Blues Legend Earl Thomas & An All Star Line-Up In A Raising the Roof Benefit Concert for the Blues Hall of Fame Museum: Oct 27 @ the Alberta Rose Theatre

 Blues legend, two time Grammy Award® nominee, and four-time San Diego Music Awards winner Earl Thomas will headline an all-star gathering of musicians at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland on Sunday, October 27^th to help The Blues Foundation in their quest to open a Blues Hall of Fame museum in Memphis, TN. The line-up is a diverse amalgamation of musicians from various genres coming together to perform in America’s most original musical form, the blues.

The Raise the Roof concert series began with a stroke of inspiration as Thomas decided to support The Blues Foundation by donating his time and talents as a blues artist. Word quickly got out about Thomas’ project, and it wasn’t long before Thomas saw many of his fellow musicians across the country aligning with his cause and offering their help. As a result, the Alberta Rose show will feature Earl Thomas & The Blues Ambassadors, Duffy Bishop,  China Forbes (from Pink Martini), The Strange Tones, Karen Lovely, Liv Warfield (Prince), Dave Fleschner & Alan Hager, Bart Ferguson, and a rare U. S. performance by Swiss multi-platinum selling blues star Philipp Fankhauser, as well as Alabama’s Lisa Mills. Additional guest stars to be added later.

Thomas explains, “I’m excited to be part of this event and even more excited to bring together some of my long-time friends. I love to introduce musicians to each other. We’ll have a guy from Switzerland, a girl from Alabama, and all the Portland cats all joining me in supporting The Blues Foundation. We all sort of came up together and have known each other for many years. I think it is important for all of us to give back to the music that we love and to ensure that the history of the blues is preserved. I’m also grateful to Joey Scruggs, Dave Fleschner, the Alberta Rose and the Cascade Blues Association for helping us put this show together. This is definitely a group effort! All net proceeds are in support of the Blues Hall of Fame Museum.”

“The Blues Foundation has been inducting performers and recordings into the Blues Hall of Fame since 1980 and a capital campaign is well underway to establish the Blues Hall of Fame Museum. We applaud Earl Thomas and his friends for their willingness to step forward in support of our efforts to bring this long-overdue dream to reality,” explained Jay Sieleman, President of The Blues Foundation.

The Blues Foundation is based in Memphis, TN, and it is world-renowned as THE organization dedicated to preserving blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting blues education and ensuring the future of this uniquely American musical style. The Blues Foundation has 4,500 individual members and 200 affiliated blues societies that represent another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world. Its signature honors and events – including the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues Challenge and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards – make it the international center of blues music. Since 1980, The Blues Foundation has inducted individuals, recordings and literature into the Blues Hall of Fame; however, there has never existed a Blues Hall of Fame museum. The Blues Foundation’s Raise the Roof campaign calls for up to $3.5 million to create a museum dedicated to honoring inductees year-round, listening to and learning about the blues, and enjoying historic mementos of this all-American art form.

The Alberta Rose Theatre is located at 3000 NE Alberta Street. Showtime for the Raise The Roof Concert is 6:00 pm and minors are allowed when accompanied with an adult. Advance tickets for this event can be purchased on-line through the Alberta Rose website, by phone (503-764-4131) or in person at the box office on any show night. $20.00 general admission or $50.00 for the VIP seating that includes a champagne meet & greet with the artists and preferred seating front & center (limited to 60).This is a CBA sponsored event – enter the word CBA in the promotion code box if ordering online. Or show your CBA membership card at the box office.

Help The Blues Foundation make the Blues Hall of Fame a reality to help recognize those musicians who paved the course of American music and to honor those masters who are still with us while they’re alive to share in the celebration. For more information about The Blues Foundation and the Blues Hall of Fame project, visit www.blues.org.