| Help The BLUES FOUNDATION Combat COVID-19
The Blues Community thanks you in advance for your generosity. The Foundation will soon share detailed information on when applications for the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund will be available and how to apply as soon as the Blues Foundation has the minimum funds needed to begin offering support to applicants. |
To listen to music from CBS member artists, press the Play button in the player at the bottom of the screen.
Colorado Blues Society Mission Statement
***** CORONAVIRUS CANCELLATIONS!!! To the Best of our knowledge ALL shows & jams have been cancelled thru the end of April due to COVID-19. Please CONTACT the VENUE BEFORE GOING TO a SHOW to SEE IF the EVENT IS STILL HAPPENING. DO NOT CONTACT CBS TO FIND OUT, WE DO NOT KNOW! ****
Hey Musicians - Bands & Solo Performers!!!
Covid-19 is cutting into your gigs. Many of you have started streaming shows, music, concerts, lessons, etc.... online. If you do, let CBS help. Send your online performances to calendar@coblues.org just like you did your live gigs. Let CBS help spread the word on our website and the Weekly Update. To get it in the Upcoming Update please get the information to calendar@coblue.org as soon as possible! The service is FREE!
Voting for Colorado Blues Society Board of Directors starts Thursday March 5
The voting for the CBS Board of Directors and Officers starts March 5 and runs to midnight April 5. The candidates below are running for the CBS Board in 2020.
RESOLUTION on ELECTION
Due to the stay at home orders necessitated by the corona virus pandemic, the Colorado Blues Society Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of the Society and its Members that the 2020 Annual Meeting of The Colorado Blues Society not be held. In lieu of the Annual Meeting, the Officers and Directors shall be duly elected by the on-line voting process which is currently enabled, continuing through midnight on April 5, 2020. Duly elected Directors and Officers shall be installed effective April 6, 2020. The By-Laws of The Colorado Blues Society are hereby temporarily amended to accommodate this emergency situation. Adopted by the Board of Directors, 3-31-20, /s/ R. Scott Fitzke, Secretary
To go to your ballot. Click the Voting image below. On the ballot- Enter your name, email, and check the candidates you want to vote for. Then click SUBMIT
Kyle Deibler, President
Kyle Deibler comes to the CBS Board having served as the President of the Phoenix Blues Society for eight years and a Board member for ten years. A key volunteer at the national level for The Blues Foundation, Kyle has worked as a venue coordinator for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis for sixteen years and continues to be in charge of the handler crew for the Blues Music Awards. In 2017, The Blues Foundation honored Kyle with its prestigious Keeping the Blues Alive Award as a person whose behind-the-scenes work was so important to the Blues world. Over his many dedicated years to the Blues, Kyle has produced and nurtured blues festivals and well over one-hundred music connected activities.
Scott Fitzke, Secretary
Scott Fitzke is a shareholder with Shortridge & Fitzke, P.C., a law firm in Englewood, Colorado. He practices in the area of commercial law, with an emphasis on litigation and real estate as well as some entertainment law. Also, he has represented various non-profit, charitable and educational organizations in addition to private and religious foundations. Scott’s community involvement and volunteer work include Blue Star Connection, Urban Peak, Ronald McDonald House, Jeffco Action Center, Food Bank of the Rockies and other homeless and hunger projects. He had an extended involvement with Scouting. From 2007 to 2009, Scott served on the Board of Directors of Swallow Hill Music Association.
In 2015, Scott joined The Blues Foundation Board of Directors where he now stands as Vice Chair and General Counsel to the Memphis based non-profit organization serving the worldwide Blues community. Scott’s commitment to CBS began in 1998 as an at-large member of the Board. Scott was on the Board in 2013 when The Blues Foundation named CBS the recipient of the Keeping The Blues Alive Award as the leading blues society in the nation. His lengthy service to CBS includes a tenure as President; he now serves as the Board Secretary.
