Downtown Reading!
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Destination: Downtown Reading! I S S U E 5 5 SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 The Reading Dowtown Improvement District office is located at 645 Reading Blues Fest Will Penn Street, First Floor. Make Its Debut October 6-8 Office hours: Monday- Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Office number: You cannot get enough of the blues. It is a musical genre that grabs your heart and soul 610-376-6424 and simply will not let go. DID Ambassadors The Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest has staged numerous blues concerts over the years that number: have captivated audiences. 484-955-0315 (Please call this number Here is the great news: The same people who bring you the Jazz Fest – Berks Arts directly for escort Council and general manager John Ernesto -- are presenting the inaugural Reading assistance to vehicles, Blues Fest this October 6 thru 8. trash and leaf removal, graffiti removal, and Most of the shows will be presented in downtown Reading venues, including the Double- public nuisance issues) Tree by Hilton Reading hotel, Abe’s by Chef Alan, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Peanut Bar Restaurant, Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse, and Santander Per- forming Arts Center. For ticket information, please visit www.readingbluesfest.com. DID You Know? Our annual Scarecrow Contest is underway! The contest is intended to engage businesses, organizations, clubs, families, schools and churches in a festive, color- ful autumn event downtown. Entrants are encouraged to create humorous, mischievous or lovable scarecrows, which will be put up for display starting Robert Cray Samantha Fish October 9. To participate in this free Here’s a sampling of who will be performing during Reading Blues Fest: contest, participants must Kenny Neal plus Samantha Fish – Friday, October 6, at 7 p.m. at the DoubleTree by register by October 4. Registration information is Hilton Reading grand ballroom. available under the “Downtown News” tab on One of the strongest modern proponents of Baton Rouge swamp blues, Neal is a second the Improvement District’s -generation southern Louisiana bluesman who is cognizant of the region's venerable website, blues tradition and imaginative enough to steer it in fresh directions. Fish made a name www.downtownreading.com for herself as one of a relatively few female blues guitarists, but she prefers to be along with additional infor- mation about the contest. measured on her own merits rather than as a female musician. For questions, contact the Improvement District’s office Teeny Tucker’s Women in The Blues Presentation with Robert Hughes at noon on at 610-376-6424. Saturday, October 7, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading amphitheater. The scarecrows will be Tucker is a dynamic blues singer and songwriter as well as a lover of blues history. She judged the week of October was born into blues royalty as the daughter of Tommy “Hi-Heel Sneakers” Tucker, and 9 and first, second, and third place ribbons will be awarded. (article continued on page 2) First-Ever Reading Blues Fest Coming Up (article continued from front page) has appeared on the same bill with such blues greats as B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Buddy Guy, the Holmes Brothers, Robert Cray, and Keb’ Mo’. Women in The Blues is a two-part program that features the very best international touring female artists in the world. The first component will be an interactive educational conversation with Tucker. Culminating the two-part presentation will be a concert by Tucker. Robert Hughes is a guitarist who performs with Tucker. The Philadelphia Blues All-Stars is a special ensemble for Reading Blues Fest billed as Abe’s by Chef Alan’s Afternoon Blues Party featuring Philly-based blues artists Mikey Junior, Deb Callahan, Kevin McCann and Dave Holtz- man that will take place on Saturday, October 7, at 2:30 p.m. Mikey Junior’s amazing skills on diatonic and chromatic harmonicas combined with muscular vocals make him an exciting presence on today’s blues scene. Philadelphia’s blues vocalist and songwriter Deb Callahan grew up in the Boston area but has been a mainstay on the mid-Atlantic music scene since the late 1990s. Guitarist and vocalist Kevin McCann is the band leader of the Bucks County-based The Little Red Rooster Blues Band while Dave Holtzman is a harmonica player and a vocalist for the band. The Robert Cray Band plus opening act Blind Boy Paxton will take the Santander Performing Arts Center stage on Saturday, October 7, at 7 p.m. Cray has been bridging the lines between blues, soul and R&B for the past four decades, with five Grammy wins and over 20 acclaimed albums. The