The mission of the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association (KVBA) is to promote, educate, and preserve the rich history of blues music as it concerns Kalamazoo and its impact on American culture and commerce in musical arts and industry.
Introduction
As a not for profit organization the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association (KVBA) is staffed and run entirely by unpaid volunteers. The board of directors maintains a monthly meeting schedule and these meetings are open to the membership and interested parties.
About the KVBA
We're best known as the producers of the very popular Kalamazoo Blues Festival which is held annually in July. We also:
- co-produce and underwrite blues performances in local area nightclubs and other venues
- award an annual musical scholarship
- send area musicians to local schools and libraries for workshops and presentations
- send the winner of our Annual Blues Talent Competition to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Talent Competition
Originally formed for the sole purpose of putting on the first Kalamazoo Blues Festival in 1994, the resulting success of our first festival gave birth to the notion that the KVBA can do much more in our community. Our membership comes from southwest Michigan, but we have many members from Indiana, Ohio, and other parts of the country. The association is pretty much made up of people like you. We are teachers, janitors, construction workers, lawyers, students, politicians, appliance repair technicians, business owners, families, and more. What holds us all together is our love of the blues.
the kalamazoo blues news
One benefit that derives from being a member of the KVBA is the automatic subscription to our bi-monthly newsletter. If you have something to be published in our newsletter, would like to advertise, or have comments about something you have seen in the newsletter, please use this newsletter email address: .