Prairie Crossroads Blues Society

Upcoming Blues Events

Blues Fest is Back, Baby!

Prairie Crossroads Blues Fest
Saturday August 11, 2:00 - 10:00 PM
Champaign County Fairgrounds
Rain or Shine!
Food trucks, beverages, 8 hours of great Blues Music!
Check out our Blues Fest page

Does your business want to help bring a Blues Fest back to the East Central Illinois area?
Visit the Blues Fest Sponsors page
Or download and print out our Sponsors Tri-fold pdf

Autographed Ibanez G10
PCBS Guitar Raffle!
Autographed at the 2011 Blues, Brews & BBQ Fest
Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10

This Ibanez guitar was autographed at the 2011 Blues, Brews & BBQ Fest held in Urbana. Many of the artists that performed at that Fest signed the guitar. The guitar was graciously donated to PCBS by Fluid Events with the express purpose of raising money to help restart a local Blues Fest.

• autographs include:
• Coco Montoya
• Duke Robillard
• Jimmy Thackery
• Keith Harden
• Kathy Harden
• Jim Suhler
• John Primer?
• many others

Buy your raffle tickets on our Guitar Raffle Page
use your Paypal account or major credit card!

Drawing will be held at Po' Boys, 202 E. University, in Urbana. PCBS will be holding our monthly meeting that night and Kilborn Alley will be playing a juke joint show. (We've moved our meeting up a week to avoid conflicts with the TajMo show, Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo'.)

Money raised from this raffle goes to help PCBS put on the 1st Annual Prairie Crossroads Blues Fest, Saturday August 11, at the Champaign County Fairgrounds.

TajMo - The Taj Mahal Keb' Mo' Band
8:00 pm Thursday August 9
Virginia Theater, 202 West Park St., Champaign

Start your Blues Fest Weekend
with the TajMo show at the Virginia

TajMo, an evening of blues with the Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ Band, winners of Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 2018 Grammys. The two merge their voices, personalities and guitar styles for an historic evening, August 9th. Information at The Virginia.org.

Taj Mahal has been recording and performing his unmistakable blend of blues and world music for over 50 years, winning multiple GRAMMYS and collaborating with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and more along the way. Keb’ Mo’, who has often cited Taj as one of his musical heroes, is a 4-time GRAMMY Winner who has collaborated with everyone from Raitt to Jackson Browne and Buddy Guy. Keb’ has also performed at multiple Crossroads Guitar Festivals and at In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues in 2012 .

PCBS Blues Jams!
Pipa's Pub, 604 S. Country Fair Dr., Champaign
2nd Sunday of each month, 4:00 - 7:00 pm
4th Wednesday of each month, 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Prairie Crossroads Blues Society is now holding two jams each month.The 2nd Sunday of each month from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and the 4th Wednesday of each month from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Both jams are held at Pipa's Pub, 604 S. Country Fair Dr., Champaign.

The host band typically plays the first set, then we open it up to all the jammers in the house. Bring your instrument and plan on sitting in!

• Groove Avenue host the PCBS jam - Wednesday July 25
• Working on a band that's performing the day before at the Prairie Crossroads Blues Fest - Sunday August 12
• Big Mike Aguirre hosts the PCBS jam - Wednesday August 22

Google map to Pipa's Pub, 604 S. Country Fair Dr. Champaign.

Prairie Crossroads Blues Society is happy to help revive the tradition of a blues jam in the C-U area!

Read more ...

PCBS Monthly Meeting/Juke Joint Show
Note: One week early this month!
5:30 pm Thursday August 2
Po' Boys, 202 East University Ave., Urbana
Kilborn Alley plays 6:30 - 9:30

We're meeting one week early this month on the 1st Thursday of the month August 2, and Kilborn Alley is playing that night as well. This is to allow blues fans to attend the TajMo show at the Virginia Theater on Thursday August 9.

We combined our monthly meetings with the Kilborn Alley Juke Joint shows at Po' Boys! It's a chance to enjoy some delicious Po' Boys food, some beverages from local craft brewer's Triptych Brewing with great blues music and lively conversation. The joint's been packed with blues fans, friends and family enjoying the party atmosphere!

We're always open to suggestions about our monthly blues jams and are looking for folks to get more involved with our Blues In The Schools program. Consider becoming a PCBS Member and help us reach out to other blues lovers in our communities.

Blues Dancing every Monday
BluesCentral hosts Lessons and Dancing
6:30 Free Lessons, 7:00 - 9:00 Free Dancing
*** New Location ***
Cowboy Monkey, 6 Taylor St. Champaign

BluesCENTRAL Dancers sponsor lessons & dances, 6:30 pm every Monday night. Free Beginner Lessons at 6:30, and Free Social Dancing 7:00 to 9:00

Blues every Monday: Dinner Drinks & Dancing. Beginning Monday April 2, the dancing, socializing and good times will be at the Cowboy Monkey in downtown Champaign. Until then the dancing is still in the back room at Pizza M, 208 W. Main St. Urbana.

Don't know how to dance to the blues? Don't worry! Beginner lessons at 6:30 pm will get you started. Or just come socialize with us and enjoy Cowboy Monkey's great selection of beers and wines.

Don't have a partner to dance with? No problem! We are friendly and love to dance with everyone!

Check out the BluesCENTRAL Dancers Facebook Page

Blues In The Schools

Check out the awesome Thank You notes from the South Side Elementary School students after the PCBS Spring 2015 BITS program. Thank You Page

Visit our Education Page for details about many of the educational programs PCBS has put on. If you'd like PCBS to conduct a Blues In The Schools program at your school contact us at: prairiecrossroadsblues@gmail.com.

You can now earmark your donations specifically for our Education programs. It's a great way to help us achieve our mission of educating about the blues and be a part of bringing up the next generation of blues musicians and fans.

Your tax deductable donation to our Education Fund helps to keep these programs alive

This PayPal link will direct your donation in any amount directly to our educational efforts, including our "Blues In The Schools" (BITS) program.

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Membership

Want to become part of the growing community of Blues lovers in the Champaign-Urbana and East Central Illinois area? Sign up to become a member of Prairie Crossroads Blues Society. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organized to Preserve, Promote and Educate about the Blues.

Since we were formed in 2010 we've been supporting local blues artists share their music with a wider audience. We consistently look to bring new blues artists to our area so fans get a chance to see the huge amount of talent touring on a regional and national basis. We also have a strong BITS - Blues In The Schools program.

Whether you enjoy our jams and shows, or support our efforts to teach youngsters the history and basics of blues music, now is the right time to become a PCBS Member

Membership Options:
Student = $10 per year
Individual = $20 per year
Family = $25 per year
Band = $50 per year
Corporate = $100 per year

For Family, Band and Corporate memberships, we'll contact you for the names of additional members or you can send us that information via email: pcbsmembership@gmail.com.

Please select your type of Membership

Student $10.00 Individual $20.00 Family $25.00 Band $50.00 Corporate $100.00

Name on membership

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Contact info: prairiecrossroadsblues@gmail.com

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Last Updated 02/06/2017