Blues Hall of Famer brought blues back to the charts in the 1980s via songs that defined blues themes but added modern and personal twists. During the 1990s the Cray Band was featured in concert with artists like Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt. Jereron “Blind Boy” Paxton is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist whose style draws from blues and jazz before World War II and was influenced by Fats Waller and “Blind” Lemon Jefferson. The Slam Allen Blues Band will be featured at the VIP Sunday Blues Brunch on October 8 (10 a.m. buffet, 11 a.m. show) at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading small ballroom. Slam Allen is one of the most dynamic and original blues and soul artists on the scene today. More than just a singer, writer, and guitar player, Slam connects with his audience like entertainers from a bygone era. Alexis P Suter Band with the Berks Horns will be hosting the After-Party Blues Jam on both Friday, October 6, and Saturday, October 7, at 11:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading grand ballroom. Suter is a blues singer and songwriter, best known for her nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Female at the Blues Music Awards in 2017 and her nomination in the Koko Taylor Award category at the 2015 Blues Music Awards. She and her backing band have released six albums. Kenny Neal Suter artfully blends the lines between gospel and blues music. She generally gets lumped into the blues category, but little about the Brooklyn-born singer is easy to categorize. Her music merrily straddles genres. The Berks Horns -- Mike Anderson on the sax, John Loos on the trombone and Rob Diener on the trumpet – have performed with numerous headliners in Berks Jazz Fest concerts over the years. Joining them on Friday night, October 6 will be Mikey Junior, Deb Callahan and more. (article continued on back page) We’re excited to announce that we’re teaming up with GoggleWorks Center for the Arts for its annual Pumpkin Palooza on Saturday, October 14 from noon to 4 p.m.! Fun for all ages, Pumpkin Palooza will feature a "patch" of over 500 handmade glass pumpkins for sale. Guests can watch how they are made in ongoing demonstrations in GoggleWorks’ hot glass studio. And the Improvement District will be presenting kids activities, such as scarecrow stuffing and mini pumpkin decorating, in an outside area adjacent to the GoggleWorks. Additional activities will include local apple cider and craft beer tastings, the great gourd sling shot, live music, and virtual reality experiences. Guests will be invited to make their own pumpkins with the assistance of hot glass artist-instructors. Spend 15 minutes with one of the artist-instructors, learn about glassblowing, then design and make your own pumpkin to take home. Cost is $40 per person if paid in advance, $45 at the door. Children ages 8-12 must be accompanied by an adult. To register in advance, go to https://goggleworks-fall-2017.ticketleap.com/pumpkin-palooza--make-your-own/, or call 610-374-4600. Admission to Pumpkin Palooza is free and so is parking. GoggleWorks is located at 201 Washington Street in Reading. For additional information, visit https://goggleworks.org/event/pumpkin-palooza-2/ or call 610-374-4600. This is one of two new planters placed outside the Reading Downtown Improvement District office at 645 Penn Street. The autumn arrangement was designed and planted by Laura Reppert, the District’s Special Events Coordinator. Laura, who has a keen interest in horticulture, is studying to be a Master Gardener in her spare time. First-Ever Reading Blues Fest Coming Up (article continued from second page) Joining them on Saturday night, October 7 will be Callahan, Kevin McCann, Dave Holtzman and more. Jonny Lang plus opening act Dana Fuchs Duo featuring Jon Diamond will be performing in the Reading Blues Fest finale on Sunday, October 8, at 4 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading grand ballroom. Lang is an American blues singer, songwriter, gui- tarist and recording artist. He has five albums that charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and has won a Grammy Award for Turn Around, released in 2006. His latest album is Signs, released this year. The Dana Fuchs Duo features Fuchs on vo- cals and Jon Diamond on guitar. At a blues jam in New York City, the upcoming Fuchs met Diamond, an estab- lished guitarist who had toured with Joan Os- borne and W.C. Handy Award winner Debbie Davies, and they immediately recognized their musical chemistry. The pair began writing intensively, putting together a solid body of original songs. The Reading Blues Fest is collaborating with the annual Arts Festival Reading that will be held Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.