Donna Herula in concert – CU Folk & Roots

The CU Folk and Roots Festival and Prairie Crossroads Blues Society present Donna Herula and special guest Gloria Roubal on Saturday, August 18th! Donna was a hit at the festival last year and is coming back for an encore performance at the Iron Post. Local singer songwriter Gloria Roubal will open for her. Donna will also offer a slide guitar workshop at Corson Music’s Guitar Store.

Donna Herula is a Chicago born blues singer and slide guitar player who plays country, Delta and modern blues styles. In 2012, she was a semi-finalist in the Yamaha Six String Theory guitar competition (top 6 blues guitarists) and semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, representing Chicago a second year in a row. In her solo and duo acoustic performances, Donna plays a mix of songs from the early blues women, including Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith and the early Delta blues men, including Robert Johnson and Furry Lewis. On National steel guitars, she also performs music from more recent artists such as Johnny Winter and Lucinda Williams. she has played at a number of blues festivals as a soloist or in a duet, including the Chicago Blues Festival, Mississippi Valley Blues Festival and the King Biscuit Blues Festival.

Donna performed at the 2011 Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival and is happy to return to CU. Her performance is at the Iron Post, 120 S. Race St. in Urbana, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm on Saturday, August 18th. Local singer songwriter Gloria Robal will open for her at 6:00pm. Admission is $7.00 at the door.

Have you wanted to learn how to play slide guitar but just didn’t know where to begin? Donna will offer a slide guitar workshop from 2:00-3:30pm at Corson Music’s Guitar Store, 202 W. Main St. in Urbana. Types of slides, guitar set up and slide guitar techniques will be reviewed in the open tunings of G and D. Bring your guitar; slides will be provided. The workshop fee is $10.