IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:          Brenda Miller
                        860-695-6342
                        bmiller@hartfordpl.lib.ct.us
Date:                June 23, 2003

Library To Hold Blues 101                          

Blues Musician Dan Stevens Traces History of the Blues

Blues 101, a concert and slide show that traces the history of the blues, will be held Thursday, July 10 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Hartford Collection Room of the Hartford Public Library.

Acoustic blues artists Dan Stevens will trace the development of the blues from its roots in African American culture and tradition all the way to the popular styles of today's modern artists. Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Jazz artists and even rappers cite their influences as stemming from the recordings of early bluesmen.

Based on African rhythms and chants, primitive blues first began to emerge in the Mississippi Delta in the field hollers and work songs of the early slaves, lyrically tied to their oppressed conditions. From there, different styles developed as the music branched out into different regions of the country following the migration of African American populations.

In Blues 101, Stevens will perform songs from many of these styles including the Delta Blues, Piedmont Blues, Gospel, Ragtime and Chicago Blues. Different variations of blues are characterized by distinct methods of fingerpicking. Stevens will also demonstrate the bottleneck slide technique of playing guitar. The music will be played on a collection of authentic instruments some of which include a 1931 National steel guitar, a Kay Kraft acoustic from the 30’s, a ’53 Silvertone and others.

Stevens is an acoustic blues artist whose style centers around the acoustic fingerpicking tradition learned from Boston Bluesman Paul Rishell and the late folk legend Dave Van Ronk, whom he studied with in New York City. 

Currently on tour in support of his second CD, “Broke Down and Hungry,” Stevens has appeared  with such artists as James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Charlie Daniels, Kathy Mattea, Livingston Taylor, Ronnie Earl, Gatemouth Brown and others. Stevens was a semi-finalist in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge on Beale Street in Memphis TN.

Blues 101 is free and open to the public, for more information, call 860/695-6324.