Greetings to Sacramento Blues Society (SBS) members and blues enthusiasts,

Ah, summertime in Northern California! After attending the Coloma Blues Live, the Monterey Bay Blues Festival (to see our young Kyle Rowland & his band) and the Gold Country Blues Festival things are just getting started!

I’m sure you are all aware of the upcoming 2010 Northern California Blues Festival coming in Auburn on August 7th with some great headliners: Elvin Bishop, Zac Harmon, Dennis Jones, Kaye Bohler, Volker Stifler & the Sacramento Blues Revue. Mr. Jason Haxton and his production group have really put together a great line-up for us to enjoy. Thanks to everyone that has taken advantage of the discounted tickets that were offered to the Sacramento Blues Society! This will be a wonderful festival with a full variety of blues styles. Hopefully we’ll see you there and be sure to stop by for a festival t-shirt to support our BITS program!

Over the next couple of months there will be some more blues shows coming our way. The next SBS event from Liz Walker (our Event Chair) is a return of the popular "Blues Diva" showcase on August 21. This will be held at a 'new' venue - the courtyard outside of Po' Boyz Sports Bar & Grill in Folsom featuring Lady Bianca, Tess Honn & Lena Mosley! On September 11th the SBS will be hosting a benefit for the Side-By-Side program at the famous Torch Club in downtown Sacramento (stay tuned for the lineup). The SBS will be holding the annual IBC competition on October 10th at the Capitol City Hotel ballroom (again stay tuned for more details).

The Fire On The Mountain - Sonora Blues Festival will be held on August 14th in Sonora with a great line-up and on September 18th there are three festivals to check out: the Delta Blues Festival in Antioch, Blues By The River in Redding or Klamath Blues Festival in Klamath Falls Oregon. And don’t forget Blues on the Green 2 at KXJZ on September 26. It sold out early last year.

I’m pleased to say I will be attending the Blues By The Bay Festival in Eureka this year with some of my SBS friends over the Labor Day weekend. Hopefully one of them will write an article for the next issue.

Enjoy the rest of "Summer 2010" by catching some blues near you! Thanks again for your continued support of the Sacramento Blues Society, the Blues In The Schools Program, the benefits, the local clubs, the festivals and the wonderful blues musicians in our area.

As always, "Save me a seat",

Willie Brown – President, Sacramento Blues Society