VOLUME TWENTY-SIX, NUMBER FIVE • MAY 2021 JOSH HOYER AND SOUL COLOSSAL Album Release Parties for Natural Born Hustler Friday, April 30th - 6:30 and 9 pm shows • The Jewell, Omaha Thursday, May 13th @ 6 pm • Stocks n Bonds, Omaha BSO Presents Chicago Blues Guitar Legend Lurrie Bell Fri May 21st - 6:30 and 9 pm shows Hector Anchondo Band Back Home Concert Sat. May 29th - 6:30 and 9 pm shows See jewellomaha.com for info and tickets LURRIE BELL TAB BENOIT Whiskey Revue Adv. tickets at eventbrite.com feat. Alastair Greene Thurs. June 10th @ 8 pm Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials Slowdown, Omaha THE BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA PRESENTS LEGENDARY THURSDAY BLUES MATINEES AND MORE. Unless noted otherwise, all shows are 6 pm and at Stocks n Bonds, 8528 Park Drive, Omaha. May 6th .......................Mike Zito with special guests Joanna Connor and Albert Castiglia ($20 adv. / $30 dos) May 13th ...................................Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal ($10) 2 Big shows at the Zoo Bar • 5 pm Fri. May 7th and Sat. May 8th May 20th .................................Blues is Back Guitar Showcase ($15) May 21st – Friday 6:30 and 9 pm shows at the Jewell Featuring Lurrie Bell ($15) May 27th ................Stocks n Bonds presents Live Wire @ 8 pm ($5) Danielle Nicole Band May 30th – Sunday 3 to 10 pm .........BSO Riverfront Blues Festival Rex Granite Band feat. feat. The Danielle Nicole Band, Rex Granite Band Sarah Benck and the return of BluesEd ($15 – adv. tix at Eventbrite.com) BSO RIVERFRONT BLUES FEST! And the return June 3rd ....................Gerard Delafose and the Zydeco Gaters ($15) Sunday, May 30th of BluesEd June 10th ...... Save Omaha Stages Show at Rathskeller Bier House Dam Bar at Miller’s Landing Adv. Tix at Eventbrite.com with Dustin Arbuckle, Matt Woods and Matt Cox ( Free Show!) June 17th @ The Jewell ............Bruce Katz ($15 – 6 to 9 pm show) Gate Opens at 3pm, Music from 4-10pm 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 Mike Zito and His Big Blues Band “A TRIBUTE TO CHUCK BERRY” featuring ALBERT CASTIGLIA and JOANNA CONNOR is coming your way Omaha! Sponsored by the Blues Society of Omaha, “A TRIBUTE TO CHUCK BERRY” will take place at Stocks n Bonds Omaha on THURSDAY, MAY 6th @ 6:00PM. Advance tickets available now at Eventbrite.com $20 adv. / $30 dos. 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 Paul Scott Hoagbin Blues Band Richard Allen & Nancy Walsh Susan & Troy Krupicka Absolutely Fresh Seafood – Rathskeller Bier Haus Bill & Brenda Bahrke Catherine McCarthy Tussey Greg & Teri Lindberg River City Star Matthew Barges Bonnie Mercer & Kim Burns Corner Bar - Tammy Trahan The Jewell – Brian McKenna Mo Barry Steve & Nancy Mether Mama’s Pizza West West Point Rack Vanessa Marie Nebraska Debate Institute Glenn & Sheila Bauer Mitch Bolte Kenny & Linda Benton Michael Novak Chick Ganz Paul Gerber Robin & Elizabeth Bracy-Robson James F “Bimbo” Pietro, DDS Kit & Pam Kelley Mark Goldfein Jerry Byers John Pollack & Karen Berry Royce & Jo Kreitman Steve & Lisa Krueger Geoff & Elaine Clark Steve Saunders Jeff Luerhs - Omaha Lounge Brad League Cory and Debbie Christians Mikel Schmidt & Leslie Eurek Terry O’Halloran Bob Morrison Robert Daisley Ann Scolaro Ernest Sutherlin Dan Van Houten Mary Elofson Sid Sidner & Joan Crouchley Lonnie & Sandie Thomas David & Susan Vanlandingham Rick Galusha Tim Sorrell Rick and Brenda Petersen Don Younts & Shawn Hayward Mike & Sally Hansen J & V Suchomel Steve Harman Bill & Denise Teeple CORPORATE SPECIAL Todd Higgins James Thele Bel Air Merchant’s Association Down Under Lounge Michael Jacobs Steve Voss Havana Garage Karlene Adamson-Harper PAGE 4 BLUES NEWS • BLUES SOCIETY OF OMAHA What’s New with BluesEd? We’re BACK!! BluesEd is celebrating their 20th Season formances. This will be updated shortly as we firm up our this spring after taking the previous summer off due to the dates and venues. pandemic. We currently have 30 musicians in four bands Attend our annual BluesEd Showcase on Sunday, July 11th that attended our first (and hopefully last!) Virtual Kick Off at The Slowdown. Meeting. We greatly missed the annual photo opportunity but everyone was so excited by the prospect of performing Consider making a donation via our website by clicking on again, that nobody seemed to mind! the “Donate” button. This year, the bands range in size from 5 to 10 musicians Volunteer. We are always looking for volunteers to help and we welcomed 13 new members over the last 2 years. with our performances and major events. Contact direc- We offered all seniors from the 2019/2020 cohort the op- [email protected]. portunity to extend their eligibility for one year due to the Attend our BluesEd Finale at The Waiting Room Lounge on cancellation of last season. Our decrease from six bands to August 1st. four was largely due to attrition and lingering covid con- cerns. Purchase BluesEd merchandise on our website (including our 20th Anniversary t-shirt) when our BluesEd store goes The bands have begun rehearsing for the upcoming season “live” for two weeks at the end of May. using current CDC social distancing guidelines while wear- ing masks in well-ventilated areas. It’s an exciting time for Be a BluesEd Ambassador! getting to know our new musicians and putting togeth- If anyone you know is interested in booking one of our er new set lists. We’re excited once again to be working bands, have them visit our website and click the link at the closely with BSO on venues and performance opportunities bottom of the home page “Request A Performance”.