Honoring KoKo Taylor while Benefiting National Women in Blues Founder Michele Seidman

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By TERESA BREWER

According to Don Hearon, CEO of Hearon Media, from Las Vegas NV, artists from all over the country are expected to attend and perform the first annual Red, White and Blues Festival June 20th in Lebanon TN, in order to support the national effort to help Michele Seidman, founder of National Women in Blues Festival in Willmington North Carolina, which has been put on hold this year due to Michele's devastating illness and lack of funding or sponsorship for this event, which levels the playing field for women in the blues market.

Earlier this month, Alligator Records, blues artists, radio D.J.'s, family, friends and fans were all very sad to learn that KoKo Taylor died.

As artists, we feel that we can best honor her by remembering her major contribution to the music scene and dedicating this years performance to KoKo Taylor, who's original band is expected to be in attendence and also performing in the All Star Jam! It's gonna be a heck of a show and not to be missed!

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the gate of the James E. Ward Agricultural Center or bring your dad for an early father's day celebration and get in for only $20.

Performaning will be: BB Queen, Taylor P. Collins, Debra Ritter, Bobby Warren and many more blues artists will perform during the All Star Jam including Teressa "BluesBabe" Brewer.

QUEEN KoKo: Chicago Blues Icon KOKO TAYLOR DIES at 80

QUEEN OF THE BLUES; Chicago Icon KOKO TAYLOR DIES at 80

By TERESSA "BLUESBABE" BREWER

The world of blues/roots music will never be quite the same without it's Queen, KoKo Taylor, who passed away Wednesday June 3rd at the age of 80, from complications from surgery.

She opened the doors for the rest of us Women in Blues, to say the very least.

When I first met KoKo backstage at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in the early 90's, I was in awe and wanted to be just like her. I knew I had to develop that growl in my voice if I was ever to be taken seriously as a blues artist who is not African American. But, I've been careful and deliberate not to use her signature sound too much in order to develop my own style.

KoKo was an inspiration to me and the many other Women in Blues, who have been inspired by her and followed in her foot steps since she began recording on the Chess label in the 1970's. When Chess folded, she became Alligator Record's first female recording artist, who's first hit was Wang Dang Doodle by Willie Dixon.

The energy she put out during her performances exhausted her and her entire body was glowing wet with sweat. She dabbed her face and eyes and when I asked her if she was alright, she hugged me and thanked me for my concern but needed her space. She sat down to catch her breath. She was a violent vocalist who sang with her entire body! Her songs told about life as it is for women, the truth and honesty in her songs was burnt into your soul from the first few notes she belted. She paved the way for the female blues artists, such as myself, which have come after her. She was professional, meticulous about her performances, recordings and the leader of the band, in the days when women were usually given the ultimatum of that old casting couch crap we all hated and I refused to play. One look and the stamp of her feet to the tempo she wanted, if the band didn't get it right, had the power to send a musician reeling. When the audience banged and cheered for an encore, the lights went up and she stepped back onto the stage with the command and presence of a woman to be reckoned with. She was in total control of her voice, her band and her audience. KoKo was a woman who drew blues fans from all corners of the world! The house was packed and the audience loved her.

She told it like it is! A straight shooter, no b.s. and all business. While she has had many hits in the blues world, my favorite was the song "Thanks, But No Thanks." I'll be hearing her voice and those words.."When ever I go out, I bring my money to spend, So I don't need no favors from no fast slick talkin men...," all day long. Today I will play every KoKo Taylor album I own in memory and tribute to her life from the cotton fields to Queen of the Blues!

It warms my heart to know that her manager, friend and producer Bruce Iglauer, owner of Alligator Records, along with her family members were with her when she passed.

Yo KoKo! Give "Doc" and all the other great blues legends a hug for me as you jam with them all in the heavens! Wish I could hear the sound of your voice with the Angels as your back up vocalists now. I'll be performing a tribute to you as long as I can! Thank you, for opening those doors that were shut to us for soooo long, for all your inspiration to us Women in Blues and all you gave to the world. I for one will miss you deeply. I believe I can safely speak for the rest of us Women in Blues and say that WE WILL ALL MISS YOU DEEPLY!

My deepest condolences to her family, Bruce Iglauer, Lonnie Brooks and the rest of her band and all her friends and fans who loved her and worked with her, for so long. I know that all of us with National Women in Blues are grieving the loss of her deeply today, which will continue for some time. She will always be remembered as a stong woman who was one of a kind, lovingly, and with gratitude by those of us she paved the way for, such as myself.

There will never be another KoKo Taylor! Rest in peace my blues sister!