Joe Menke, Treasurer Joe Menke is an electrical engineer for Keysight Technologies who arrived in Colorado in 1981 with a BSEE and MSM from Purdue University. Previously a classic rock fan, Joe got hooked on the Blues. Early on, Joe attended the CBS Board of Directors meetings learning its mission, programs, and operations. Since joining the CBS Board in 2012, Joe’s business know-how and organizational insights have been applied to the organizations’ fiscal management, inventory records, budgeting and financial discipline. Further, Joe has judged band and solo /duo artists’ competitions that qualify performers through CBS sponsorship for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Joe’s interest in blues led to promoting concerts in his back yard featuring local solo/duo artists and bands. A highlight was the blues benefit concert in 2012 that raised $5,700 for the Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department.
Robert “Wolf” Perlman, Vice President
“Wolf” is a lifetime fan of Blues music and has been a fixed accessory on the Colorado blues scene since 2010. Wolf critiques artists and songs using his distinctive personal perspective to opine on CDs, shows and concerts. Wolf originates a weekly three-hour Internet Radio Show. In addition to frequently volunteering at festivals and musical happenings, Wolf spearheads managing the CBS membership pool for an array of activities needing helpers. Wolf’s commitment for fostering the Blues genre is particularly directed toward fledgling musicians.
Gary Guesnier, Director
Gary Guesnier is a long-time member of the Colorado Blues Society along with memberships in The Blues Foundation and the Mile High Blues Society. Since joining the CBS, Gary contributed time to the Blues In The Schools program, membership solicitations, benefit events and merchandise vending. Additionally, he has judged local International Blues Challenge competitions that selected CBS’ representatives to the IBC in Memphis. And he has facilitated CBS connections with Swallow Hill Music, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and the Beaver Creek Blues, Brews and Barbeque Festival. Further, he has served in several non-profit and cultural organizations including the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Ballet Board of Trustees.
Gary graduated from Kansas State University and is a US Air Force veteran. In 2014, he retired from a career in commercial banking and federal bank regulation as a Bank Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Also, Gary is a blues harmonica player and a serious barbeque enthusiast.
Tracy Servantes, Director
Tracy Servantes was born in New York where her exposure to a wide genre of music began early on. She was raised on music and dance, singing on jingles for twelve years and taking dance lessons for sixteen years. Her father formed the 50’s vocal group, The Mellow-Larks, and sang for many years, later owning a successful recording studio in New York City until his retirement. Tracy’s mother was a New York City Rockette, Copa Girl, who danced worldwide and taught dance until her retirement.
For years, the Blues has engaged a large part of the life that Tracy shares with her husband. They regularly attend Colorado blues festivals and support local and national Blues acts. They take part in the fundraisers and benefit concerts for the Blue Star Connection, a non-profit organization that works with musical therapists and children in various hospitals and clinics around the USA.
Tracy’s varied occupational career started in advertising and marketing. She moved to Colorado in 1991 and for an extended time managed a small manufacturing company. Currently, Tracy is a project coordinator and inside sales person for a HVAC firm. Her retail marketing expertise maintains the merchandise vending activities of the Colorado Blues Society. Tracy is the chair of the merchandise committee.
Troy Hughes, Director
Tony & his wife just relocated to the Denver area from Chicago and are loving the weather, the mountains, the music, the sunshine.
He is a 20-year marketing communications professional with a heavy emphasis on IT, web development, graphic design, etc.
Tony's been playing guitar since he was a teenager and loves the blues and just about every other music genre.
He welcomes the opportunity to support the blues in Colorado and beyond.
Emergency Grants and Resources for Artists
Alex Teitz, President and Founder of Teitz Media and FEMMUSIC.com has put together a resource for grants and aid for artists that have had their incomes impacted by the corona virus. If you are in the music business and have been a victim of Covid-19 and its fallout check this out. Click the image below to go to the webpage of grants and resources.
Or use this link: https://femmusic.com/wp/index.php/2020/03/17/emergency-grants-resources-for-artists/
| Thank You Colorado Blues Society Gold Sponsors! |
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CBS is updating the music that is streamed from coblues.org . We will remove songs older songs and add new ones. If you are a member of CBS and you want your blues song featured on the site, please send a 320kbps MP3 file to webmaster@coblues.org . Please include your permission for CBS to stream the song from coblues.org. If you are covering another artist please include the mechanical copyright details that shows you are licensed to publish and stream the music.
