Blues Society of the Ozarks hosts the first picnic of 2009

Blues Society of the Ozarks hosts the first picnic of 2009 at Ritter Springs Park April 19. Ritter Springs Park is just north of Springfield on Fantastic Caverns Road. West Farm Road 92, Greene County, Missouri.
Check the map.

Join The Ozarks Blues Society for the first event of the 2009 season for an afternoon of good music, food, family, and fellowship.

and no...you don't have to be a member,but you'll want to be once you're there!


Bring a covered dish and your guitar or other noise maker if you want to jam.

Blues Society of the Ozarks kicks off this year's series of picnics with the Graduation of 12 young men
from the 8 week Blues Harmonica Lessons conducted by the BITS committee, and performances by the Graduates taught by Leader George Hunt (Organic Soul), guitarist Jon Marks (Black Suede), Harpists Andy Collins and Kyle Young, with Mike and Kendra Wallace.

The beautiful Ritter Springs Park has become a tradition for dedicated picnic goers as this is the second year BITS (blues in the schools) graduates have been presented graduation diplomas and performed at the picnic.

The JRB Band will host the jam.J RB is a three-piece band with a broad repertoire of party Jazz, Rock, and Blues from the 60s, 70’s, 80’s, 2000s.

Drummer Jim Coombs has played and sung blues and rock with several bands in many venues from Springfield to Memphis

Guitar player Ric Haegg is a well known jazz, rock, and classical guitar player with credits warming up the likes of BB King.

Bassist Bob Jones is from Chicagowhere he made a living for a few years as a bass player and vocalist.

This is a "do not miss event" for any Ozark music lover!

Roy Rogers Guitar has left the building..

 An anonymous buyer has paid $460,000 for a rare Martin acoustic guitar that was once owned by singing cowboy Roy Rogers. The guitar was auctioned by Christies Auctions for The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo., was built in 1930 and is considered one of the rarest and most coveted acoustic guitars in the world.
Rogers guitar was one of only 15 of that series produced by the C.F. Martin Company in 1930. It further indicates the Rogers guitar was the first one of the series produced. Ironically, until recently it was thought that only 14 of that series had been produced and it was only through recent research that the guitar purchased by Rogers in 1933 was discovered.

The OM-45 Deluxe model acoustic guitar – the very first one of only 15 produced by Martin in 1930 – was originally purchased for a mere $30 from a pawn shop in California in 1933 by a young and unknown musician named Leonard Franklin. Franklin, of course, later changed his name to Roy Rogers and because a country music legend, using the guitar extensively in countless recordings and stage appearances. He retired the guitar in the mid-1940s.

On the morning of March 13 the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum issued a statement regarding the auction of the C.F. Martin OM-45 Deluxe Guitar by Christie’s. The statement confirmed the discovery of recent information about the guitar and said “Due to recently discovered information regarding the rarity of this guitar, The Rogers Family Estate had decided to put the guitar up for auction rather than keep it in the Museum.” It went on to say, “It would be far too costly for the Museum to insure and display this rare piece” and that the Museum would greatly benefit from “the notoriety and publicity” that the auction of the Rogers guitar will generate. Visit Roy Rogers Dale Evans Museum In Branson, Mo.

Roy Rogers Guitar has left the building..

 An anonymous buyer has paid $460,000 for a rare Martin acoustic guitar that was once owned by singing cowboy Roy Rogers. The guitar was auctioned by Christies Auctions for The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo., was built in 1930 and is considered one of the rarest and most coveted acoustic guitars in the world.
Rogers guitar was one of only 15 of that series produced by the C.F. Martin Company in 1930. It further indicates the Rogers guitar was the first one of the series produced. Ironically, until recently it was thought that only 14 of that series had been produced and it was only through recent research that the guitar purchased by Rogers in 1933 was discovered.

The OM-45 Deluxe model acoustic guitar – the very first one of only 15 produced by Martin in 1930 – was originally purchased for a mere $30 from a pawn shop in California in 1933 by a young and unknown musician named Leonard Franklin. Franklin, of course, later changed his name to Roy Rogers and because a country music legend, using the guitar extensively in countless recordings and stage appearances. He retired the guitar in the mid-1940s.

On the morning of March 13 the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum issued a statement regarding the auction of the C.F. Martin OM-45 Deluxe Guitar by Christie’s. The statement confirmed the discovery of recent information about the guitar and said “Due to recently discovered information regarding the rarity of this guitar, The Rogers Family Estate had decided to put the guitar up for auction rather than keep it in the Museum.” It went on to say, “It would be far too costly for the Museum to insure and display this rare piece” and that the Museum would greatly benefit from “the notoriety and publicity” that the auction of the Rogers guitar will generate. Visit Roy Rogers Dale Evans Museum In Branson, Mo.

Michelle Obama Gives French First Lady a Gibson Guitar

According to the Gibson Lifestyle website, Michelle Obama presented Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French First Lady, with a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar while she and her husband visited the Sarkozys in Strasbourg, France.
Gibson has painstakingly reproduced this knockout vintage acoustic down to the minute details. The Gibson J-45 is one of the most played and cherished acoustic guitars in history. This Legends version of the J-45 can handle music from the blues to bluegrass to folk to pop and everything in between.Hand crafted by Gibson luthiers using techniques from the J-45 guitar's heyday, the Legend J-45 boasts an Adirondack spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides to produce unmatched mellow, full-bodied tone.