Red, White & Blues is a patriotic tribute to both our American Heroes and Blues music, with a taste of Schuylkill County coal miners’ Boilo.
Join the Greater Schuylkill Haven Area Business Association at the Walk In Art Center on Friday Jan. 27 (snow date Jan. 28) from 6 to 10 p.m. Wear red, white and blue to honor the nation’s heroes with the American Legion’s color guard from Post #29 at 6:30 p.m, followed by music by The Ann Kerstetter Band.
Ticket price includes food, drinks, music and dancing. Activities include a boilo contest and 50/50 raffle. Master blenders are welcome to sign up; limited openings are still available.
The Ann Kerstetter band is known for its strong harmonies and strong connection with the audience.
“We will be performing our original and classic Blues, mixed with classic rock songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cream, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Allman Brothers, Beatles, Stones and (Led) Zeppelin to name just a few,” Kerstetter said. “We just like to give the audience a great show.”
Kerstetter is known for heartfelt and electric live performances and her debut CD “Classics.” In his review of the album, Blues Revue’s Tom Hyslop wrote, “Kerstetter is a fabulous singer with personality, wide emotional range and a welcome lack of affectation.”
Traditional blues music is often characterized by emotive lyrics, guitar-driven accompaniment and a traditional song format that blues musicians embellish as they wish.
There is no known precise moment when the blues started, and different regions developed their own styles over time. Though styles differ the scales and chords were similar in each variation. Each style of blues relied heavily on singers, and some of the earliest recorded blues performances were of singers accompanied by guitar, banjo or piano.
Business association President Jeff Spotts of Spotts Insurance Group shared his thoughts about the upcoming event.
“Honoring our American heroes through a color guard is a great way to recognize our military, both active as well as our veterans,” he said. “We can never thank them enough, and not just our military but also our first responders and police officers. What better way to recognize them then to celebrate the “Red, White & Blues!”
Ceil Michalik, a GSHABA member since 2014 and past president, stated: “We also wanted to have some
fun and recognize our coal mining heritage, as I am a granddaughter and niece of a coal miner who worked at Coal Mine #9 in Lansford. There will be a boilo contest, and later a tasting, as family recipes will be shared.”
Boilo was a local drink enjoyed by the miners to chase away the coal dust after a long day in the mines, and still shared today, often to “cure” the common cold.
For more information about the event, ticket sales and boilo contest, contact gshabainformation@gmail.com or the Walk In Art Center’s website, www.walkinartcenter.org.
Source: Berkshire mont