Blues & Foods Market: Center City Edition ***FREE LIVE MUSIC + VENDOR MARKET ***
Event description
Who is ready to party in Downtown Greensboro? Piedmont Blues Preservation Society (PBPS) continues our legacy of LIVE MUSIC with Blues & Foods Market Center City. Come together with old friends like we do every year and support great artists and entrepreneurs alike!
WHEN
Saturday, May 18th, 2024
3pm - 8pm at City Center Park, Downtown Greensboro
Blues Foods Market City Center is a concert and vendor market providing FUN in the form of live music performances and community engagement. Cultural Art in the form of Blues music is provided to community members FREE OF CHARGE. Live Music, Dancing, Food, Cash Bar and Community are all on the menu!
Featuring Live Music Performances from:
The Dylan Jackson Band (Greensboro, NC) - Live music from the The Dylan Jackson Band, winner of the 2023 Road to Memphis Blues Challenge. In January of 2024, the band traveled to Memphis, TN to represent PBPS in the International Blues Challenge (hosted annually by The Blues Foundation) to compete with over 120 bands from around the world. Their mixture of traditional Blues styles has some rock and jazz influence and we are excited for them to woo a hometown crowd. Band leader, DJ, brings great guitar work and high energy to this powerful trio!
Gant School of Music & Jazz (Greensboro, NC)- The Gant School of Music & Jazz, is a 501(c)3 organization created to help underserved students gain access to the world of music and musicianship. Under the leadership of executive director Titus Gant, the vision for the non-profit directly stems from his own experiences as a student of music. The mission of the Gant School of Music & Jazz is to serve as an avenue for all students of the community to gain a place in the world of music by providing access to high-quality music education and programming. Gant School of Music & Jazz currently conducts lessons in partnership with PBPS and hopes to purchase an expanded space for their school performances and practices. Student ensembles will share their talents with attendees of Blues & Foods Market giving them valuable, on-stage experience.
Gavin "Gav Beats" Williams (Greensboro, NC) - Committed to creating original music and real-life lyrics, Gav says, "I like making music no one else can." Known by many as GavBeats, he is a producer, writer, and artist. Born in Philadelphia, PA, he has a long line of music in his heritage with the influence of his father, a preacher and his mother, a music teacher. Now living in NC, he has a wealth of experience and success. In 2023, he won the Blues Groove Beat Battle hosted by PBPS. It was the thirteenth beat battle championship of his career. He has tracks with placement nationally and internationally including the series “The Chi” and in 2024 he was credited on Beyoncé Knowles' explosive “Cowboy Carter” album making him one of two Greensboro musicians (Rhiannon Giddens is the other) credited on what may be the most globally influential recording released this year.
Bob Margolin (High Point, NC) - Boston-native Bob Margolin was born in 1949. Bob is a long-time resident of High Point, NC. Inspired by Chuck Berry, he started playing guitar at age 15 and immediately started performing in local rock and blues bands. Margolin was hired by Muddy Waters in 1973. His career has sustained and flourished since that time with his career intersecting with too many artists to name. He was a friend of Pinetop Perkins and works with the Pinetop Perkins Foundation. He influenced the creation and maintenance of the Carolina Blues Festival and is a PBPS Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. He’ll bring his Chicago-influenced style and decades of experience to share an unforgettable set with you!
Dylan Triplett (St Louis, MO) - This Blues and Soul prodigy is from East St. Louis and raised in a musical family. He began at age nine and has been performing professionally since late 2016, when he began singing with Ms. Carolyn Mason. In 2023 he was honored to accept the nomination for and win Best Emerging Artist at the Blues Music Awards hosted by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. He's touring the US and internationally, including recently opening for Kingfish on three NC shows. Now he's ready to bring his talent to Greensboro!
Junious Brickhouse Dance Party Finale (Washington, DC) - The presentation of Junious Brickhouse is thanks to a collaboration with the NC Folk Festival. Support is also provided through The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro's new Creative Investment Initiative, along with funding from Guilford County and the NC Arts Council's American Rescue Plan Act.
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society wants to help others understand the value of culture and arts as a key component for healthy communities. We are very grateful to our current sponsors and grantors: Greensboro Convention & Visitors Bureau, Blue Ridge Music Center/Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Cemala Foundation, Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, Creative Greensboro, and the NC Arts Council. Blues & Foods Market City Center would not be possible without community support. Please consider sponsorship or making donations to keep these events alive and well in the community.
If you would like to donate or get more information please visit: piedmontblues.org