Blues in the Schools Benefit Show Raises Over $1,200

The blues were out in force for our August 18th BITS Benefit concert! It was a big night at Big Cities for Crossroads. In total, we raised $1,261 for BITS, which will help to fund the next round of BITS performances.

Todd Lorenz began the night with an awesome acoustic set. This was his first time in Rockford and I am sure we’ll see a lot more of this bluesman in the area. Todd also donated the funds from sales of his CDs to BITS, so a big thank you also needs to go out for his generosity!

The Basement Blues Band were on next. Featuring Bob Schmidt on drums, Steve "Spider" Leigh on guitar, and Rich Gordon on bass, the band’s two and a half decades of blues experience shone through. They are always blues fan’s favorites and put on a great show!

The next two sets featured the return of the Rockford Guitar Shootout! We had our first shootout in Sinnissippi Park in 2005. Two of the original six string slingers returned– Bob Levis and Pistol Pete. They began the first set and electrified the crowd! Pete’s histrionics are always a great musical show and the steady finger picking style of Barstool Bob wowed the crowd.

Also in the house was Prezell “PD” Davis of Agnus Jackson who got up and jammed wth the boys. He switched his hard rocking guitar style to the blues for the evening; the intensity of his playing was awesome. Larry Pendleton also performed as part of the shootout and his axe work was also exceptional. Pete, Bob and Larry along with the visiting Prezell put on a great show for the huge crowd of about 100 blues fans!

The silent auction, 50-50 raffle, Todd Lorenz CD sales and door profits were also supplement by donations for Steve Roach’s jambalaya and Allison Johnson’s red beans and rice. What a great evening of food and music! Many thanks to them for donating their time and great food!
If you missed this night you missed a great time. Thanks to Big Cities and especially to all the members of Crossroads Blues Society who worked to make this night a big success! We are truly keeping the blues alive with our BITS fundraising efforts!