Blues at the Bohm

Usually the second Monday of each month.  Cliff Harris initially organized blues at the Bohm in the spring of 2015.  The first night brought a lively amount of traffic to downtown Albion as shown below.

Blues at the Bohm night when Albion is hoppin

Blues at the Bohm: 1st Monday every month. Great bands and jammers welcome.

Excerpt from LOOKING OUT, FEBRUARY 16, 2016 BY JIM WHITEHOUSE

“A tall man playing bass guitar turns his back to the audience to face the young drummer and correct the patter of the sticks on the drumheads, the cymbals, the rims-for a song he’s never heard before. The guy at the microphone is singing the blues while he plays a strong riff on his guitar, and nods at a trumpet player to take a solo—in a song he’s never heard before.

My dad was a jazz musician-he sat or stood at his piano a dozen times a day throughout his life to crank out a few chords or several songs, often singing all the verses. I grew up with that old music, and enjoyed countless hours listening and watching the little combos dad would play with-a few horns, a drummer, the piano, a singer, a banjo-whatever. I was fascinated by the combination of skill and the mysterious communication that flowed through the group.

Watching it now on a bigger stage with such a wide range of skills, and the teaching and coaching going on between the experienced and less experienced is an outright joy. One college kid gets the nod to take a solo with her horn. Her eyes widen in fear. She has no written music before her– and has never heard the song before. A gray haired harmonica player pushes her forward, whispers a couple of tips and tells her she can do it-and, she does it, improvising with the best of them. When the solo ends, the lead  guitarist applauds her effort, clearly impressed.

After the concert, I speak with my friend Cliff, a chemistry professor at Albion College who is part of the organization for Blues at the Bohm. He is himself a musician. As he announced each changeup on the stage during the evening, he kept saying how excited he was, at one point saying, ‘If my head explodes, someone else is going to have to finish for me.'”

Source: https://bohmtheatre.org/blues-at-the-bohm/


Facebook page about Music at the Bohm, including Blues at the Bohm

facebook.com/musicatthebohm

Official website for Blues at the Bohm – as mentioned on their Facebook page

http://bohmtheatre.org/blues-at-the-bohm/

 


The graphics below exemplify the music lineups for 2023 and 2022. For 2024, follow the official links above to see the upcoming music.