Durham Blues Festival Returns to Durham Sept 7

Don't look so sad, the blues are back in Durham.  The Bull Durham Blues Festival, to be specific.

The 26th Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival will be held at the Hayti Heritage Center on Saturday, September 7 from 6 p.m. - 12 a.m. This year's festival features Big Daddy Wilson of Edenton, NC along with other performers including The Rhonda Robichaux Band; Claudette King; The Jimmy Haggard Band; and Jason Damico and the New Blue, a rising star on the local blues scene.

The annual Bull Durham Blues Festival, produced by St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier blues festivals in the country and has been honored with the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. The festival has become one of North Carolina’s largest celebrations of the blues, recognizing Durham’s rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues.

North Carolina’s premier celebration of the blues promises to entertain again this year with a mix of local and renowned international blues artists. Set for Saturday, September 7 from 6:00 pm until midnight, this year’s one-day Festival will be held at the historic Hayti Heritage Center’s Performance Hall. Doors will open at 5pm. Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 day of.  For more information, call (919) 683-1709, email for more information. Ticket information is online.

Learn more about great Durham events with the Durham Event Calendar.

Bull Durham Blues Festival Rain Date Announced

The Bull Durham Blues Festival (BDBF)is widely known as a must-see for blues aficionados.  In fact, it drew a NY-based travel writer who has visited 22 countries to Durham.  According to the article she wrote about her experience in Durham - she had a blast in part due to the BDBF.

As many know, the Saturday schedule of this years' show was disrupted by bad weather.  Well, if you were one of the hundreds of people kept away by the rain then read on.

The St. Joseph's Historic Foundation, Inc. is presenting the Blues Festival Redo on December 7, 2012 at 7 p.m.

And it's FREE.

"We're excited to be able to offer this free Blues Festival Redo or makeup performance to our loyal patrons and festival lovers who've come to count on us for a great Blues show," said Interim Director Janella Sellars. "We were so disappointed that the weather prevented three fantastic groups and performers from entertaining those who showed up for a good time, as well as those who couldn't make it out that Saturday due to the massive storm. But now is our chance to make it up to everyone, and let them know how much we appreciate their continued support."

Artists who were unable to go on stage due to the weather during the September festival are scheduled to perform at the December show. They are:

7:00 p.m. -- Bullfrog Willard McGhee
                  2011 Triangle Blues Society Blues Challenge winner (solo artist)
                  "McGhee is one of the great characters of modern-day
                  North Carolina Piedmont blues..." -- Dave Menconi, Our State Magazine

8:15 p.m. -- E-train and the Rusted Rails
                  The Rusted Rails ignite local audiences with a captivating mix of familiar and
                  original rock-a-billy, swing, and blues. They were voted best band by the
                  Triangle Blues Society in 2011 and the Cape Fear Blues Society in 2010.

9:30 p.m. -- Stanley Baird
                  Acclaimed jazz musician, composer and entertainer.  He's has shared the concert
                  stage with his mentor Donald Byrd, Najee, Alex Bugnon, Regina Belle,
                  Richard Elliot, Brian McKnight, Kirk Whalum, Kim Waters, The O'Jays,
                  and the late George Howard.

Doors open at 6 p.m. at the Hayti Heritage Center, and vendors will also be on hand. The Hayti Heritage Center is located at 804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27701.  Seating is limited, so get there early.  For more information about the performances, contact Janella Sellars at jsellars@hayti.org, or call 683-1709.

Focus Groups to Help The Art of Cool Project Bring a World-Class Music Festival to Durham

Durham is widely-known as a haven for creativity and authenticity.  Given those attributes, it is somewhat surprising that Durham does not have multiple live music festivals to give more energy to the emerging club scene with venues like Motorco and the Casbah, and to accompany the Bull Durham Blues Festival.  If a new project has its way, that will all change.

