We are a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization of blues music supporters celebrating 30 years in Boise, Idaho. (1992-2022)

We have a strong commitment to using the power of music to inspire and educate local youth. We bring musicians into schools to introduce blues music and engage students in making music. Our Blues in the Schools (BITS) program began in 2006 and is free to schools.

Boise Blues Society ensures an active social calendar for local blues fans, organizing or co-sponsoring dozens of blues-focused events every year. We showcase local acts and bring in out-of-town musicians for performances and workshops.

Have a question? Contact us. Want to get involved? Join us as a member, help us expand our reach with a tax-deductible contribution, sign up on our mailing list, or lend your skills and energy as a volunteer.

“The Boise Blues society is a class act. Wonderful people to work with and they have an outstanding room to perform in. They truly love the music and it shows in how they treat the musicians.”


– Terry Robb Fingerstyle Guitarist, Singer, Composer, Producer

“It really was a pleasure to work with the Boise Blues Society for our show in August. What a wonderful way to re-start live performances — working with a group of true Professionals in an Artist-Friendly environment.”

 

– Janiva Magness Grammy nominee, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Contemporary Female Artist of the Year and 7x Blues Music Award winner

Boise Blues Society Board of Directors:

David Light | President/Treasurer

E: [email protected]

Although Dave Light started playing harmonica at the age of four, it wasn’t until living in Louisiana that he became immersed in the blues. Dave spent his spare time in the French Quarter of New Orleans listening to street bands play the highly emotional sound of the music called “blues.” Hooked on the blues, Dave went back to California where he befriended David Barrett of the School of Blues. Barrett is a great harp teacher and player as well as the most prolific writer of harmonica teaching books in the world today. It was then Dave started learning how to play blues on the harp. In 1991 Dave and fellow musicians formed the blues band Trials and Tribulations. They played most of the major blues venues in the bay area for more than five years. In 1994 David Barrett started the Harmonica Masterclass and Dave Light helped teach enthusiastic harmonica players all over the US including New York, Austin, Chicago, Long Beach and San Jose. “I believe over the five year span we must have taught over 1500 professional, intermediate and beginning harp players.” Dave was raised in Idaho and after being gone for 25 years is living back in Boise helping promote the appreciation of the “Blues.”

Ken Harris | Vice President Blues in the Schools (BITS)

(208) 440-4590
E: [email protected]
Ken has been a professional musician for 53 years and got his start playing in high school rock ‘n roll bands in Boise in the mid-60’s. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Elementary in 1963 and Boise High in 1967.  After college at the University of Colorado and Portland State, he moved to Boston for 22 years where he led his own bands and also played with such artists as Junior Walker and The All Stars, Chuck Berry, Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson, Johnny Adams, James Montgomery and Michelle Willson.  In 1993 Ken returned to Boise to help start the Blues Bouquet, Idaho’s first Blues nightclub. He is the keyboardist with The Hoochie Coochie Men, and that band was the house band of the Blues Bouquet and backed such artists as Pinetop Perkins, Carey Bell, Coco Montoya, AC Reed, and Billy Boy Arnold. Ken also plays with The Blues Directors and Carmel and The Closers and plays music gigs several times a week in a variety of formats.  During the day he is a part-time wheelchair van driver for a local elder care facility.

Bill Arnold | Executive Vice President/Events

Two of Bill’s life passions have been his profession and his music.  His interest in music fully erupted when the Beatles began their tour on the Ed Sullivan Show in the early 1960’s.  He mowed lawns to earn enough money to purchase a Gibson SG, and has been in love with guitars ever since.  He played in an ill-fated garage band in high school that went nowhere…but it was fun, and then devoted his time to earning a PhD, becoming a board certified licensed psychologist, tenured full professor of psychology with the University of Texas System, and running a successful private practice for 40 years–most recently in criminal forensic psychology in the Boise area where he retired.  His career included an appointment by the governor and 8 years of service on the Idaho Board of Psychologist Examiners and has been President of the Idaho Psychological Association.  In the area of music, in 1978, he met his musical soulmate, and played a number of clubs over the next 12 years, ending with two bands in South Texas on the US-Mexico Border, with the most successful being “Los Blues Guys.”  Over the past 10 years he has played guitar on 3 church worship teams in the Boise area.  Most recently, he has served on the City of Eagle’s Arts Commission. He established his local band in 2016, the Billy Blues Band featuring Michele Eastland and Becky Blake.  His band has been successfully playing various venues in the Treasure Valley and McCall focusing on upscale clubs, festivals, private parties and weddings.

Jay Longwell | Marketing/Promotion

Jay’s had two passions in his professional life: music and technology marketing. At 14, Jay bought a guitar and joined a band — then learned how to play the instrument. After playing semi-pro through his teens, he dropped out of college and went on the road with the band Snowblind for 4 years. After the band’s breakup (and realization he wasn’t going to be the next Eddie Van Halen) Jay went back to school and embarked on an over 30 year career in marketing. As the CEO of Creative Source International, he led the company to national and international acclaim, eventually earning America’s #1 Technology Agency in Promo Magazine’s Top 100 list. Today, as the Managing Partner at Stratus Global Partners, he creates marketing and advertising programs for companies worldwide. Jay is also a former Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Boise State University where he established the Longwell Endowment for Advertising, a key funding channel for BSU’s National Student Advertising Competition team. In 2017, Jay re-connected with his musical roots and, after over 30 years, started playing guitar again. Now he plays guitar almost every weekend the RJ McGinnis Band and is a fixture at the weekly Jam Sessions around Boise. Amazing how life comes full circle.

Paula Harris | Board Member

Joe Ryan | Board Member

Sarah Crowell | Board Member

Ed Coughenour | Board Member