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A concert by local musicians
to help raise money and awareness
of music performance licensing fees

Sunday, November 26
Doors open at 4PM
LIVE MUSIC
SILENT AUCTION
FREE FOOD
$5 suggested donation

LIVE MUSIC
The Bob Pace Band
Hot Tamale & the Redhots
Sumpin' Doo
Matt Woods & the Thunderbolts

FREE FOOD
Marty Enslow (of Tia-Juana's Catering)
will be cookin' up something special.
Steve Vasquez is on pie duty.

 SILENT AUCTION & RAFFLES
To donate silent auction or raffle items contact Scott Allen via email at scott@vividpix.com.

October 27, 2006 For Immediate Release

BANDS UNITE TO SUPPORT BLUES ON GRAND IN LEGAL BATTLE 

Four Iowa blues bands will appear in a benefit performance to help the Des Moines’ nightclub pay its annual performance rights licensing fees on Sunday, November 26. Blues On Grand, located at 1501 Grand Ave., is embroiled in a legal battle with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), which collects fees from radio, television, night clubs and retailers for use of music broadcasted, performed live or played in stores and pays royalties to song writers and publishers.

The four bands—The Bob Pace Band, Hot Tamale & The Red Hots, Sumpin’ Doo and Matt Woods & The Thunderbolts—will be performing between 4:30 p.m and 10 p.m. at the famed club. Suggested donations of $5 will be received at the door. Free food, silent auction, and raffled items are also on the agenda.

Blues On Grand was founded in 1999 and has been the Des Moines performance home for most major touring blues artists in the country, as well as for regional and local blues bands. The club won the Blues Foundation’s coveted Keeping The Blues Alive Award in 2002 as the nation’s “Blues Club Of The Year.”  Owner Ron Boone and Manager Jeff Wagner have recently been contesting with BMI over a judgment they were unaware of for unpaid licensing fees. The club’s receipts have been confiscated under a court order on multiple occasions. Says Wagner; "High music licensing fees are no doubt one of my toughest struggles in the owning and operating of a live music venue dedicated to the blues genre. I truly hope that our blues heroes or their families are getting what's due them."

Contact Info:

To donate silent auction or raffle items contact Scott Allen via email at scott@vividpix.com.

Music coordination contact
Bryan Church at 515.577.7749.

Other inquiries please contact Jeff Wagner at Blues On Grand by calling 515.244.3092.

Check back here for more details and updates.

Thank You!

In no particular order... These are some of the folks responsible for the success of the "Shakedown Downtown" benefit.

Jerry and Edward from Blind Pig Records, Ruf Records, Bruce Iglaur and Alligator Records, Fred Litwin and Northern Blues Records, Reverend Raven, Crazy Horse Guitars, Rieman's Music, Mikki Nord, Cowden Computers, Jenipher Sutherland, Roberta from ASensation Mobile Music!, Kopsa's Garden of Eatin', Rob Beasley from Mojo's on 86th, George Famaro from Centro, Marty Enslow and Tia-Juana's Catering, Steve Vasquez (the PieMan), Lee Bell of Wolfer Sound, Bryan Church of Church Productions, Jen Taylor and Scott Allen of VividPix & Design, Jesse's Embers, Watermelon Slim, Kim Wilson, Dr. Tim & Sheila Drevyanko, John & Dianna Vick, Andy Lyons Camera Works, Kim "Nappy" Niles, Chris Miner, Thomas Cooper of Coopers Images, David Horwitz, Dennis at Fishlips3, Chip Eagle and Steve Sloan from Blues Revue / BluesWax, Michael Swanger, Cityview, Larry Cotlar of KXNO Radio, Fancy Pants Productions and the Boundary Waters Blues Festival, Bruce Arnold from Heartland Prairie Massage, Intrepid Artists International, Danny and Faunda Russell, Kent Neuman of Full Spectrum Productions, Dennis Fowble and the South Skunk Blues Society, Steve White from Music Circuit Productions, Andre from Tasty Tacos, Steve Pope Photography, Jeff Hunter from Hotel Fort Des Moines, Walter Trout, Mark Carpentieri from M.C. Records, Central Iowa Blues Society, Matt Eimers and Simple Man Enterprises / Simply the Blues Fest, Michael and Suzanne from the Flying Mango, Matt Woods and the Thunderbolts, George Davis and Sumpin' Doo, Hot Tamale and the Red Hots, Bob Pace Band, Terry Cole, Russell Bird, Zana Bokassa, Paul Mayasich & the Benderheads, Cool Disposition, Rusty Wright Blues Band, Lynette, Serena, Deb, Roxie, Lori, Brenda, T-Bone, Becky, Tina, Becca, Sandy, every single person that donated, bought a raffle ticket, won an auction bid, or just plain showed up...