The Art of Cool Project (AOCP), in its quest to bring a live music festival to downtown Durham, is pleased to announce a series of focus group sessions to be held in the large classroom at American Tobacco Underground, from 7:00PM until 8:00PM. These one-hour sessions have been scheduled in order for the AOCP to get input from the community on what they hope to see in a music festival in Durham. The American Tobacco Underground is located at the corner of Blackwell and Pettigrew Streets in downtown Durham.

The first focus group session will take place Monday, October 15 and will address festival format and footprint considerations. Anyone who is interested in helping AOCP lock down a date, format and footprint are welcome. Specifically topics covered will be:
1. Picking the right date
2. Essential festival highlights
3. How large the footprint should be
4. Free versus ticketed events

This initial session will be co-moderated by Greg Lowenhagen, Director of Hopscotch, and Marc Lee, Blues Festival, Hayti Heritage, and WNCU radio announcer/emcee.

The full schedule of topics and the dates they will be discussed are as follows:

October 15th: Date/Format/Footprint
October 22nd: Venues/Ticketing
October 29th: Musical and Artistic Programming
November 5th: Fundraising/Sponsorships
November 12th: Food Trucks/Restaurants
November 19th: Traffic/Parking/Transportation
November 26th: Kids & Educational Activities
December 3rd: Volunteer Coordination/Sustainability
December 10th: Marketing/PR

 The Art of Cool Project Focus Group Sessions are open to the public. Anyone desiring to help bring a top-notch music festival to the Triangle and also to foster a world class jazz and live music culture is encouraged to attend one or all of the sessions. Come and give your “two cents.” Get in on the ground floor planning of a dynamic culture-changing event.

For more information and to R.S.V.P. for these focus groups, please sign up online.

Dedicated to increasing the visibility of the local vibrant, varied and surprisingly under-appreciated jazz and live music scene, The Art of Cool Project is a unique collaboration between the jazz and art communities to bring both creative mediums to supporters in an intimate concert setting. The Project also has additional goals of solidifying the Triangle as a metropolitan area with a world-class defined jazz culture by bring a Jazz Festival to Durham, as well as recognizing the need to keep jazz as part of America’s fabric by cultivating the genre in future generations. Bringing this festival to Durham is a step towards these goals. With its second year in existence, expect many exciting things to come from The Art of Cool Project.

To keep up with the latest The Art of Cool Project News, visit them online, on Facebook,or follow them on Twitter.

The Bull Durham Blues Festival Returns to the Place Where it all got started

The Bull Durham Blues Festival is coming up soon, and local blogger Carl Kenney II shares his appreciation of this landmark festival.  For both those who have and have not attended, this piece offers a clear window on what the experience is like for one fan. 

"The Bull Durham Blues Festival returns to the place where it all got started" 

REV-Elution

Carl Kenney II

She’s Putting Something in My Food, is my favorite Bobby Blue Bland song. I used to rush to my car before 5:00 p.m. to hear Cy Young play it every Friday on WQOK.  I love the sound of Bland gurgling like poison has been placed in his food.

News of Bland coming to this year’s Bull Durham Blues Festival was enough to make me shout.  Bland and BB King are, in my opinion, the co-Kings of blues.  If you want to feel like your heart has been pulled out and stomped on by a woman who did you wrong, Bland is the man. Hand me some tissue.

This year’s festival is certain to rekindle memories of the old days before the event lost its home at the Durham Athletic Park.  It was the place to be in September.  Over the years, I have written about how the festival is a showcase of what makes Durham like no other place.  It’s a gathering of a diverse blend of folks.  You’re certain to run into the who’s who of Durham, and the simple Jane and Joe who came out to listen to some good music and dance.

The festival lost its appeal over the past few years due to being unable to find a venue that offered what the old ball park brings.  I loved the ball park because of how it reminded me of the movie that introduced me to Durham – Bull Durham.  There was something special about the old tobacco houses surrounding the park, and the bleachers that made you think about baseball, apple pie and the blues.

Although few sit in those bleachers, it was enough knowing they are there to remind you that we are in the Bull City.  Dang, it felt good walking on the grass, picking up some crawfish and something to soak it down while moving my hips to something that made me laugh and cry all at the same time.

