The Chuck Jackson Trio.

Thursday January 20  7 to 9pm

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Centre,

163 Hurontario Street, Collingwood.

The Downchild Blues Band vocalist and harp player will be joined by fellow Downchild stalwart Michael Fonfara on keyboards and all-star bassist Joe Agnello. This will be a super evening of blues music combined with tales from the road with the Downchild Band .

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley

Thursday February 17  7 to 9pm

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Centre,

163 Hurontario Street, Collingwood.

Acclaimed as “Blues Icons” by the Toronto Star, these two award winning performers have joined forces, keeping the blues alive. Dubbed as “Canada’s National Treasure” by Blues FM 91.1Radio Show Host Danny Marks, Diana Braithwaite is a dynamic blues singer and Kansas born multi-instrumentalist  Chris Whiteley has been playing, writing and singing the blues for over 30 years with many of the greats of the genre. Together they are an incredibly gifted combination. Diana and Chris are touring Ontario and Collingwood area schools presenting their self produced “Sugar and Gold” an eye-opening presentation on the history of the Underground Railway.

Harrison Kennedy Trio

Thursday March 17  7 to 9pm

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Centre,

163 Hurontario Street, Collingwood.

“Harrison’s music has the soulfullness of a gospel singer overtaken by the fire of the blues with sensibilities of the finest roots music”.

Hamilton Ontario born Harrison Kennedy was a major force as lead singer with the Chairman Of The Board in the Motown ‘70s but returned to his roots and has honed his craft as a consummate bluesman. Harrison brings a solid blues performance with tastes of R&B, Soul  and that Delta feel. For die-hard blues fans, there was a great article on harrison in “Living BluesHarrison has several excellent CDs on the international blues charts which will be available at this concert.

Suzie Vinnick & Roly Platt

Thursday April 21  7 to 9pm

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Centre,

163 Hurontario Street, Collingwood.

Suzie Vinnick has a gorgeous, powerful voice and performs with a mixture of engaging candidness and unparalleled musicianship, nominated for a 2009 JUNO, nominated for two 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA’s) Suzie has also won 6 Canadian Maple Blues Awards – for Female Vocalist of the Year and Bassist of the Year.

Suzie has been featured nationally on CBC Radio, on Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café and has performed across Canada, the US and for Canadian Peacekeepers overseas.

Toronto native Roly Platt  is known as one of Canada’s premier harmonica players. Roly’s versatility and skill on the instrument has enabled him to become a sought-after live and studio musician. To date, he’s recorded on over 800 national commercials, TV/ film scores and album cuts. Roly is nominated for Blues harmonica player of the year at the 2011 Maple Blues Awards. “Tangled Roots” by Roly and Wayne Buttery the CD that grew out of our last year’s concert series is a finalist in the Memphis International Blues Challenge “Best Self Produced CD” competition.

Curley Bridges

Thursday May 19  7 to 9pm

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Centre,

163 Hurontario Street, Collingwood.

We are pleased to again present Curley Bridges a living blues legend. Curley was born near Raleigh NC in 1934, his father was a close friend of jazz giant “Fats” Waller. As a child Curley sang in various local gospel choirs but it was after his stint in the U.S. Army that Curley took up the piano. Living in postwar Washington D.C. Curley became good friends with Billie Holiday who made a lasting impact on him. The Washington R&B and jazz scene was red hot in those days and Curley soon hooked up with Frank Motley and the Motley Crew, one of the hottest bands at the time in D.C. One of Bridges claims to fame is his 1954 recording of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”, a blistering arrangement that obviously influenced the Elvis Presley version 2 years later.

In 1966 Curley located to Toronto with Frank Motley and a year later left the band and struck out on his own as a band leader touring Canada.  In 1981, tired of life on the road, he settled in the Barrie area and has since concentrated on solo gigs that delight area audiences with his mix of jump, jive and low down dirty blues.

In 1998 Curley recorded his first album in 40 years on the Electro-Fi label produced by Andrew Galloway, “Keys to the Highway”, an album that took off and set Curley at the top of the Blues charts once again. Curley recorded “Live at the Silver Dollar” in 2009 with an all Star supporting cast, and is once again climbing the Blues charts. All Curley’s Electro-Fi albums will be available at the concert.