01.18.11 | 2011 off to a great start! Hey everybody…the New Year has started off on a great note! The Maple Blues Awards were held this week in Toronto which celebrates the best of the Canadian Blues scene…and I was thrilled and honoured to be awarded the ‘Blues with a Feeling Award’ for Lifetime Achievement!! It was a special night for me being surrounded and recognized by such illustrious talent. My heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees and winners and to the Toronto Blues Society for putting on such a terrific awards show. As I said in my speech, “I ain’t done yet!” Video will be available soon on my Facebook page and my Youtube Channel. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2011/01/18/maple-blues-awards.html Our documentary ‘Music From The Big House’ is going in to theatres across Canada as we speak including a special screening in Toronto (big news!)…international distribution is coming…and so is the soundtrack…so stay tuned for all the details. Finally…while I’m playing with the Windsor Symphony this weekend, I’m honoured to be featured on two of the best blues shows around…you can listen online at….Jazz FM91’s Bluz FM with Danny Marks www.jazzfm.com this Sat. Jan 22 8-midnight EST…and Jon Norton’s GLT Blues Radio’s ‘Talkin’ Blues’ at http://wglt.org/streams/blues.phtml (Sat. Jan 22 7-8pm Central Time, Wed. Jan 26 6-7am and 6-7pm CT). Thanks for all the great fan mail! Until soon….Rita : CBC News - Maple Blues Awards 08.10.10 | Introducing 'Music From The Big House' Hey everybody…some of you have known that for years I’ve been working on a “secret project”…and finally here it is…introducing...’Music From The Big House’ (http://www.musicfromthebighouse.com/) . I decided I wanted to put on a concert there, so I called on my buddy director Bruce McDonald and he accompanied me on this journey to Louisiana State Penitentiary , also known as Angola…and with ‘Cache’ Film and Television’ producing, the documentary was made…. This is my trip to the prison where Leadbelly , Pete Williams and many others were incarcerated…..as a former plantation it has a captivating musical history… But instead of just putting on a concert for the inmates I thought I should perform with the musical inmates….. The officials say that this could be the first time ever in a USA prison, that an outsider (that would be me) has performed with inmates…it’s a story about music, love and forgiveness. I’m proud to say that the International Documentary Association (http://www.documentary.org/) has selected this film out of hundreds they receive world wide to show simultaneously in New York at the IFC Center (http://www.ifccenter.com/) and in LA at the ArcLight Hollywood between August 13-19th. Please spread the word to anyone who may be interested or who lives in those cities….a kickass soundtrack will be released early next year….I’m on my way to NY so stay tuned. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook (links are on the sidebar)..until soon…Rita : Music From The Big House 03.27.09 | I've got the tired of being bloated, homesick, and weary blues... Hello folks,I’m writing to you from a hotel room in Vienna, Austria...every once in a while I like to share with you some great events... First ..Let me say that 2008 was a “very good year”....2 nominations for ‘uptown goes downtown’ and another award for ‘cuore...the Italian sessions’..Some very cool gigs...2 tours of Europe.... 2009 is looking even better....great festivals coming this summer, to some of these I’ll be bringing my seven piece band... I call it”the big blues band”... 3 nights with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony... A return to Thunder Bay for a concert with the Thunder Bay symphony...... For all upcoming concerts please check out: www.ritachiarelli.com And...hey,i have finally booked studio time to record a new all original album....more on this later.... But getting back to where I am sitting at the moment...in Vienna....where I played an acoustic blues concert behind “the historic walls of Mozart’s house”!! This is part of ‘spring time blues in Vienna’..Now I figure there has got to be some great inspiration at Amadeus’ house...where he wrote many great operas...(’le nozze di Figaro’)...and where he died.... So there you have it...an update will come when I get back to Canada...oh, I’m having some footage taken...so if I don’t look too tired, bloated, homesick, weary, I‘ll have it posted... ‘til soon....Rita 11.04.08 | Nearest thing to a blog... well...let's see...i got home to toronto from my western tour...a great tour by the way...thank you to rick fines...bernie addinton and our tour manager brian regendanz ....now brian's job was mainly to "take care of me and to make my life easier..." and that he did...if any of you think that's an easy job....you 've better think again....! anyway he did a fine job ...! anyway, i was in toronto long enough to do laundry...) always carry more underwear than you think you'll need, mamma was right..)and board a plane to germany...so "gutten-tag"...!!..my german is limited...my tour starts in a day...germany switzerland, austria (vienna)....and czech republic...! but the news is that i have been nominated in 'the hamilton music awards' and have been asked to perform....cool ,eh? this will be televised...stay tuned for info.... www.hamiltonmusicawards.com so i get back from europe on the 15th of november...go to hamilton for the awards and to perform on 16th of november.... then fly to st.john's newfoundland on the 22nd of november for the 'canadian folk music awards"...where i will be performing for the award show presentation/gala on november 23rd...(hopefully bringing CFMA awards from one or both of the categories in which Uptown Goes Downtown was nominated) then back to toronto on november 24th... are you still with me...?anyway...wish me luck...i might write more from the tour....or i might not....thank you for keeping 'posted'...'til soon...rita 10.21.08 | FANTASTIC! I can't believe it! Cuore:The Italian Sessions has been nominated in two categories at the 2008 Hamilton Music Awards. I'm honoured to be included in the ranks of Canada's finest singers in the Female Vocalist of the Year, and to have the recording itself nominated in the Best Traditional/Folk album. It is a testament to the timeless beauty of the songs of my heritage, home and heart.
The Awards are one component of the Hamilton Music Festival which will take place November 13-16 and features approximately 80 musical acts of all genres in clubs and theatres throughout downtown Hamilton. The festival attracts music fans and people from all walks of the music industry.
Patrick McKenna and Tom Wilson will host the Awards Gala on Sunday, November 16th. Check the HMA website for additional details and ticket information.
