Silver Anniversary Event Features 4 National Blues Artists and Two Stages of Blues Entertainment!

Ronnie Baker Brooks headlines a line-up packed with national blues acts in celebration of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society’s Silver Anniversary blues festival.

YES! Weekly presents the 25^th Annual Carolina Blues Festival, Saturday, May 7, 2011, at Festival Park, downtown Greensboro. To make this anniversary event even more special, and to showcase the Triad’s deep pool of blues talent, the PBPS is adding a second stage featuring local and regional blues performers.

The Carolina Blues Festival is the closing event in the annual week long EMF Jazz & Blues Series.

The main stage at the Carolina Blues Festival, presented by YES! Weekly, will feature seven blues performers, including four national blues acts. In addition to guitarist/vocalist Ronnie Baker Brooks, the main stage attractions also include dynamic blues singer Candye Kane, blues guitar virtuoso and Muddy Waters band alum Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin with special guest pianist Ann Rabson (formerly of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women), traditional delta blues artist and Beale Street fixture Richard Johnston, PBPS Blues Challenge winner (solo/duo) Owen Poteat and PBPS Blues Challenge runner-up (band) Lawyers Guns & Money.

Performing on the second stage will be PBPS Blues Challenge runner up (solo/duo) Andy Squint, Greensboro-based four piece blues band The Misdemeanors, and long-time Triad favorites The Ladies Auxiliary.

Tickets are on sale now at www.piedmontblues.org. On Thursday, March 24, tickets will be available at the Carolina Theatre Box Office, 310 South Greene Street, downtown Greensboro (Mon-Fri, hours are 12pm-5pm), or charge by phone by calling (336) 333-2605. On-line sales are available at www.carolinatheatre.com. Tickets will also be on sale starting Thursday, March 24 at The Bank of Oak Ridge (five locations; 2102 N. Elm St., 1597 New Garden Road, 400 Pisgah Church Road, Greensboro; 4423 Highway 220 North, Summerfield, and 2211 Oak Ridge Road, Oak Ridge), and Stonefield Cellars Winery, 8220 NC Highway 68 North, Stokesdale.

Advance tickets are $18.00, and will be available from through May 6. On May 7 tickets will be $30.00 at the gate. When you purchase advance tickets, you will save $12.00 per ticket, so buy your Festival tickets in advance! Kids 12 and under get in free day of show. The PBPS is also offering a special corporate group rate of ten (10) tickets for only $120. To get this deal, your ticket request must be submitted on your company or office letterhead, with check or money order payable to the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society. Please include a business card when you send in your request. Mail your group ticket request (on company or office letterhead) to PBPS, P.O. Box 9737, Greensboro, NC 27429. Group ticket discounts are available through May 3

The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society is truly honored to mark this year as the Silver Anniversary of the longest-running blues festival in the Southeast. We invite blues lovers everywhere to join in the celebration on May 7.

Be there as YES! Weekly presents the 25^th Annual Carolina Blues Festival, Saturday, May 7^th, at Festival Park, downtown Greensboro. Gates open at 1:00 pm, and the blues starts at 2:00. Join us for Blues Under the Big Tent, Rain or Shine! For more details, visit our website at www.piedmontblues.org.

The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to keeping the blues alive.