Monday, October 23, 2017

Central Iowa Blues Society to celebrate 25 years


MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER
Courtesy: Des Moines Register
Lace up your dancin’ shoes, Iowans. An all-day dose of locally-grown blues is taking over downtown Des Moines this weekend.
Set to take place this Sunday at the Des Moines Social Club, the Central Iowa Blues Society plans to celebrate 25 years of bringing the blues to Des Moines with an all-day showcase of Iowa-bred talent. Planned performances include Malcolm Wells and the Two Timers, the JC Anderson Band Revisited, the Bob Pace Band and the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame “all-star” band.
The free and all-ages celebration kicks off at noon and is scheduled to run until 9 p.m.
“We want to be able to give (people) a reason to come out and have a really good time and not charge ‘em for it. You only turn 25 once,” said Jeff Duskin, 53, co-founding member and administrator of the Central Iowa Blues Society. “We decided we wanted to make it a big deal and showcase it to the community.”
Launching in the fall of 1992, organizers of the nonprofit Central Iowa Blues Society have spent the last quarter-century delivering events such as the annual Winter Blues Fest, managing the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame, sponsoring club shows for touring acts and introducing the genre to children through the “Blues in the Schools” program.
Today, the group boasts around 770 due-paying members. But, there were moments when Duskin said he feared the organization may fold. Around 2012, following a wave of leadership retirement, he said the group struggled to restaff and train new team members while keeping up with the society’s programs.
“We weathered through that,” Duskin said. “We have our ups and downs. We’ve been resilient. I’m proud of that.”
Still, the group survived and continues to fight to raise awareness for the artform, a task not without challenges as music trends and promotional tech-
niques continually shifting. Duskin said the volunteer-ran group hopes to keep introducing the genre to new music fans through events and outreach.
“Blues music sort-of gets shortscripted,” Duskin said. “Unless you’re in the really popular genres … you don’t really get a lot of attention. I think that’s why blues societies, there’s so many of ’em.” Included in the lineup this Sunday is the Soul Searchers, a Des Moines staple in the blues and rock ‘n’ roll scene. The Soul Searchers won the first-ever society- curated Iowa Blues Challenge in 1994, giving the group funds to track a debut album.
Erich Gaukel, bassist for the group, said he believes support from
the society, in part, is why the community has a healthy number of regularly-ginning local acts.
“I don’t think there would be the quality of music on the local music scene if the (Central Iowa Blues Society) wasn’t there,” he said.
He continued: “To have a support group (for) blues … you’re really supporting a lot of different things because the blues touches a lot of different pop music.”
From the opening notes of Bob Pace to the show-closing jam, Duskin said he plans to see at least “a little” dancing from show-goers and performers alike.
“A lot of these acts we’re showcasing played at the time the society was born,” he said.

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