Singer/harmonica player Champion to return to Bethany Blues Feb. 11

Grady Champion, a vibrant and enthusiastic blues singer and harmonica player from Canton, Miss., will return for an evening performance at 8:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 11, at Bethany Blues in Lewes as part of the Sydney’s Music Revival series after conducting two school performances at Lake Forest High School in Felton and H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton.

Champion and his band, sponsored by the Mississippi Delta Blues Society, outplayed more than 150 blues bands from all around the world in last year’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn., hosted by The Blues Foundation. The challenge has evolved into the nation’s biggest and most respected showcase for blues musicians ready to take their act to the national stage.

Serving as host of the evening will be the king of The Queen, Bill Taylor. The Queen is a 700-seat music venue and educational outreach center in Wilmington. As part of an effort to support people and projects in Delaware and create a larger sense of community, Kevin Roberts, general manager at Bethany Blues, has invited Wilmington native Taylor to share his latest project with folks in Sussex County.

Taylor serves as executive director of the Light Up The Queen Foundation. He is responsible for raising the $24 million needed to renovate the theater as well as creating a wide range of programming that will benefit the community. For the past seven years, Taylor served as the executive director of the Tipitina’s Foundation in New Orleans, which runs innovative programs that empower and perpetuate the music culture and heritage of New Orleans. The Queen Theater is expected to open in early April.

The profits made from this event at Bethany Blues will be used to present professional musicians in a concert or clinic setting in schools throughout Delaware. These performances take place through the auspices of Delaware Charitable Music Inc., a nonprofit 501c3 corporation with a mission to produce year-round activities in the areas of education and cultural programming. In this school year, appearances by Kim Waters and Shirley King, B.B. King’s daughter, have already occurred.

For more information or to purchase tickets by phone, call Bethany Blues at 302-644-2500.

Delaware Charitable Music: demusic.org

Bethany Blues: bethanyblues.com