ST. AUGUSTINE, FL – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated new recording equipment to the Guitar Club and music Program at Pedro Menendez High School located in St. Augustine, FL! This included a 50-Watt amplifier, two (2) Audio Technica condenser microphones, a 61-key electric piano, and XLR cables. Our students come from low to mid-level socioeconomic households,” states Mr. Davidson, the school’s teacher of Guitar Studies. “We have very limited arts programs at our school. A lack of funding limits our ability to have a well-rounded school.” Mr. Davidson offers a music club for kids to play instruments and develop their passions. “We do not have the equipment in our auditorium to effectively perform. Arts are a vital part of education. I want to help our school and students expand their artistic passions. I want kids to have access to instruments and recording equipment. Some kids don’t have the support system to know arts can be life altering. Playing live music gives them this opportunity to shine.” Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated the necessary equipment needed for Mr. Davidson’s Guitar Club! This experience will allow students to record their music with proper precision and accuracy. Recording is a simple concept but having the appropriate equipment yields greater sound quality and teaches students the importance of being consistent, reliable, and focused in the studio. These tools are not typically covered by music program budgets which exposes holes in the music curriculum if students are not able to learn how to record! Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization that makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more every week! Your donations help us keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. Without your support, we would not be able to reach as many students around the country. We are grateful for your generosity! As a result, KTBA has reached over 66,000 students across America by sponsoring over 400 various music projects ranging from purchasing new instruments, field trips, guest clinicians, purchasing supplies, and updating music libraries. If you would like to help us to continue to make an impact on music education in America, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible. Thank you for supporting music education for the next generation!

KTBA Donates 12 New Guitars to Jr. High School Program School Name – Paideia Academy Teacher Name: Ms. Avella PHOENIX, AZ – Thanks to your donations, KTBA donated 12 new guitars to students at Paideia Academy! ***UPDATE 6/12/19 Ms. Avella expresses her gratitude and wants to share some photos of the bright young musicians working on their new guitars! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., Thank you very much for your help. My scholars are very excited to learn how to care for, tune, and play the guitar. Thanks to your genrousity we will sson have this wonderful oppertunity to share with others the gift of music and be able to cultivate their natural talents and abilities. With gratitude, Ms. Avella “My students are very energetic, creative, and full of curiosity,” Ms. Avella explains. “They love hands-on projects and want to be able to play instruments and learn more about tones, pitches, and sounds. They come to school every day, with inquiring minds – lots of questions. Being able to reach each one of them and encourage their musical aspirations brings great joy to my life!” Paideia Academy caters to all students in the neighboring community and quite a few of them do not have the means to own their own instruments or play them outside of school. Being able to bring music into their lives would make a huge impact in their educational growth. “The materials and supplies that I am requesting for my students will be put to great use for my middle and junior academy students who can share their love of music and inspiration to others. The 13 guitars will give the students the opportunity to experience hands-on learning and be used for the choir and drama club as well.” Many of the students taking music lessons come from Latin American homes where many of them have seen or been exposed to guitars and heard their music, but never had the opportunity to experience them for themselves. These instruments will also help to teach them discipline and the ethic of hard work and determination, through a fun outlet. Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like YOU, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to fund Ms. Avella’s music project and donated twelve (12) new guitars to the band program! The guitars will be delivered to Paideia Academy, where they will be distributed amongst the different classrooms ahead of their end of year performances! Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization that makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more every week! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. Without your support, we would not be able to reach as many students around the country. We are grateful for your generosity. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

Keeping the Blues Alive Donates Portable Keyboards to Middle School Music Program Teacher Name: Ms. Mandy Papenbrock Duncan U. Fletcher Middle School Jacksonville Beach, FL – Thanks to your donations, KTBA donated seven (7) brand new portable keyboards to the music program at Duncan U. Fletcher Middle School! Yamaha, one of the biggest music instrument manufacturers of all time, has been a longtime advocate for the advancement of music education in schools. Their completely approachable method books, instruments, and music education programs have been a stable for schools all over the country. With the right amount of eager students and a patient, musically skilled teacher, Yamaha brings out the best in young musicians. “Our students are talented and creative beyond measure!” Ms. Papenbrock exclaims. “They are unique individuals who truly want to learn and are enthusiastic about what our school has to offer! They aren’t afraid to try new things and are always coming up with amazing and creative ideas.” [Duncan U. Fletcher Middle] have been struggling with old pianos that often break, however, the students have remained enthusiastic and positive. “They are determined to learn and work hard to take care of the equipment that we do have,” Mandy says. “Your support with new keyboards will make a world of difference! Learning to play the piano offers students a way to explore music and learn a fine motor skill that they can carry with them throughout their lives. As they explore music, they open doors to history, culture, mathematics and more in a fun and exciting way!” With a new set of keyboards to practice theory concepts and learn songs, students at Duncan Fletcher will be able to participate in school functions and beyond. Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate these brand new keyboards to Ms. Papenbrock’s music program. Now, every child will have an opportunity to get hands-on learning time with the instruments and provide a greater and wholesome learning experience from week to week. Additionally, the students will have another avenue of expression to help them break from the regular routine of the academic tracks, and release that energy in a positive and productive way. Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