Your Blues society has an urgent need for some very special volunteers. Here is a great chance to meet a bunch of fellow Blues fans and make new friends!!! You can become part of a great community 501c3 non-profit, an award winning Blues Organization- the 2013 recipient of the Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the Blues Foundation!
The Colorado Blues Society is looking for some special blues lovers- a Volunteer Coordinator, Merchandise Coordinator/Chair, and a Web Admin. If you think any of these sound like something you might enjoy, send an email to info@coblues.org and let’s get together and talk! See you soon!
CBS Business members (that includes bands and CBS acts) keep in mind as a member, for $25/month you can run an ad in the Weekly Update AND on this website. Send send us a .pdf or .jpg of your ad or poster (min size 293 width x 432 height) and we will link it to your website or event link. Not a CBS member? We'll give your ad the same two spots for $50 a month. That's a pretty cheap way to promote your act and something to keep in mind if you have a special show coming up down the road.
For more info send an email to chick1951@hotmail.com.
Every week the Colorado Blues Society sends out a Blues Update that includes timely blues related news, band introductions, jam and performance schedules and more. There is no cost or membership required to receive the Blues Update. If you would like to receive this excellent Colorado blues resource please sign up here.
The Colorado Blues Society has created an annual John-Alex Mason Scholarship to honor his memory and help continue the educational work he felt was so important. John-Alex took high school students from Colorado Springs to Mississippi on more than one occasion for an extended field trip that sometimes included visiting Memphis and New Orleans. This scholarship will help send student-aged musicians from Colorado to workshops and seminars that will further their blues music (and cultural) education. Your donations will help keep the dreams and memory of John-Alex alive.
To further our mission, we sponsor Blues in the Schools programs, in which musicians present music and information to students at all levels (kindergarten through college). We offer programs in American social history, women in blues, language arts, conflict avoidance, storytelling and even math. We also donate Blues-related materials (books, videos and CDs) to public libraries and offer educational programs in conjunction with those donations. We similarly work with other nonprofits, such as The Blues Foundation, Swallow Hill Music Association, The Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Blue Star Connection and The Colorado Music Business Organization.
Our members number approximately 600. Some are professional musicians; most are fans of the music and embrace the art and literature of the Blues culture. We publish a bi-monthly newsletter, The Holler, and a weekly email blast, The Blues Update. The purpose of the newsletters, web site and social media platforms is to provide our members and the public information about Blues-related news and events in Colorado.
CBS created the John Alex-Mason Scholarship Fund to help send student-age musicians to workshops and seminars to further their Blues music education. We sponsor youth performances where young blues performers can be seen making music on the “Blues 101 Stage”. Here kids of all ages have the opportunity to learn about the music which is part of their national heritage and the basis for present-day popular music.
We honor those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions. Over time, CBS has honored Blues musicians and outstanding contributors with Lifetime Achievement Awards, Heritage Awards, In Memoriam or other special recognitions.
We work with local nonprofits, civic organizations and businesses to strengthen the awareness and appreciation of the Blues as an art form.
Date of most recent review by the Board of Directors: June 12, 2018The Colorado Blues Society believes that equal opportunity is important for the continuing success of our organization. In accordance with state, federal, and municipal laws, this organization intends to comply with these laws which preclude negative discrimination against any person or organization because of race, disability, color, creed, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, military status, sex, transgender status, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, veteran status, political service, affiliation or any other protected classification. This policy applies to all activities of The Colorado Blues Society, including but not limited to employment, selection of volunteers, selection of recipients of its programs, grant- making, purchasing, and selecting vendors or consultants. The Colorado Blues Society defines "negative discrimination" to include (but not necessarily be limited to) denial of services, employment, or volunteer opportunities to any class of individuals in a manner that negatively restricts opportunities to that class of individuals.
 | In 2013, The Blues Foundation presented the prestigious Keeping the Blues award to The Colorado Blues Society for meritorious excellence in the Blues Society category. |  |
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