Matt Connarton Unleashed: Granite State Blues Society

Speaker 1: But see we have Charlene Leboor and Debbie Madison from Granted State Blue Society.

Speaker 2: Welcome, Hi, thank you.

Speaker 1: And we were actually kind of bonding off air over we have some well a mutual friend of ours, Nick David, and we're going to play actually at the end of our segment, we're going to play something from his band. But I've known Nick for a very long time. But the way that I originally met Nick, it was not through the music scene. I used to do Gcundeau and I met him at a Gkundeau class that we were both participating in, so you know, we would spa and wrestle and all that. So that's how I originally knew Nick.

Speaker 1: And then it turned out, you know, I learned he was a musician. But I haven't seen Nick in a very long time. But you both were saying that he's a good friend to the Grandit State Blue Society, and that does a lot.

Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, he's a great guy. He's very supportive and friendly with the Granite State Blue Society.

Speaker 1: Excellent. So what is that? What is the Granted State Blue Society.

Speaker 2: We are a registered nonprofit here in New Hampshire five oh one c three and we work to promote the blues and keeping the blues alive up here in the great Granite State outstanding.

Speaker 1: What do you what do you both do? I mean, do you do you each have specific duties or are your partners in this.

Speaker 2: Or yes, we have partners. We have a board and we all work together cohesively as one unit to promote shows in the local area. Ten shows. We do visibilities for the Granite State Blue Society to help keep give some visibility to make sure the Granite State Blue Society is people know that we exist.

Speaker 1: Yeah is what? Well, let me ask this, so when did this start? How long has the Grandite State Blue Society existed?

Speaker 2: We were incorporated I believe back in two thousand and two when they joined the Blue Foundation, which is the parent the umbrella organization for all the Blue Societies all over the world.

Speaker 1: Okay, wow, so there's a global organization that's interesting.

Speaker 2: It's headquartered down in Memphis, Tennessee.

Speaker 1: Okay, okay. And then for the Granite Blue Society, where both of you involved right from the beginning.

Speaker 2: No, okay, No, I've been involved with them for maybe like seven years. Uh uh. And then I've risen up to the leadership position, and Debbie.

Speaker 3: I think it's been five years for me five years.

Speaker 1: Yeah, what what brought you each into this? I mean, do you have did you have prior backgrounds?

Speaker 4: Uh?

Speaker 1: In the music industry? Are are you? Are you musicians or what? I'm curious to know what brought each of you into, uh into wanting to do this and and uh uh doing these events where there's an event coming up too that we're going to talk about in a moment that's next weekend. But I'm curious to kind of know what, uh what brought each of you into getting involved in this. Well.

Speaker 2: I ran into John Mann and Rock sand Man at the Auburn and started talking to them. We were out there for a blues jam and I found out about the Granite State Blue Society through them. They told me about the International Blues Challenge down in Memphis. So my husband and I decided we were going to Memphis that year because I love the blues, we both do yea And from there, I sat down in a club in Memphis and I sat down next to Audrey Fraser, who was the current president of the Blue Society, and I said, Wow, I didn't know this existed and I would really love to be involved.

Speaker 2: And that's how I became a board member of the Blue Society.

Speaker 1: Okay, okay, and what about you, Debbie?

Speaker 5: And for me, I've had a lifelong love of the Blues and approximately five years ago I met Charlene and the former president Audrey okay, and they sort of reeled me in.

Speaker 1: Okay, how did they like? How did they reel you in? And like what did it? Like? What was it did they have to talk to you into getting involved or was it something that you kind of jumped at.

Speaker 3: Like I was willing from the start?

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from our love of the Blues, the people that are involved with the Blue Society, including our wonderful sponsors that we have. It's just that there is a very solid core group of people in New Hampshire and in the New England area that just love the Blues and it's just a wonderful, big blues family. We are very supportive of each other

Speaker 2: and that's kind of how it runs.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and the Blues is so foundational to everything, like, you know, all the you know, absolutely, I always kind of think of it as as people are blues fans who don't necessarily realize that they are. Because if you're a fan of rock music, yes, you know, any any kind of any genre or subgenre of rock music. I mean they're all started, you know. And same with country and same with hip hop and everything. It all goes back to the same thing. It all goes back to the blues.

Speaker 2: Yes, you're absolutely correct.

Speaker 1: You know. Without the blues, I mean we might I'll be listening to I don't I don't know what we'd be listening to, Pat Boone. Maybe, I don't know.

Speaker 2: We're listening to classical music.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess, yeah, And not that there's anything wrong with that, but but without the blues, you don't have everything else. Tell us about the event that's coming up August.