MIAMI, FL – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated four new violin outfits to the elementary music program at Norwood Elementary School! “My students are from the City of Miami Gardens, a lower socio-economic area,” Mr. Thomas Toyama writes. “They are hungry for musical experiences and love to engage in musical activities. Their enthusiastic participation in reading music, singing and playing little instruments shows that they would really do well on instruments. They are attentive, focused, on-task, and fully engaged in music class. I would really like to see them all have the opportunity to learn and experience music on the violin. They would love it!” More than three quarters of students that attend Norwood come from a lower socioeconomic area. The emotional support and the camaraderie that stems from music lessons are great ways to stimulate growth in these kids’ lives. Learning the violin in elementary school gives students opportunities to experience music in a variety of settings – from individual solo performances to group settings of string quartet, string orchestra, and full symphony orchestra. This also includes strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments. As Mr. Toyama develops a curriculum for the students to follow, Keeping the Blues Alive is in the process of funding four new violin outfits for the students to use. “My school does not have enough violins for the whole class,” Mr. Toyama explains. If I had enough violins, students could learn violin in all my 3rd through 5th grade classes. Currently, our school only has 9 violins. Now, we are in need of about 13 violins or as many as we can acquire. Receiving this donation allows our school to buy 4 more student size violins. Our school is a Title I school and cannot spend money from its limited budget on new violins. Help our students learn music by giving them violins to participate and experience music.” Thanks to Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like YOU, Mr. Toyama and his aspiring musicians will be able to teach more students in their string classes. He expresses his gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., Thank you to the donor(s) for their generous contributions of funds to purchase violins for the students in our Title I elementary school. Our students are hungry for musical exposure. They greatly appreciate your generosity, love and care. I will ensure that these violins will be taken good care of and used to benefit students this school year and years to come. Your contribution will have a lasting positive impact in providing our students a wonderful “hands on” experience. Playing violin, will help students learn note reading, intonation, melody, steady beat, rhythm, and artistry. You have given the students the gift and tool to manifest music in their young lives. That’s so precious and priceless! And they will be very surprised, pleased and happy! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. With gratitude, Mr. Toyama Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

Orlando, FL – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation donated new guitars to Freedom High School! Freedom is a high profile high school guitar program containing 180 students. Their guitar curriculum offers seven classes including four guitar ensembles, two beginning guitar classes and a guitar conservatory class for students wishing to go to college to become performers or teachers on guitar. It reminds us of the standard conservatory much like a Musicians Institute or similar, but for high school students.  We are all familiar with “Performing Arts Schools” in general, but the core curriculum offered at Freedom, describes much more than the name suggests. Mr Perez explains: “We are an “A” rated community high school that is home to over 3200 students. Though we have over 50% of our student population on the “Free & Reduced Meal Program”, that has not deterred our school from becoming an academic leader. Our guitar program is recognized in the international guitar community. Over the past several years our students and ensembles have performed three times at our All-State Music Conference and recently traveled to New York to perform in concert at an international guitar festival. All of our students in the guitar program care about becoming wonderful musicians and people. We possess a musical collectivism and positive outlook that allows us to grow and perform at a continuously high level. We had the deep privilege and educational opportunity to perform in concert with five international level classical guitarists over the past three years.” Freedom High School had a class set of 35 classical guitars that our students use. They were used seven times a day, 6-7 hours each day, 180 days a year. With the amount of use the guitars receive each day, their equipment wore down quickly. “We do not have enough in our budget to purchase new guitars to replace the older ones. There is a noticeable difference in sound and playing ability when my students are using newer guitars. From our beginners learning to play to our most advanced students and ensembles performing professional level material, having newer classical guitars will help them reach their musical and personal goals.” As a result of the fundraising from this past week, Keeping The Blues Alive was able to supply the school with five new guitars! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, On behalf of our Guitar Program, I would like to thank you and the generosity of your Foundation in supporting the music education of our 180+ students. It is very difficult to maintain our music instruments due heavy and daily use by our talented students. Your gift will allow our students to continue their musical journey and to keep discovering and creating the best music we can and to sustain our enriching music experiences.It is with your support that will remind my students to continue to “pay it forward” by volunteering their time and talents to others in our school and community! Again, thank your for supporting the musical education of our many students! It is deeply appreciated!With gratitude, Mr. Perez To make a donation to next week’s story, click here!   Thank you for helping us reach these 180+ students!  Let’s see what we can do this week!

