WiB #3 Artists

Friday:	Friday's event took place at the beautiful, newly revamped, Greenfield Lake Amphitheater, corner of West Lake Shore Dr. & Honeysuckle St., Wilmington, North Carolina!
		Friday night only included 2 acts. Our region's Grandmother, Rose of Rose and Charlie Lucas (The South Eastern NC Regions Grandparents of the Blues) will do a short set to open the festival as she has each year and will continue to do so as long as she is able.
Before you think this was a short night...it wasn't! After Rose opened Gaye Adegbalola did a TWO PART show!!!
		Many in Wilmington are familiar with Gaye from her multiple appearances with Saffire– the Uppity Blues Women. She has toured nationally and internationally, and has won numerous awards including the prestigious Blues Music Award (the Grammy of the blues industry). As of Summer 2008, Adegbalola has 12 CDs in national distribution, including 3 on her own label, Hot Toddy Music. This year's festival was in for a double treat as Gaye will be bringing her History of Women in Blues from the 1920s to today. She shared video and/or audio clips from Bessie Smith to Billie Holiday, from Rosetta Tharpe to Big Mama Thornton, from Etta Baker to Etta James and many others. She illuminated how the history of working class black women is documented in blues lyrics and after the screening and short intermission she returned to the stage with Roddy Barnes to bring down the house!
Saturday Afternoon: Jam-FREE to Public! Noon to 4:30 pm.		Saturday's event was held at one of the areas newest clubs, The Cellar, 35 N. Front St., next to the Cape Fear River in historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina!
FREE JAM SATURDAY! THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER was the Saturday Invitational Jam (Free, and Open to the Public) at The Cellar, 35 N. Front St..

Saturday's Jam included acts like Sarah Cole’s band, Stone Cold, Pat Pepin, Shelly Broome with the Dynamic Thermatones, and Michele and Midnight Blues, who represented the Cape Fear Blues Society in the 2006 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, and a few surprises and some special guest performers too!
Saturday Evening:		Saturday Evening Line-Up Patty Benson Peggy Ratusz and Big Road Sarah Lemieux Miss Candye Kane with Laura Chavez on guitar!
		Candye Kane: Candye is no stranger to the blues world and brings a dynamic to the stage seldom seen in our region. Candye Kane may still be a well-kept mainstream secret but in most underground circles, her diva status is legendary. She has been making music professionally for over two decades and toured worldwide since 1992, performing for amazingly diverse audiences. She played at the French Embassy in Rome for the President of Italy, headlined the Rhythm Riot, a rockabilly and R&B festival in the UK, and belted it out alongside Ray Charles at the Cognac Blues Festival. She slayed em' at the Cannes Film Festival, kept them enthralled at New York Gay Pride and most recently, helped organize a thirteen city tour of the Netherlands for special needs kids.
		Sarah Lemieux: Also on this year's festival line up we saw the return of NY solo blues woman Sarah Lemiuex who’s smoky, silky voice, and unique brand of "storytelling" blues and jazz are getting people hooked all over the world, from Quebecois radio shows to Australian podcasts and everywhere in between.
		Patty Benson: Also returning was Greensboro blues artist Patty Benson who Alan Shuttro of Blues Wax said "Patty Benson doesn't just sing the blues-she whispers, cries and even belts out the blues. Her vocals ring with confidence and emotion. She's sultry and bold as she spills out her lyrics on each and every song."
		New to this year's stage was Peggy Ratusz who recently played the semi-finals of the 2008 International Blues Challenge representing NC's own Piedmont Blues Preservation Society after winning their last Blues Challenge.

Join us for another addition of the National Women in Blues Festival in 2009 and support great women artists and the one true musical genre that was born in the USA of the African American experience.