Benevolent Blues

This weekend the emotional power of the blues will be brought to bear on the problem of pediatric AIDS.

The “Women in Blues for Children With AIDS” benefit is from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday at the Classroom in Northridge. It will be a marathon, all-female lineup of blues performers. International Blues Society President Tina Mayfield and Russell Luzio of radio stations KSPC-FM and KUCI-FM will emcee the 10-hour show.

Two house bands--the Big Fat Mamas Blues Band and Queen Voodoo--will anchor the performances of a steady stream of artists. Also, several female comics are scheduled to perform.

T-shirts and posters will be on sale and a barbecue will be available. The show’s cover plus proceeds from the barbecue and the memorabilia sales will go to fight pediatric AIDS.

“This is an incredible group of ladies,” said Charlene Rands, the Classroom’s booker.

Among the many people helping with the planning is blues singer Carrie James, who is also performing on the show.

“Many times you think you can’t do something as one person,” James said. “But if I can help in any way, it makes everything more meaningful.”

Others slated to perform at the benefit are Sharonmarie Fisher, Kris Wiley, B.J. Sharp, Julie Winchester, Keri Rodriguez, Francesca Capasso, Patty Calloway, Karen Lawrence, Debbie Treadway and more.

* “Women in Blues for Children With AIDS,” noon-10 p.m. Sunday at the Classroom, 8333 Tampa Ave., Northridge. (818) 885-0250. $5 cover.

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Pre-Benefit Blues: On Saturday, the day before the benefit, the rock band Blue by Nature will perform at the Classroom.

Lead singer-songwriter Karen Lawrence will do double duty--performing with her band Saturday night and returning Sunday to perform at the benefit. And Blue by Nature will donate $5 from each of their CDs sold Saturday night to the Sunday benefit.

The band recently underwent a major personnel change. Lead guitarist Rick Dufay, formerly of Aerosmith, is now formerly of Blue by Nature. But there are no hard feelings.

“It was a mutual thing,” Lawrence said, “we had him here longer than we could have expected.”

Dufay’s replacement is Brad Ayers, 26.

“He’s great,” Lawrence said. “I don’t know how you can get so good at that age.”

Other members of the band are rhythm guitarist Fred Hostetler, bassist Charlie Diaz and drummer Dan Potruch. Ayers has blended in with the rest of the band on their live gigs very well, Lawrence said.

“People squealed for him,” said Lawrence. “Hey, he even makes me squeal.”

Lawrence and her bandmates have been busy promoting their new album, “Live at the Lake.” The singer said it won’t be long before the band heads back into the studio.

“We have a lot of new songs,” Lawrence said. “We’ve been playing them live and they’re going over really well.”

* Blue by Nature plays Saturday night at the Classroom. No cover.