Twyla Birdsong is a hometown favorite. She is shown above during a recent performance. She will be on hand along with Mike Eyia to jumpstart the weekend festivities.
On her reverbnation site, Twyla states, “I enjoy performing because it brings me joy and I want people to feel and share in that. I want to uplift their spirits to help them make it to their next stage in the game.”
Courtesy photo
LANSING, MI — The Old Town BluesFest is a two-day FREE music festival held on Friday, September 21st and Saturday, September 22nd that brings national, regional, and local acts to an audience of roughly 15,000 people from across Michigan and nearby states.
BluesFest’s music truly is living music, history in the making. Each artist at the festival is asked to play an original composition, something that hasn’t been played at any other festival.
Twyla and Mike duet winners of the 2012 CABS Blues Brawl will be on the MICA stage on Friday, September 21st from 7:30-8:30 pm.
From the first moment Twyla Birdsong sets free a deep soulful note, audiences are moved by the raw talent and radiance that pours from this incredible woman. Her rich, resonant voice strikes a balance between diva and divine, making her one of Lansing’s most talented and loved vocalists since 2002. She can sing sultry and seductive ballads with rasping zeal and then boldly plunge into smooth and mellow renditions. Twyla has sung with the Red Hot Blues Band, Wise Guys, Twyla and the Night Crawlers, the Lansing Blues Divas, and Big Willy. She has been honored to share the stage with such legends as Larry McCray and Freddie Cunningham.
Mike Eyia is a versatile guitarist and vocalist with a repertoire covering top 40, blues, funk, old standards, country and jazz. He is the director of Ritmo, a well-known salsa orchestra formed in the late 70’s that has performed throughout the state. He migrated to Lansing, Michigan from Cuba and studied music at Michigan State University and Lansing Community College. Later, he became an instructor at LCC and taught various music courses over roughly a decade.
For more information about the schedule, see page 8 or log on to
This was printed in the September 9, 2012 – September 22, 2012 Edition
