With awards from the Public and Michigan Library Associations, the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and The Blues Foundation’s 2009 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Education (the blues world’s most prestigious honor available to non-musicians), the series is now the state’s longest running annual blues celebration.
Black History Month Blues Series Alumni 1988 - 2020
Blues 2021 - Monroe County’s 34th Annual Black History Month Blues Series
2021’s edition of the Blues Series will give extra oomph to “once in a lifetime,” knock wood, as all events in the series go online-only, with a concert made available on the Monroe County Library System’s Facebook page each and every Tuesday at 7:00 pm beginning on February 2. Those four performances will set the table for a very special Big Gig! concert, which will go live at 7:00 pm on Saturday, February 27th.
“It’s going to be an unusual year, to understate,” said Blues Series project manager Bill Reiser, “but rather than taking a year off, we’re committed to presenting a series that keeps the tradition alive in as close to the spirit of the event as today’s reality allows. An online event will never be the same as a bunch of us gathering together to experience live music in the moment, but look at it this way—for this year, anyway, there’s no standing in line waiting for doors to open, no late night drive home on slippery roads, and everyone’s got the best seat in the house without having to show up two hours before showtime. And you can watch in your pajamas, if that’s your thing.”
Artist announcements are coming as soon as the contracts are signed, but expect the traditional Blues Series mix of new and familiar faces, legends and legends in the making, and more evidence proving why Willie Dixon called the blues “the roots of all American music” when he put the Blues Series on the map by visiting Monroe in 1990.
If you’ve yet to, now would be an excellent time to follow the Monroe County Library System on Facebook, as those artist announcements and other Blues Series 2021 information will be posted there first.
Online Event Dates
- Tuesday, February 2, 2021
- Tuesday, February 9, 2021
- Tuesday, February 16, 2021
- Tuesday, February 23, 2021
- Saturday, February 27, 2021
Thanks to Our Sponsors
This project is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Past Blues Series Events
Enjoy video from the 2019 Big Gig!
