XV BluesTracje Festival

Chorzow and Other Cities in Poland

April 18 – July 5, 2012

Photos by Aigars Lapsa

Fifteen years ago BluesTracje Festival began in the Polish city of Chorzow. Each year it has grown and this year it is held over weekends from April to July in many venues in various cities, including its return this year to Chorzow. While BluesTracje is about the music, it also has panels, awards, and many other events. And while many of the main events happen in the first couple of weeks, the music never really stops. 

On April 18 they held their blues “marathon” at the Silesian University with the “Metropolia Bluesa” (“Blues Metropolis”) panel. Showcasing the newly published book documenting past editions of Bluestracje, the panel attempted to define the blues’ influence on the musical scene of the region of Silesia. In the following days fans were able to experience how it looks in real life cruising from one club to another. Concerts were interwoven with exhibitions of the beautiful work of photographers Krzysztof Szafraniec and Aigars Lapsa and there will be an opportunity to take part in a musical workshop led by members of the American roots-rock band Moreland & Arbuckle.

Another of the main events is the Blues Top Gala where the winners of Twój Blues magazines readers poll are recognized. We are very proud that our Contributing Photographer Aigars Lapsa of Latvia won this year’s award be best photography for his cover of Joe Bonamassa.

We all congratulate Aigars for this honor and this week he shares some of his photographs of Moreland & Arbuckle performing at the festival. If you would like to see more of his great photography, check out his Facebook page.

As always, our photographers share their work with you for your enjoyment. If you would like to share or use the photographs for any other reason, please get permission from the photographer.

Enjoy!