RAMI Awards NIght

2007 RAMI Awards Ceremony
Thursday, April 12th
Tebala Shrine Temple
7901 Newburg Road
Rockford, IL
7 pm

Let's have a big group of Crossroads members in attendence! It will be a fun night to recognize the Rockford music scene and to just have fun.

Mardi Gras Party and Meeting Rescheduled for March 31st!

It's almost April, aso it must be time for Mardi Gras, Westside Andy, Mel Ford and the rest of their band from Madison, WI! 8 PM on Saturday, March 31st at Big Cities Lounge. We will have a quick meeting to discuss the BITS results, BLLues Challenge questions and ti make up for the snowed out Mardi Gras Party! Come on out for blues, beads, beer, booze and bountiful fun!

Dave Gross Displays His Talent at Big Cities

March 8, 2007.

Dave Gross came into Big Cities, he saw Big Cities and he conquered Big Cities. Along with his outstanding singing girlfriend Gina Sicilia, Dave showed those in attendence why he was nominated for Blues Music award. Rockford was treated to hear and see these two young talents who surely will make a big splash in the music world!

Successful BITS Events

Six school programs are now done, with 2,150 students and several hundred teachers lives having been touched by the blues. We completed two days of Spring BITS set of programs today with Ann Rabson, and the Reverend Raven and Madison Slim completed their "rookie" days of BITS programs yesterday. All in all, the kids got exposed to the blues in a fabulous manner.

Ann began the day at WNTA AM 1330. Then she was off to school as were the Rev and Slim. They did 4 school programs on Tuesday. The evening show on Tuesday night had 50 blues lovers in attendance. The Rev and Slim opened, Ann did a second set and then the three of them went at it for almost an hour of a great blues jam. The 10 or less minutes of the artists "conspiring" together prior to the show resulted in about an hour of super music with Ann, the Rev and Slim trading the lead back and forth like the seasoned pros they are. It was a great night of blues and the Just Goods Store Music Room is an outstanding and intimate venue for music.

The Rockford Register Star came out to Conklin Elementary School and gave the program a glowing review. Music Teacher Paul Smith joined Ann Rabson on his sax and the kids just loved it. You can check out today's Wednesday paper or click here: http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS03/103070023/1118

All schools visited were new to BITS. They were:

Conklin ES

West View ES

Summerdale ES

Dolan HS

Spectrum School

Carlson ES

BITS Schedule

BITS Itinerary

Tuesday, March 6th
08:00 AM Ann Rabson WNTA 1330 AM IntervieW
09:30 AM Ann at Conklin ES
10:00 AM Rev Raven at Spectrum School
01:00 PM Ann at Westview ES (TBD)
01:00 PM Rev Raven at Carlson ES
05:30 PM Dinner with Artists
07:30 PM BITS Evening Concert at Just Good Store

Wednesday, March 7th
09:30 AM Ann at Mary Morgan ES (TBD)
02:00 PM Ann at Durand HS/Dolan School
05:30 PM Dinner with Ann

Times for dinner are tentative as are the locations. I will update them when confirmed.

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March Blues Calendar

March 2007

Other events to mark on your calendars:
- CBS Meeting and Mardi Gra Party February 24th at Big Cities at 8 PM with the Panaramics!
- March Big Cities Shows on the Calendar
- Future Big Cities Shows:
* April 7th Reverend Raven
* April 14th Beat Merchants
* May 12th Annual Groovewalk
* May 18th Chris Cain

BITS Evening Show March 6, 2007 at 7:30 PM

Gerry Hundt at Big Cities

Local musician Gerry Hundt plays bass, occasional vocals, guitar, mandolin and harmonica for Nick Moss' band The Fliptops. Gerry was with Nick at Big Cities Lounge in Rockford recently and treated the crowd to some exceptional mandolin, and even did a little slide mandolin. Gerry is a very talented musician who is a very talented up and coming young artist. We wish him the best!

Jimmy Cavallo at the Jetsetter Lounge

The Jetsetter Lounge in Lake Worth, Florida, on Friday evenings is home to Jimmy Cavallo and his band the Houserockers. No cover charge to see this 80 year young blues and swing great at this ultra swank hipster lounge!

The Jetsetter Lounge on line at: http://www.jetsetterlounge.com/