About TBS
Mission Statement
The Triangle Blues Society (TBS) is an all volunteer, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to honoring and promoting traditional and contemporary blues in the Triangle region North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill). TBS has been an affiliate of the Blues Foundation since 1996.
What is the Triangle Blues Society?
Let's start with the basics. Triangle Blues Society. These three words basically encompass the meaning so let's talk about that.
First, the Triangle, as we know is the Triangle area of North Carolina is Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, but what about the other areas outside these three towns?. You have Hillsborough, alive with the blues every week thanks to the Blue Bayou Club. You have Clayton with the Flipside and the Clayton Center bringing everything from local blues acts to national and international blues bands on a regular basis. Pittsboro and Bynum with their General Stores pumping blues bands, and the list goes on. These areas have proven to support the blues as much as their larger neighbors and therefore are important to include in our meaning for the word "Triangle".
The Triangle area is just one small part of the birthplace of Piedmont blues, and since the days of Blind Boy Fuller, Reverend Gary Davis, Bull City Red and so on there have been people to carry on this tradition. Folks like John D. Holman in Durham, Algia Mae Hinton in Johnston County, just to name a couple, are right here in the Triangle area and have passed this style on to the younger generations to continue after their gone just as it was passed to them by their predecessors. As long as there are people that love and appreciate it and young musicians to learn it, this indigenous art form will live and thrive.
Other than the contribution this area gave to creating blues as we know it, there are also many local blues musicians that can be heard playing all forms of blues from the raunchy blues influenced by Mississippi blues men and women moving to Chicago, and the clean rocking blues influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton and the like. All in all, the Triangle for our purposes is defined as one of the places where blues began and continues today with the influences of the past and the present.
Now let's try to define the blues. I have asked many people what their definition of the blues is and it seems like I would have gotten a straighter answer if I had asked the meaning of life. Is seems to be different for each person. For the purists, the blues is what you hear when you listen to Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf, for others its Jimmy Hendrix, Santana, Cream, and so on. For jazz musicians a blues is anything with a 12 bar format. For some it's just a feeling they get when they hear music and no matter who it is, if it feels like blues, it is blues. To me its blues when you listen to it and you can't call it anything but the blues, not rock, or jazz, or R&B, just blues. But who am I to say? As the president of the Blues Society it's my job to hear what the people of the area consider blues and act based on that. Luckily for me there is a lot of really good blues around here choose from.
The blues has been a part of music and social scenes since its earliest days. Even though there is a lot of blues that truly is sad or reflective of unjust treatment, there is just as much or more that will make you laugh and dance. The early blues musicians would play their music at dances and parties for all walks of life whether at their own house for friends and neighbors to dance and party to, or hired to play large dances and parties by socialites. This continues exactly the same today.
Let's try to take this and sum it up into one solid definition. The blues is a music that is subjective to the listener and may take on many different sounds according to what you may consider to be blues, but never the less has stood the test of time and continues to entertain audiences large and small to this day.
The last word to define is Society. No need in breaking that one down, here's a definition I found online: a voluntary association of individuals for common ends; especially : an organized group working together or periodically meeting because of common interests, beliefs, or profession. In our case that common end is to promote, support, and build the blues scene. We want to be a stopping point for traveling musicians and have a jam session with all the good blues players in the area coming out and playing together. We want to put on a festival, and help our local blues bands build their name and get work. We want to seek out and find the other people like ourselves that are willing to volunteer their time to see this through. We want to educate folks in blues heritage, and expose this music to the youth in the Triangle area in order to continue this art form. In order to do this we have to come together and work as a team, as a society.
So what is the Triangle Blues Society? Based on this information we are a voluntary association of individuals that work together to support, promote, and build the scene for the musicians, fans, and businesses in the Triangle and surrounding areas that are playing, booking or interested in blues of all styles new and old. And that just about says it all.
History of TBS
Formed in 1991, TBS has produced a variety of events, activities and publications for music lovers over the years. We remain an affiliate member of the Blues Foundation, an international organization that sponsors the Blues Music Awards (formerly the W.C. Handy Blues Awards). TBS incorporated in North Carolina in 1992 as a non-profit (Details at the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State website).
TBS has sponsored or co-sponsored many area blues shows with both local and national acts at various clubs in the Triangle. In past years, TBS has presented national touring acts as diverse as Louisiana Red, Eric Bibb, Keb Mo, Corey Harris, Kenny Neal, Shemekia Copeland, Mark Hummel, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, Sugar Blue and many others, as well as sponsoring concerts and benefits for musicians of our own region. TBS is widely known for the outstanding TBS Blues Challenges and has sent a number of acts to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. TBS has also hosted a FREE all blues jam at various restaurants and clubs in the Raleigh area for many years. Currently the TBS Electric Blues Jam. is held the third Sundays of the month at BoneDaddy's Hideaway in Raleigh, NC.
Today we strive to keep our blues events affordable. Because we offer family-friendly events as well as those geared to the 21 and older audience, TBS truly is an organization for everyone. If you're seeking a vibrant volunteer organization that combines fun with supporting blues and blues venues, look no further. We have many volunteer slots and look forward to your active membership in TBS! TBS meetings are held on a monthly basis and are OPEN to all members. To learn about TBS events, join TBS for FREE and get on our mailing list.
