Blankfest Calgary III Raises Over $1500 And 100 Plus In Winter Clothing For City’s Homeless |

Blankfest Calgary III Raises Over $1500 And 100 Plus In Winter Clothing For City’s Homeless

‘It’s About The Homeless, Nothing More, Nothing Less’

This year’s third annual Blankfest Calgary that was held on Saturday, Nov 16 at The Blind Beggar Pub (5211 Macleod Trail) and supported by bands Same Monkey, Wellington Folk, Mike Ferraro, King Dylan, Abbie Thurgood & The Hired Guns, Atacama Republic, Matt Blais, Leave The Living raised over $1500 in proceeds along with collecting 100 plus winter clothing items bringing their overall total during the last three years to over $3,000 and over 500 winter clothing items for the city’s shelter The Mustard Seed.

Leanne Harrison, event organizer and founder of artist management and booking SIN Agency comments:

“We are so proud of the city of Calgary, its bands and its fans for coming out on a blustery snowy night when it would have been so easy to stay home. We appreciate all the support for this year’s Blank-Fest Calgary III, the venue was full from start to finish and the overall feeling was wonderful! The bands kept it rocking all night long, and our supporters are amazing. We’d like to thank the bands and sponsors who gave so generously this year. Without them, we are nothing.”

The final counts for donations were as follows.

Blankets – 21

Winter coats – 19

Misc Clothing – approx. 63 items

Misc Winter items – 15

Cash donations at the door – $731.15

Silent auction for the Dallas Green signed guitar – $780.00

(Cash total raised $1511.15)

Axe Music Partner, Director of Operations Brian M. Cymbaluk also comments on behalf of their silent auction donation of a signed Dallas Green (City & Colour, Alexisonfire) guitar.

“AXE MUSIC and myself are proud to have been given the opportunity to partner in Blankfest CalgaryIII this year. This is such a great initiative and with the tremendous partners we are keeping company with on this event, we just knew it would be a major success!!! I just wish we could do more, and more, and more, and more!!! Next year… I want AXE to be the official drop off for WINTER CLOTHING ITEMS… for the months of OCTOBER, NOVEMBER and DECEMBER, so that we can really kick this wonderful program into high gear!!!”

AXE MUSIC is proud to be a driving force in the MUSIC CALGARY MAKES!

AXE MUSIC is proud to be a driving force in the CITY of CALGARY!!

AXE MUSIC is proud to have been a contributor to BLANKFEST III!!!

Merry AXEmas everyone!!!”

Blankfest Calgary is just one of many events across North America inspired by founder Kenn Rowell, who has been organizing Blankfest in New York City since 1997 and has encouraged others to hold Blankfests in various parts of the USA, Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver) and Europe to help the homeless with the support from their music communities. (full Blankfest background info below.)

Bands:

For more info, please visit the following link:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlankFest.Calgary

About Blankfest:

BlankFest Documentary I – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_nZr7wZhjc

Blankfest Documentary II – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtUy2Oms2Cw

BlankFest Documentary III – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QNKJIPP21Y

Blank-Fest is an annual benefit concert, usually held one-to-two weeks before Christmas, which raises blankets for the homeless. It was founded in 1997 in Nyack, NY (a suburb approximately 20 miles outside of New York City) by Kenn Rowell who is the frontman for the NYC-based band, The Baghdaddios.

Rowell, in previous interviews detailed how he had always wanted to do “something charitable” on Christmas Eve. Among the many things he considered were keeping the disabled father of an old neighborhood friend company, singing in the children’s ward of a hospital and collecting blankets from friends to dispense amongst New York City’s homeless on Christmas Eve. Doing just that, for the first time in 1996, he enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to do the same thing again, next year. It was at that time that his friends told him that they had no more blankets to donate saying that Rowell had “cleaned them out” from the previous year.

