“The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will prove to be the next great landmark in Chicago music culture” – Herschel Concepcion, Jambase.com

Chicago, IL – September 5th, 2009. The Congress Theater, in conjunction with Chicago independents Kingtello Presents, is proud to announce the second coming of the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival (cbbfestival.com). While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today. The all-ages one-day event, held on Saturday, December 12th from 11am to midnight, will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jamband, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures.

Against the backdrop of an official Chicago landmark and one of the last of the classic “movie palaces,” fans will be treated to a party with a purpose, featuring 3 stages and 25 bands for less than the typical price of the headliners alone. Six-time Grammy-winner Béla Fleck and his Flecktones will unite for their first Chicago date together since mid-2007, as Béla has been devoting extended stints to the likes of the Sparrow Quartet, The Africa Project, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain.

They’ll be joined by Philadelphia’s psych-folk harmonizers, Dr. Dog, who’ve rapidly ascended the public consciousness this year with breakout performances at both Coachella and Camp Bisco. The Emmitt-Nershi Band, uniting Leftover Salmon’s mandolin and vocals (Drew Emmitt) with the songwriting and flat-picking guitar of the String Cheese Incident (Billy Nershi), joins the party as well. And Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater, proudly declared “Chicago’s premier blues entertainer” by the Chicago Tribune, will properly represent the scene that put his city on the international music map.

Tickets for the festival go on sale on Saturday, September 12^th at 9am CST for $35 through the event’s website (cbbfestival.com), ticketmaster.com, and clubtix.net.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will offer a musical reprieve from the merciless Chicago Winter by adapting elements of a summer music festival to the historic and intimate indoor setting In addition to 13 hours of 3 stages worth of nonstop music, the day’s activities will also include a pickin’ circle, a live-art exhibition and indoor gallery, charitable raffles, film screenings, the original Blues Brothers car, and impromptu marching band performances.

In between main stage sets, an array of performers will treat festival-goers to special “pop-up” sets from the Congress Theater’s historic balcony.

Joing the Headliners on the Main Stage – Last Banjo Standing Contest: Organizers have announced that they will once again hold the “LAST BANJO STANDING,” an online contest that scours Chicagoland to find the top bluegrass or blues inspired artist. The winner, as voted on by fans, family, friends and music lovers around the city will join the headliners on the main stage roster. Sign up and vote at cbbfestival.com/contest.

About the Charities:

And while the festival will serve to break a band or two, festival-goers will get to help children. A portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to two non-profit organizations, the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), and Prevent Child Abuse America (www.preventchildabuse.org)

Lineup:

The complete artist roster includes:

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones

Dr. Dog

Emmitt-Nershi Band

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater

The Giving Tree Band

Josh Phillips Folk Festival

Van Ghost

Majors Junction

Chicago Farmer

Jaik Willis

Mike Mangione & The Band

Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Tangleweed

Environmental Encroachment

Squeeze-bot

GreenSugar

How Far to Austin

Liberty Bluegrass Band

The Right Now

Cobalt & the Hired Guns

The Shams Band

Goodbyehome

The Junior League Band

· Sample them all at cbbfestival.com

About the Congress Theater:

The Congress Theater (www.congresschicago.com) is an official Chicago City Landmark and one of the largest and most unique entertainment venues in the entire city. Over a quarter-million music fans visit the Congress each year to see acts such as The Shins, Girl Talk, Prince, Tiesto, The Roots, The Killers, Ludacris and Dave Chappelle in one the last of the city’s classic movie ‘palaces.’

Built in 1926 and designed by Friedstein & Co, the 4,000 capacity theatre features a mix of architectural styles, including neo-classical and Italian Baroque, with an elaborate domed auditorium covered with decorations in stone, terra-cotta, and plaster. In addition to the main theater, the venue also features a spacious four-story Entrance Pavilion, Skybox Suites and private meeting rooms and exhibition areas. The theater is located in the burgeoning Logan Square/Bucktown/Wicker Park area, the seat of the artistic and music communities in the Midwest. It sits perfectly situated, in close proximity to the immense variety of ethic and social communities that it serves, just blocks from the 90/94 expressway, Metra and CTA blue line trains.

