The 1st National Women In Blues Concert - Saturday, November 18th, 2006 in Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, NC (National Women in Blues) - Michele Seidman (Michele and the Midnight Blues) felt women were under represented at the blues festivals. She wanted to make an event about women and for women. With help from The Actors Edge, they will do just that. Someone once said no one wants to hear a woman sing the blues but if you look at history and the charts, they could not have been further from the truth. The reactions to this event already proves that statement wrong. Emails have come from Europe asking for details and the Women in Blues Concert was only announced to a small number of people prior to this release. If you go to most major festivals today, woman are a side note and rarely featured yet on the charts it is obvious people like to hear women in the blues. This concert is about the women as it was intended.

This year's line up has artists from across the country giving it national status. Michele Lundeen the Queen of Steam is coming in from San Diego California. Valerie June the Road House Gal from Memphis Tennessee joins in as does Big Red and the Soul Benders from Arkansas, keeping the Delta connection strong. Add in Shelly Magee from South Carolina and some of Wilmington's finest, including The Dynamic Thermo-Tones featuring Niki Sharp, the areas Grandmother of Blues Rose Lucas (Charlie & Rose Lucas), and the concert founders band Michele and the Midnight Blues who recently started getting international attention due to radio airplay.

It is not just about the music either. It is about the women and several women's groups will be there, including Domestic Violence, Rape Crisis, Breast Cancer Awareness and more. This concert is by women and for women. More details are available on the web page and the myspace site with details being added daily. Michele said 'This got bigger faster than I thought. Next year we can turn this in to several days of the best of Women in Blues with all the women who want to play'. 'I would love to see the next Women in Blues concert run for 4 days and have everyone from Bonnie Raitt and Shirley King to Deborah Coleman and Juke Joint Judy'. We have already had interest in sponsoring the 2nd concert from national entities, which suggest this is just the start.

For the husbands who enjoy blues stick around but for those who don't there is plenty of golf in the area and a great children's museum. Not to mention The USS North Carolina Battleship, the Fort Fisher Aquarium, area beaches and a wonderful Historic Downtown worth a slow afternoon stroll on the river. You will not regret your trip to the Cape Fear Coast for the 1st National Women in Blues Festival. From the music to the scent of magnolia in the air it is the perfect place to bring together some of the Women in Blues.
Location -MARRZ Theatre on Front Street. www.marrz.net
Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door.