 I’ll never forget listening to Clarence Carter while thinking, “whew, I gotta preach in the morning.”  I couldn’t stop moving when Trombone Shorty went back and forth between his trombone and trumpet. I did the Wang Dang Doodle with Co Co Taylor all night long, and thought of afros, bell bottom pants and platform shoes when Isaac Hayes talked about Shaft being a bad mother, shut your mouth.

Yes, the best of the Bull Durham Blues Festival has been at that ball park where the movie was made.  That site was lost when the city decided to remodel the park and enter into a contract with minor league baseball.  Since then it has been moved to the Durham Bulls Stadium where the new team plays, the Durham Performing Arts Center where people were glued to seats, and last year near central park.

Now it’s back home.  Just in time for the 25th anniversary.  The entire city should pack the place to say welcome home.  It takes place on Friday, September 7th and Saturday, September 8th.

Having the growling Blue Bland is enough for me, but this year’s lineup is way over the top.  On Friday, Marcia Ball will perform.  Ball received her 5th GRAMMY nomination in 2012 as blues artist of the year.  Also on Friday is Luck Peterson, who had an R&B hit at the age of six for his song 1-2-3-4.

On stage with Bland on Saturday is Otis Clay.  There’s Kansas City Blues, Memphis Blues, Mississippi Delta Blues and then there’s Otis Clay, the King of Chicago soul and blues.  What more can Durham ask for as a way to celebrate the return of the festival to the place where it all got started.

Hold my crawfish.  I’ll see you at the park on September 7-8.

Don’t be confused if you see me dance.

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Purchase Tickets
By phone: (919) 683-1709, ext 21

In person: Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville Street, from 10am – 5pm on Tuesday – Friday and 10am – 3pm on Saturday

Advance tickets, $35

Day of event tickets, $45

For more information go to Hayti Heritage Foundation's website.

25th Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival Back Home at the DAP

The St. Joseph's Historic Foundation, Inc. in Durham is pleased to announce the 25th Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival will return to the Durham Athletic Park (DAP) on September 7 & 8, 2012.

After moves around the city to other locations, the festival's return to the DAP is exciting news, said Janella Sellars, Interim Executive Director. "It is time for the festival to come home.  Community members regularly share their wonderful experiences at the DAP, noting the good food, music, dancing through the night and the camaraderie they have come to look forward to every year at the Blues Festival.  Many have children who've grown up attending the festival at the DAP.  It's a family-friendly environment that the community has come to love and cherish as it is now interwoven into the fabric that is Durham," she said.

The festival has sought a permanent location since the renovation of the DAP in 2008-09, and in past years, has been held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham Performing Arts Center and Durham Central Park. Despite the numerous changes of locations, Sellars says the community has continued to support the festival with letters, emails, phone calls and news articles.  They want to see the festival strengthen and continue its status as one of the top Blues Festivals in the country, she said.

While this year's Blues Festival continues its tradition of harp blowing, guitar strumming, down home blues, it also promises something for the entire family, including a KidsZone with interactive entertainment for youngster, and a Marketplace where blues lovers can indulge in an eclectic mix of regional and international foods for the soul, arts and crafts by NC artists, and a variety of unique specialty items.

The artists' line-up will be announced in the coming weeks.  Special discounted Pre-Sale Tickets will be available June 1-30, with advance tickets going on sale July 1st. Blues lovers are invited to bring their blankets, but to help preserve the field, lawn chairs will not be allowed. The festival goers can enjoy the fun on the infield or in the grandstand, rain or shine!!  Gates open at 5 p.m. and show ends at 11 p.m.

The annual Bull Durham Blues Festival, produced by St. Joseph's Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier blues festivals in the country and has been honored with the "Keeping the Blues Alive Award" by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN.  The festival has become one of North Carolina's largest celebrations of the blues, recognizing Durham's rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues. 