Since inception, over 15 years ago, Rowell estimates that Blank-Fest has collected over 10,000 total donations for the homeless. For the original flagship show out of Nyack, with the exception of one year (2001) donations in every year has increased. Much of this growth can be attributed to increased exposure through local radio, the internet and the press, including featured articles in the New York Daily Newsand mentions in the New York Post.^[1] In addition there have been satellite shows that have been formed in other states, cities and countries. So numerous have donations been in recent years that volunteers have had to split the distribution/delivery of blankets to the less fortunate on multiple nights, starting on Christmas Eve. Often excess donations are distributed to homeless shelters as well.

MCed by Rowell’s long-time band, The Baghdaddios, the first Blank-Fest only featured a handful of local, Hudson Valley area-based groups including international touring act Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan, The Wheel and future Bruxelles part-owner Debruyn who performed as a solo artist. While always priding itself on featuring local independent, or “homegrown” music acts, in addition the benefit has attracted likewise talented songwiters and bands which boast an impressive list of major recording label ties and a solid reputation for touring and recording including EMI artist Patti Rothberg, pedal steel guitar greatBuddy Cage, former Misfits guitarist and founder of The Undead, Bobby Steele, Soulfly lead guitarist Marc Rizzo, Sirius Radio personality Meg Griffin, international jazz oomposer Mike McGinnis and the founder of the Anti-folk school of music, Lach.

Efforts to duplicate the successes of the early Nyack shows proved elusive at best until New Jersey-based independent artist activist, Richard Kubicz read about Blank-Fest’s efforts in the Daily News and proposed a “sister show” at a local club in Garwood, NJ. The first Blank-Fest-NJ, promoted extensively through Kubicz’s D.I.Y. music website Let’s Rock America [1] was a resounding success, netting 200 blankets which were donated directly to a neighboring homeless shelter in Cranford and garnered notice in the Bergen County press in 2006. Last year’s second annual Jersey show produced similar results. Similarly, Blank-Fest UK [2] was founded in Nottingham, England after a local recording studio owner heard an interview with The Baghdaddios on the British Armed Forces Radio Network, BFBS Radio One during the group’s Summer 2007 tour of England. Upon hearing about both the American and UK efforts Ontario-based photographer Gaynor Fletcher approached Rowell regarding the formation of a Blank-Fest Canada show. Also, debuting in 2007, in Guelph, ON, the inaugural Canadian event featured popular Canadian folk artist James Gordon and was covered extensively by the Canadian media,^[2] raising well over 100 blankets.

In addition to these shows former Baghdaddios bassist, John Sidoti joined forces with local internet radio personality Ron Purtee to develop the first-ever Blank-Fest Wisconsin,^[3] also in 2007, in theMilwaukee-area suburb of Racine.

Currently, there are 8 Blank-Fest shows serving 7 major metropolitan areas in three countries. In addition to those mentioned previously, 2008 has seen the addition of three additional shows: Blank-Fest Florida, which is hosted in Northern Florida (Lake City, near Gainesville, FL) and Blank-Fest VA, which is hosted in Richmond, VA (see links below).

In addition, promoters in Bridgeport, CT as well as Calgary and Ottawa, Canada have begun work for premiere Blank-Fest shows in December 2009. The first Blank-Fest Quebec (which was also the first “post-Holiday Season” Blank-Fest show) which took place on Saturday evening, February 21, 2009, garnered approximately 503 total donations.^[4]

Currently plans are in development to expand Blank-Fest even further. There has been talk of shows in Texas, Northeast Pennsylvania, Ohio and Atlanta, GA. Several additional popular artists have been approached regarding future such shows. Quoted in a newspaper interview in 2000, Rowell maintained that “as long as there is the issue of homelessness we will continue to have a Blank-Fest”, further adding that he wishes “we didn’t have to hold these shows” but that, until the situation dramatically improves, everyone involved understands that they really have no other choice.

Blankfest Calgary III Raises Over $1500 And 100 Plus In Winter Clothing For City’s Homeless

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