Speaker 2: Third, that's our annual Blues festival and it is a fundraiser for New Hampshire's children's charities. Since the inception of this it has always benefited the New Hampshire Children's charities, typically the Webster House here right here in Manchester, New Hampshire. Okay, this is a one day festival, rain or shine. The weather forecast for next week looks absolutely beautiful and it's out in Mason New Hampshire at the Range. Nicole Riggio has been hosting us for four years. This is our fourth festival and it's We've got our two Blues Challenge winners from last year.

Speaker 2: Nick Spencer, who who is a young man who plays guitar, sings and plays harmonica. He's sixteen. I think, well, excuse me, he just turned seventeen and he's heading off to Berkeley College of Music in the fall.

Speaker 1: Good for him.

Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a very talented young man and I'm very excited. We are all very excited to see where this takes him. And the One Time Band who you listen to on the intro with John Brockler and Paul Galucci, they will be playing our festival as well. We have the Diego Mango Band. They're from Western Massachusetts and he was at the International Blues Challenge this year as well. We have Cheryl Arena featuring the wonderful lovely Queen of the Blues, Tony Lynn Washington. And we have the Knickerbocker All Stars are coming up and we have Nick David Wicked lowdown Outstanding.

Speaker 1: So we're going to do something we were talking about this off air. We're going to do something special for our listeners. So if they want to go, they have to so they can contact you. How should we through social media? Would that be the best way?

Speaker 2: I think social media if you would message us on our Facebook app and that would work.

Speaker 1: So if you're the first one, you got to be the first ones? Is it to? What are we doing? Two tickets?

Speaker 2: Two tickets will give a pair of tickets.

Speaker 1: To get a pair of tickets, you have to message the Grandit State Blue Society through Facebook and say that you heard this conversation here on this You got to say the name of the radio show that you're at it on and the name of the station WMNH ninety five point three FM. But if you offer that information, the first one to do that to message on Facebook the Granite State Blue Society will get two tickets. Complement theory to this amazing event. And by the way, where is Mason Exactly? What is it near?

Speaker 2: So I guess depending on where you would be driving from, it's down near the Massachusetts border. It's south of Amherst. Like, oh I go one on one, yeah, yeah, Route thirty one. Oh okay, I buy Mananak water. You just follow that down maybe ten miles and it's on Turnpike Road. It's pretty easy to find.

Speaker 1: Okay, okay, yeah, so be the first ones to message Granda State Blue Society on Facebook mentioned this conversation on this radio show on this station. And you can get in, you can you get your two tickets. And now you said, this is the fourth one.

Speaker 2: The fourth one that we've held in Mason at the Range. Prior to this, it was in New Boston at the four Each Fairgrounds.

Speaker 4: Oh okay, okay, many many, many years. So talk to me about putting this together. I assume this is probably something that you're and I just know from my own experience in doing answer promotion and being involved in annual events, I assume this is something that you're doing some planning for the entire year, right, because something that people outside of the business don't know or who've never done any kind of production of an event like this, an annual event, and this is a big event. You know, you've got a lot of artists plan on.

Speaker 4: This is how much work actually goes into it. And it's not you know, it's not a matter of you know, you contact a bunch of bands and they're all just going to show up and you know, and it's a quick easy this is this is complicated stuff, right, This is a lot of work.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and we it does and we plan, like we're already talking bands for next year's festival. We've already got some in the in the queue for next year. We do start talking about this and it's kind of we are going to be in a little hiatus, I think, you know, September, October, November, but we have to do a fundraiser for our Blues Challenge winners this year, and then we just start planning again for next year's festival. And it is a lot of work. And we do have a board number Rachel Bernard, and she has been a fantastic asset for our board in terms of her knowledge about how, like you said, how all of these things come together.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, many hands make light work.

Speaker 1: Yes, yes, how many people are on the board we have six? Six okay? And how do you how do you in terms of deciding who's going to play at the festival, because I assume you probably have a lot of submissions, right or people who contact you who say, hey, I've got a blues project we'd love to play.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it kind of it works that way as well. We do have people that reach out to us, but we always give a slot to our Granite State Blues Society Challenge winners. They will always be on our stage the following year, and then we kind of look around at new acts and people that we've seen. Some people we see in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge, Oh that we would not be able to catch their act if they we didn't go to Memphis. So I would recommend if you want to go to Memphis and you want to get entrenched in a weekend of blues, go to go to the International Blues Challenge right right?

Speaker 1: Would you say, is Memphis, Tennessee? Is that kind of the mecca for blues right now in the United States? Or are there are there other cities that maybe people wouldn't think of necessarily where there's a really hot blue scene happening.

