Thank You from the bottom of the Delta...

Friends of the Delta;

Thank You for all you did to support the “Blues for the Delta” concert event and benefit fundraiser at the Lafayette Tap Room on Sunday. All of your support, patronage, donations, volunteerism, and performances made the event a great success, and we are indebted to you for your efforts.

We will not have a final total, or be able to deliver the funds, until sometime early next week, but we raised quite a bit of money, and with a matching grant program that we can access through Verizon, we should reach a total of $5,000 that was raised for our two charities, the Salvation Army and the SPCA of Louisiana. It was great to hear Major Polarek of the SA talk about what they’ve been doing down south, and what your money and efforts will be going to support. Also, if you watched the news last night, you might have seen the story on some of the rescued animals from New Orleans that have been brought to this area by the SPCA.

We’re not sure what the situation will be like next year in Mississippi and Louisiana, but we’re sure that some well-deserving charity can always use some moral and financial support, so there is some talk of making this an annual event. We’ll keep you posted, and again, thank you for your generosity.

To all of the musicians and performers that dedicated your time and talents to the cause, Thank You. You did an extraordinary job, and we were blessed by your gifts and abilities, as well as your flexibility. Special mention goes out to Speedy Parker (aka Gary Sterlace), who not only played with his band, but filled-in on the fly for John Martz, who was unable to attend at the last minute.

I must take a moment to apologize to the artists who came out for the All-Star Jam set; the show was off-schedule and overtime for a variety of reasons which were out of our control, but I was personally responsible for scheduling, and I should have cut the Mighty-No-Stars’ set short, rather than have kept you waiting for us to finish up. My sincerest apologies, and please understand that this is the first show of this magnitude (as far as a multi-band event) that we have promoted—looking back on the punches we had to roll with over a 14-hour day, I thought things went pretty well, but I do apologize for the lateness of the start time for the final set. You should know that the Blues Society was not involved in the band scheduling process, so please don’t be upset with anybody from the society—the members are volunteers that work tirelessly to promote great music in WNY, and we appreciate them for it. Mea Culpa, we live and learn, and I hope you can forgive your humble stage-manager in-training.

Again, for all of our supporters, volunteers, and those that donated their time, product, or labor, thank you beyond our ability to express. In the words of musician and former radio-host John Werick, we are “eternally grateful.”

Gregg Juke
“Blues for the Delta”
Nocturnal Productions/Blue Buffalo Records
Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band