BluesEd: A Youth Artist Development Program based in Omaha, Nebraska
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2023 Auditions

Celebrating Our 22nd 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 2022 a tremendous success! We have five professional musicians who serve as clinicians for our students. The clinicians run workshops and offer wonderful feedback to all of our performers. Our students have multiple performance opportunities at some of the finest festivals and venues in and around Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. Nationally, The BluesEd 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 2022 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



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BluesEd is an award-winning non-profit youth talent development program sponsored by Blues Society of Omaha with the mission of "Keeping the Blues Alive." The BluesEd program began in 2001 and was created to provide opportunities for talented Middle School and High School age musicians to play with other students in a performance band format. Through a series of workshops, BluesEd students learn a repertoire of blues music, along with learning the art of improvisation and solos, the methodology of rehearsals, techniques of jamming, stage presence and performance, and the historical origins of the blues genre. Students have multiple performance opportunities at some of the finest festivals and venues in and around Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.


Meet our 2022 Bands

Us and Them
Us and Them
Vertigo
Blue Sunday
The Redwoods
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  • Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Bands
    • Blue Sunday
    • The Redwoods
    • Us and Them
    • Vertigo
  • Auditions
  • Clinicians
  • Sponsors
  • Blog
  • Alumni
  • 2023 KickOff
  • Anna Jane Abbott Memorial Scholarship
  • Donate
  • Latest News & Videos