Saturday /  July 14

Jack de Keyzer

Worldwide performing bluesman and master of smoldering guitar skills, soulful singing and rocking blues, Jack de Keyzer is, according to Blues Revue magazine, “a coveted super-hero in Canada…”

A celebrated musician, de Keyzer has been nominated for the Juno (Blues Album of the Year) 5 times and won the Juno twice in 2003 and 2010. Jack has won seven Maple Blues Awards (three of which were Guitarist of the Year,) first place in the International Songwriting Competition and won CBC’s Great Canadian Blues Award from a poll of radio listeners.

Bob Dylan claims, “If Jack de Keyzer was from Chicago, New York or LA, he’d be famous.”

Monkey Junk

Dubbed “The Sultans of Swamp R&B,” MonkeyJunk is nominated for a 2018 Juno (Canada’s equivalent of a Grammy) for Blues Album of the Year.

Constantly evolving and continually pushing boundaries and blurring genre lines, the Ottawa Ontario-based trio has added an edge to their music by incorporating soul, funk, swampy blues & rock with thoughtful and intelligent lyrics.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018, MonkeyJunk has won a collective 20 Maple Blues Awards, two Canadian Independent Music Awards, a Blues Music Award (USA), and a JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year in 2012.

Heather Newman Band

Omaha watched Heather Newman do the blues since 2006, as she performed with the BluesED youth program at the age of ten. After learning guitar and performing solo acoustic folk music shows on her own she began to look for musicians with whom she could share her passion.  The search took her to Kansas City where she gained experience in touring, writing and recording with other well known KC musicians before forming her own band in 2017.

Heather’s powerful and striking vocals along with her bass playing have earned her impressive reviews from the blues world. Blues Blast magazine’s review of her first studio album, Burn Me Alive, said, “Heather Newman has written a solid batch of tunes – and when they are fleshed out by her compelling voice, every song becomes noteworthy…her solo career is off to rousing start. Make sure you jump on the bandwagon now.”

BluesEd: The Redwoods

The Redwoods band is made up of powerful musicians from the Omaha area, aged 12-18. The band is part of the Blues Society of Omaha’s youth program, BluesEd.  Each musician has an impressive record of accomplishments including being recognized as All-State musicians, participating in MAYJO, being selected for Nebraska Young Lions and receiving awards for outstanding musicians at local competitions.

The band has performed at many venues across the Omaha Metro area.  Additionally, they traveled to Memphis in January 2018 to perform at the International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase. The Redwoods play diverse Blues-infused classic rock, funk, and traditional Blues.

Members include: Carmel Hemphill (vocals), Hanila VanKirk (Vocals), Hunter Neumayer (Guitar), Tommy Kaplan (Guitar), Henry Tomsu (Bass), Grace Calderon (sax) ​and Mike McDermott (Drums).

Saturday / August 25

Paul Reddick

Hooked on Delta blues before his teen years, Paul Reddick’s songwriting, power vocals, and harp skills over the years have catapulted him into a formidable force in blues music.

Nominated for a Juno award in the category four previous times, Paul Reddick finally scored the Blues Album of the Year in 2017! The Toronto-based singer/songwriter won for his highly-praised album, Ride The One. 2017 also marked Reddick’s 25th year as a recording artist, as his band The Sidemen’s self-titled debut came out in 1992. Their fourth and final album, 2001’s Rattlebag, won three Maple Blues Awards, including Album of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year, and earned a Juno nomination. Ride The One is his fourth solo record.

American Blues Scene calls his latest release, “one hell of a ride.”

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings

No matter what you call their music— folk-rock, blues, roots, alternative country, REAL music – this Juno award-winning Canadian band is truly in a class by itself. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings originally formed in 1996 when members Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson came together to record one tribute album to Canadian songwriter Willie P. Bennett.

Each of the members is hugely successful in his own right, with Fearing and Wilson touring and promoting their own music, and Linden, with his work as musical director on the television show Nashville.

Now 22 years, eight albums, and numerous rousing live performances later, “B.A.R.K” thrives on, much to the elation of fans who follow the band Rolling Stone magazine called “the singer-songwriter supergroup.”

Matt Cox

Midwest regional favorite and roots/blues/country songsmith, Matt Cox is a six-time Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award winner for Best Country/Americana and Best Blues.

Following his self-released debut album Folker’s Travels in 2007, he toured the western U.S. and was invited to play the SXSW festival in Austin.

Matt’s ever-growing fanbase appreciates his guitar-strumming, foot-stomping singular style of Americana, folk rock, country and blues and is eagerly awaiting his sixth album, High Places.

BluesED: Us & Them

BluesEd Youth Artist Development program band: Us and Them.

Us and Them Blues Band was selected to perform at the 2017 International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase in Memphis as a part of the Blues Society of Omaha’s BluesEd program. The 10 members of Us and Them are experienced and award winning musicians ranging in age from 11 to 17.They play an infectious show of Blues Rock emphasizing the traditional Blues values of soul, groove and improvisation.

As the largest BluesEd band, the talented members include Aedan Leahy (Keys), Grace Giebler (Vocal), Harry Tarr (Vocal), JJ Stiles (Guitar), Josie Jennum (Bass), Logan Hawkins (Guitar), Luke Wagner (Drums), Macy Klein (Sax), Quin Sexton (Trumpet), and Tyler Savoie (Sax).