2015 Daytona Blues Tickets Are Now on Sale

The Best of the Blues at the Nicest Time of The Year
Janiva Magness Sonny Landreth Victor Wainright		2015 Daytona Blues Festival Tickets Are Now on Sale Purchase Tickets Here It’s that time again! Time to buy your Daytona Blues Festival tickets! Early Bird tickets for the 2015 Daytona Blues Festival are now on sale on this website. Just look for the “2015 Tickets” tab or the “Buy Now” button to go directly to the ticket store. Early Bird ticket prices are the same as last year – $60 for a 3 day ticket and $25 for a 1 day ticket. Early bird ticket pricing is valid until September 7, 2015 at 11:59 pm. Student ticket with valid student ID is $15 per day – must be purchased at the festival. Children under 14—- 1 child admitted free with 1 paid adult ticket. As an all volunteer run 501(c)(3) the Daytona Blues Festival continues to donate all proceeds to support local women and children’s health.  In just five years, the festival has donated over $100,000 to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Halifax Health and Project WARM at the Vince Carter Sanctuary.  For more details, visit the website, watch the interviews, and open the 2015 Charities tab. Main Stage Line-Up – check our website for full details Friday Oct 9  ·         2:30 pm The Vaudevillian ·         4:00 pm Noah Wotherspoon ·         5:30 pm Watermelon Slim ·         7:15 pm Kenny Neal ·         9:00 pm Janiva Magness Saturday Oct 10 ·         1:00 pm Randy McQuay ·         2:30 pm Balkun Brothers ·         4:00 pm Eddie Cotton Jr. ·         5:30 pm Jarekus Singleton ·         7:15 pm Nikki Hill ·         9:00 pm Sonny Landreth Sunday Oct 11 ·         1:00 pm Brian Keith Wallen ·         2:30 pm Moreland and Arbuckle ·         4:15 pm Alexis P. Suter ·         6:00 pm Paul Thorn ·         7:45 pm Victor Wainwright & The WildRoots Purchase Tickets Here

Edmonton Blues Festival on August 21, 22 & 23

 

Janiva Magness pushes roots, rock, soul envelope with new album 'Original,' out June 24.

DYNAMIC SINGER-SONGWRITER JANIVA MAGNESS PUSHES THE ROOTS, ROCK AND SOUL ENVELOPE WITH DARING NEW ALBUM ORIGINAL Award-winning performer’s eleventh release, out June 24, brings her songwriting skills and stunning range to the fore, with help fromGrammy nominated producer Dave Darling.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Janiva Magness’ new album Original stretches the artistic boundaries of roots, rock and soul music. Its 11 songs seamlessly weave all three genres into a highly original approach defined by nakedly honest storytelling and the live-wire emotionalism of Magness’ two-and-a-half octave range, buoyed by arrangements that effortlessly blend traditional sounds with edgy experimentation.  “Let Me Breathe” opens Original with the amplified chunk of an electric guitar and the chime of a glockenspiel followed by the confessional lines, “Nobody’s perfect/Nobody knows that more than me,” setting a tone of frank self-assessment that resonates throughout the entire set, from the Stax-influenced celebration of dignity “Mountain” to the wanton “I Need A Man” to the concluding “Standing,” which confronts insecurity with true survivor’s resolve. Magness had much to overcome in making this adventurous album. Since 2010 she’s endured the dissolution of a 17-year marriage, the deaths of eight friends and relatives including her foster mother, and an operation for a serious neck injury that could have ended her accolade-filled career. But Original finds the Los Angeles-based artist undefeated — turning in her finest recorded vocal performances, co-writing a majority of tracks for the first time and testing herself by taking risks along with her production foil Dave Darling, whose credits include Glen Campbell, Brian Setzer, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and Stray Cats, and whose instincts compelled Magness to tap her deepest creative powers and led the songs to sonically unpredictable places. “I always want to push myself,” she explains, “but this album demanded a high level of vulnerability to tell the absolute truth in every song, holding nothing back. It was frightening, at times, to be so raw in public. Dave drove me and even tricked me when he needed to. This is also an album that couldn’t be made with another record company, because we needed to be able to go wherever we wanted musically to tell its stories.” So Magness parted ways with Alligator Records after a six-year period that included 2012’s Stronger For It, 2010’s The Devil Is An Angel Too and 2008’s What Love Will Do, all produced by Darling. During her tenure on the internationally respected blues and roots imprint Magness also won her fourth Blues Music Award for “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year” plus the “B.B. King Entertainer of the Year” and “Song of the Year” (for “I Won’t Cry,” co-written with Darling) awards, even as she became a fixture of the Americana music scene alongside such similar tough ’n’ edgy roots-based artists as Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and St. Paul and the Broken Bones. It’s hard, indeed, to pigeonhole Magness, who kick starts Original’s transcendent creative centerpiece “When You Were My King” with her voice alone — albeit bathed in a psychedelic pool of reverb, then accompanied by a jingling moth larva shaker and a snare drum that sounds snatched from a contemporary R&B hit, which in turn relents to the soulful call of Darling’s reverb soaked blues guitar. The song goes on to build an organic electric and acoustic framework around Magness’ warm-blooded, hook-heavy vocal melody, ultimately conjuring the regret and lost magic of a disintegrated relationship with breathless passion. Magness says that tune might not have happened if Darling hadn’t lured her to his studio to “work on a vocal part.” When she arrived the hit Australian songwriting team of Lauren Bliss and Andrew Lowden were lying in wait. “If Dave had said, ‘I have these people here that I want you to write with,’ I would have made an excuse and begged off,” she relates. Instead, they co-wrote “When You Were My King” and “Standing,” two of the album’s most intensely emotional and superbly crafted tunes. Magness’ friend Dan Navarro of the singer-songwriter team Lowen & Navarro also pitched in, singing on the duet “With Love” and contributing background vocals to “Standing” and “Let Me Breathe.”

