Ferndale Blues Festival brings gay, straight communities together

Musically, the blues tell a story at its most raw emotions. It's in the common denominator that all people can relate.
Love. Lust. Loss.
Lyrically, the blues brings a diverse community together, all tapping their feet, nodding their heads about unpaid bills, a lost job, how a woman done them wrong.
Emotionally, the blues convey the message that we are not alone in our happiness, in our grief.
On Friday, the blues will descend upon Ferndale for nine days. And not only will the sixth annual Ferndale Blues Festival bring beats to 20 area bars, the event will benefit Ferndale Youth Assistance and the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project.
Right on.
Historically, Detroit has a rich, intense blues scene that rivals Chicago, the Mississippi Delta, Nawlins. Musicians meet every week in small, smoky bars to tell their stories. To slowly jam, trading riffs, shaking their heads slowly, throwing their hair back in the pain and ecstasy of their journeys.
It makes sense to merge this musical medium with charities whose intensities match the power of the blues.
Ferndale Youth Assistance works with the Ferndale Schools and the Oakland County Court System to provide youth with counseling and tutoring programs, camp opportunities and other services, according to www.ferndalebluesfestival.org. Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) is a statewide HIV/AIDS education and prevention agency that has received regional and national recognition for its innovative and cutting edge health promotion and education programs since 1988. Based in Ferndale, MAPP coordinates programs for at-risk youth and adult populations to provide prevention education and reduce harm from HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, and alcohol and other drug abuse.
For this festival to descend upon Ferndale, ground zero for Michigan LGBT folk, makes the event all the more powerful. As Metro Detroit's only blues festival, it fiercely takes over the streets, demanding that we listen.
So often, our stories go untold. Our isolation, fear, the joys and devastations of coming out.
Our community can take a lesson from the blues. We can share our experiences. And the more we do, the more we realize we do not walk alone.