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Carolina Blues Adds Foods To Their Festival

The 32nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival is on Saturday, May 19 in Greensboro, NC.
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
The 32nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival is on Saturday, May 19 in Greensboro, NC.
The 32nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival is on Saturday, May 19 in Greensboro, NC.
Credit Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
The 32nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival is on Saturday, May 19 in Greensboro, NC.

For 32 years, the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society has been hosting its Carolina Blues Festival, which it calls the longest running blues festival in the Southeast. Joining host Frank Stasio for a preview of this year’s events is Atiba Berkley the president of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society. He’ll talk about the preservation society’s commitment to bringing blues to the next generation.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with Atiba Berkley, president of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, and musicians Cory Luetjen, Gary Redd and Jeff McCleen about this years Carolina Blues Festival and they play live on the State of Things.

Musicians Cory Luetjen and Gary Redd join for conversation and live performances. Luetjen and Redd come from two different generations but share the common bond of the blues. Luetjen started playing the blues when he was 16 at Redd’s blues club.  Last fall he won the Piedmont Blues Challenge and went on to compete in the International Blues Challenge. Redd is a veteran blues player who performs with the Appaloosa Redd Band. Both perform at the festival. Cory Luetjen and the Traveling Blues Band perform Saturday, May 19 at 3 p.m. and the Appaloosa Redd Band performs Sunday, May 20 at 3:45 p.m. at LeBauer Park in Greensboro.  

 

Copyright 2018 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Dana is an award-winning producer who began as a personality at Rock 92. Once she started creating content for morning shows, she developed a love for producing. Dana has written and produced for local and syndicated commercial radio for over a decade. WUNC is her debut into public radio and she’s excited to tell deeper, richer stories.