Janiva with producer Dave Darling at Studio City Sound Magness co-wrote seven of Original’s numbers, overcoming a longstanding phobia. “I’ve been afraid of writing songs for most of my career,” she confides. “I was worried I wouldn’t be good at it, or that I would be really good at it. I was married to a great songwriter, and I didn’t want songwriting to be an issue in any way between us.” But after she and Jeff Turmes split in 2010, Magness began writing under Darling’s encouragement. They co-penned three tunes for Stronger For It. And this time it’s her lyrics and performances that breathe life into Original’s gripping emotional arc —a musical journey through loss and triumphant recovery that reflects her own experiences. “I’ve always wanted life to be simpler than it is,” she offers. “When I was a young girl, and then a young woman, I really yearned for that. Now I’m a full-grown woman and I understand that life is never black and white. Losing loved ones, losing attachments and relationships, and grieving over it all are things we have to live with. If we can get through that with our souls intact, we learn how to become stronger and to move on with hope and dignity toward whatever comes next.” For Magness, who is writing a memoir, such challenges arrived early. Her teenage years were turbulent after both of her parents took their own lives. She was placed in a series of 12 foster homes and at age 17 gave birth to a daughter who she gave up for adoption. Magness’ despair was so deep that she tried to end her life. But ultimately, inspired by the encouragement of her final foster mother and a galvanizing performance by the legendary bluesman Otis Rush, she eventually found stability and salvation in music. Since the release of her debut album More Than Live in 1992, Magness has relentlessly pursued her craft to become one of the most beloved figures in the blues and roots world, reaching a larger and more diverse audience with each succeeding album and developing a reputation as a live entertainer that’s made her a staple of summer festivals. Her collaborations with Darling, in particular, have greatly expanded her fan base as well as her stylistic command. And she has lent her singular voice to the cause of foster care activism, becoming a spokesperson for Casey Family Programs’ National Foster Care Month and an Ambassador for Foster Care Alumni of America. The fact that Magness’ voice was jeopardized in December 2012 by surgery that left her unable to speak for several weeks makes her performances on Original all the more impressive. In tunes like the powerful “Twice As Strong” and “Badass,” the epic “When You Were My King” and the intimate “Standing” she displays the entire scope of her vocal range — from confidential whisper to soaring declamation — on one of her own albums for the first time. Magness thanks L.A. vocal coach and cantor Nate Lamm for teaching her how to sing in a way that provides a more sweeping command of her instrument. “I’ve pushed myself hard on vocal sessions for other people” — including Glen Campbell and R.L. Burnside — “but this is the first time I’ve been able to tap every part of my own voice for my own songs,” she attests. “They required everything I had to tell their stories and to express everything that I was feeling about theses experiences.” “Now, I’m really looking forward to getting out and performing these songs live,” the artist continues. “When you’re on stage in front of an audience that’s singing along to your own songs, there’s no better feeling — and no place I’d rather be — in the world.”