Got questions about what the show will be like, what the rules will be, or what we’ll be wearing? Feel free to e-mail us at Michael.raspatello@gmail.com. Hopefully, however, here are some of the answers you were looking for….

SHOW SCHEDULE

*2 Stages, a Balcony, 18 Acts, and Costumed Marching Band “Environmental Encroachment” parading throughout the venue at impromptu times

MAIN STAGE
12:30-1:15pm – Donnie Biggins
1:15-1:30 – Tangleweed
1:30-2:15 - Dollar Store
2:15-2:45 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe “Cell Camp”
2:45-3:30 – Billy Childers
3:30-4:00 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
4:00-4:45 – Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
4:45-5:15 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
5:15-6:15 – Majors Junction
6:15-6:45 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
6:45-7:45 – Ha Ha Tonka
7:45-8:15 – The Giving Tree Band
8:15-9:45 - David Grisman Quintet
9:45-10:15 – The Giving Tree Band
10:15-However Long They Want – The Avett Brothers

Jambase.com’s 312 PAVILION STAGE
Noon-12:45 – Blue Room Hero
1:00-1:45 – Cobalt & the Hired Guns
2:00-2:45 - Lindsey O’Brien Band & Friends
3:00-3:45 - Mike Mangione
4:00-4:45 – Jessica Lee
5:00-5:45 – How Far to Austin
6:00-6:45 – Blue Mother Tupelo
7:00-8:00 – Blackdog

• This show is All Ages, runs from 11am-Midnight-ish, tickets are $31 until day-of, when it increases (if there are any left)

• Unlimited Re-Entry: Can come and go freely to and from the theater until 5pm.  AFTER 5PM YOU CAN STILL ARRIVE.  All this means is that once you’ve left the building after 5pm, you can’t come back in.  As in, if you leave at 4:59 you can still get stamped and come back any time throughout the night.  However a minute later that would not be an option. 

• Smoking lounge access without leaving the theater. Security is about as strong as a one-armed swimmer (as in “weak”)

• Sketch Comedy throughout the day from Chicago Sketch Comedy Group “Cell Camp”

• An open jam session and picking circle from the second the doors open. Musicians are all invited to bring their instruments and participate. There’ll be an “instrument check” along with the coat check so that you don’t have to lug your noisemaker around with you all day.

• Over 50 booths of artists, vendors, and charitable causes. Artists will be creating their art on-site and selling it while the Saving Tiny Hearts Society will be raffling off swag from the artists

• The theater is located at 2135 N. Milwaukee (just north of Armitage). There is street parking available all around the theater, as well as very cheap reserved parking by clicking here

• Traveling to the theater is easy via the CTA, as it is within two blocks of the Blue Line train stations at California (& Milwaukee) and Western (& Milwaukee) which operate twenty four hours a day. The theater is also served by the following bus routes: #52 Kedzie/Calfornia, #56 Milwaukee, #73 Armitage, #49 Western (www.transitchicago.com)

• The theater is also a quick walk or bus ride from the METRA train station at Clybourn & Ashland on the Union Pacific District Northwest line. Exit the station to the south to transfer to the #73 Armitage bus going west on Cortland Ave. to the theater.

• The “Official After-Party” will be held at Chicago’s #1 rock club The Elbo Room immediately following the show. Entry is free with your festival ticket. Check out more details at elboroomchicago.com

•A WARM FUZZY FEELING FOR MAKING THIS EVENT AMAZING AND HELPING PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME!

By Michael Mering, cbbfestival.com Senior Correspondent, mikemering@gmail.com

Blue grass and blues. Chicago and Nashville. A grand stage and a hallway haven side stage. Husband and wife.

Our panel of writers here at Chicago Bluegrass & Blues couldn’t have imagined a more successful marital state of affairs for this year’s inaugural festival. Of course, we (the writers) met one another at a swingers’ conference for journalists. It’s quite a scene. One minute you’re discussing obscure documentaries, the next you are tossing your keys into a large bowl and being whisked away to the bondage room by an NPR executive. I guess our parameters for holy matrimony veer from the norm.

Let’s talk music…

Majors Junction and Blue Mother Tupelo… These two bands will help fuel the sonic landscape at the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues fest, and both feature a dynamic husband-and-wife duo.  Don’t scoff at the sentiment, as you’ll soon be scooped up by the love in the air.

