VOLUME TWENTY-FIVE, NUMBER THREE • MARCH 2020 ALBERT CUMMINGS Wednesday March 18th w/ the HECTOR ANCHONDO BAND Stocks n Bonds, Omaha Advance Tix available now @ eventbrite.com Thursday, March 5th @ 6 pm • The Jewell, Omaha Adv. tickets @ jewellomaha.com TORONZO CANNON Fri. March 20th @ 5 pm • Zoo Bar Sat. March 21st @ 7 pm • The Jewell, Omaha Adv. Tickets @ jewellomaha.com DAVY KNOWLES • Wed. March 11th @ 6 pm THE BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA PRESENTS HEATHER NEWMAN BAND • Sat. March 14th @ 9:30 pm VANESSA COLLIER • Wed. March 18th @ 6 pm LEGENDARY THURSDAY BLUES MATINEES AND MORE. Unless noted otherwise, all shows are 6 pm and at Stocks n Bonds , 8528 Park Drive, Omaha. BRUCE KATZ BAND Mar. 1st – Sunday 3 to 6 pm ....................... Hector Anchondo Band IBC Celebration at the B Bar! Mar. 5th – 6 pm show @ The Jewell .........................Brian England Groove Prescription ($10) – Tickets @ thejewellomaha.com Mar. 12th ..........................Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames ($10) Mar. 14 – Sat. 7 pm show @ The Jewell .............. Bruce Katz ($10) Mar. 18th – Wednesday Show! ............................Albert Cummings ($15 adv./ $20 dos) Tix on sale @ Eventrbite.com Fri. March 13th @ 5 pm Mar. 21st Sat. 7 pm @The Jewell .................Toronzo Canonn ($15) Tickets @ thejewellomaha.com ZOO BAR Mar. 26th ................... Nick Moss Band feat. Dennis Gruenling ($15) Sat. March 14th @ 7 pm Apr. 2nd ..................................................................... Ben Rice ($10) THE JEWELL, OMAHA Apr. 9th .............................Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts ($10) Adv. tickets @ jewellomaha.com Apr. 16th ................................Orphan Jon and the Abandoned ($10) PAGE 2 BLUES NEWS • BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA Why Join the Blues Society of Omaha with Your Membership Donation? The Blues Society of Omaha, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 1998. We are an all-volunteer organization with over 800 dues-paying members. BSO’s mission is “Keepin’ the Blues Alive”. We are recognized as one of the top Blues Societies in the country. With the help of your tax-deductible donation we continue to promote blues music, blues musicians, and live music venues & events. Among our many projects and accomplishments are these: • BSO promotes musicians and venues by maintaining a comprehensive live music calendar on our website, omahablues.com. BSO also distributes free monthly news flyers with calendars to numerous public gathering spots to inform the general community of live music shows in the area. • BluesEd is a non-profit youth artist development program created and sponsored by Blues Society of Omaha. The BluesEd program began in 2001 to provide opportunities for young musicians to learn blues music in a series of workshops and to play with other students in a band format. Our BluesEd bands always are impressive and they have performed at some of the finest festivals & venues in and around Omaha. • The Blues Society of Omaha has hosted an annual Nebraska Blues Challenge competition for local bands since 2011. All of the participating bands are showcased in judged public events as they compete for a package of prizes and the honor of representing BSO at the International Blues Challenge competition held in Memphis. All of the winning Nebraska bands have gone on to receive national attention and acclaim while making BSO proud! • BSO produces and/or sponsors various music events throughout the year. • BSO is a contributor to and supporter of Playing With Fire, a series of free outdoor concerts held each summer in Omaha since 2004. • BSO provides support to The Zoo Bar, Lincoln’s legendary and award-winning blues venue. BSO is a sponsor of the annual ZooFest music festival. • In conjunction with Toy Drive for Pine Ridge, BSO hosts an annual toy drive and concert fundraiser for the children of Pine Ridge Reservation. • BSO regularly produces charitable events for musicians in need. As a member and donor, you are entitled to great membership benefits: • Free subscription to “Blues Notes”, our monthly newsletter that will keep you abreast of blues events in the area, blues CD reviews, and other articles of interest to blues connoisseurs! • E-blasts with late-breaking blues news. • Special pre-sale and discounted tickets to select events. • Discounts offered by generous local businesses. • Pride in belonging to a group dedicated to “Keepin’ The Blues Alive”! Please consider switching to the GREEN VERSION of Blues Notes. You will be saving the planet while saving BSO some expense. Contact Susan Keith at [email protected] to switch to e-mail delivery and get the scoop days before snail mail members! BLUES ON THE RADIO: Mondays 1pm-3pm on KIOS 91.5 “Blues in the Afternoon” with Mike Jacobs You can listen to the live stream at www.kios.org Sundays 9am-Noon on