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Saturday, May 17th |
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 Band Links:
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Northeast Blues Society: Colossal Contenders Contest Backdraft Blues DeLuxe Blues Sanctuary The Blues School Band Joe Lowry and The Second Mile Doors at 6:00 PM $10 In Advance $10 Day of Show Buy Tickets VIP Lounge is Available |
About:For immediate release Troy, New York: The Colossal Contenders Contest is the largest, longest running and most respected blues competition in New York's Capital Region. Sponsored by the Northeast Blues Society, the 2008 first round competition will take place at Revolution Hall, River Street in Troy on Saturday, May 17th from 7 to midnight. Admission is $10. Tickets are available from the competing bands, at Northeast Blues Society Sunday night jams at Cheers Roadhouse Grill on Fuller Rd. in Albany and at www.revolutionhall.com. Five bands will compete in a juried contest followed by an all-star jam led by Matt Mirabile, a former Colossal Contenders winner and featuring other past winners in the contest. The bands competing are: Backdraft, Blues DeLuxe, Blues Sanctuary, The Blues School Band featuring 11-year old Jared Alpern and School Master Charlie Smith, and Joe Lowry and Second Mile. All are regulars at the Northeast Blues Society's Sunday night jams held at Cheers Roadhouse Grill on Fuller Rd. in Albany. The top three Contenders will go on to compete on July 12th at the 2nd Annual Electric City Blues Festival in Schenectady's Central Park. The winner of that competition by popular vote will receive more than $2500 in prize money and will be the Northeast Blues Society's entry in the Blues Foundations' International Blues Challenge, the world's largest gathering of blues bands in Memphis next February. Second and third place winners receive cash awards of $400 and $300 respectively. More than 80 regional bands and/or solo acts have competed in Colossal Contenders in the last 15 years including The Slow Happy Boys, The George Boone Blues Band, The Tom Healey Band, Captain Squeeze and The Zydeco Moshers and The Foy Brothers. Two Colossal winners have gone on to greater fame: Albert Cummings who recently recorded his fourth Blind Pig album live with Jim Gaines (Santana, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan) producing, and Tas Cru who is a current "Pick to click" on XM Satellite Radio's Bluesville channel 74 and is now on a 24-stop "Tornado Alley Tour" of the south. His Gravi-Tas album with the Slow Happy Boys is being called by Blues Revue: "a multi-course feast of the down-home variety: friendly, welcoming, and direct." The bands in alphabetical order are: Backdraft Gary Pickering – guitar, vocals and harp Glen Peterson – lead vocals, lead guitar Mike McClean – bass Andy Serritella – drums Mike Jessup – guitars and vocals Together for 12 years, Backdraft has opened for Buddy Miles at Northern Lights and is led by vocalist and guitarist Gary Pickering, a 55-year-old veteran of decades on the local music scene going back to the 1960s with Gross National Product, and Downing Street. Mike Jessup is formerly with Nobody's Fool, and Andy Serritella is from Lost in Transit. Blues DeLuxe Bacco – vocals, bass Marc Viola – guitar Mike LoMaestro – drums Bacco has been with StoneWater from 1977 to 1985. He appeared with Strange Arrangement in the '90s and has worked with Kevin Thomas and Dick Solberg, The Sun Mountain Fiddler. Bacco and Marc have known each other and played together in one form or another for 32 years. Bacco replaced Marc as bass player in StoneWater in 1977. Then, Marc rejoined the band in 1982 as guitar player. Mike LoMaestro is a much in demand drummer who works with Big Medicine and George Fletcher's Bourbon Renewal. Blues Sanctuary Greg Bird – guitar, vocals Rick Burgess – guitar, vocals and harp Joe Candal – keyboards Bruce Mariani – bass, vocals Ken Pallman – drums www.myspace.com/bluessanctuary Located in Vermont, this band with different personnel was in the Colossal Contenders many years ago. They rehearse in Greg Bird's 12X12 den next to the downstairs bathroom. They play through a little Fostex 16 channel multi-tracker with burner and an electronic drum kit with headphones in order not to wake the kids. The Blues School Band featuring 11-year-old Jared Alpern and Schoolmaster Charlie Smith Charlie Smith is the tenured professor of the local blues scene with 40-plus years of performing and teaching to his credit. Jared Alpern attends Bought Hills Elementary School and is a natural performer with perfect pitch. His mother, Laura Bulatao, attended Manhattan School of Music as a flute major and was a member of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in the 1970s. Joe Lowry and The Second Mile Joe Lowry – guitar and vocals Paul Rosamilia – bass P. J. Pagano – drums They call their music "adrenalin-rich, usually exhausting and almost dangerous." The name refers to Paul's second go at music after fathering five children and is a reference to Jesus' words about going the second mile. The Second Mile Blues Band started when Joe Lowry and Paul Rosamilia met at a 1999 Blues Society jam. Joe is former lead guitarist with Blue Jeanne Blue and Split Decision. For more information, contact Don Wilcock at 518-258-4373 or 518-347-1751 or donwilcock@msn.com. Back To The Calendar |
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Revolution Hall
425 River Street
Troy , NY 12180
Phone: 518-274-0553
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