO, RIAA. "The agreement demonstrates that our industries can work collaboratively to solve complex issues.” 

“Innovative music services will enjoy a more stable business environment because of this agreement and that will benefit music fans and music creators alike,” stated Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of DiMA. “DiMA is particularly pleased with the agreement to end litigation and threats of litigation involving several of our member companies, so that they can focus on building innovative businesses that can effectively fight piracy, the music industry’s greatest threat.”   

Roger Faxon, Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing, who was independently represented in the CRB, also lauded the agreement. “We're very pleased that these matters have finally been agreed, and that we have reached an agreement that is good for the songwriters we represent, and good for music consumers. This is a first step to establishing fair rates that properly compensate writers for their creative efforts, and we'll continue to work hard to establish a framework that properly reflects the value of songs in all their digital forms.”           

Agreement Facts:  

The agreement proposes mechanical royalty rates that cover both limited downloads and interactive streaming, including when offered by subscription and ad-supported services. 

The percentage rate structure in the agreement provides much-needed flexibility for new business models. 

The agreement permits the use without payment of certain kinds of promotional streams, in the interest of encouraging paid uses of musical compositions.

The agreement confirms that the mechanical licenses issued under its provisions will include all reproduction and distribution rights necessary to provide the licensed limited downloads or interactive streams.
 
Outside the scope of the draft regulations, the parties confirmed that non-interactive, audio-only streaming services do not require reproduction or distribution licenses from copyright owners.

MySpace Music  finally launched late last night after coming to terms with EMI. With all four major labels on board, MySpace unveiled their refurbished music pages, complete with new music players that allow artists to upload their entire discography (instead of the six song maximum) and allow fans to purchase music through a deal with the Amazon MP3 store. The whole venture is powered by ad revenues, with all labels and artists getting a share of the ad money based on the number of times their music is played. On the interface side, other new features include the fans’ ability to post 10 songs on their personal sites and create a playlist of up to 100 tracks. Plus, with the new pop-up music player, fans can listen to music even after navigating from the artist’s page. There are issues, however. Many indie labels are still watching the venture from the sidelines with their anti-trust accusations and the majority of the major artists music pages still don’t have music for sale (they do provide links to iTunes, however). If the new MySpace Music finds its ad-based revenue stream successful for both artists and labels, it could completely re-arrange how the music business is run.

In a landmark article in the British Medical Journal, Dr MD Phillips argued that the first patient to be admitted to a British hospital officially suffering from the Blues was Blind Boy Pegleg. He entered the St James Infirmary in 1927 with a suspected case of hiccups, but, after hollering and wailing for hours, was later diagnosed with full-blown Blues. It took a dozen top doctors to cure him.

They did this by bringing in a crack team of tap dancers, some dancing girls, a magician and a local ukulele orchestra, all wearing funny hats. Blind Man Pegleg later changed his name to Tommy Steele, and went on to star in a number of West End musicals.

In August 2008 Matthew Stubbs released his first solo CD, Soul Bender, on the VizzTone Label Group featuring eleven tasty soulful all original instrumentals. Stubbs has earned himself a reputation for his ability to write tremendously catchy instrumentals. The songs are a cocktail of Memphis Soul, Blues, R&B, Surf, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Groove, all perfectly mixed together. 

Hailing from New England (grew up in Hampstead, went to high school in Derry and then to Berklee College of Music in Boston) Matthew Stubbs is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the premier blues guitarists. Whether performing with his band or as a sideman to some of the best in the business, the 25-year old always delivers a mesmerizing performance.

In 2003 Matthew was able to lead his own band, The Matthew Stubbs Band, to a first place finish in the Boston Blues Society’s Blues Challenge. He followed that success with a third place finish at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. The exposure that these accomplishments earned the young Stubbs was immense. The sought-after guitarist soon joined many of today’s blues Greats on stage.

Currently, Matthew Stubbs performs with The Legendary Charlie Musselwhite Band. Stubbs has also done time with R&B sensation John Nemeth and also spent a year and a half touring North America with blues diva Janiva Magness. Matthew Stubbs can also be found doing select tours/shows with Lynwood Slim, Sax Gordon, Junior Watson and Brian Templeton.

"Once upon a time, blues Greats like Albert Collins, Freddie King, Gatemouth Brown, Earl Hooker, and Magic Sam cranked out hooky instrumentals, but now with a few exceptions (notably Rick Holmstrom and Ronnie Earl) it's become an almost extinct species. It's great to see it back in such capable hands." Dan Forte, Vintage Guitar Magazine - August 2008  

www.matthewstubbs.net ~ www.myspace.com/mattstubbs88

SIMPLE MAN ENTERPRISES WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ALL VOLUNTEERS, SPONSORS, FRIENDS, SIMPLY THE BLUES FANS AND live MUSIC LOVERS IN GENERAL TO COME OUT TO THE "RELAY FOR LIFE"(Fundraiser for American Cancer Society) AND SEE NATIONAL RECORDING ARTIST "HARPER". HARPER HAS BEEN A PAST PERFORMER OF "SIMPLY THE BLUES" AND HAS PERFORMED ALL OVER THE WORLD. THERE IS NO COVER,

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE "SIMPLY THE BLUES" RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM ARE WELCOME OR YOU CAN CALL MATT EIMER AT 319-470-2082 ABOUT CONTRIBUTIONS AS WELL.

ASHEVILLE, NC – The newly formed Southern Fried Blues Society kicks off its Membership Drive Music Series with a musical event on Friday,Sept. 26.

Play It Forward Bluesfest, beginning at 8:30 p.m. at The Garage at Biltmore, features Levi Douglas, Bobby G Band, Gas House Mouse, and Peggy Ratusz & Daddy LongLegs.

On Oct. 11 during the annual juried outdoor Church Street Art Festival, Neph’s BluesFest will take place at O’Malley’s Pub on Main Street in Waynesville. The 10-hour musical event kicks off at 3 p.m. with blues duo Laura Lockie and Charles King from Atlanta, followed in the evening by local bands Skinny Legs and All, Blonde Blues and the Bobby G Band.

  Tickets for both events are $3 per person and $5 per couple. Society member price is $2 per person. Advance tickets for Play It Forward Bluesfest can be purchased at The Garage at Biltmore. Neph’s Fest tickets are available at O’Malley’s Pub and at Earthwork’s Gallery in downtown Waynesville.

Proceeds benefit the Southern Fried Blues Society’s educational, promotional, scholarship and contest programs. purchases can also be applied towards a membership in the Southern Fried Blues Society. Visit www.southernfriedblues.org for more.