Check the stats:

Blue Mother Tupelo (BMT)

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
They moved there in 2001 and have since earned rave reviews and gained momentum with their live shows.

Band Members: BMT is the husband/wife duo of Ricky and Micol Davis

Hollywood Moment: BMT’s video for “Head On My Shoulder” is featured on the DVD of the movie Daltry Calhoun (Miramax, 2005) starring Johnny Knoxville and Juliette Lewis.

Sounds Like: If Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty were actually married and decided to take over Dixie.

They describe their sound as: “Swampadelic Southern Soul Rock”

Majors Junction

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Band Members: The husband and wife tandem of Mike Mulcahy (guitar, vocals) and Heather O’Brien (vocals) front the band. Their harmonies are accompanied by Brian Wilkie (pedal steel), Matt Gandurski (guitar), John Hasbrouck (bass), and Colin Williams (drums).

Sounds Like: Everything you love about Johnny Cash and early Wilco.

Their sound has been described as: “Plush Lonesome Western Blues.”

Live show: Keep your eye on chicagoacoustic.net for a podcast with the legendary Michael Teach, and your ear on Hambone’s Blues Party every Thursday night at 10pm on WDCB 90.9FM.  They are scheduled to turn up on both in early November, when you’ll hear them ripthrough several numbers in a very intimate setting.

ABOUT THE CHICAGO BLUEGRASS & BLUES FESTIVAL:

On November 22nd, 2008, the Congress Theater will host the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival (cbbfestival.com). While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today.  The one-day event will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jamband, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures, while allowing festivalgoers to save a heart.  A portion of each $31 ticket will be donated to the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), an non-profit organization that raises money for America’s #1 birth defect, congenital heart defects (CHD).

By Josh Downs, downs.josh@gmail.com, cbbfestival.com Senior Correspondent

The Chicago Blues and Bluegrass Festival would have never come about if not for Chicago’s own Majors Junction. But more about that later.  When the band precedes David Grisman on the festival’s main stage this November 22nd, the folk/rock act and friends to the Saving Tiny Hearts Foundation will have realized long-deserved career ascension.

The band came onto the scene in 2003 with their debut release “A Desert Oasis”. Locally garnered praise has propelled the group to bigger gigs and a growing fan base, but a resistance to flirt with the sometimes-tacky art of aggressive self-promotion has left them as critical darlings that are pleasantly under-exposed.   Their latest release, “Confluence,” has been receiving rave reviews from the US and abroad, while selling promisingly on iTunes. Providing upbeat rockers and smooth ballads, the album shows off the songwriting and performance abilities that puts this band at the forefront of the Chicago Americana scene.

The husband and wife duo of Mike Mulcahy and Heather O’Brien provide the upfront harmonies that give the band their rich and layered sound. Mulcahy writes the majority of songs for the band and is a graduate of the University of Iowa School of English. Moving from the serious to the satirical he provides a scope for the listener but will not disavow the intelligence of his audience.  Other members of the band include multi-instrumentalist Michael Scott Duplessis whose tasteful playing transcends the guitar, piano and bass, lead guitarist Matt Gandurski, and Colin Williams, who drives the beats on the drums and other percussive instruments.  Colin also co-produced “Confluence” with Mulcahy and has been with the band since its conception back in 2002.

Beyond the core of Majors Junction there is a family of musicians throughout Chicago that joins the band regularly to satiate any Americana palate. Upright bass player Roger Sherman, pedal steel ace Brian Wilkie, fiddle player Allie Kral and slide guitar player John Hasbrouck are just a few of the musicians that join the band live and in-studio.

Majors Junction’s relationship with the Saving Tiny Hearts Foundation began when Brian Mazzei, an ex-bandmate of Mulcahy’s at Iowa, had a son named Trevor who was born with a congenital heart disorder (CHD).  Trevor had successful surgery and is now a healthy and happy boy.  Pledging to help families in a similar predicament, Brian & Tracy Mazzei offered their support and passion to growing the Chicago-based Saving Tiny Hearts Society.