Speaker 5: Well, I think Beale Street, Memphis is really the home of the blues, is it, Yeah?

Speaker 3: But there are many many other places.

Speaker 2: There's like Chicago blues. I mean we have even locally we have a lot of fantastic clubs. But you know, I think Milford and Manchester we have a pretty vibrant blues community, and I'm apologized if I've left anybody out, But you know, it's like trying to think of everything on the fly. Yeah, but I do. Yes, It's kind of like the mecca. Everybody goes there that wants to get deeply entrenched in the blues.

Speaker 1: Tell us about the challenge again, the Blues Challenge. I'm curious to learn more about that.

Speaker 5: Oh yeah, we hold a challenge every year. There are two categories, solo, duo and band group. We also have a youth category as well. Okay, and the winners will go to Memphis to represent New Hampshire in the International Blues Challenge.

Speaker 1: Oh okay. How many people enter the challenge here?

Speaker 3: I think we had six bands this year.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it really varies here to year. We just had it May nineteenth up at the Bank of New Hampshire stage. They were very generous to host us this year. I would also recommend that people check out their website because they do have some blue shows coming up. But we do start making announcements probably in like March of April for next year's challenge will be held. It's typically held in May. Okay. We just ft the bands and make sure they're blues they do have to have some original music as well.

Speaker 2: It's favored, it's looked upon very favorably by the judges in Memphis, and then we just have a fun day listening to blues.

Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, uh. Do you know how many artists are involved in the Is it is in Memphis? Is that the international challenge? Correct? Okay, so there must.

Speaker 3: Be a lot yeah, held every January?

Speaker 1: Okay, do you know how many? I mean, is it? Is it in the like? How many artists are in that challenge?

Speaker 3: Is it in the hundred?

Speaker 1: It is the hundreds?

Speaker 2: Yeah. The first year I started going, uh, it was It's amazing and you really have to run from club to club and back and forth across the street to catch all the music. And then you start hearing in the buzz on the street like, oh my god, you got to catch these guys, and it's very exciting.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, does anybody? Does anybody ever approach the Granite State Blues Society? Who you have to? I don't know if turn away would be the right way of putting it, but something that I've always found kind of interesting and speaking as a musician myself, is blues is one of those genres and like I said, it's also the foundation of everything. But not everyone necessarily agrees on what qualifies as blues. You know. Like, you've got a lot of rock bands that are kind of the blues based, and which is an odd term in and of itself because it's all blues based, right, But you've got some rock bands who have kind of a bluesy sound who some might consider to be blues but aren't necessarily blues.

Speaker 1: I mean, I'm trying to think of an example of somebody. It seems like there's it seems like there's even been bands that will put the word blues in their name, and there's any there's an example of that specifically that I it's in the back of my mind. I can't quite it's the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite think of who it is. But not everyone necessarily agrees on what is blues and what is more just blues based rock, you know what I mean? Yeah, do you ever find that where someone approaches you and says, hey, I've got a blues project, and then you listen to their music and you go, ah, this isn't really blues, you know?

Speaker 1: Does that ever happen?

Speaker 2: Well, when we do have the Blues Challenge. We we bring in three judges that are have a very strong blues background. None of them are board members. It's very and you're right, sometimes it is subjective. And yes, we've had a couple of people that applied this year that when we vetted the bands, because you don't want country rock up there, and you know, when it's a Blues Challenge and people are coming in anticipating blues. Yeah, so yeah, it does happen, and we very kindly and gently thank them for their interest, but we you know, we want them to make sure they're playing in the blues genre because there would be no point in them, you know, a hip hop singer coming in to compete in the Blues Challenge.

Speaker 1: Right, right, Matt Kirshner is in the Facebook live chat and says blues traveler. Lol. Yes, that's who I was trying to think of it a perfect example. Yes, yes, blues traveler. And again, you know you hear you can understand why they would call themselves blues traveler, but it's not blues. I mean, he's got a harmonica, sure, but that's but that's not all it takes. Right, And you've probably had conversations similar with with people about that kind of thing, right, Like, this isn't really what we're looking for here, you know.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's typically only with the challenge because we want to make sure that listen, I'm not going to be critical critical of anybody, right right. I don't play an instrument, I don't sing, and so I just kind of try to enjoy all of it as much as I can. But we do. We keep our festival in the blues genre. We keep our challenge in the blues genre, and we will promote shows on our Facebook page about blue shows that are coming up, blue sjams. If you know have a blue sjam, send it our way. We'll put it up on our Facebook page and our website.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Now does a Grand State Blue Society. You've got the annual event? Do you do other events? I mean, obviously you promote other events that people are haven't as you just said, but do you also do other smaller events throughout the year or do you just focus on the one annual event.

