Jus' Blues Music Awards

In association with the Beale Street Merchants' Association, the Beale Street Development Corporation and the Memphis Convention & Visitors' Bureau, the Jus' Blues Music Foundation will host the Jus' Blues Music Awards Week in downtown Memphis.

The event runs from August 6th through August 9th, and features the Beale Street Blues Crawl and the Big Chitlin' Cook-Off and Blues Fest. Other parts of the Awards Week include the Awards Ceremony itself, which will recognize the work of great artists in the blues and soul genres and a technology conference focusing on how new technology can be used to promote, market and affect sales.

More information on the Awards Week can be found on the Jus' Blues Music Foundation's official site.

Renegade Reggae Festival

The Renegade Reggae Festival takes place at the Truckee Ampitheater on July 26th, with doors at 4:00 and music starting at 4:30. Featuring such artists as Prezident Brown, Mystic Roots, Pato Banton, Salvador Santana and Del Castillo, the festival should be quite a feast of enjoyable vibes.

Tickets for the festival are $25 in advance, simple as that. Fore more info and to buy tickets, go to the festival promoter, Renegade Presents's, official webpage for the festival here.

California Worldfest Not Affected by Wildfires

Contrary to what most of you are probably thinking with regards to the 1000+ wildfires that have been ravaging the forests and inland region of California, the California Worldfest, which takes place in the Sierra Foothills is still on.

Festival organizers confirmed that the festival will go on as planned on July 17th through the 20th at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds, and attributed the festival's viability to the work of local firefighters, suggesting that there may have been a serious chance of cancellation at one point. To find out more about Worldfest tickets and such, go here.

Mohawk Valley Blues Festival

The gates will open for the Mohawk Valley Blues Festival at noon on August 22 at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Utica, IN. A longtime fundraiser for various causes including aid for Hurricane Katrina victims and the Humane Society, the festival this year will donate some of its proceeds to Operation Sunshine, a coalition of various local branches of organizations such as the Salvation Army, the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts. The coalition brainstorms community service projects to be implemented throughout the Utica Area

The headline act for this year's festial is Magic Slim and the Teardrops, with supporters Darrell Nulisch, Sharrie Williams & the Wiseguys and Clarence Spady.

Tickets for the festival are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate, with children 16 and under getting in free.

To find out more about the festival, go to the event's official website.

Northwest Reggae Fest set for August 8-10

The Northwest World Reggae Festival will go down on the 8th, 9th and 10th of August in Marcola, OR, returning to Bob Russell's Ranch. The festival, whose organizers cannot stress the "no dogs" rule enough, features headliners Midnite, NOMO and Macka B, with supports Queen Omega, Warrior King and Fareed Haque.

Besides the mainstage live performances, there will be Dancehall Dome in operation throughout the night, wit Mt. Lion Hifi spinning tracks, and selectors on the festival's mainstage will include Trinity Soundz, Small Axe, Short Change and Kal-El.

Three-day passes including camping are $100, while tickets for just Saturday and Sunday with camping are $90 and tickets for Sunday without camping are $40. Three day and Saturday/
Sunday tickets are available on the 'net, at ticket outlets and at the gate, and Sunday-only tickets are available just online and at the gate.

For more info, go to www.nwworldreggae.com.

Reggae Summer Fest lineup announced

The Budweiser Reggae Summer Fest will start at 1 pm on September 7 in Washington D.C.'s RFK Stadium and will run through 10 pm. Headliners include Beres Hammond & the Harmony House Singers, Kymani Marley, I-Wayne, Turbulance and many more.

In between live sets, tunes will be spun by selektors Half Krazy, Amplex with Glamour G and DJ Chick and Rasta Punch/Teacha from local radio station WPFW.

Advance tickets for the festival are $35 or $65 fo VIP passes, while the gate price is $40 for regular access and $80 for VIP access.

For more info on the festival, call (202) 340-6399 or go to the festival's website

15th annual Tremblant International Blues Festival starts on (U.S.) Independence Day

The Tremblant Internaitonal Blues Festival, held at the Mont-Tremblant Resort in Quebec, is off and running today. The festival really gets going tommorrow, with Johnny Winter headlining, and then just takes off from there.

On Monday, the festival will hold an acoustic mini-festival of sorts, the Acoustic Summit, which will feature Ryan Leblanc, Steve Marriner, Hot Toddy, Dawn Tyler & Paul Deslauriers, Trever Finlay and Steve Strongman.

Tuesday consists of a tribute to the late Jeff Healey with his blues band performing, while Wednesday will see Los Lobos with opener Ana Popovic.

Friday is another mini-festival celebrating women in blues-- it's titled "Grandes Dames du Blues"-- featuring Dawn Tyler Watson, Shakura S'Aida, Angel Forrest and Nanette Workman.

Saturday sees Bill Walsh, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith will close out the festival with Pinetop Perkins, who will be celebrating his 95th birthday.

A final plus is the green initiatives the festival has taken, using recycled paper whenever possible, urging volunteers, artists and visitors to do the same, and avoiding products that are non-recyclable or hard to recycle.

To get more info on the festival go to the resort's website.

19th annual BBQ & Blues in Auburn, CA

The 19th annual BBQ & Blues is set to kick off at 1:00 p.m. on July 12 at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn, CA. Headliners of the festival are Koko Taylor and her Blues Machine, as well as Coco Montoya and Cole Fonseca and the Rattlers. Besides the awesome lineup, the festival has another thing going for it-- it helps fund the Placer County SPCA, which in turn helps homeless companion animals throughout the County.

At the 1:00 gate time, festivalgoers will get access to hot local talent as well as more than 35 vendors selling food, arts and crafts, jewelery, and, in spirit with the festival's cause, pet-related items.

Tickets cost $25 if bought in advance and are $35 at the gate. Tickets can be obtained through the Placer SPCA either online or by calling either of two numbers, (916) 782-7722 ext. 102 or (530) 885-7387 ext. 102.

MVBF quickly switches venues to Davenport

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society has decided to move the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival from its former LeClaire Park location to downtown Davenport, IA. Because of its being right on the banks of the Mississippi River, the Park has been deemed too dangerous a venue to hold the festival in the midst of the massive flooding that has gripped Iowa in recent weeks.

The festival, which brings an economic benefit of $2.5 million to the Quad Cities area, will utilize the streets of downtown Davenport as well as the city's Adler Theater for its activities. While considering LeClaire Park the festival's "home location," festival spokesperson Karen McFarland sees the event as potentially serving a major purpose this summer no matter where it is held, stating, "By the holiday, people will be needing a break from cleanup efforts, or looking for a festival to attend because of their hometown festival cancellations. We Welcome everyone to come to the Quad Cities and enjoy three great days of world-class music, great food and lots of fun with family and friends."

Some of the cancelled local events McFarland referred to included Burlington's Steamboat Days, Cedar Rapids' Freedom Festival, and Cedar Falls' Sturgis Falls events.

Featured performers at this year's Blues Festival include Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, Denise LaSalle, Otis Taylor and the Black Banjo Project, Billy Boy Arnold with Jody Williams and The Homes Brothers.

Advance three-day passes for the festival are $40 while one-day passes are $15 at the gate. Children 14 and under get in for free. To find out more go to the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's website.