Special music program planned for next week

When South Skunk Blues Society President Craig Peterson assumed his current role with the group, he talked about his desire to educate community members — particularly children — about blues music.

Next week, Peterson’s goal comes to fruition when Iowa bluesman Kevin “BF” Burt will spend a week in Newton performing and promoting blues music throughout the community.

Burt will perform at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Newton Public Library as part of the Blues under the Blue Roof series, but he also will be traveling to local elementary schools for a series of events. On Tuesday, Burt will be in Baxter and move to Newton elementary schools from Wednesday through Friday. Among his events, he’ll play for students of all grade levels, reaching as many as 1,500 students throughout the area with a fun blues program.

“He does a ‘Blues of ABCs’ and ‘Old MacDonald Blues’ and stuff like that,” Peterson said. “It should be fun. And then he’s going to teach harmonica. He’s written a book about harmonica so he’s going to teach these kids about harmonica.”

A blues musician for nearly 20 years, Burt is self-taught on vocals, harmonica and guitar. He uses a mixture of serious music and infectious humor to keep audiences of all ages engaged. He plays between 325 and 400 shows a year, and his awards include Best Entertainer in Iowa City 2008, Best Band in Iowa City (three times) and Iowa Blues Challenge Champions, as well as being named as one of the top 25 unsigned blues bands in the world by the International Blues Challenge Competition.

In addition to the Blues in the Schools program, Burt also will perform an evening concert during a “BBQ and Blues” dinner at the August Bergman Inn. Call 792-6833 for reservations.

Peterson said he’s excited to have the week-long series in Jasper County and noted that blues music is an important part of American history that should be celebrated, especially during February, Black History Month.

Burt’s appearances are sponsored by South Skunk Blues Society, The Arts Connection, August Bergman Inn and school PTAs.

“The support we’ve got from the entire community for this is astounding,” Peterson said.