With a host of fundraising events under their belt, Mazzei decided to draw on his lifelong passion for live music and throw a truly foot-stomping affair.  His old college buddy and his band of Americana barn burners were quick to lend a hand.      After Majors Junction headlined Saving Tiny Heart’s first benefit concert this past April at the Sundance Saloon in Waukegan, IL, raising an unprecedented amount of funds for CHD research, they realized live music was the ticket to bringing their cause to the national stage.  Cue David Grisman and the Avett Brothers.  Cue Majors Junction on the National Stage.  Cue another foot-stomping celebration this fall.

About the Festival:

On November 22nd, 2008, the Congress Theater will host the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival (cbbfestival.com). While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today.  The one-day event, with music from noon ‘til midnight, will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jamband, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures, while allowing festivalgoers to save a heart.  A portion of each $31 ticket will be donated to the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), an non-profit organization that raises money for America’s #1 birth defect, congenital heart defects (CHD).

In 1983, it was difficult for Chris Bauman to understand why his baby brother Carsten was “sick and not going to wake up”. At only two years old, “Cardiomyopathy” didn’t make much sense to Bauman, who was only been able to spend nine short months with his baby brother.

The death of Carsten created a permanent void in the Bauman household, a void that remains this day. “I still remember as a kid, we as a family would set and keep a spot at our

dinner table for Carsten. We kids would insist upon it,” comments Bauman. “His loss is something that still effects us on a daily basis.”

Thanks to the organizations like the Saving Tiny Hearts Society that aim to eradicate congenital heart defects (CHD) like cardiomyopathy, fewer families are currently forced to experience such a tragedy. Since 1993, death rates for congenital heart defects have decreased by over 35% due to advances made through research, according to the American Heart Association. The progress is encouraging, but Bauman isn’t satisfied.

“It is unbelievable how much has been accomplished due to the valiant efforts of organizations like the Saving Tiny Hearts Society, but there are still families hurting, and much more work to be done.”

It’s this passion, coupled with a string of extraordinary events that has empowered Bauman’s “Music 2.0” company, FanFound, to help make a difference.

Since the event’s conceptualization last March, Chicago-based FanFound has acted as both a sponsor and organizer of the upcoming festival

“Newgrass” legend and longtime Jerry Garcia collaborator David Grisman and his David Grisman Quintet will be sharing the headlining duties with surging festival sensations The Avett Brothers and their massive following of rowdy devotees. The Avett Brothers have recently teamed up with legendary producer Rick Rubin, and signed with American/Columbia Records, home of Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, and The Black Crowes.

Throughout, FanFound has dedicated its resources and manpower to help ensure the budding festival’s long-term success. “The grouping of these artists has been long-awaited amongst the roots music community, and it’s almost surreal that they’re finally coming together for a cause that is so near and dear to my heart,” expresses Bauman.

“This is a killer event, at a killer price. There couldn’t be a better place to spend $31 dollars around the Thanksgiving holiday.” Bauman continues, “We are hopeful the Chicago community will rally around this event, helping aid in this unbelievably important, under-funded, and life-saving cause. My dream is that less and less families this year will have to go through the pain of losing a brother, sister, son or daughter as a result of our efforts ”

About FanFound (savingtinyhearts.org):

Since it’s conception in 2006, FanFound has made significant strides guiding the music industry into a new era of online social networking, ad-supported content distribution, and fan-designed live music events. “Saving Music, One Fan At A Time”, FanFound aims to help fans, artists, and venues collaborate to shape their respective musical communities.

Located in downtown Chicago, FanFound continues to develop a suite of services that will pave the way to an integrated “Music 2.0” industry. Sign up on (www.fanfound.com) to stay informed and learn more.

About the Saving Tiny Hearts Society (savingtinyhearts.org):

The Saving tiny Hearts Society’s mission is to raise money for grossly under-funded, crucial, life-saving research of congenital heart defects (CHD), America’s #1 birth defect. Nearly 1 of every 125 babies born in America each year is affected by a Congenital Heart Defect…

The Saving tiny Hearts Society is the only organization in the country that was formed for the sole purpose of raising funds for congenital heart defect research with 100% of general donations going directly to funding this research. There are no paid employees and we are run entirely by dedicated volunteers. Furthermore, the organization’s overhead costs are fully funded by our Board of Directors and directed donations.

The Saving tiny Hearts Society has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status and a contribution to the organization may be deductible as a charitable contribution.

Fanfound Press Contact: Chris Bauman
Phone: 866 – MUSIC-RX
Email: Chris@fanfound.com