Ramblings – January 2022

By Anni Piper

As a nod to Greg Johnson, the president’s column will continue to be called “Ramblings” – although the Cascade Blues Association may be wandering in a different direction. The new president of the CBA is an individual whose life experience includes being a female immigrant living below the poverty line in the United States. As someone who has suffered the impact of a system that is stacked against people like me, I will go out of my way to ensure diversity in representation from the CBA. Equity is different from equality. It includes fair access to all the opportunities offered by the CBA, whether they be performance-based or educational. Whilst it is critical in these pandemic times for us to support our local venues and festivals, it is just as important to call out those who do not take diversity into consideration.

A special thanks must go to our former board members, Shelley Garrett, Ron Johnson and Jeanette Agilpay. They all made major contributions to the organization, along with volunteer coordinator Richard LaChapelle, who is also leaving this role. I hope to see them having fun at future CBA events, instead of spending the whole evening working hard so everyone else has a good time. Special mention to Shelley, who has taken on so much extra work for the CBA through 2021 and deserves a break from it all.

This year we will host events as usual — monthly membership meetings currently at Spare Room, merchandising booths at summertime festivals (if COVID doesn’t interfere), Journey to Memphis competition, Muddy Awards and the Holiday Party. Stay tuned for the relaunch of a Blues Notes paper edition and Blues in the Schools. More than ever, the board needs volunteers, and the CBA needs new members. Please reach out to find out how just a few hours of your time can make a big difference.  Help me help our blues community in 2022.