Bull Durham Blues Festival Meets Durham Central Park

The 24th season of the Bull Durham Blues Festival will be unlike any other. Every year the Festival brings national recognition to the home of the "Piedmont Blues" and is considered an important piece of the local tapestry. As a special thank you to the community that has supported the annual Blues Festival, St. Joseph's Historic Foundation has made this year's event free to the public.

In direct response to feedback from Festival supporters, the Bull Durham Blues Festival will return to an outdoor setting: namely, Durham Central Park. The St. Joseph's Historic Foundation has partnered with the city and Durham Central Park  to present the Bull Durham Blues Festival on September 10 from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Through the years, Festival goers have shared the richness of the blues heritage and experienced an event well-suited for families, friends and Blues lovers of all ages. Lawn chairs are encouraged for maximum enjoyment of this distinctly Durham event.

 24th Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival
Saturday, September 10, 2011
6pm-12 Midnight (gates open at 5pm)

Festival Season Is Just Beginning

Any other community having just hosted the Bennett Place Civil War Surrender Commemoration, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and the Doughman might look forward to taking the summer off, but not Durham. In Durham, the summer months are just as prolific with the Juneteenth Celebration, American Dance Festival, Festival for the Eno, the Bull Durham Blues Festival and the NC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Durham's festivals are unique; they don't just fill the calendar, many have earned global reputations and continue to put Durham in the national spotlight. These signature festivals are a part of Durham's story. They are a part of Durham's incredible quality of life.

The New York Times recently called Durham a "major summer dance destination." The American Dance Festival, which runs throughout the months of June and July, is one of Durham's great cultural assets. Tickets for the 2011 season are available here.  For more events, visit the Official Durham Community Calendar, Durham's most comprehensive event calendar, a service of Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

2011 Annual Tribute Lucheon "A Huge Success"

The 2011 Annual Tribute Luncheon, held today at Bay 7 in American Tobacco for a sell-out crowd, was, according to Shelly Green, "A huge success."  Green is the President and CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, the organization that produces the event each year.

Annually, the Tribute Luncheon honors individuals and groups who have helped shape and preserve Durham’s unique sense of place. This year it celebrates three Durham institutions and some of the individuals associated with them who have worked tirelessly and artfully to achieve greatness. Their organizations have become synonymous with Durham and they have made even richer the tapestry that comprises the fabric of Durham.

For 2011, the theme was "Great Rhythm. Great Blues." and showcased three of Durham's most enduring organizations: the African American Dance Ensemble, the American Dance Festival and the Bull Durham Blues Festival.

The African American Dance Ensemble expresses the rhythm of life and is more than a dance troupe. The ensemble is an agency of positive social change and reinforcement of the human values of peace, love and respect, as well as a world-renowned arts education organization.

The American Dance Festival has its hands on the pulse of modern American Dance. Relocating to Durham in 1978 from Connecticut, the festival floods Duke's campus each summer with about 500 dancers, choreographers, musicians, critics and scholars from around the globe.

Durham loves to sing the blues, but not the kind that speaks of bad luck, hard times and lost love. Showcasing an art form that is reflective of Durham’s rich musical heritage, the Piedmont or Carolina Blues style is upbeat, and just as likely to make listeners jump up and dance as shake their heads in reflection. For more than two decades, the Bull Durham Blues Festival has been held in Durham as a showcase of some of the finest contemporary blues artists today.

This event is produced annually and in the past has recognized the culinary arts, architecture, authors and civic organizations.  To see some images from today's event, click here, here and here.

The event is always a "who's who" of Durham and of the respective community being celebrated with today's event being no exception.  "Events like this help to remind us all how special Durham is, and why we are all so proud to be here," Green added.

Annual Tribute Lunch on Wednesday

This Wednesday, Bay 7 is going to come alive with music and dance as Durham celebrates its unique sense of place at The Annual Tribute Luncheon.  This year The African American Dance Ensemble, The American Dance Festival and The Bull Durham Blues Festival are taking the stage. The theme is Great Rhythm and Great Blues which ties directly into the dance and blues that make such an impact on Durham each year.

