Center Stage Co. Presents BLUES BASH

The 6th Annual Blues Bash at Centenary College Friday March 20 and Saturday March 21 in the Sitnik Theatre at the David and Carol Lackland Center blends Blues, Americana, and other styles of music in a two - night extravaganza that will be a real treat for music lovers! Doors open at 6:30pm both nights with lobby entertainment and main stage performances start at 7:30 each night!

Friday night's line- up includes the award-winning Todd Wolfe Band performing with special guest John Ginty on the B-3 Hammond Organ, along with The Bob Lanza Band. Wolfe was part of Sheryl Crow's band for many years, but has a distinct sound of his own that has gotten him national recognition. Ginty, a founding member of the Robert Randolph Family Band, is one of the most sought after keyboardists in the U.S., having played with the Allman Brothers, Santana, Govt. Mule, Bob Wier and Ratdog, Widespread Panic, and on a regular basis, the Dixie Chicks, among others. The Bob Lanza Band has certainly taken the region by storm in the last year seeing enormous success, particularly on the festival scene where they have become a solid crowd favorite and are now in high demand.

Saturday night's line-up features the Godfather of Americana, David Bromberg and his Quintet. Bromberg was born in Philadelphia in 1945 and raised in Tarrytown, NY. "As a kid I listened to rock 'n' roll and whatever else was on the radio," says Bromberg. "I discovered Pete Seeger and The Weavers and, through them, Reverend Gary Davis. I then discovered Big Bill Broonzy, who led me to Muddy Waters and the Chicago blues. This was more or less the same time I discovered Flatt and Scruggs, which led to Bill Monroe and Doc Watson."

Bromberg's sensitive and versatile approach to guitar-playing earned him jobs playing the Village "basket houses" for tips, the occasional paying gig, and employment as a backing musician for Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker and Rosalie Sorrels, among others. He became a first-call, "hired gun" guitarist for recording sessions, ultimately playing on hundreds of records by artists including Bob Dylan (New Morning, Self Portrait, Dylan), Link Wray, The Eagles, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, and Carly Simon.

He toured with his own band for some time and then went into semi-retirement for a while and got into the violin making business. In 2013, content with the balance of both his violin business and performing career, Bromberg was ready to record again with his live band. Enlisting old friend Larry Campbell (three-time Grammy-winning producer for Levon Helm and multi-instrumentalist with Bob Dylan) and engineer Justin Guip, David and his group entered Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY, in March 2013. Enlisting some of Helm's former recording and touring musicians for added instrumentation, the David Bromberg Band emerged twelve days later with 'Only Slightly Mad,' a return to his genre-bending albums of the Seventies and Eighties. Bromberg fans will find blues, bluegrass, gospel, folk, Irish fiddle tunes, pop and English drinking songs happily coexisting as they can only on a Bromberg album.

Opening up for Bromberg will be the blues duo Mulebone. The launching pad for their musical expression is traditional blues. Together they have recorded a CD which spent 15 weeks in the Top 100 Albums in America. Along with playing live and TV appearances, they won blues artist of the year at radio stations from Seattle, Washington to Red Bank, New Jersey. Any given week, you may find them playing clubs in NYC or entertaining at private parties thrown by David Rockefeller, Bruce Wasserstein and list of other East Coast residents who are enthusiastic about bringing these boys in for a party by road, sea or air.

The Blues Bash also features pre-show entertainment at Marleys Gotham Grill each day, and a post-show party on Saturday night at Marleys. To learn more about Joe Hirsh Productions, visit www.joehirshproductions.com.

Tickets for Friday night's line - up are $25.00 to $35.00 in advance. Tickets for Saturday night's line - up are $37.50 to $65.00 in advance. Premier seating is available for both nights and limited to the first three rows of the orchestra. To reserve premier seating, interested parties must contact the CSC box office directly at (908) 979 - 0900. CSC is also offering a Blues Flex Pass at $65.00 for both nights ($32.50/each night)! Flex passes cannot be used for premier seating. As with all concerts, jazz and special programs ticket prices increase $5.00 day of performance

To purchase tickets or to get more information visit www.centenarystageco.org, call the box office at (908) 979 - 0900 or stop by the box office in the David and Carol Lackland Center 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ on the campus of Centenary College. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 - 5 pm and 2 hours prior to every performance.

Sponsors and supporters of Blue Bash 2015 are the Inn at Millrace Pond, Good Impressions Printing & Mailing, Karmabridge Acupuncture, Hackettstown Business Improvement District, Marley's Gotham Grill, PNC Bank, Cathy Miller Photography, HTV Media Productions, WNTI, and CHP Communications.

The 2014-15 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and CSC sponsors, including Premier Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Fulton Bank of New Jersey, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.

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