CRBN Blues News

On July 28th we were invited to participate in a great blues show in Schenectady, featuring Mark and Jill, Matt Mirable and the legendary Shemekia Copeland – part of the Music Haven series. In addition to having a booth where we sold memberships and CRBN t-shirts we were able to distribute free copies of the…

Our Band Challenge event at the Linda was a great success. Our two competing bands, Rich Ertelt and Blues Express and Big E and the Brutes, were joined by Thomasina Winslow who provided a wonderful opening set of traditional acoustic blues. Thanks to our judges, Mark Richardson, Jill Burnham and Andrew Wheeler and to Board…

On Monday, June 13th CRBN’s Blues in the Schools performer/teacher extraordinaire, Tas Cru, delivered two great sessions for K through 3rd grade students at two elementary schools in the Albany School District: Albany School for the Humanities (ASH) and Giffen Memorial School (these pictures are from the morning program at ASH). Tas was assisted by…

Mark and Jill, our Solo-Duo entrants for the 2022 International Blues Challenge, are the winners of the 2022 “Eddie” for Blues Artist of the Year!

From May 6th to May 9th the The Blues Foundation‘s International Blues Challenge (IBC) 2022 takes place in Memphis, TN. Representing CRBN at this year’s challenge are the George Fletcher Blues Band in the band category and Mark and Jill Sing the Blues in the solo/duo category. Wish them luck as they spend their last…

On Wednesday April 27th CRBN provided a very special Blues In The Schools presentation at Oneida Middle School in Schenectady. During an after school guitar class led by music instructor Mike Lawrence, national recording/touring artist and music educator Tas Cru and his musical partner Mary Ann Casale talked about the origins of blues music and…

Another Donation Received from Stewart’s Holiday Match Program! The donation will provide funding for our Blues in the Schools and Blues in the Libraries programs. This funding provides CRBN with the ability to provide reading materials to kids in the community and with educational programs. More information and to sign up children for the activity see…

The Capital Region Blues Network has selected Misty Blues’ latest album “None More Blue” as our entry for the “Best Self-Produced CD” competition at the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge event in Memphis in May, 2022. “None More Blue” was the band’s 9th album and was released during the qualifying period for IBC 2022 (reminder:…

Nominees include: The Amy Ryan Band The George Fletcher Blues Band Soul Sky Mark and Jill Biscuits ‘n’ Gravy Matt Mirable and Alison Jacobs All of these artists are accomplished regional blues acts, each representing a variety of blues styles, performing throughout our region and beyond. They are all truly immersed in the blues and…