WHEN: Aug. 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville Street
HOW: Registration fee is $25. Register online at www.hayti.org/auditions. E-mail completed registration form to jsellars@hayti.org. For information, call 683-1709, ext. 28.
By Cliff Bellamy
cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744
DURHAM -- Do you sometimes fancy yourself to be the next Little Walter or Stevie Wonder on harmonica? Or the next B.B. King, Johnny Winter or John Dee Holeman on guitar?
If you answered yes, Hayti Heritage Center is offering you the chance to share the stage with Buddy Guy, Bettye Lavette and other artists scheduled to perform at the 23rd annual Bull Durham Blues Festival. You won't get to play with them, but you can audition for a chance to play on stage at the Durham Performing Arts Center in between sets by the guest artists.
The auditions were originally scheduled for this coming Saturday, but this week Hayti Heritage Center rescheduled them for Aug. 28 to allow for better promotion of the auditions, said Janella Sellars, development director for Hayti Heritage Center.
The open auditions, a first for the festival, offer a way to promote the festival and give exposure to local musicians. "We're trying out a lot of new things this year," Sellars said. "There are a lot of talented people out there who [play music] at home for their own pleasure," she said. The auditions and performances will "give them an opportunity to showcase" their abilities.
The auditions are open to individual musicians, singers and bands in the blues and rhythm & blues traditions. The festival also is accepting applications from poets and comedians. The first application came from a poet, Sellars said.
Members of the festival's board will judge the auditions. The final number of guest artists for the festival has not been determined, so the number of local musicians who get to perform will depend on how many guest artists perform, Sellars said. Performers who audition should learn within a week if they get picked, she said.
This year's festival is a two-night event. Ruthie Foster, Mel Melton & The Wicked Mojos and other artists will perform Sept. 10 at Hayti Heritage Center. Then on Sept. 11, Buddy Guy, Bettye Lavette and other artists will perform at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
The auditions apply only to the Sept. 11 concert.
In May, St. Joseph's Historic Foundation, which presents the annual festival, announced it would move from Durham Athletic Park to the DPAC. The festival cited constraints with using the DAP facility and the potential for greater exposure for moving the event to DPAC.
For tickets and updates, visit www.bulldurhamblues.org.
