The Brooklyn Blues Society
Keep Blues Alive….Music of the Soul….Let It Live in Brooklyn!™
In 2006, Beareather Reddy and Big Eyed Enterprises, Inc. presented the first annual “Big Eyed Blues Festival”. Since then, we have produced 11 blues festivals, primarily through personal funds, monthly fundraisers at the “Big Eyed Blues” (“Blues only” venue in the Central Brooklyn community), grants and private donations. We have presented national and international artists such as Bobby Rush, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Guy Davis, The Alexis P. Suter Band, The Ebony Hillbillies, Solomon Hicks, Jerron “Blindboy” Paxton, Beareather & The Brown Liquor Sounds, the Big Eyed Blues Youth Ensemble, Keith “The Captain” Gamble, Bill Sims Jr. and daughter Chaney Sims, The Piedmont Blues duo Valerie and Benedict Turner, SaRon Crenshaw, Ray Schinnery Band, B.b. Queen, just to name a few.
In 2017, Beareather Reddy founded the not-for-profit Brooklyn Blues Society which continues to present the Big Eyed Blues Festival in Brooklyn.
Our mission is to preserve Blues music and culture by introducing this American art form to underserved youth and the community, through performances, workshops and lectures.
Who we are
-
Beareather Reddy
President
-
Tanja Maria Hayes
Secretary
-
Bessie R. Edwards
Treasurer
-
Sandra A. M. Bell
Festival Planning Advisor
-
Bonda Cunningham
Festival Planning Advisor
-
Karen Mason
Media Consultant
-
Rachiim Ausar-Sahu
Advisory Board
-
Clarence “Clyde” Bullard
Advisory Board
-
Antoinette Montague
Advisory Board
-
Anna Lomax Wood
Advisory Board
Previous Supporters include:
The Association for Cultural Equity, Big Eyed Enterprises, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Roots Network, Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, Greater New York Arts Development Fund, International Women in Jazz, Kumble Theater, New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Prospect Park Alliance, Sylvia Ryan, Swift Eyes Innovations, Yippee Ki-Ay Blues