Colorado Blues Society Mission Statement  

The Colorado Blues Society is dedicated to preserving Blues heritage and increasing awareness of and appreciation of the Blues as an indigenous American art form (the wellspring from which all contemporary popular American music originated)  

The Blues Foundation Affiliate Relations Committee Has made two New  IBC/BSPCD rules Changes for the 2021.  

 CBS Board member Scott Fitzke is also a Board member at the Blues Foundation. He just passed this important information along:  

1) For the BSPCD The Foundation will accept CDs issued from 11-1-19 to 10-31- 21 for the best self produced CD competition.  

2) Because some local blues societies have decided not to have local competitions this year, they will accept entries outside of the mileage limitation. In other words, any bands can compete in our local competition whether they are in our area or not. There is a limitation that they can reject appointed acts who don’t actually compete in the submitting societies’ local competition.  

3) The Foundation is also looking for local blues society representatives to participate in affiliate panels at the IBC. The panels will include building a stronger society, reaching out to younger audiences, social media, fundraising and grant writing, BITS, etc.  If any of you have an interest in participating, let Scott know at sfitzke@fsmlaw.net  

Colorado Blues Society Statement on Racism  

The Colorado Blues Society acknowledges that the art form we love and know as The Blues was originally created by and remains an artistic expression of Black artists and musicians as their artistic response to slavery, oppression and injustice.  The Colorado Blues Society will not remain silent in the face of the recent and past senseless murders of black Americans in our communities, whether the cause be overt racism, implicit bias, or systemic racism.  We stand with the musicians and members of our communities in expressing our sadness and outrage at prejudice and injustice towards the black community and the lives that were taken so unjustly.  The Colorado Blues Society grieves with their families for their losses.  
                                                              The Board of Directors of the Colorado Blues Society  

The Best Self Produced CD Contest is Back!  

The Colorado Blues Society will be having a Best Self Produced CD competition. this year. The local winner's CD will be entered into The Blues Foundations 2022 BSPCD competition.  

Eligible CDs need release dates after Oct 31, 2019. (date adjustments due to COVID). There is no entry fee just submit 4 copies of your CD. The Deadline for receipt of 4 CDs for entering the local competition is Sept 7, 2021.  

Submissions should be sent to:  

Joe Menke  

671 Radiant Drive  

Loveland, CO. 80538  

                                                               Send questions to: Treasurer@coblues.org  

BECOME A MEMBER OF CBS OR RENEW YOUR EXISTING MEMBERSHIP  

Your membership and support helps The Colorado Blues Society  promote the Blues in Colorado. We cannot do this without your help! Membership applications with on-line payment are available on our website www.coblues.org/membership  

 

Joe Bonamassa’s Fueling Musicians Program  is an emergency relief plan for touring musicians affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This initiative is designed to support musicians by providing financial assistance for essential living expenses such as food, shelter, and more. Fueling Musicians provides immediate cash payments of $1,000, as well as pre-paid gas cards of $500 to help struggling musicians get back on the road again when it is safe. 

Your gift today will have an impact on the livelihood of struggling musicians. Please help with what you can - your donations go directly to musicians in need. 

DONATE NOW! 

If you are a musician that has been dramatically affected by the cancellation of shows due to COVID-19, click here to apply. 

Sign up to support the Colorado Blues Society when you shop online at Amazon. Just visit smile.amazon.com where you can choose the Colorado Blues Society as your charity the first time you visit the site. The Amazon Smile Foundation will give 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the Colorado Blues Society and will remember your selection the next time you shop. 

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN MUSIC RELIEF 

If you're reading this, you are likely somehow connected to music in Colorado and you're likely suffering to some degree from a loss of income. 

Rocky Mountain Music Relief can't help everybody who needs help right now. Like many small organizations they rely on donations that they can put back into our community. If you're able, please donate. As a thank you, for every donation of $15 or more we'll send you a COVID mask. 

https://rockymountainmusicrelief.org/ 

If you and your family are hungry and need food right now, please download the application for assistance, fill it out and send it back to them at rockymountainmusicrelief@gmail.com . They'd like to send you a gift card for groceries. 

They can only help to the degree that they have money in the bank, but they'd like to help as best they can. 

So, please donate as you can and please ask for assistance if you need it. They'll do the best they can. 

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Want Your Music Featured On This Site? 

CBS is updating the music that is streamed from coblues.org . We will remove songs older songs and add new ones. If you are a member of CBS and you want your blues song featured on the site, please send a 320kbps MP3 file to webmaster@coblues.org . Please include your permission for CBS to stream the song from coblues.org. If you are covering another artist please include the mechanical copyright details that shows you are licensed to publish and stream the music. 

Get Your Ad In The Weekly Update and On This Website 

CBS Business members (that includes bands and CBS acts) keep in mind as a member, for $25/month you can run an ad in the Weekly Update AND on this website. Send send us a .pdf or .jpg of your ad or poster (min size 293 width x 432 height) and we will link it to your website or event link. Not a CBS member? We'll give your ad the same two spots for $50 a month. That's a pretty cheap way to promote your act and something to keep in mind if you have a special show coming up down the road. 

For more info send an email to chick1951@hotmail.com. 

Do you receive the weekly Blues Update from the Colorado Blues Society? 

Every week the Colorado Blues Society sends out a Blues Update that includes timely blues related news, band introductions, jam and performance schedules and more. There is no cost or membership required to receive the Blues Update. If you would like to receive this excellent Colorado blues resource please sign up here. 

John-Alex Mason Scholarship Fund 

The Colorado Blues Society has created an annual John-Alex Mason Scholarship to honor his memory and help continue the educational work he felt was so important. John-Alex took high school students from Colorado Springs to Mississippi on more than one occasion for an extended field trip that sometimes included visiting Memphis and New Orleans. This scholarship will help send student-aged musicians from Colorado to workshops and seminars that will further their blues music (and cultural) education. Your donations will help keep the dreams and memory of John-Alex alive. 

Programs and Services Offered 

To further our mission, we sponsor Blues in the Schools programs, in which musicians present music and information to students at all levels (kindergarten through college). We offer programs in American social history, women in blues, language arts, conflict avoidance, storytelling and even math. We also donate Blues-related materials (books, videos and CDs) to public libraries and offer educational programs in conjunction with those donations. We similarly work with other nonprofits, such as The Blues Foundation, Swallow Hill Music Association, The Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Blue Star Connection and The Colorado Music Business Organization. 

Our members number approximately 600. Some are professional musicians; most are fans of the music and embrace the art and literature of the Blues culture. We publish a bi-monthly newsletter, The Holler, and a weekly email blast, The Blues Update.  The purpose of the newsletters, web site and social media platforms is to provide our members and the public information about Blues-related news and events in Colorado. 

CBS created the John Alex-Mason Scholarship Fund to help send student-age musicians to workshops and seminars to further their Blues music education.   We sponsor youth performances where young blues performers can be seen making music on the “Blues 101 Stage”. Here kids of all ages have the opportunity to learn about the music which is part of their national heritage and the basis for present-day popular music. 

We honor those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions.  Over time, CBS has honored Blues musicians and outstanding contributors with Lifetime Achievement Awards, Heritage Awards, In Memoriam or other special recognitions. 

We work with local nonprofits, civic organizations and businesses to strengthen the awareness and appreciation of the Blues as an art form. 

Date of most recent review by the Board of Directors:  June 12, 2018