The Billtown Blues Association’s annual fundraiser, Fall Into the Blues, is significant in many ways. Most importantly it brings together a group of talented and highly regarded local and regional musicians, who have made a devoted effort to perform blues music — and to perform it well.

This year’s event returns to the Garden Terrace Room of the Genetti Hotel in downtown Williamsport, Saturday, November 27th with a 4 p.m. start time and doors opening at 3:30 p.m. Pricing for the general public is $15, and current card-carrying BBA members receive admission for $10.

All the performing musicians on the bill contribute their time and talent to support the ongoing work of the Billtown Blues Association, especially in their effort to financially support the Noaker/Combs Duo and the Cadillac Cats as they make the voyage to Memphis TN in January 2022 to participate in the 37th Annual International Blues Challenge.

This year’s event again will present something out of the average showcasing talented local blues musicians. With an eye for creating an interesting event featuring several local and regional artists, the music will kick off with the Noaker/Combs Duo taking the stage at 4 p.m. The duo consists of Bryan Noaker and Allan Combs II both of which are previous audition winners and had the opportunity to represent the BBA in Memphis. Bryan with Kimbo Reickley in 2018 and Allan with the Twin Sinners in 2019.

Taking the stage next will be Williamsport based, the Cadillac Cats. For the band as a whole, they will be going to the IBC for the first time in January. Band leader, Blair Mitcheltree, competed in Memphis 2015 as part of the solo/duo. Also, bass player Garrett Gaetano had a chance to perform on Beale Street as part of the Youth Showcase with The Youngblood Blues Band from the Uptown Music Collective. Harmonica player Shawn Strickland has been part of the IBC a few times either as a solo or as the duo Mini Mojo, first with his father Gary Strickland and then Colin Beatty.

Closing the show, out of the Philadelphia area, will be Slim and the Perkolators. Veterans of the 2020 IBC representing the Central Delaware Blues Society, Slim has become one of the finest harp players in the Philly region. He’s now very fortunate to call himself a member of the Pennsylvania Blues Hall of Fame and was the youngest to receive such an honor.

Fall Into the Blues will also offer its 5th annual, very popular, and successful Silent Auction. The auction offers a wide variety of items for everyone to bid on from a framed and signed BBA festival poster to a catered prepared dinner.

Windows on 4th at the Genetti will be open for eat-in or take-out dinners, and $1 drafts will be on tap in the Garden Terrace Room. Free parking will be available until 6 p.m. in The Genetti Hotel Parking Lot.

The Fall Into the Blues concert is the ideal time to renew your BBA membership or become a member of the Billtown Blues Association in preparation for the March 12th Festival Audition Concert where current BBA members are eligible to receive a ballot to vote in the solo/duo and band categories offering musicians a guaranteed opportunity to perform at the 32nd Annual Billtown Blues Festival as well as eligibility to travel to Memphis and perform in the International Blues Challenge in 2023. Additionally, the audition winners will have a guaranteed opportunity to perform at the Exchange Listening Room in Bloomsburg, PA.

The Billtown Blues Association is now in its 32nd year of producing events in Lycoming County, celebrating America’s homegrown music, providing performing opportunities for local and regional artists, and supporting the arts in the Susquehanna Valley. Plans are currently underway for the 32nd Annual Billtown Blues Festival slated for June 10-12, 2022 at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in Hughesville, PA. “Early bird” priced tickets for the festival will be on sale during the Fall Into the Blues concert.

More information is available at http://www.billtownblues.org or visiting the BBA on Facebook.