Belding Elementary School Poetry: Writing the Blues

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Chicago schoolkids were introduced to Langston Hughes via a program conducted by the Poetry Center of Chicago. This article includes some of the students’ attempts at “blues poetry”. While some of them are what you’d expect from kids this age, others show a surprising depth for elementary school level, and it’s terrific to know that kids are being exposed to blues culture and literature at so young an age.
Belding Elementary School Poetry: Writing the Blues

Up on the Sun – The Rhythm Room hosts a benefit show on April 14 for blues singer Candye Kane

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My best wishes to blues singer, sometimes adult entertainer, Candy Kane, whom I am resisting the temptation to call a diva. Kane was unfortunately recently diagnosed with cancer, and has had to cancel tour dates during a year that was going well for her. Rhythm Room in Phoenix is hosting a benefit for her, and this article has some other information as well.
Up on the Sun – The Rhythm Room hosts a benefit show on April 14 for blues singer Candye Kane

Singing the Polish Blues in Chelsea – City Room – Metro – New York Times Blog

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I loved to see this little article in the Paper of Record about a Polish busker who plays blues in NYC. I never fail to be impressed by the broad range of people who are positively inspired by blues, and in that respect I don’t mean the musician but the many many people who genuinely enjoy his playing. The blues is such a simple format that it draws people in no matter what walk of life they come from. Even the comments on this story make this clear — the one guy who complains about the actual musicianship of this Polish street musician is smacked down authoritatively, basically because he misses the point.
The absurdity of a Polish immigrant making up floating lyrics on a street corner in Chelsea makes me smile to even think of it. There’s also a video of him playing and explaining a little about what he does. You can never kill the blues because it’s always going to sprout up in unlikely places, like some sort of flowering weed in the concrete.
Singing the Polish Blues in Chelsea – City Room – Metro – New York Times Blog