Blues Master Eddie Shaw Plays LTHS Corral [VIDEO]

Corral played host Saturday to both a Chicago blues legend and a number of young aspirants as they performed for a Blues Kids Foundation fundraiser aimed at keeping the genre—which has a rich Chicago history—alive.

“Blues is getting to be far and wide,” said Eddie Shaw, the aforementioned legend, who has played tenor sax with the genre’s legends like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. “But I think with a new crop of kids, it’s going to survive.

“I’m trying to enhance the kids, make sure they know what the blues is all about and keep that going… It’s here to stay. It ain’t going away.”

The event was a fundraiser for the Blues Kids Foundation, a nonprofit that works to keep the blues alive by teaching music to kids. Run by Fernando Jones, a teacher and blues musician who lives in Chicago, the Blues Kids Foundation provides scholarships for about 120 kids ages 12-18 to attend Blues Camp at Columbia College in Chicago free of charge.

Several local kids from the Foundation performed short one- or two-song sets to open for Shaw, who performed along with his band, the Wolf Gang.

In addition, a significant number of items were raffled and/or auctioned off to raise money for the foundation, including include a drumhead signed by the members of Aerosmith, a Fender guitar, a private diner at home from , eight passes to the Les Paul exhibit at the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee and a guitar autographed by local rock musician Jim Peterik.

Check out some of our video and photos from the event above!