The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival announced its 2010 musical line up today.  Spokesperson Paul Orlando stated that the festival has signed Tel Arc recording artist Tab Benoit as the main, but not the only, headliner for this year’s show.  “Tab Benoit certainly deserves top billing at this year’s Bisbee Blues Festival”, said Orlando, “but we have another equally talented artist, Shemekia Copeland, who could headline the event on her own.”

Besides his three Grammy nominations, Benoit won Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year and the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the Blues Music Awards (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards) in 2007. The BMA award is one of the highest honors a blues musician can receive.

There have been many comparisons of Benoit to blues guitar heavyweights like Albert King, Albert Collins and even Jimi Hendrix. Despite the hype, Benoit has done his best over the years to maintain a commitment to his Cajun roots.

Benoit’s latest CD is Night Train To Nashville, recorded in Nashville in May 2007. This album captures the magic and intensity of Benoit in a live setting, joined by his faithful backup unit and New Orleans mainstay, Louisiana’s LeRoux, and a series of guests representing some of the most talented voices on the current blues, Cajun and country scenes.

An environmental activist as well as a stellar blues musician, Benoit has made the preservation of the endangered delta wetlands his personal crusade. He serves as president of Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental organization he co-founded in 2003, and he appeared prominently inHurricane on the Bayou, a 2006 documentary by filmmaker McGillivray Freeman that chronicles life in Louisiana after Katrina.

Shemekia Copeland, although young, is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues world. While still in her 20s, she opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.

In 2004, at the 25^th W.C. Handy Award Nominations, Copeland won the Blues Entertainer of the Year award and Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year.  In 2005 she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year once again.  In 2006 she repeated the feat again and added Contemporary Blues Album of the Year to the list.  Then, she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year again in 2007.

Copeland’s passion for singing, matched with her huge voice, gives her music a timeless power and a heart-pounding urgency. Her music comes from deep within her soul and from the streets where she grew up, surrounded by the everyday sounds of the city – street performers, gospel singers, blasting radios, bands in local parks and so much more.

“These two artists could stage a blues festival on their own, but we have more great talent coming to lend them a hand”, says Orlando.  “The 2010 Bisbee Blues Festival will also host Bob Corritore, Big Pete Pearson and the Rhythm Room All Stars, a Phoenix based blues band with its own great pedigree.  Train Wreck, a local favorite, and a well regarded Tucson band called The Hounds will round out the card.”

The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival is on Saturday, September 25^th, at the historic Warren Ballpark, in Bisbee.   Budweiser is the presenting sponsor, with additional support from Aegis, Freeport McMoRan and Superior Metal Buildings and Roofing.  The gates open at 10:00 am and the show will begin at 11:00am.

Tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the gate and are on sale now.  They are available on the internet at www.thebisbeebluesfestival.com; at the Bisbee Visitor’s Center ; at High Desert Market & Café, in Bisbee; Safeway, in Sierra Vista; and at Zia Record Exchange, in Tucson and Phoenix.

And finally a link to AOT’s travel identification information

http://www.arizonaguide.com/arizona-travel-info/identification-requirements

Here is a link to the governor’s Myths and Facts sheet

http://azgovernor.gov/documents/BorderSecurity/SB1070MythsandFacts.pdf
and more information from the governor’s website
http://azgovernor.gov/AZBorderSecurity.asp

Three opened Monday, two more expected to reopen in coming days

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation reopened three rest areas along state highways Monday, removing barricades that have been in place since last fall. Sacaton (I-10), southbound Canoa Ranch (I-19) and Ehrenberg (I-10) are now open for travelers.

The northbound side of Canoa Ranch will open later this week, in addition to Meteor Crater (I-40) and San Simon (I-10), as repairs and maintenance issues are finalized. By July 31, five previously closed rest areas will again be in operations.

Four more rest areas are expected to reopen this fall.

Rest areas were temporarily closed last October as a result of the state’s budget crisis, declines in transportation revenues and a need to focus on critical wintertime safety. Those rest areas are now reopening, due to a stabilizing financial situation and through careful planning and budgeting by ADOT.

Once all nine rest areas are reopened, the total number of operational rest areas around the state will be 14. Those rest areas are: Bouse Wash (I-10), Burnt Well (I-10), Canoa Ranch (I-19), Ehrenberg (I-10), Hassayampa (US 60), Haviland (I-40), McGuireville (I-17), Meteor Crater (I-40), Painted Cliffs (I-40), San Simon (I-10), Sacaton (I-10), Sentinel (I-8), Sunset Point (I-17) and Texas Canyon (I-10).

Four additional rest areas – Mazatzal (SR 87), Mohawk (I-8), Parks (I-40) and Salt River Canyon (US 60) – will remain closed due to serious repair issues.

Each year, Arizona spends about $320,000 per rest area for maintenance, electricity and water services. Funding for these facilities comes from the State Highway Fund, which is comprised of revenue from the state fuel tax and vehicle license tax.

Rest areas are required to be funded from the same ADOT budget source as critical public safety services, like snow removal, roadway maintenance and highway crash response. This budget—ADOT’s operating budget—is the same one that also funds MVD customer service and law enforcement support. It’s a budget that is often severely constrained by a requirement to balance critical needs across the state.

Arizona is pushing for reform at the federal level to change how rest areas are funded nationally. Long-term solutions still need to be considered to keep rest areas open and operational year after year.

ADOT Director John Halikowski says states with younger infrastructure, like Arizona, need changes at the federal level to allow for partnerships to operate rest areas, or privatization. Only states with rest areas in operation before passage of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act are eligible to privatize, outsource or engage in public-private partnerships for rest areas. Arizona has none of those options, and unlike East Coast states, has long stretches of open highway, some with few driver services.

Arizona continues to work toward a program to join forces with appropriate businesses adjoining highways to designate existing establishments as state-certified rest areas. Our state also continues to work with its Congressional delegation and other states to seek changes in federal law to allow for alternative funding strategies and the flexibility to use federal highway funds to support rest areas.