The "We're Playing Blues" compilation CD is part of a larger Gualala Arts In The Schools Poetry of Blues" Partnership Project between Artists Nelson Lunding and Blake More and teachers Bippy McMaster, Jim Lieberman, and Justin Hughey. 2nd through 8th graders from Pacific Community Charter School, 5th & 6th graders at Horicon School, and 8th graders at Arena Middle School learned the historical roots of American music and discovered that poetry and music have a powerful cultural impact, especially as a means of enabling creative expression and enacting social change.

During the course of three weeks, students took their ideas and turned them into original 12 bar blues songs (such as "Rocks in my Shoes", "Our Bus Life" "Soap Opera School"). , which were then arranged by Nelson Lunding and sung by the authoring students. All work was recorded onto DAT with a single microphone in a "studio" (i.e. the nurses quarters at Horicon & the Superintendent's office at the Point Arena School District Office), and these recordings were compiled into five orignal "classroom" CDs. This is a sampling of the original CDs.

A partnership between Gualala Arts and seven Sonoma and Mendocino Coast schools, Gualala Arts In The Schools connects local artists with classroom teachers and provides multicultural performing arts programs for our schools and community. We aspire to make arts an integral component of youth education; support the creative collaboration between artists and teachers; and provide a model for integrating arts into the curriculum. Our thanks to the Redwood Coast Education Foundation for funding the production of "We're Playing Blues."

But since the project was sponsored by California Arts Council and the Gualala Art Center, so unfortunately, it is at risk due to the California budget cuts (in fact the project lost some of its promised funding midway through the year). To bring in some extra funds for this non-profit program, we have created a "best of" compilation CD. It is entitled "We're Playing Blues", and it is a guaranteed smile. It is available for $15.00. To request a copy, email me at blake@snakelyone.com.

This is a youth film about living on the Pomo Reservations of Kashia, Point Arena, and Manchester in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Because of its raw power and stark honesty, it has widened the eyes of the youth who made the film and the thousands of people who have seen it.

The 5 youth who made the film, plus myself and Cybirk (as creative mentors), teachers Linda Heinsohn and Amelie Prescott, and grant writter queen Kim Swenson, went to Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah in January of 2003 to participate in the Reel Studio Young Filmmakers Workshop. We were one of 14 youth groups in the nation to be invited to participate in this prestigious and sought after program.

The film has shown to diverse audiences, from schools to art centers, from tribal centers to businesses to community service organizations. It even managed to land in the Smithsonian Cultural Heritage Library.

It is available for rent at Gualala Video in Gualala, California. If you would like a copy of the video, send a $20 check (made out to VPI) to VPI, PO Box 286, Point Arena, CA 95468