We welcome the opportunity to partner with the American Liver Foundation to mount a hepatitis awareness campaign called "Get Hip to Hepatitis." We believe Red Blooded Blues will raise national awareness about hepatitis in a memorable way while offering Americans of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to learn the values of the Blues, a great art form that is the cornerstone of American music history. Throughout the Blues we hear myriad expressions of human emotions ranging from throbbing pain to spirited joy. This music echoes its rich African past as it adapts to survival in the New World.
Red Blooded Bluesshowcases the diversity of the genre, as these writers and performers bring their own personal awareness to the forefront through their voices and respective instruments. You cannot miss the wisdom of the Blues when you listen to Willie's It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace). Hear the universal call for a brighter future in Etta's Whatever Gets You Through the Night, John Lee's Chill Out, Buddy Guy's Cities Need Help and Pops Staples' Hope In A Hopeless World. All in all, Red Blooded Bluesstands as an icon, ensuring the Blues idiom will live on in the work of Robert Cray and Joe Louis Walker. We welcome the generations represented, from B.B. King and Otis Rush to Jeff Healey, Lucky Peterson and Joan Osborne.
In fact, my father, Willie Dixon, blues writer and founder of the Blues Heaven Foundation, had hepatitis when he passed away in 1992. His bypass sugery in 1987 required blood transfusions. The Blues Heaven Foundation was Willie's vision and is dedicated to assisting Blues artists as well as preserving the Blues and its history.
The Blues community has embraced this project, for which we're grateful. Recognizing the immense power of the Blues, we are confident that our collaboration with the American Liver Foundation will make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. Stay well.
Shirli Dixon
BLUES HEAVEN FOUNDATION
818.507.7613
About the Blues HeavenFoundation
