Springing the Blues 2011

Springing The Blues is a blues festival designed to celebrate America's indigenous musical form and promote support of the arts. It takes place over 3 days in Jacksonville each April and was named by Downbeat as one of the Top 50 Music Festivals. Compensation will be negotiated at time of booking./n/nSpringing The Blues is a free outdoor blues music festival designed to celebrate America's indigenous musical form and promote support of the arts. The three-day oceanfront event features a number of renowned blues performers as well as numerous displays and activities geared for the entire family. It is held at Jacksonville Beach, Florida's Oceanfront SeaWalk Pavilion on the 1st weekend of April each year.



Compensation will be negotiated at the time of booking. Lodging is sometimes provided for artists travelling to the event from out of town. Springing The Blues was named by Downbeat as one of the Top 50 Music Festivals in the world and one of the top 20 destination events in the country by the Southeast Tourism Society. It was also voted "Best Festival in Northeast Florida" by the popular Folio Weekly Magazine annual poll in 1997.

Springing The Blues requires all artist submissions contain a video of live performance or link to a video in their EPK. If you are not a Supersonic artist or don't have a video in your EPK, you will be asked to include a link to a live performance video.

Past performers at Springing The Blues have included Larry McCray, Phillip Walker, Tinsely Ellis, Saffire "The Uppity Blues Women," Maurice John Vaughn, Earl King, Mitch Woods And His Rocket 88's, Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Tab Benoit, Little Jimmy King, Henry Gray and the Cats, Grammy Award winner Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Ruby Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, Robert Jr. Lockwood, R. L. Burnside, Smoky Wilson, Coco Montoya, Smokin' Joe Kubek and B'nois King.

The Springing The Blues Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1991, plans and organizes the festival. In addition to staging Springing The Blues, the society also raises funds to feed the hungry and makes substantial donations to other worthy causes. In 1994, for example, it initiated "Blues In Schools," an after-school program that provides "at risk" students with instruction in the history of the blues and in the playing of musical instruments associated with the blues. This effort helps to build self-esteem, discipline and team work among the students.



The Blues Society also sponsors smaller musical events throughout the year to keep the interest in blues strong in Jacksonville. The City of Jacksonville Beach and a number of other local businesses support the festival. Several Beaches hotels and motels cooperate with the festival by offering a special "Blues Rate". In addition, the festival relies on more than 100 dedicated volunteers.