The Blues In The Schools (BITS) program is a one-week residency in which noted blues professionals conduct lecture- demonstrations and performances for a variety of audiences, public education programs K-12, after school programs and private, charter and home school programs. The focus of the residency is to educate and enlighten our youth and community on the Blues and the Piedmont style, known to have been developed and performed in the Durham and cities across North Carolina.

The goals of the Blues in the School program are:

• Share the Blues with children. Change any preconceived ideas of what the Blues are about and spark an interest in the music.
• Promote cultural awareness through self-awareness.
• Broaden the historical prospective of how Blues relates to rock music and other modern music.
• Focus on blues music as a part of American culture and acquire a better understand of the African–American heritage.

The strategic mission and goals of the Blues in the Schools programming intertwine with the mission of the Festival thus creating a wholesome program plan. As a promoter of the blues it is only proper and a fitting evolution of cultural programming that the Blues in the Schools programs be integrated into the yearly program mission of the Foundation.

MISSION: The Bull Durham Blues Festival is a program of the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. produced to serve multiple purposes; to provide an increased awareness and appreciation for the BLUES as a unique African American art form that is reflective of the African American experience; and for Durham’s rich musical heritage in the BLUES, particularly as a showplace for the Piedmont/Carolina blues styles made popular in this part of the southeast; and to provide financial resources.

Goals:

• To enhance the local audience, particularly within the African American communities in the region, for the Blues which is often more popular overseas that in the United States.
• To become a national showcase for the finest in contemporary and traditional blues artists from North Carolina and the rest of the United States.
• To provide educational outreach programs for the community in particular the youth of the community to become knowledgeable of the rich heritage of Blues music.

The BITS program has been designed for middle and high school students. Students who are currently enrolled in music appreciation class will be engaged in the lecture demonstration portion of the residency. School assembly format are encouraged. It is estimated that over 3,500 youth will be engaged in the residency during the week activities.

The BITS Program, which will take place September 15-18, 2008, will feature blues artists Scott Ainslie and Ernie Hawkins and the MSG Acoustic Trio. Additional local blues artists will participate in the residency so that the Foundation can reach a large audience specifically in the public school setting. These artists will be selected in collaboration with the Triangle Blues Society.

In Actin“ Up, Scott Ainslie and Ernie Hawkins bring Delta and Ragtime Blues to the stage in a spirited tour of hot ragtime instrumentals, passionate singing, slide guitar, stories and songs. Lifelong students of Ragtime-Piedmont Blues and Mississippi Delta Blues, Hawkins and Ainslie bring more than seven decades of experience with them to the stage. Their long apprenticeships with known and unknown traditional players from all around the country have lined their pockets with music, personal anecdotes, and history riches that we hear jingle as they tap their feet.

Ernie Hawkins has been called ’an important link in the unbroken chain of Blues and Gospel artists. In 1965, at the age of eighteen, he moved to New York City to find Rev. Gary Davis. A generous and inspired player and teacher, Ernie has five solo recordings. He also has instructional video/DVDs on the music of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell, Mance Lipscomb, Reverend Gary Davis, and on guitar theory. He has been featured in SingOUT!, Acoustic Guitar and Dirty Linen magazines, and has appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion”, “Mountain Stage”, “Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour”, and XM Radio.

Scott Ainslie took up guitar after hearing Virginia Bluesman (and gravedigger) John Jackson in 1967. With deep roots in Appalachian as well as traditional Gospel and Blues music, Scott has one recording of old-time fiddle and banjo music, and four CDs of Delta and Piedmont Blues, and literally �wrote the book” on the music of Mississippi Blues legend Robert Johnson. Ainslie has a teaching DVD on Johnson’s music as well. Ainslie has provided music for video and film, and has numerous grants and awards for performing and preserving traditional music.

Schedule TBA.