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BOOKING INFORMATION

The Uptown "Young Blood" Blues Band is available for private funtions, school events and other live performances. They are booked through the Uptown Music Collective. For more information call:  Willi Ort at (570)329-0888 ext 11 or email willi@uptownmusic.org

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HELP SEND THE YOUNGBLOOD'S TO MEMPHIS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE

MORE INFORMATON ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE

DONATE TO THE INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE PROJECT

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Description

This band is anything but an average group of kids getting together to play some music. A performing workshop from the PA nonprofit music school, the Uptown Music Collective, they are a time capsule, paying homage to the greats of the Blues genre from Robert Johnson to modern players like Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Passionate performances, led by bluesman Gabe Stillman, are delivered with a playful punch in the mouth and the band comes fully stocked with driving rhythms, melodious vocals, and screaming guitar solos. The respect that these kids show to this art form is a diamond in the rough, and they won’t let anyone leave a performance feeling anything but gritty satisfaction.

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Band Bios

GABE STILLMAN

SHANNON CANTOR

MAVERICK VICARS

CARLY GARDNER

GARRETT GAETANO

AJ ROBBINS

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GABE STILLMAN

AGE - 16

HOMETOWN - WILLIAMSPORT PA

INSTRUMENT - GUITAR/VOCALS

 

I've been at The Collective since 2006, and I joined the beginner blues workshop later that year as a guitarist and vocalist. At that moment I began to love and understand Blues music. To me, there is no other genre of music where the artist's passion and emotion are so apparent in their performance. I definitely will continue to play blues for as long as I live. I want to evolve as a musician, but I will never forget the music that I fell in love with at first listen. 

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 SHANNON CANTOR

AGE - 17

HOMETOWN - LOYALSOCK PA

INSTRUMENT - VOCALS

I am a 17 year-old senior in high school. I started at the Collective in the middle of my eighth grade year, but before that, never sang outside of chorus in school. However, since my involvement in the collective, I have come to know and appreciate many different styles of music. I was first exposed to singing blues when the Collective had the amazing opportunity to close the Billtown Blues Fest, in 2009. I sang a Susan Tedeschi song, and was immediately hooked. There is nothing like singing a song that is driven with emotion. I have learned that technical perfection doesn’t make music memorable, but it is the expression placed into it. For this reason, blues has become one of my favorite styles to perform. It is impossible not to place every bit of your emotion into a blues song, and I can’t wait to have the honor to do this in Memphis this February.   

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 MAVERICK VICARS

AGE - 16

HOMETOWN - WILLIAMSPORT PA

INSTRUMENT - GUITAR

 

My name is Maverick Vicars and I'm 16. I've been playing blues since I've been playing guitar. Blues is the only genre that I feel completely in my element in. Derek Trucks and John Scofield have most influenced the way i perceive music.

 

 

 

 

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CARLY GARDNER

AGE - 18

HOMETOWN - MUNCY PA

INSTRUMENT - KEYBOARD

My name is Carly Gardner. I'm 18 years old, a senior at Muncy High School. I have been playing piano and singing since I was 8 years old. Since then, music has been a major part of my life. This past summer, I attended Grammy Camp in Los Angeles: a exclusive music camp run by the Grammy Award Foundation. I am extremely excited to be able to perform at such a prestigious blues event and grow more as a musician. 

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GARRETT GAETANO

AGE - 18

HOMETOWN - LOYALSOCK PA

INSTRUMENT - BASS GUITAR

 

 

I started playing guitar four years ago. About two years ago, I discovered the blues workshop and they needed a bassist. Since then my love of blues has taken over many aspects of my life

 

 

 

 

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AJ ROBBINS

AGE - 13

HOMETOWN - LOYALSOCK PA

INSTRUMENT - DRUMS

 Ever since I can remember Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll have always been in my life. When I was a little kid I remember keeping a beat to all kinds of bands on a little toy drum kit, and pots and pans. Today I am 13 and I’ve played at so many places, with so many different people, and done things most kids my age couldn’t say they have done.