Partnerships
Thank You To Our Partners For Their Support!
Current Partners
ACOUSTIC COFFEE
Acoustic Coffee is proud to partner with the Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation. With this wonderful Central American Blend, or any of our coffees, you can support the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation when you choose the cause ‘KTBA’ at sign up.
Support the KTBA Foundation with every sip:
PAOLETTI GUITARS
Paoletti Guitars is a custom guitars manufacturing company based in Tuscany — Italy. Since 2008, their guitars are crafted in chestnut wood — it all started using the old family business disused ancient wine barrels. Each guitar tells a story—a tale of the vineyards, the artistry of winemakers and the timeless beauty of the wood itself.
Paoletti Guitars’ skilled luthiers meticulously select and transform chestnut wood — renowned worldwide today for its unique character — into stunning one-of-a-kind guitars, offering a truly personalized experience. Paoletti Guitars’ custom shop works closely with their clients, aiming to respond to their musical preferences, playing style, and desired aesthetic, with a unique piece form a vast catalog, so their dream guitar can come to life!
GUITAR PILLOW
The Patent-Pending GUITAR PILLOW is an extremely lightweight foam device which easily attaches to your electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and allows you to safely lean your guitar against a wall, a desk, a table, an amp, etc. and you can still tune the guitar with it attached. The Guitar Pillow was recognized from NAAM as “Best In Show”. A portion of sales from this product goes to KTBA Foundation.
32 BAR BLUES
Born with a heart for the arts, 32 Bar Blues is a fresh tune in the men’s clothing world. Alongside their cool and original clothing styles, the brand honors many of the pioneers of American music, writing and photography – and they promote a handful of nonprofit arts organizations that deserve special attention and extra support. Since its first collection in 2012, 32 Bar Blues has featured more than 90 blues, jazz and roots musicians; poets and fiction writers; portrait and street photographers – and has partnered with six nonprofit arts organizations (like Keeping The Blues Alive). 100% of the profits that 32 Bar Blues receives from the sales of albums, CDs, books, and special partner items are given directly to the artists and arts organizations featured.
Previous Partners
ARTISTWORKS
Since 2008, ArtistWorks’ revolutionary online platform has enabled anyone with an Internet connection to get ongoing, personal feedback from one of our hand-selected virtuoso teachers, on their own schedule, at their own pace. Today, ArtistWorks hosts over 160,000 Video Exchanges, more than 50,000 video lessons, features 35 teachers, and has taught tens of thousands of students from over 80 countries. In 2015, ArtistWorks was awarded a US Patent on its core technology of Video Exchange Learning. In May 2017, the company received academic accreditation as a supplemental education provider from the Accrediting Commission for Schools at the Western Association for Schools and Colleges.
In celebration of Giving Tuesday 2021, ArtistWorks CEO Patricia Butler hosted special guests Joe Bonamassa, Guthrie Trapp, Keith Wyatt and “Fueling Musicians” recipients from Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation : Tom Laskey, Fernando Perdomo, Telisha Williams, Chris Condon, and Gina Romantini! This special streaming event featured live performances and intimate interviews with these talented musicians who found new ways to monetize their careers during the global pandemic.
Today, ArtistWorks is part of the TrueFire Studios collective. TrueFire Studios’ family of brands, websites and social networks include TrueFire, ArtistWorks, JamPlay and FaderPro. Over 3 million music students, pro musicians and fans, from virtually every country in the world, “learn, practice, and play” with TrueFire Studios’ massive library of interactive video music lessons, patented learning systems and all-star faculty of artists & educators.
TRUEFIRE
Truefire has been a trusted partner since 2022. Known for its catalog of over 80,000 online guitar lessons from the best educators in the world, TrueFire is the #1 most trusted music education resource for guitar players of all skill levels. KTBA cherishes its relationship with Truefire and looks forward to other educational programming collaborations in the future.
INTO THE LIGHT
THE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY OF JEROME BURNET
Jerome Brunet has shot a veritable who’s who in the Blues, Rock, and Soul genres. His photographs have been published internationally in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Time, Billboard, Popular Photography, American Photo, Guitar World, Variety, Smithsonian and the New York Times. His client list includes Leica, Fender, Gibson, John Varvatos, Warner Bros. Records and he has collaborated with the non-profit organizations Unicef, T.J. Martell Foundation, John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit and the Recording Academy’s MusiCares.
Jerome Brunet is based in West Hollywood and his work is represented by fine-art galleries around the world.
JOEL HARPER
AUTHOR OF "FRANKIE FINDS THE BLUES"
Joel Harper is a writer, book publisher, and musician who began his career publishing children’s picture books in 2003. He founded Freedom Three Publishing after seeing a lack of picture books that contained music, environmental education, and culturally diverse themes and characters for children.
Joel is widely recognized for his multiple award-winning picture book “All the Way to the Ocean” and its animated short film adaptation; The film won the My Hero Project’s 2022 Sylvia Earle Ocean Conservation Award. In 2021, the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association awarded Joel their Environmentalist of the Year Award for his 20 years of dedication to ocean conservation. His children’s picture books have been translated into three languages and distributed internationally.
Currently residing in France with his wife and three children, Joel remains dedicated to supporting these causes through his publishing company and by teaching music.
ROUND UP FOR MUSIC
Keeping the Blues Alive and The Distillery hosted a ‘Round Up For Music’ campaign. Customers that dine at any Distillery restaurants in NY can add a donation to their bill in support of KTBA – specifically to benefit music programs in Rochester City Public Schools. In 2019, $13,000 was raised that was split between music programs in three Rochester-area schools.
