Guitar Shorty getting everyone up on their feet! They know how to party
in Baltimore!
Doug MacLeod having fun with his audience in Baltimore with his "steel"
Baltimore Blues Society
PO Box 4522
Baltimore, Md 21015
www.mojoworkin.com
Back in the early eighties, Baltimore Blues Society founder Dale Patton
was seeking a way to bring to town the acts that he and his friends loved.
They formed the Baltimore Blues Society and incorporated in 1985 as a
501c3 non-profit. The BBS continues to present touring artists who otherwise
would struggle to land a gig in Baltimore. For 15 years, we’ve been
using the same American Legion Hall four to six times a year.
The usual show consists of two top touring blues acts. The hall isn’t fancy, doesn’t have a green room or other amenities we’d like to treat the bands to, but we do guarantee over 300-plus enthusiastic blues lovers for every show. We strive to present the entire spectrum of the blues. Here are just a few of the acts we’ve hosted in the last few years: Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, Eddie Shaw, Jerry McCain, Anson & Sam, John Mooney, Nappy Brown & Bob Margolin, Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, Tommy Castro, Johnny Sansone, Tab Benoit, Candye Kane, Michael Burks, Duke Robillard, Roy Carrier, Hubert Sumlin and of course, our “local” national act, the Nighthawks. We celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2005 with a concert featuring Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Odetta and Richard Johnston. We began working with a local club last year presenting local, regional, and a few national acts once or twice a month on Sundays and the occasional weekend night.
We’ve been publishing our 24-36 page newsletter,
The Bluesrag, 8-12 times per year, only in recent years cutting back in
favor of email blasts and the website. The BR features local and national
blues news, extensive photos, reviews and is always anchored by an in-depth
feature article by Larry Benicewicz. You can find an archive of these
at bluesartstudio.com.
We’ve been fortunate to have support from grants of our Maryland
State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the
National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Baltimore Office of Promotion.
These grants have enabled us to sponsor several acts in partnership with
major local festivals including Artscape, the Baltimore Book Festival
and other free events. These dates generally go to local and regional
blues bands.
After not participating for a number of years, we rekindled the Baltimore
Blues Challenge in 2000 and have been sending an act to the Blues Foundation
IBC’s ever since. We’ve been holding our battle-of-the-bands
contest finals the Saturday after Thanksgiving,using judges and the same
criteria as the IBC. We also have a national act to headline the show.
Last year IBC winner Sean Carney appeared. While this has been very successful,
we’re going to a new format this year, since as being literally
the last contest held prior to the IBC has presented some other challenges.
This Labor Day weekend we will hold our 12th annual Alonzo’s Memorial
Day Picnic. This tradition began over 25 years ago, when an original member,
Alonzo Bennett, would have a pig roast with four to six bands in his modest
backyard. With his passing we continued that tradition on the lovely grounds
of the venerable Rosedale American Legion. This year’s line up has
the Billy Price Band, Big James Montgomery, our IBC representative Nothin’
But Trouble, and others to be announced. We always get around 300 people
for this casual, bring your own stuff picnic. There’s plenty of
room for more, so come on down to Rosedale! Check us out at mojoworkin.com!
Blues Societies
Alabama Blues Society
www.alabamabluessociety.com
Apalachee Blues Society
850-668-5863
www.apalacheebluessociety.org
Arkansas River Blues Society
501-985-0436
www.arkansasriverblues.org
Atlanta Blues Society
404 237-9595
www.atlantablues.org
Baltimore Blues Society
410-744-2291
www.mojoworkin.com/
Baton Rouge Blues Society
225-387-0017
www.brblues.org
Bay Area Blues Society
510-836-2227
www.bayareabluessociety.net
Beale Street Blues Society
901-338-7654
bealestreetdb@yahoo.com
Big Joe Turner Musician’s Fund
626-286-2830
Billtown Blues Association Inc.
5470-321-0451
www.billtownblues.org
Black Swamp Blues Society
419-319-8337
www.bsbs.net
Blues Bank Collective
603-431-1249
www.bluesbankcollective.org
Blues Blowtorch Society
217-935-8603
www.bluesblowtorch.com
Blues Jazz & Folk Music Society
740-376-0222
www.bfm.org
Blues Lovers United of San Diego
619-256-1124
www.blusd.org
Blues Society of Lower Cape Fear
910-350-8822
www.capefearblues.com
Blues Society of Northwest Florida
850-221-8304
www.bluessociety.org
Blues Society of the Ozarks
417-874-5700
www.ozarksblues.org
Blues Society of Western New York
716-684-0481
www.wnyblues.org
Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society
614-373-6640
Boise Blues Society
208 344 2583
www.boiseblues.org
Boston Blues Society
617-876-2583
www.bostonblues.com
Bucks County Blues Society
215-788-4794
www.bucksbluessociety.com
Capital Area Blues Society
517.349.0006
www.cabsblues.org
Cascade Blues Association
503.223.1850
www.cascadeblues.org
Central Iowa Blues Society