Miramar, FL – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation made a powerful donation to Somerset Academy, allowing these students to purchase new instruments for their band program! Building a presence in the local community has always been a goal for us here at KTBA, and this opportunity allowed us to sow a seed into an already growing music program. Ms. Jackson, the school’s band director, describes her involvement with the band, and tell us about the materials in question: “My students range between the ages of 12-18. I have over eighty students in the band, which is one in eight students for the whole school. I also teach over eighty students for the Chorus program. I started with a total of fifteen students, and in less than four years have built this entire music department through sheer determination. I’m always excited to go to school each day to inspire the students to not only be amazing musicians, but to be amazing people in life.”   As the budgets have diminished for music and arts programs over the past decade in the U.S., teachers struggle to keep up with the demand for more instruments and materials to keep their curriculum growing.  This causes the teachers to look elsewhere for funding of these programs, and that is where Keeping The Blues Alive can step in. Ms. Jackson, requesting a standard Bb tuba, a pair of orchestral cymbals, and a standard gong set, is not a lofty request for a band program of her size and stature.  Using the funds available through donors like yourselves, KTBA purchased these items through DonorsChoose.org.  Now Ms. Jackson can look forward to all of her instrumentation being covered in the upcoming concerts, and the students can have an additional sense of pride for the upcoming semester as they see more and more being poured into their music program. Ms. Jackson expresses her gratitude to the donors involved! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, I cannot express my full gratitude in providing funds for our resources, but this thank you note is just a start. It is with humble thanks and praise for your generosity. Please know that we will utilize the needed items for our classroom use and use outside of the classroom for special performances. My students are amazing kids who have worked really hard to build a music program from scratch. It is a joy to see their love for performance and musicianship grow throughout my time with them. They are some of the most talented students I have ever worked with. These resources will provide a great need for our program.Thank you once again for your thoughtful gift. With gratitude, Ms. Jackson One of Ms. Jackson’s students will be particularly thrilled to hear this great news!  A young man wanted to participate in the band program so much, that he learned how to play the baritone (a euphonium instrument) in an effort to contribute to the low end of the band’s sound.  He will be the first student in mind when the tuna arrives, and we are certain that Ms. Jackson and her band class will have some exciting concerts to boast from this experience. Happy New Year!  We are off to a great start!  

ft. lauderdale, fl – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation has mad a tremendous impact on a local Broward County music program. Mr. Eichelberger, the school’s music director was in need of music stands and method books for his band class. “To me band is much more then just an extracurricular activity. It is an opportunity for me to touch the life of a child by allowing them to see the larger world through performances and trips,”  Mr. Eichelberger says. “It’s also a chance to help my students see the impact they can make on their community and the world.” Over 90% of the students come from single parent family homes and low income environments.  They look forward to school and especially look forward to other stimulating activities such as band, chorus and other extra-curricular activities.  For New Gen Prep High School of Performing Arts, an inaugural band program was exactly what they needed! The Standard of Excellence method books are one of the most popular band methods in the world.  Guaranteed, if you visit 10 schools in any state, you will come across these method books, equipping students and teachers with a graduated approach to learning the skills needed for musicianship.  For advanced learners, there are advanced lessons – making certain that every student feels challenged and engaged in the activity. We are excited to be a part of this band’s history.  The activity is extremely beneficial for the students involved, and the project is fully in line with our mission! Mr. Eichelberger expresses his gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, On behalf of myself and the Band Members of the NGHS Lion Pride Band we would like to thank you for helping us reach our goal. It is people like you that us provide great opportunities in communities that need a helping hand. Our students have been working hard to get the band program at our school off the ground. With this equipment and books we can recruit more students to join this effort. We are honored to be a part of this story! If you would like to donate to next week’s project, click here!