Speaker 2: It's a big lift to pull the festival off the ground, no doubt. Then we move towards our Blues Challenge. We would like to do other events. We've talked about it, yeah, you know, having another something else, but we haven't pulled it off yet, and that's definitely on the back burner for us.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot of work and.

Speaker 2: There's a lot of opportunity. There's so many good blues musicians in this area that we are very for Tonette. You can always find a show.

Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh, absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 5: We also do a couple of fundraisers for our Blues Challenge winners. Oh, help defray their cost to Memphis.

Speaker 2: Oh, excellent, forgot about that.

Speaker 1: Thanks, Yeah, that's that's great. Yeah, and tell us again about you mentioned Webster House earlier. Can you tell us more about that, because you know, certainly living in Manchester, I'm aware of the Webster House. I've heard of it. I don't really know much about it though, and many of our listeners probably don't know either.

Speaker 2: Yeah, the Webster House. I can't tell you how long they've been established, but it is a home away from home for children who need to be out of the home through no fault of their own. I don't know why they chose that charity way back in the past, but last year we were able to donate over five thousand dollars to them and they were able to purchase a nice, big, brand new, professional, high quality gas stove for their kitchen because they're feeding lots of kids and they do cooking. They teach the kids how to cook and do things like that.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a it's a really well established children's home here in New Hampshire. I believe this year we are going to bring in the Nashua Children's Home as well as one of our beneficiaries of the festival.

Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent. Are there other charities involved too or no, we just know we Webster Houses.

Speaker 2: Webster House has been Yeah, they've been the focus over the years and we've, like I said, decided that the National Children's Home we're bringing them in as well.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent. And the number of artists how many did you say? Seven? How many artists are performing at the festival?

Speaker 2: Oh, I forgot Praccash Slim is going to be there. He was elite the latest edition. Do you have him counted?

Speaker 1: One?

Speaker 2: Two?

Speaker 1: It's a lot.

Speaker 2: It's a full ding, like six or seven?

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent, excellent. Has it always been uh? Has it always been that many from the beginning or is this something that's kind of grown over the years.

Speaker 2: Well, we do try to keep it. It's a one day festival. We try to get the gates open at twelve. The last act will be getting off stage about seven thirty. You brobab in the Mosquitos and the bug start. Yeah, so that's kind We definitely don't want to be there into eight, nine, ten o'clock at night because it's a big lift. Yeah, it's a long day. Yeah, we have a lot of fun doing it. It's very enjoyable and.

Speaker 1: When it's over, too, it must be kind of a relief, right tremendously but very very satisfying. Yeah, it's cool that you know, you're raising money for Webster Houts with it. Yeah, and that's amazing. Yeah, do you have so there might be people listening who either don't know a lot about blues music or maybe kind of used to be very you know, either listening to it a lot or playing it. Maybe musicians who maybe kind of fell out of it, fell out of the scene a bit. Do you ever, I'm sure you have conversations with people sometimes where you have to kind of direct them at maybe resources to learn about blues artists and and and about the genre.

Speaker 2: Well, we do have a blues education portion of our Blue Society intro.

Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I was wondering about. Yeah, tell us about that.

Speaker 2: So that has Rachel Bernard actually took that over when we lost our one of our board members who was headlining that. She's brought some Jimmy Carpenter into the schools I believe, was it Sohegan or Milford. Jimmy Carpenter's a you can you know more about him than I do.

Speaker 5: He is a singer and saxophone player. Who I'm sorry.

Speaker 1: Oh oh, she's just telling you to make sure you talk directly into the mic.

Speaker 3: Hell about what I was saying.

Speaker 2: So Jimmy Carpenter is he plays horn and he went into the school. I wasn't there, but she did get bring him into the school. We've done stuff with Easter Seals, doing a bluesead program with them. I haven't been involved in that. So yeah, you know, it's it's not something I can speak eloquently about. Yeah, there's definitely that portion of what we try to do.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent, excellent, are you already? Well? Actually, let me ask it this this way. So what's the best way say to somebody listening who would like to submit something for either for the Blues Challenge in the future or next year's because as you mentioned, you're already you know, And that's how it works, right when you're doing an annual festival, you've you've got to be thinking ahead, way ahead. You're already thinking about next year, right, Yes, So for people who want to submit something, maybe they want to get in, or maybe they just want to get involved, maybe they want to volunteer for the Granted State Blue Society.

Speaker 1: What's the best way for people to reach out to you?

