Memphis, TN –Twenty-one individuals and organizations will be honored with The Blues Foundation's 2008 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award during a recognition brunch at the Downtown Doubletree Hotel Saturday, February 2, 2008, in Memphis Tennessee. The KBA ceremony will be held in conjunction with the 24th International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events that will feature the semifinals and finals of the world’s largest gathering of Blues bands, as well as seminars, presentations, and receptions for blues societies, fans, and professionals.
The
Keeping the Blues
Alive Awards recognize the significant contributions to Blues music made
by the people behind the scenes. Each is selected on the basis of merit by
a select panel of Blues professionals. KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi notes with
respect to this year’s recipients, “The committee is once again impressed
with the quality of the selected recipients - the outstanding men, women,
and organizations that have evidenced a longstanding commitment to the Blues
genre. In recent years, The Blues Foundation
has increasingly recognized the global reach of this indigenous Afro-American
art form and the 2008 honorees certainly reflect this awareness, with recipients
hailing from Canada, France, and Sweden, in addition to the United States."
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Art or Photography: VividPix & Design, Des Moines, Iowa
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Blues Club: Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, Missouri
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Blues Organization: South Florida Blues Society, Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida
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Education: Fernando Jones, Chicago, Illinois
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Festival: Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada
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Film, Television or Video: Ten Days Out: Blues From the
Backroads
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Historical Preservation: Mississippi Blues Commission and
Mississippi
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Dev. Authority, Div. of Tourism for the MS. Blues Marker Trail,
Jackson, MS
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International: Blues sur Seine, Mantes la Jolie, France
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Internet: STLBlues.net, St. Louis, Missouri
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Journalism: Don Wilcock, Scotia, New York
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Literature: Arthur Flowers, Syracuse, New York
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Manager: Michael Frank, Chicago, Illinois
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Print Media: Jefferson magazine, Stockholm, Sweden
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Producer: Bruce Iglauer, Chicago, Illinois
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Promoter: Don Cohen, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
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Publicist: Mark Pucci, Atlanta, Georgia
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Radio-Commercial: Stew “Beef Stew” Crossen - Hartford, CT
Beef Stew has been the voice of the Blues on
Connecticut radio for over 15 years. His "Sunday Night Blues with Beef
Stew" program is a top Arbitron ratings winner that airs from 6:00pm to
midnight on 106.9 WCCC - Hartford, CT, a 50,000-watt powerhouse rock station
heard in four New England states and eastern Long Island, NY. In addition to presenting a rockin' mix of
contemporary and traditional Blues music, Beef Stew features local and national
Blues players in the studio for interviews and live performances. Out-of-state Blues events such as the
Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, Six Flags Blues Brews & BBQ's and the
Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise have called upon him for promotional
services.
Maybe
even more than what he does on the air, is his work in the local Blues music
community. Beef Stew has been a driving
force in helping to raise over $150,000 with music events for charities and
non-profit organizations, including but not limited to; the March of Dimes, the
Lion's Low Vision Center and the Connecticut Blues Society. Stew has hosted hundreds of music events, from
local clubs to regional festivals with crowds numbering over 5,000 surrounded
by legions of loyal listeners and Blues fans.
It is easy to see why he is known as “The Blues Guy.”
Beef
Stew was instrumental in the early development of the Connecticut Blues Society
and sat on its Board of Directors. Stew
is also a long time member of The Blues Foundation head quartered in Memphis,
TN, and is a member of the CT Broadcasters Association. Beef Stew maintains an active web site for
his radio program www.MegaBlues.com which features concert photos, music news,
mp3s and a listen-on-line link.
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Radio-Public: Holger Peterson, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Record Label: NorthernBlues Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Retailer: Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale,
Mississippi
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Sponsor:
Mike Glenn, New Daisy Theater, Memphis, Tennessee