Five Alligator Artists Receive Nine 2013 Blues Blast Award Nominations

FIVE ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE NINE 2013 BLUES BLAST AWARD NOMINATIONS Alligator Records artists Curtis Salgado, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Janiva Magness and the late Michael "Iron Man" Burks received a total of nine 2013 Blues Blast Award nominations. Salgado and Estrin each received three, while Burks, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials and Magness each received one. The Blues Blast Awards are presented by Blues Blast magazine, a free weekly internet blues magazine. Winners are chosen by fan voting, which will begin at the Blues Blast website starting July 15. All Blues Blast subscribers are eligible to vote. Winners will be announced at the Blues Blast Awards ceremony at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago on Thursday, October 31. Artists and nominations are below: Curtis Salgado: Male Blues Artist Of The Year Soul Blues Album Of The Year - Soul Shot Song Of The Year - A Woman Or The Blues (by Curtis Salgado and Dave Duncan) Rick Estrin & The Nightcats: Band Of The Year Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year - One Wrong Turn Rick Estrin: Male Blues Artist Of The Year Michael "Iron Man" Burks: Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year - Show Of Strength Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials: Band Of The Year Janiva Magness: Female Blues Artist Of The Year www.ALLIGATOR.com

Seven Alligator Artists Receive 11 Living Blues Award Nominations

SEVEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 11 LIVING BLUES AWARD NOMINATIONS Living Blues magazine announced the nominees for the 2013 Living Blues Awards in their June 2013 issue. Seven Alligator Records artists received a total of 11 nominations. Joe Louis Walker, Curtis Salgado, Marcia Ball and Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials each received two nods. James Cotton, Janiva Magness and the late Michael "Iron Man" Burks each received one nomination. People may vote online at www.livingblues.com until July 15, 2013. Alligator artists and nominations are as follows: JOE LOUIS WALKER: Blues Artist Of The Year - Male Best Blues Album Of 2012 (New Recordings): Hellfire LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS: Best Live Performer Best Blues Album Of 2012 (New Recordings): Jump Start CURTIS SALGADO:     Blues Artist Of The Year - Male Most Outstanding Blues Singer JANIVA MAGNESS: Blues Artist Of The Year - Female MICHAEL "IRON MAN" BURKS: Best Blues Album Of 2012 (New Recordings): Show Of Strength MARCIA BALL: Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard) ### www.ALLIGATOR.com

Elvin Bishop/Janiva Magness/Steve Riley headline Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Fest. May 25-26, 2013

ELVIN BISHOP, JANIVA MAGNESS, SMOKIN’ JOE KUBEK PLUS
GRAMMY WINNERS STEVE RILEY & THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS
HEADLINE 24th ANNUAL
SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES MUSIC FESTIVAL,
SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 25-26
Los Angeles area’s largest Cajun and Blues festival, held over Memorial Day weekend, features two stages, a Mardi Gras parade, kids’ stages, crafts and dozens of food booths

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The 24th annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival will rock over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-26, at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Ave., in Simi Valley. The festival features two full stages for each of its musical genres. Music will proceed non-stop each day from 12 noon until 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 (adults 13+) and $15 (children) and are available online at http://www.simicajun.org or at the gate. Parking is ample and free. Fast-moving California Hwy. 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway) can be taken to the Stearns Street exit; the festival is four blocks south.
Co-headlining the blues stage this year, Alligator recording artist Janiva Magness and Elvin Bishop will lead a Tribute to Finis Tasby.
Janiva Magness received the coveted 2009 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (she is the second woman to ever win this award; Koko Taylor was the first). She also won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year for three years. She has received a total of 22 Blues Music Award nominations to date, including five nominations this year. Her album Stronger For It is her tenth.
Elvin Bishop, who will lead a tribute to ailing Texas bluesman Finis Tasby, a member of the Mannish Boys, with John Nemeth and Kid Anderson, began his career with the Butterfield Blues Band. He notched a #3 pop hit with the single “I Fooled Around and Fell in Love” in 1976. His latest recording (and 18th album) is the live Raisin’ Hell Revue on Delta Groove Records.
Meanwhile, on the Cajun stage, Rounder Records artists and two-time Grammy Award nominees and 2013 winner Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, will headline both Saturday and Sunday; Swampland star Teresa Russell, Southern California’s own Lisa Haley, Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners, David Sousa & the Zydeco Mudbugs, J Paul D. & the Zydeco Nubreeds and Andre Thierry & the Zydeco Magic will create a Louisiana-style fais-do-do. A sizeable dance floor will be built alongside the stage. The annual Mardi Gras Parade will take place both days at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, back at the blues stage (and festival goers are encouraged to go back and forth), other performers include the Mannish Boys with guests Curtis Salgado, Kevin Selfe, Peter Dammann, Otis Grand and Audrey Turner; Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King with guests Bob Corritore, Rand Chortkoff and Big Pete; Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, Andy T/Nick Nixon Band with Anson Funderbaugh; James Herman’s Back Porch Revue; and the Delta Groove Harp Blast.
The blues stage also presents two young blues up-and-comers, redefining the genre for a new generation: Nathan James & His Rhythm Scratchers and Kara Grainger. Nathan James plays his self-invented washboard guitar, harmonica and kazoo. His 2012 What You Make of It album was called “one of the most original blues CDs (and bands) to come along in a long time.” Of Australian-born Kara Grainger — soon to release her Delta Groove Records debut album — Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper noted, "There's a whole lot of Bonnie Raitt in (her songs) . . . Grainger's alternately throaty and honeyed voice floats over a . . . bed of bluesy accompaniment."

