Piedmont Blues Preservation Society

A Little About Us
The PBPS is a grass roots, non-profit Triad based organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the American Blues. Read More...

23rd Annual Carolina Blues Festival Thanks
The 23rd Annual Carolina Blues Festival, presented by YES! Weekly and held on May 9th, was a huge success. The performances were outstanding, and despite a minor interruption by Mother Nature, the day was flawless.

We'd like to acknowledge the many people who contributed to the success of this Festival. Click here for details.

Ralph Speas Wins 2009 PBPS KBA
Ralph Speas has been awarded the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society's "Keepin' the Blues Alive" award for 2009. As archivist for the PBPS, Ralph's tireless devotion to filming blues concerts, blues in the schools performances and PBPS events has allowed our organization to compile an impressive library of blues archives. Ralph has also taught his informative and historically relevant 'Learnin' The Blues' course at Guilford Technical Community College. Congratulations, Ralph, on winning the 2009 Keeping The Blues Alive Award. Check our our KBA page for information on Ralph as well as previous KBA winners.

Koko Taylor
Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago, IL, as a result of complications following her May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed.

On May 7, 2009, the critically acclaimed Taylor, known worldwide as the “Queen of the Blues,” won her 29th Blues Music Award (for Traditional Female Blues Artist Of The Year), making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In 2004 she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, which is among the highest honors given to an American artist. Her most recent CD, 2007’s Old School, was nominated for a Grammy (eight of her nine Alligator albums were Grammy-nominated). She won a Grammy in 1984 for her guest appearance on the compilation album Blues Explosion on Atlantic.

Blues is my life," Taylor once said. "It's a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do."

Koko appeared in the films Wild At Heart, Mercury Rising and Blues Brothers 2000. She performed on Late Night With David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, CBS-TV’s This Morning, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, CBS-TV’s Early Edition, and numerous regional television programs.

Over the course of her 40-plus-year career, Taylor received every award the blues world has to offer. On March 3, 1993, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley honored Taylor with a “Legend Of The Year” Award and declared “Koko Taylor Day” throughout Chicago. In 1997, she was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame. A year later, Chicago Magazine named her “Chicagoan Of The Year” and, in 1999, Taylor received the Blues Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 Taylor performed in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center Honors honoring Morgan Freeman.

Taylor’s final performance was on May 7, 2009 in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards, where she sang “Wang Dang Doodle” after receiving her award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year.

Taylor performed at the Carolina Blues Festival in 1998 at Emerald Pointe Water Park. We at the PBPS are saddened by this passing of one of the all-time greats. For more information or to post condolences, go to www.kokotaylor.com.

2009 Blues Music Award Winners
On May 7 The Blues Foundation honored the following music performers with the 2009 Blues Music Awards. Congratulations to North Carolina's own Mookie Brill for coming home with yet another award for Best Instrumentalist-Bass.

  • Acoustic Album of the Year: Mississippi Number One - Eden Brent
  • Acoustic Artist of the Year: Eden Brent
  • Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy
  • Band of the Year: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
  • B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Janiva Magness
  • Best New Artist Debut: 2 Man Wrecking Crew - Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm
  • Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy
  • Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Buddy Guy
  • Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year: Janiva Magness
  • DVD: M For Mississippi: A Road Trip Through the Birthplace of the Blues - Broke & Hungry Records, Cathead Blues & Mudpuppy Recordings
  • Historical Album of the Year: Albert Collins Live at Montreux 1992 - Eagle Records
  • Instrumentalist-Bass: Mookie Brill
  • Instrumentalist-Drums: Willie “Big Eyes” Smith
  • Instrumentalist-Guitar: Sonny Landreth
  • Instrumentalist-Harmonica: Billy Gibson
  • Instrumentalist-Horn: Deanna Bogart
  • Instrumentalist-Banjo: Otis Taylor
  • Pinetop Perkins Piano Player: Marcia Ball
  • Rock Blues Album of the Year: Mess of Blues - Jeff Healey
  • Song of the Year: “Let Life Flow” - Kenny Neal
  • Soul Blues Album of the Year: Simply Grand - Irma Thomas
  • Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James
  • Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Bobby Rush
  • Traditional Blues Album of the Year: One Kind Favor - B.B. King
  • Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: B.B. King
  • Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year: Koko Taylor

Piedmont Blues Guitarist, Singer John Cephas Dies
Blues family, today there is a gaping hole in the genre of Piedmont Blues. John Cephas passed away at his home on March 4 of natural causes. He was 78.

Cephas & (Phil) Wiggins made many stops across NC as they performed worldwide. Along with Carolina Blues Festival appearances, they provided some of the best Blues in the Schools programs the PBPS ever presented.

In 1996, Cephas and Wiggins won the W. C. Handy Award for the Best Traditional Album of the Year, and were also named Blues Entertainers of the Year. In 1988, Cephas received a Washington, D.C., Mayor's Arts Award. Just last week, he was awarded the Library Of Virginia's 2009 African-American Trailblazers in Virginia History award.

Cephas was also the founder of the Washington, D.C. Blues Society, and served on the Executive Committee Of The National Council For the Traditional Arts. A sweet, unassuming man with a rich voice and phenomenal, yet understated guitar ability, John takes with him his true representation of the Southeastern blues tradition.

New York Times on Piedmont Blues
In an editorial touching on the recent death of John Cephas, Lawrence Downes of The New York Times has some interesting comments on the Piedmont Blues style of guitar playing. Click here to read the full article.

Blues Jam Mama
PBPS Trustee and Archivist Ralph Speas has written an interesting article on Shiela Klinefelter and her blues jam. Check it out by clicking on the "Blues Jam Mama" link on our Learnin' The Blues web page.

Chicago Blues Enhanced Audio Tour
Experience the rich tradition of Chicago blues in a new way with the debut of the free Chicago Blues Enhanced Audio Tour, presented by Chicago's Office of Tourism.

Blues legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Guy narrates the tour, with personal anecdotes and memories of the people who became blues legends. Available in five languages, the tour takes you to historic blues sites including locations where the great musicians lived and created the musical tradition that forever changed popular music and American culture.

The tour, complete with images and music cuts, is available either online at www.downloadchicagotours.com/bluesmedia or by downloading it to a MP3 player.

Ralph Speas and the Blues in Southern Living
PBPS Trustee Ralph Speas was recently featured in Southern Living magazine, talking up this area's Blues scene. The article focuses on local Blues in the School efforts, but also covers other Blues events and provides an interesting portrait of Ralph. The article also mentions Logie Meachum, who will be performing with Bubba Klinefelter in this year's Carolina Blues Festival in May. Click here to see a copy of the Southern Living article. (Note: The article make take several minutes to download. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view the article.

New Blues Podcast
Check out http://bluzndablood.com for a relatively new blues podcast that plays signed artists and independent artists who are extremely talented but just need promoting.

Blues Webcast
WGLT Radio, broadcast from Illinois State University, has created a 24/7 Blues Stream that can be accessed through their website. Check it out at www.wglt.org.

CD Review
Click here to check out Ralph Speas' review of the CD Down in the Basement. Ralph is a Trustee and the Archivist for the Board of Directors of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society.