A few tickets were available at the time of writing, but like in years past, the event's host, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, expects all tickets to sell.  The event is held annually and is invariably a great show of community support.

The Time is Now - Annual Tribute Luncheon Almost Sold Out

Good things come to those who…act now! The African American Dance Ensemble, the American Dance Festival and the Bull Durham Blues Festival have all enhanced Durham’s reputation as a center for the arts; now it’s your chance to celebrate them for all they’ve done.

Tickets for this year’s Annual Tribute Luncheon, Great Rhythm Great Blues, to be held on April 27th at American Tobacco’s Bay 7, are going fast! Order now, before they are sold out, and and join Durham in honoring these organizations that are an important piece of the tapestry that comprises Durham’s unique sense of place.

Free Concert Celebrating the Bull Durham Blues Festival Saturday, September 11 at Capitol Broadcasting Plaza at DPAC

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation Inc. will host a FREE CONCERT celebrating the blues on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 4pm – 6pm on the Capitol Broadcasting Company Plaza at DPAC. Two local blues bands will be featured and vendors will be on site to welcome blues lovers to a mini outdoor blues event prior to the last night of the Blues Festival’s show starting at 6PM.

At 4:00 pm FAT BASTARD BLUES BAND opens.  The Fat Bastard Blues Band took 1st prize at 2009's Triangle Blues Society’s Blues Challenge!  With their first EP due out this fall, they are all about up-tempo, engaging, and full-throttle Blues. It isn’t just twelve bar. It isn’t a bent note. It’s a feeling; it’s about being dirty and it’s about being clean. It’s taking RL Burnside, ZZ Top and Robert Cray and launching that inspiration to their own intoxicating zone.

The Fat Bastard Blues Band is an up tempo, engaging 5 piece blues act from the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. They formed in May of 2009 and played their first gig, the Triangle Blues Society’s 2009 Blues Challenge, which allowed the band to compete at the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN.  Since their formation they have been actively expanding their local fan base, recording demos, and preparing for their slot at the 2010 Bull Durham Blues Festival. They are currently working on their first EP, slated to be released in the fall of 2010.

The term “Fat Bastard” has more to do with how they perceive the music; the blues has either influenced or been at the root of nearly all styles of contemporary popular music today, and the goal of the band is to reinvigorate the music by not shying away from those influences, but utilize and blend those styles back into the blues. Therefore, the music can be considered “bastardizing” the genre. The “fat?” comes from nothing being trimmed out, the band comes out at you full force.

Members are: Tim Collins – Guitar, Jason Simons – Bass, David Terrenoire – Harmonica, Carl Wetter – Vocals, guitar, and Gary Mitchell – Drums.

At 5:00 pm HELL CAMINO takes the stage. Hard driving, in-the-pocket, and rock solid, Hell Camino is a modern band with traditional roots and contemporary branches.

Hell Camino is the fortunate gathering of five road-tested veterans of the Triangle blues and R&B scene. At some point over the past 15 years, all the band's members have played in bands with one or two of the others, but none of it ever amounted to what they heard and felt when they came together in early 2009 when a knock-off jam inspired a new band on the spot.

A cohesive unit both musically and socially, the band brings enthusiasm, innovation, and unerring professionalism to the craft of making great road house music. The poise of Motown mingles with the energy of Stax (and boils the brew with miles of chitlin' circuit tradition) to make the band's presence a forceful and electric presence.

Musicians David Bradford, Mark Davison, Benny Latino, Cricket Megarity, and Lenny Terenzi are all industry vets who have performed with acts that include Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Mighty Lester, Percy Sledge, Professor Longhair, Roomful of Blues, and Tommy Castro.  Come take Hell Camino for a spin and see for yourself how it handles!

This event is FREE to the public, bring your lawn chair and or blankets and enjoy some great blues under the sun.  Support for this event was sponsored by the City of Durham, DPAC-Durham Performing Arts Center and American Tobacco.

For more information go to www.bulldurhamblues.org or www.hayti.org , (919) 683-1709.