Celebrating Our 21st Season of BluesEd!
BluesEd is a non-profit youth talent development program sponsored by Blues Society of Omaha with the mission of "Keeping the Blues Alive." The BluesEd program was unofficially started in the late 1990’s by Doug Backer, a musician, music educator and member of the Blues Society of Omaha. He started with ten students who gathered every Sunday in the summer with adult BSO musicians who led workshops and taught the ‘bands’ blues songs. In 2001, the Blues Society of Omaha officially sponsored the program, and it has been growing steadily over the last 20 years.
BluesEd continues to be the premier blues education and performance program not only in the Omaha area, but in the country. The hard work, dedication and talent of our musicians is truly remarkable. We appreciate our musicians and are thankful for the time and devotion of parents and families who support the musicians, bands and program.
We are grateful to everyone for making 2021 a tremendous success after taking the previous season off due to Covid-19. This past year, we also added a new clinician, bringing our total up to five professional musicians. Our students have multiple performance opportunities at some of the finest festivals and venues in and around Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. Nationally, our bands have performed in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase seven times. In 2018, we won the International Blues Foundation “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
A few key accomplishments for the 2021 season include:
∙ Approximately 30 BluesEd Clinics and/or Alumni Clinics
∙ New BluesEd Instrumental Workshops
∙ Numerous Gigs/Performance Opportunities for each band, which ranges from 15 – 30 gigs per season
∙ Appreciative crowds ranging from small venues to gigs with ticketing capacity of 25,000
∙ Added 12 “new to BluesEd” festivals, events or venues this past season
BluesEd continues to be the premier blues education and performance program not only in the Omaha area, but in the country. The hard work, dedication and talent of our musicians is truly remarkable. We appreciate our musicians and are thankful for the time and devotion of parents and families who support the musicians, bands and program.
We are grateful to everyone for making 2021 a tremendous success after taking the previous season off due to Covid-19. This past year, we also added a new clinician, bringing our total up to five professional musicians. Our students have multiple performance opportunities at some of the finest festivals and venues in and around Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. Nationally, our bands have performed in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase seven times. In 2018, we won the International Blues Foundation “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
A few key accomplishments for the 2021 season include:
∙ Approximately 30 BluesEd Clinics and/or Alumni Clinics
∙ New BluesEd Instrumental Workshops
∙ Numerous Gigs/Performance Opportunities for each band, which ranges from 15 – 30 gigs per season
∙ Appreciative crowds ranging from small venues to gigs with ticketing capacity of 25,000
∙ Added 12 “new to BluesEd” festivals, events or venues this past season