515-225-6638
www.cibs.org
Charlotte Blues Society
704-331-8871
www.charlottebluessociety.org/
Chicagoland Blues Society
630-510-8669
www.ChicagolandBluesSociety.org
Colorado Blues Society
303-356-6585
www.coblues.com
Columbus Blues Alliance
614-470-2222
www.colsbluesalliance.org
Connecticut Blues Society
860.345.2432
www.ctblues.org
Crossroads Blues Society
317-254-8742
www.crossroadsbluessociety.org
DC Blues Society
www.dcblues.org
Detroit Blues Society
www.dbsblues.com
Diamond State Blues Society
303-376-6298
www.diamondblues.com
Downtown Blues Alliance
561-464-2781
www.downtownblues.8m.com
East Coast Blues Society
http://www.eastcoastblues.ca
Fitzgerald Blues Society
912-426-5033
www.fitzgeraldga.com
Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Society
501-783-6353
www.riverfrontbluesfest.org
Fox Valley Blues Society
630-585-3955
www.foxvalleyblues.org
Frederick Blues Society
www.fredrickblues.org
Grand County Blues Society
www.grandblues.org
Great Northern Blues Society
www.gnbs.org
Hawaii Blues Society
808-864-6529
www.hiblues.org
Houston Blues Society
713.942.9427
www.houstonbluessociety.org
Howlin’ Wolf Blues Society
662-494-2921
www.wpnet.org
Inland Empire Blues Society
509-534-1081
www.ieblues.org
International House of Blues Foundation
323-769-4634
www.ihobf.org
Jackson Area Blues Society
517-796-9368
www.jacksonareabluessociety.com
James River Blues Society
804-237-8080
www.jamesriverblues.org
Jersey Shore
Jazz & Blues Foundation
732-775-4100
www.jsjbf.com
Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association
616-381-6514
www.kvba.org/
Kansas City Blues Society
913-649-0383
www.KCBluesSociety.com
Kyana Blues Society
502-893-0173
members.aye.net/~kbsblues
Lake of the Ozarks Blues Society
573-317-1757
www.lotobs.org/
Lehigh Valley Blues Network
610-437-3217
www.lvbn.org
Linn County Blues Society
319.399.5105
www.lcbs.org/
Lizard Creek Blues Society
www.lizardcreekblues.org
Louisiana Blues Preservation Society
www.geocities.com/Bluespreserve
Luther Allison Endowment Fund
www.beanhollow.com/allison
Magic City Blues Society
205-968-9156
www.magiccityblues.org/
Maine Blues Society
207-353-2842
www.mainebluessociety.org
Marquette Area Blues Society
www.marquetteareabluessociety.com
Mid-Mississippi
Muddy Water Blues Society
www.quincyblues.com
Mid-North Michigan Blues Society
www.mnmbs.org
Mississippi Valley Blues Society
319-322-5837
www.mvbs.org/
MoBlues Association
www.moblues.org
Music City Blues Society
615-822-6387
www.musiccityblues.org
Music Maker Relief Foundation
336-325-2505
www.musicmaker.org
Natchel Blues Network
757-456-1675
www.natchelblues.org
New England Blues Society
508-398-3383
www.newenglandblues.com
New York Blues & Jazz Society
www.nybluesandjazz.org
Northeast Blues Society
518-347-1751
www.timesunion.com/communities/nebs
Oklahoma Blues Society
405-791-0110
www.okblues.org
Omaha Blues Society
402-391-3861
www.omahablues.com
Ottawa Blues Society
www.devant.com/ottawabluessociety
Ozark Blues Society
479-927-1320
www.ozarkblues.com
Phoenix Blues Society
602-252-0599
www.phoenixblues.org
Piedmont Blues
Preservation Society
910-275-4944
www.piedmontblues.org
Potomac Blues Society
301-72-3621
potomacbluessociety.com
Reno Blues Society
775-690-6963
www.renoblues.org
River City Blues Society
309-347-4908
www.rivercityblues.com
River City Blues Society-VA
804-644-2510
www.wegotblues.com
Riverfront Blues Society
501-783-6353
riverblu@ipa.net
Route 66 Blues Project
405-348-2050
www.bluesproject.org
Sacramento Blues Society
www.sacblues.com
Saginaw Bay Area Blues Society
989-797-3923
www.saginawbayblues.com/
San Antonio Blues Society
210-641-8192
www.sanantonioblues.com
Santa Barbara Blues Society
805-897-0060
www.sbblues.org
Shasta Blues Society,
530-246-2226
www.shastablues.com/
Siskiyou Blues Society
530-926-5823
www.siskiyoubluessociety.org/
Skylands Blues Society
www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/delta/6070
Smoky Mountain Blues Society
865-588-5929
http://ambientlife.com/htm/blues.htm
Sonny Boy Blues Society
www.sonnyboyblues.org
Sonoma County Blues Society
www.sonomacountybs.org
South Florida Blues Society
954-972-6877
www.soflablues.org/
South Kentucky Blues Society
270-782-0650
www.kentuckybluessociety.com/
Southern California Blues Society
562-799-2456
www.socalblues.org
Spa City Blues Society
501-262-2943
www.myspace.com/spacityblues
Springing The Blues Society
904-241-1355
www.springingtheblues.com
Suncoast Blues Society
813-855-6310
www.SuncoastBlues.org
Sunflower River Blues Association
601-624-5772
www.sunflowerfest.org
Telluride Blues Society
www.tellurideblues.com
The Blues Foundation
901-527-2583
www.blues.org
Toronto Blues Society
www.torontobluessociety.com
Triangle Blues Society
919-493-8041
www.triangleblues.org
Tucson Blues Society
520-887-2126
www.tucsonblues.org/
Tulsa Blues Club
918-832-1799
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/8661
Walla Walla Blues Society
www.wwbs.org
Washington Blues Society
425-239-3321
www.wablues.org
West Michigan Blues Society
616-774-0853
www.wmbs.org
Western Kansas Blues Society
316-598-2658
mema@pld.com
Wichita Blues Society
316-945-2583
www.wichitablues.com
Willie Dixon - Vicksburg
Blues Society,
www.digitalmantra.com/vicksburg blues
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