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B J Johnson
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SOME BLUES BANK COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES

We sponsor and produce, or help to sponsor and produce, festivals, conferences, radio shows, concerts, fund raisers and benefit concerts, including:

Annual Black Heritage Festival
The Black Heritage Festival is a series of events in the greater seacoast area of New Hampshire that help celebrate February as National Black History Month. The festival is sponsored by a wide variety of civic, educational, arts and religous organizations. The BBC, as well as being a frequent presenter, compiles all the event information from the presenters, finds a fitting artistic image and then produces and distributes the fine arts Black Heritage Festival poster. The festival was the first endeavour of the BBC in 1985. To fully appreciate the blues, a broader knowledge of African American history, we feel, is extremely helpful, if not essential. Since New Hampshire is 98.6 percent Caucasian in persuasion we also felt a festival of this type could add to the appreciation of black culture in the Granite State in general. We're proud to be a part of this important annual cultural series. What happened this year.

New England Blues Conference
This is a gathering of musicians, blues societies, educators, club owners, students and civil rights activists who convene in the name of their love of blues and the awareness of its power. Keynote speakers, workshops, lively conversations about how all involved can strengthen, through coming together and sharing ideas, the message of peace and equality through music.

Blues Bank Recordings

Miscellaneous Activities
  • Occasional specialty radio shows in conjunction with local stations WCDQ, "The Blues Show" with Bruce Pingree (University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.) WUNH 91.3 FM
  • BBC volunteer meetings, taking place every other month at the Salvation Army soup kitchen, Portsmouth, N.H. (Call 603-929-0654 for info.)
  • Collaborating with other nonprofit organizations such as NAACP, Aids Response, Crossroads homeless shelter, Kwanza and other blues education societies all over the world.
  • Helped to organize a New Hampshire House rally for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (1995), including the production of Lillian Buckley's gospel-tinged Martin Luther King song, "When Will the Granite State."
  • A TV public service announcement for the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter in Boston, Mass.
  • A few modest but well-deserved donations to ailing blues musicians and families -- "Blues You Can Bank On."
  • Random acts of BLUESNESS on the streets of the world (if you wanna know what that means, you'll have to call T.J. himself ... (603) 929-0654.
The Blues Bank Collective is a W.C.Handy Award
winning blues education organization whose mission is:
  • To further awareness of Blues Music and its African American heritage
  • To show the historic context that gave birth to the Blues
  • To use the music as a means of positive social change
    And, whenever possible, to eliminate all forms of racism, intolerance and prejudice.

    • Partner logos
    Blues Music Assoc Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce Blues Foundation Year of the Blues
    DRAWING: B. J. Johnson (1906-1986) was a great Portsmouth bluesman and teacher, as well as an inspiration to all who knew him. Art by Steven Lee.
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    Blues Bank Collective
    PO Box 4076
    Portsmouth, NH 03802
    Voice:  603-929-0654
    Email:  tjw@bluesbankcollective.org
    Web:  www.BluesBankCollective.org
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