O’Hanlon Center Celebrates Female Blues Artists with ‘The Blues Is a Woman’ – August 12

“The Blues is a Woman” is a live concert and theater piece, celebrating women blues artists from Ma Rainey to Bonnie Raitt. It’s set to debut in early 2017, but the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts has grabbed itself a ‘sneak peek’ at this work in development.

Vocalist and songwriter Pamela Rose assembled an all-gal, all-star cast of musicians to recall the powerful contribution women gave to our most enduring American art form – the blues.

With storytelling, projected imagery and a thrilling live concert, Rose hopes to transport the audience back to the make shift tents and stages from which the Blues arose, and follow the evolution all the way to the present day. The show features the music of artists such as Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Etta James and Aretha Franklin.  Pamela Rose is developing this new work in collaboration with Creative Director Jayne Wenger. Both concerts feature Tammy Hall (piano), Ruth Davies (bass), Kristen Strom (saxophone), Daria Johnson (drums) and Pat Wilder (guitar) along with Rose.  A short Q&A follows each concert. MORE INFO.