KIWR 89.7 Rick Galusha’s “PS Blues” Podcast now available on Spotify https://anchor.fm/pacific-street-blues-and-americana Lincoln’s KZUM Radio - Nebraska’s only community radio, and you can listen to it on the web at KZUM.org. Monday – 3:00-6:00pm “World Gone Wrong Blues” Tuesday – 3:00-6:00pm “Group W Blues” Wednesday – 3:00-6:00pm “Highway Blues” • 8:30-10:00pm “Radio Gumbo” Thursday – 3:00-5:00pm “Blue Water Mixtape” Friday – 1:00-3:00pm “Women’s Blues & Boogie” • 3:00-6:00pm “Hudson Blue” Saturday – 6:00-7:00am “Beale Street Caravan” • 7:00-8:00am “Juke in the Back” Sunday – 2:00-4:00pm “Back at the Chicken Shack” BLUES NEWS • BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA PAGE 3 and almost graduated before dropping out to join a band – Treasure Island – in Dallas. In the late 1980’s I returned to Omaha and played with a number of local bands: Shades and Danger, Rock City, Flair, The Fishheads, Mighty Jailbreakers and others. England joined Blue House in 2016 and has enjoyed doing his favorite thing ever since: playing a Hammond B3 organ in a blues band! From Blue House and the Rent to own Horns and World Herald websites. Thursday, March 5th @ 6 pm The Jewell • 1030 Capitol Avenue, Omaha ($10 – adv. tix @ jewell.com) Brian England plays original organ blues, latin jazz and soul! The band features Craig Balderston, Ron Cooley, Joey Guli- zia, Michael Pujado & Matt Wallace. Come and enjoy this band’s groove-oriented and dance- able music performed by a who’s who of Omaha All-Star musicians! Brian England’s professional music career began at the age of 16 with a 3-piece band formed with two of his brothers. We were quite versatile if not actually good, playing Pop music, Polkas, Waltzes – you get the idea. After high school I attended North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, Check out B.J. Huchtemann’s column Hoodoo Blues monthly in the Omaha READER for info on upcoming shows and other news in the roots-blues music scene. Look for B.J.’s byline under the Music tab at thereader.com BSO CORPORATE SPONSORS BLUE CLUB River City Star Richard Allen & Nancy Walsh Susan & Troy Krupicka Absolutely Fresh Seafood – The Jewell – Brian McKenna Bill & Brenda Bahrke Catherine McCarthy Tussey Greg & Teri Lindberg West Point Rack Matthew Barges Bonnie Mercer & Kim Burns Corner Bar - Tammy Trahan Mitch Bolte Mo Barry Steve & Nancy Mether Mama’s Pizza West Paul Gerber Vanessa Marie James F “Bimbo” Pietro, DDS Glenn & Sheila Bauer Mark Goldfein Kenny & Linda Benton John Pollack & Karen Berry Chick Ganz Steve & Lisa Krueger Robin & Elizabeth Bracy-Robson Steve Saunders Kit & Pam Kelley Bob Morrison Jerry Byers Mikel Schmidt & Leslie Eurek Royce & Jo Kreitman Ernest Sutherlin Geoff & Elaine Clark Ann Scolaro Terry O’Halloran Dan Van Houten Robert Daisley Sid Sidner & Joan Crouchley Rick & Babette Simcox David & Susan Vanlandingham Mary Elofson Tim Sorrell Lonnie & Sandie Thomas Don Younts & Shawn Hayward David & Kristine Evans J & V Suchomel Rick Galusha Bill & Denise Teeple CORPORATE SPECIAL Mike & Sally Hansen James Thele Bel Air Merchant’s Association Down Under Lounge Steve Harman Vickie Tiffin Havana Garage Hawk’s BBQ – Todd Higgins Caleb Whisenhunt Paul Scott Hoagbin Blues Band Chris & Brenda Hawkinson Michael Jacobs Rathskeller Bier Haus Karlene Adamson-Harper James Kineen PAGE 4 BLUES NEWS • BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA IBC Reflections from BluesEd Band Far and Wide The 2020 Inter- • Next time - Spend more time on Beale street and participate in national Blues more Jams Challenge held • Don’t Miss – The many street performers on Beale. They’re hard an unbeliev- to miss able amount of talent, fun, and • Find time to explore off Beale Street – The Peabody hotel Ducks, platforms for in- the pyramid (again) and the flying fish restaurant spiration as a • Other advice: Do more than just explore Beale street. Though musician. I made it’s amazing, there are so many other awesome places and it a point to soak restaurants off Beale street that make the trip that much more all of these up amazing. during my time down in Memphis. From the great food to the tour – Jonathan Massey, bass guitar of Sun Studios (a place of musical history that didn’t fail to leave When we went to Memphis for IBC, my all-around favorite expe- me speechless), the trip down to the IBC was different, fun, and rience was playing at BB‘s bar. This was just such a brand new exciting for sure. Despite this, the thing I enjoyed more than even experience that it just furthered my love of playing the blues. My our own performance at BB King’s Blues Club was watching Hector favorite attraction that I found that was not on Beale Street was Anchondo bring it on home in the semifinals performance. His set the Flashback vintage store. I went there with my band and we was simple, just him and a guitar, but he had so much to say and tried on lots of fun clothes and all around had a good time.