The festival has received national press accolades: “Everywhere you turned, there was something exciting happening. Put this on your 2013 festival calendar,” wrote Blue Revue editor Art Tipaldi, who made the trek from New England. The Blues Blast writer enthused, “I attend many venues and festivals throughout the year but the ones that seem to impress me the most are the ones that serve the community in some way. I highly recommend you put this on your calendar for next Memorial Day weekend.” And the music industry trade journal Hits added, “As the last strains of (Candye) Kane’s set rang in our ears, we left the grounds fully sated by music, food, drink and, as the saying goes, bon temps.”
This family-friendly event boasts a huge kids’ area with bouncers, rock walls. specialty acts, crafts and talent shows.
The festival boasts dozens of food booths featuring a variety of fare: authentic Cajun creations and Southern BBQ as well as multi-cultural cuisine. More than 100 craft booths and retailers will be scattered throughout the festival grounds.
Tickets may be obtained online at http://wl.flavorus.com/rotaryclubofsimisunrise/cajunbluesfestival
Support of the not-for-profit Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival has benefited dozens of local community, national and international organizations a list of which may be found at http://www.simicajun.org/2013/whobenefits.html.
Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival web site:http://www.simicajun.org/2013/index.html

ARTIST/VOCALIST JANIVA MAGNESS UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY

Award-winning artist and vocalist Janiva Magness underwent successful surgery on Thursday, December 13 to repair damage to discs in her neck. Magness will be off the road for four to six weeks while she recovers, but will be back with a full touring schedule in early 2013. According to Magness, "I am feeling much better now (post surgery) and looking forward to sharing performances with friends and fans. It seems 2013 is going to be a very successful and exciting year!"
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band! Just last week, Magness was honored with five Blues Music Award nominations, including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award, a distinction Magness has won once before. She is the only female blues artist to receive this award other than blues legend Koko Taylor. Magness was also nominated for Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for her 2012 Alligator CD, Stronger For It. In addition, Magness, for the first time in her career, was recognized for songwriting, with her composition (co-written with Dave Darling) I Won't Cry, getting the nomination for Song Of The Year. The 34th Annual Blues Music Awards will be presented by The Blues Foundation in Memphis on May 9, 2013 at the Cook Convention Center.

Blues Blast Pre-party at the Rhythm Room!

1019 E. Indian School Road

Phoenix, Arizona 85014

rhythmroom.com

(602)265-4842

Blues Blast Pre-party at the Rhythm Room!

Tonight Friday March 9th

with Janiva Magness

Blues Blast festival pre-party and

CD Release Party for new Album out on Alligator Records!

JANIVA MAGNESS

8pm doors

9:30 show

$12adv/$14dos

Advance tickets available at Rhythm Room bar,

All Ticketmaster store locations,

Charge by Phone:

(800)745-3000 or

Ticketmaster

Blues Blast Festival at Margaret T. Hance Park

Saturday March 10th (see poster below)

Festival After-party at the Rhythm Room!

Prime Time Show

BLUES BLAST AFTER-PARTY & CELEBRITY JAM

Hosted By ROCKET 88s

with special guests

JOHNNY RAPP

BOB CORRITORE

and many of the artists and bands appearing at the

BLUES BLAST FESTIVAL

7pm doors/8pm show/$7

Cover - Free with Blues Blast Ticket Stub.

Like my Facebook Page, Post your video on my wall or post great blues photos or events! Share your favorite postings and get more exposure for your favorite band! - ”LIKE”