The Leland Bluebird
Recording Sessions
The Leland Bluebird Sessionsis a recording project instigated and brought about by Waterloo Sunset Records and inspired by the work of the Fox Valley Blues Society, Blues on The Fox Festival Committee and the Fox Valley Music Foundation. This project was sponsored in part by a National Endowment of the Arts grant awarded to the FVMF, with assistance from the City of Aurora. It is a tribute to the records that were produced on the top floor of the Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois during a period in time beginning on May 4, 1937, and ending on December 19,1938.
The idea for the tribute was the brainchild of then Foundation President, Steve Warrenfeltz, who enlisted local musician and friend, Scott Tipping, to produce the project. Scott was primarily responsible for song selection, arrangement, musician selection and participation, and management of the recording sessions. John Abbey was the engineer. The sessions were recorded at Kingsize Sound Labs in Chicago.
The album art was designed and created by Rex Bohn. Everyone involved shared the same goal: to pay homage to the artists that participated in those original recording sessions, and to help to ensure that their memory and those songs remain prominently known for ages to come.