Speaker 5: They can check out our website Granted statelu dot org. We also have a Facebook page, So reach out yea much?

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent, excellent, and are there because obviously, you know, we have people who listen online from other places. I assume there's other variations people. I mean, you probably don't know offhand, but I assume there's other organizations, probably in every state across the country that has some some does something similar to what you do in terms of promoting blues music and educating people on it and festivals and events and whatnot.

Speaker 2: And if they go to if they go to the Blues Foundation website, they can you know if anybody is listening in from say Illinois, you can find your blues chapter. Yeah. I've been out in Pennsylvania and went to a blues jam and directed a young man to their I said, you've got to find your local blues chapter. You have to go find them and introduce yourself. Most of the states have them, I believe.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And that's uh. That organization you were talking about too, is international, right, it's.

Speaker 2: The it's the parent one, the Blues Foundation. They have a website. They are the ones that host the International Blues Challenge.

Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, so there's no shortage of resources for people, No, absolutely, and where and yeah, wherever you are in the country or in the world.

Speaker 2: Yeah, right, does that ever.

Speaker 1: Surprise you when you're you know, in terms of thinking about, Wow, there's actually other countries where they have where this organization is operating, and there's actually blues like it's funny to think about in a way, right, you know, like maybe I don't know France. Is there a blues scene there?

Speaker 2: Oh?

Speaker 1: Yeah, probably, yeah, right.

Speaker 2: There is, there's some. And I remember being surprised the first time I did go to Memphis there were blues players there from Japan. And it doesn't surprise me, honestly, I just never thought about it before, right that you know there and they're from everywhere and they come to Memphis and they just have a blast.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: This year in Memphis it was really cold and icy, it had snowed. Everything was just a mess down there because they can't they're not in New England or.

Speaker 1: They're not prepared for for anything wintry.

Speaker 2: And we had We came across a young man, a young couple, they were building a snowman and I did he say they were from France. He said, we don't get snow over there, so it was kind of fun.

Speaker 1: That's cool. That's cool though.

Speaker 2: And you said Japan to Japan, Germany, Australia, Korea, Italy, Yes, there's they're they're from everywhere. England, Oh my god. Yeah, there's just amazing, like just sitting here like all the like the Cinelli brothers they were over from I want to say England. They were fantastic. I love them outstanding.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, because we think of blues as being you know, well an American, yes, and you know that this is where it started, but.

Speaker 2: The bluesos are from yep.

Speaker 1: But music is so you know, a music scene in any genre can happen anywhere, and I think the Internet has a lot to do with that too, you know. I mean certainly, you know, thirty years ago, we wouldn't necessarily be talking about you know, yeah, there's this blues band in Japan right now, you know. But with the Internet, it has made everything, you know, it has made music truly global in every genre, which I think is a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful thing. We're gonna we got to start to wrap up this segment and we are going to play something from Nick David's band.

Speaker 1: But remind us, oh, actually two things. One we got to remind everybody if they want a pair of tickets, you can get a pair of tickets to the event August third. But what you got to do is contact on Facebook granted State Blues Society, and the first one to do that, you got to mention this conversation on this radio show, on this radio station, and you can get a pair of tickets to the event. What's the official name.

Speaker 2: Of the event again, Blues on the Range.

Speaker 1: Blues on the Range, Yes, where.

Speaker 5: Some people might remember barn Full of the blues. Uh the festival we had before? Oh we moved to the Range.

Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay, where did you used to do it?

Speaker 3: New Boston, New Hampshire, four eah Field.

Speaker 1: Oh oh okay? Why why the move is? Is the uh is the place in Mason just bigger, easier to.

Speaker 2: Well, you know, the dreaded COVID hit and changed a lot of things. And then when we went back into uh try to go back to New Boston, we were unable to secure that venue for the festival. So we started looking around and came across the Range with in the Cold Geerio and she was She's been absolutely fantastic to us. It's a beautiful little venue out in Mason. Tomorrow afternoon, uh, Frankie Boy in the Blues Express will be playing. She does a Sunday afternoon blues uh thing with the Barbecue Blues.

Speaker 2: It's bring it, bring a lawn chair, bring you money, sit down, enjoy yourself. Very crazy Sunday until she closes in the fall.

Speaker 1: Oh outstanding. Okay, good to know, good to know, but yeah, so Blues on the Range. If you want a pair of tickets to that again, contact Granted State Blue Society on Facebook. Mentioned this conversation on this show on this station. Be the first ones to do it though, so don't do not procrastinate, and you can come to this amazing event. And again, where should people go online? What's the website? The main website for Granted State Blues www.