Like us, you probably don’t need a special reason to go out and catch some live blues music on any given Saturday night, but this weekend offers a particularly good one. Tomorrow, Saturday, August 3rd, blues artists and fans around the world will be gathering to celebrate the inaugural International Blues Music Day, with more than 100 concerts and events scheduled in such places as New York City, Sacramento, Australia, Italy, Moscow, Croatia, Las Vegas, India, Mississippi, Mexico, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Florida, Switzerland, the Philippines, England, and Brazil, among others.
With a mission “to celebrate, promote and preserve the rich legacy, tradition, and future of the great American art form and international language known as blues music,” International Blues Music Day (IBMD) will bring together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and blues enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about blues and its roots, future and impact; raise awareness of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and reinforce international cooperation and communication. According to the IBMD website, “universities, libraries, schools, community centers, performing arts venues and arts organizations of all disciplines around the world will mark the day through concerts, education programs, seminars, lectures, book readings, public jam sessions, master classes, photo exhibitions, dance recitals, film and documentary screenings, theater presentations and performances.”
If you happen to be lucky enough to be in New York City for the day, be sure to take advantage of all it has to offer as 2013 Global Host City for the celebration (the initiative was the vision of blues musician and NYC Blues Society president Johnny Childs), with a daylong series of events including workshops and seminars, panels and roundtable discussions, a blues film festival, and a sunset concert featuring such artists as Childs, Sweet Georgia Brown, Bill Sims Jr., and Chris Bergson, along with many others. To see a full updated list of IBMD activities worldwide, visit the International Blues Music Day website at www.internationalbluesmusicday.com
As a multimedia blues music blog with readers/listeners all around the world, IBMD is a concept we here at the BluesPowR Blog firmly embrace, and we applaud Mr. Childs and his colleagues for their hard work and dedication in bringing this important day to fruition.
Those not able to make it to an official IBMD event this time around can do your part to help celebrate the mission of the day by taking in some live blues wherever you may be, and of course being sure to mark your calendar for the first Saturday of each August (starting with August 2, 2014) for future International Blues Music Days, not to mention encouraging your local blues society, artists and venues to take part in the celebration in years ahead.