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MBS Blues ‘N News
Welcome to our Blues & News online newsletter! Check this back often to see our recent posts & upcoming shows. This month we
are excitedly preparing for September’s End of Summer Blues Event, featuring three incredibly talented bands:
Joanna Connor, Chicago’s Electric Guitar Blues Queen! Tani & the Afrofunkstars, who bring on the music that makes you move,
and the award-winning Bill Roberts Combo, who deliver a truly memorable music experience!
The MBS Board has stepped up its online presence on Facebook, Instagram & this website, which we hope is providing good information
about our area’s |live music shows and more. Drop us a line at board@madisonbluessociety.org to share your ideas, comments, and interests. We’d love to connect with you!
Also please see our Call to Action for Sept. 14th show volunteers. Can’t wait to see you!
We Need You Volunteers!
End of Summer Blues Event (EOSBE) 9/14/25, <br>East Side Club on Lake Monona needs volunteers!! Volunteer & see the show for FREE!
Latest Blues Society News & Site Updates
- MBS Board Meeting Monday SeptemberThe Madison Blues Society’s monthly meetings are held the 2nd… Read more: MBS Board Meeting Monday September
- Harmony Bar Blues Dance Lessons 9/8Blues Dance September 8 Lesson and Social Mon, 08 Sept… Read more: Harmony Bar Blues Dance Lessons 9/8
- MBS End of Summer Blues Artists
2025 Event Headliner Chicago-based blues singer, songwriter & guitarist Biography Excerpt by… Read more: MBS End of Summer Blues Artists - MBS July NotesDiscussion of the End of Summer Blues Event. Need volunteers.… Read more: MBS July Notes
- 2025 End of Summer Blues Event!
- MBS Board Meeting Monday August 11The Madison Blues Society’s monthly meetings are held the 2nd… Read more: MBS Board Meeting Monday August 11
- MBS Board Meeting Monday July 14The Madison Blues Society’s monthly meetings are held the 2nd… Read more: MBS Board Meeting Monday July 14
- MBS Board of Directors & Key Volunteers 2025Steve PorterPresidentMeet Steve Rod GirkinVice PresidentMeet Rod Paul GibsonTreasurerMeet Paul… Read more: MBS Board of Directors & Key Volunteers 2025
- Join us! Madison Blues Society “Needs You!”We are a freindly, open organization with the primary goal… Read more: Join us! Madison Blues Society “Needs You!”
- Wisconsin Community Blues Festivals
Wisconsin Community Blues Festivals Over many years, MBS has worked… Read more: Wisconsin Community Blues Festivals - Blues Roots
This narrative (in progress) is derived from the work of… Read more: Blues Roots - Annual Blues PicnicMBS’s 1st Annual Blues Picnic was held on June 22,… Read more: Annual Blues Picnic
- Featured Musician – Jeff “H” Harrington
Tell us a little about your history as a blues… Read more: Featured Musician – Jeff “H” Harrington - MBS Board Meetings
MBS board meetings are held every 2nd Monday of the… Read more: MBS Board Meetings - Find Festivals
The Isthmus https://isthmus.com/search/event/calendar-of-events Music Festival Wizard https://www.musicfestivalwizard.com/ Monroe Balloon &… Read more: Find Festivals - Featured Musician – Jimmy Schwarz
Over 30 years I’ve been privileged to have so many great musicians come through the band, and this current group is a dynamic collection of a 5-piece group that plays with 1 musical mind. - Featured Musician – Dave Cornette
Early Beginnings: Dave Cornette discovered his passion for music at… Read more: Featured Musician – Dave Cornette - Featured Musician Too Sick Charlie
Eric Heiligenstein AKA Too Sick CharlieCigar Box, Vocals Tell us… Read more: Featured Musician Too Sick Charlie - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Rock-n-Roll was invented by a woman who… Read more: Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf)
Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf) ….was born on June 10,… Read more: Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf) - A message of hope & renewalBy Shari Davis Former Madison Blues Society Board President Shari… Read more: A message of hope & renewal
- Join us at Juneteenth Celebration in the ParkWe are so excited to partner with Kujichagulia Madison Center… Read more: Join us at Juneteenth Celebration in the Park
- Featured Musician Tall Paul Sabel
Harmonica Player “Tall” Paul Sabel, originally from DePere, WI, started… Read more: Featured Musician Tall Paul Sabel - Lost But Found Again: A look behind the music
By the end of the 1950’s, blues music was at a crossroads. The blues was dying, as it so often does, in mainstream culture. It was disparaged as low-class, old fashioned, and unenlightened. Many blues musicians chose to readjust and redefine themselves to cope with changing tastes. - Scholarship Guitar LessonsMBS raised funds for this scholarship at our Bowling &… Read more: Scholarship Guitar Lessons
- Join us at FLIX Brewhouse!MBS Member Event Free appetizers and beverages at FLIX Brewhouse… Read more: Join us at FLIX Brewhouse!
- Raffle Tickets Available at the Picnic!Enjoy the music! But please don’t forget that the Blues… Read more: Raffle Tickets Available at the Picnic!
- 2018 Annual Picnic Line UpRain or Shine! Blythe Gamble & the Rolling Dice –… Read more: 2018 Annual Picnic Line Up
- Award Winning Band at Annual Picnic!Say hey to Milwaukee-based Altered Five Blues Band who’s fresh off a… Read more: Award Winning Band at Annual Picnic!
- Dane Arts Grant!
Dane Arts Grant We’re proud to announce that we’ve been… Read more: Dane Arts Grant! - Local Band Blythe Gamble and The Rollin’ Dice to Perform at PicnicWe’re delighted to announce the second of the two local… Read more: Local Band Blythe Gamble and The Rollin’ Dice to Perform at Picnic
- Membership Questions? Ask Dave.
Welcome! As Membership Coordinator for the Madison Blues Society, my… Read more: Membership Questions? Ask Dave.
Upcoming Live Blues Shows!
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Forró Fo Sho, Fharmacy
Forró Fo Sho We are the premier Wisconsin based band playing NE Brazilian Forró dance music! The Fharmacy Public House, Lake Mills203 N. Main St., Lake Mills, Wisconsin 53551 Forro fo Sho…
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Small Blind Johnny, Fharmacy
Small Blind Johnny, Fharmacy in Lake Mills Small Blind Johnny has been playing the blues since their first gigs in 1984 and celebrated their 40th Anniversary at a gig…
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Samantha Fish, Cedric Burnside, and Jon Spencer
ACG Presents: Shake Em’ On Down Tour Featuring: Samantha Fish, Cedric Burnside, and Jon Spencer December 6th, 2025, Barrymore Theatre
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Joanne Shaw Taylor at Atwood Music Hall
Joanne Shaw Taylor’s music is deeply influenced by legendary blues and rock artists, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin, alongside enduring inspiration from British…
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Blues At the Buckhorn, Featuring Ivy Ford
Blues At the Buckhorn Featuring Ivy Ford Milton, United States
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Albert Cummings Stoughton Opera House
Albert Cummings at the Stoughton Opera House From $18.83 About Albert Cummings Albert Cummings is an American blues musician recording music with Blind Pig Records.[1] He is known for playing with other artists with B.B.…
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Bill Roberts Combo at the Mansion Hill Inn
Jazz & Cocktails with the Bill Roberts Combo Founded in 2014, the Bill Roberts Combo brings a tight, nuanced, and rhythmically powerful presentation to blues-jazz unlike anything you’ve heard…