courtesy photo from BluesEd’s Facebook page

Take a look at the experience on Heather Newman’s musical resume, and at the top, you’d expect to see the name of a well-traveled, nationally renowned performer: not a 19-year-old musician from Omaha.

She remembers back in 2007, then only 12 years old, when she was invited to play at Omaha’s Holland Center with legendary blues composer and pianist Corky Siegel and former B.B. King drummer Sam Lay.

“They invited me to sing the last song of the night and then asked me to sign CDs with them afterwards,” she says.

Again — she was only 12.

She also reminisces about the time in 2009 on her 14th birthday when Siegel came back to Holland Center with his Chamber Blues band and she played with him again. This time, the band came bearing gifts.

“The performance happened to be on my birthday and Corky and the group had a cake made for me backstage,” she explains excitedly.

The only reason any of those opportunities presented themselves to her, she says, is because of the Omaha Blues Society’s BluesEd program.

Started in 2002, BluesEd’s mission is to keep the blues alive by giving middle school and high school students the opportunity to learn about blues and play in a band.

Director Barb Fisher, who co-directs the program with her husband, Bill, and has two children of her own in the program, says it gives young musicians opportunities they might never have without BluesEd.

“It is amazing to watch kids who come in at age 12 and you can just see them blossom as part of this program,” she says. “They learn so much and change so much. They have amazing opportunities. We just do it for the kids.”

Each January, the program holds auditions for anyone between the ages of 12 and 18 who is interested in becoming part of BluesEd. The program’s clinicians serve as judges and prospective students are judged on their skills such as knowledge of basic chords, soloing and improvising.

Once accepted, the students are placed into a band. That band serves as the students’ family throughout their whole time with BluesEd. They go to workshops together, they play and practice together, and inevitably, they become friends. As some bands routinely lose members because of students aging out of the program, BluesEd will accept only as many students yearly as they have room for in bands.

“You are with the same group of kids throughout BluesEd as you are when you audition,” Fisher says. “As people age out, some of the bands lose members. Then we will either replace them with new students or leave the band how it is. They learn songs together as a group, and we have local musicians who work with kids during workshops.”

One of the main aspects of the student experience in BluesEd is the workshops and recitals. Fisher says student bands attend workshops every two weeks. At those workshops, students are taught by local musicians serving as the clinicians and are assigned as a band to learn songs to play at recitals. Workshops are held at various places such as 21st Saloon and P.S. Collective. The bands also participate in three to four showcases and several other throughout the year.

After the auditions last January, BluesEd accepted 12 new students to bring the membership total to 39 this year. The program added a new band and now boasts six student blues bands: Dilemma, Far & Wide, Mojo Bag, Us & Them, Voodoo Vinyl and Set in Stone.

Fisher says the program provides outstanding opportunities for young blues musicians to feel like blues superstars. Some of the highlights of being a musician in BluesEd include playing shows at Lincoln’s legendary Zoo Bar, playing with national touring blues bands and getting to work with and learn from the best blues musicians Omaha has to offer.

Newman, who left the program five years ago, says her experience with BluesEd is one she will remember for the rest of her life. She is now a solo musician and says the program benefitted her tremendously and has helped her get to where she is now.

“I’ve made lifelong friends in the music industry which helps me with booking shows or travelling and so much more,” she says. “The program gave me the foundations of my music career and not to mention an awesome resume. Thanks to the program, I am good friends with many great national blues musicians, and I was able to meet and play with even more.”

To anyone on the fence about joining the program, Newman says stop thinking and start doing. It is an experience that will help students develop into talented blues players and seasoned music veterans.

“Being in the program is fun and rewarding, plus it gets you great exposure,” she says.  “You learn a lot of valuable lessons and if they are thinking about continuing with music as a career, it will help them develop their preferences with their band and styles.”

Sean Holohan is Hear Nebraska’s editorial intern. Learning the harmonica is on his list of goals. Reach him at seanh@hearnebraska.org.