The 19^th Bronze Blues & Brews Festival is set for Friday, August 7, and Saturday, August 8. The event will be held at the Joseph City Park, Joseph, Oregon. For the Friday Jam Night gates open at 5:30pm with music from 6-10pm. On Saturday, the gates open at noon with music from 12:30-10pm. All ages welcome. Kids 10 and under free.

This year’s event will feature Royal Southern Brotherhood, Sultans of Slide, Roseland Hunters, Polly O’Keary & the Rhythm Method, and Ben Rice & Lucy Hammond.

Tickets are available pre-sale for $30 or at the gate for $35. For more information visit the website at www.bronzebluesbrews.com.

Bronze Blues & Brews has supported the local Joseph, Oregon, community in many ways over the past 19 years.  Here is just a sample of some of the things it has accomplished: Donated over $22,000 to the City of Joseph for improvements to the City Park; Secured partial grant funding for underground power to lower end of City Park; Secured partial grant funding for permanent safety fencing in City Park; Donated over $12,000 to local High School Sports & other programs; Donated over $8,000 to Local High School Arts & Music programs; Established the “Karen Jackson Memorial Award” donating over $4,000 to local charities; Established “Arts & Music Scholarships” to local students and donating over $6,000; and $4,374,000–Conservative estimate of dollars spent in Wallowa County, Oregon over 19 year span by Bronze Blues & Brews non-resident ticket buyers.

Come join in the fun at the Kalama Music Festival on August 1 at Marine Park along the Columbia River in Kalama, Washington. This year’s event will include a varied selection of blues, R&B, reggae, rock, Motown — just a lot of good music. There will be food and a beer/wine garden and artists/craftspeople will also be showing their wares.

This year’s event will be headlined by Florida-based bluesman J.P. Soars & The Red Hots. Soars is a past winner of the International Blues Challenge and has received nominations for the Blues Music Awards under his own name and with the all-star band Southern Hospitality. His gravelly voice echoes Howlin’ Wolf, and his guitar and cigar box playing is in a league of its own.

Also on this year’s line-up will be Portland-based blues favorites Franco Paletta & The Stingers, with special guest Oregon Music Hall of Fame member Terry Robb on guitar, the genre-crossing sounds of Ocean 503, which offers a diverse musical performance spanning R&B, reggae, funk, and blues, and Southwestern Washington’s blues band The Mojo Blasters. The music of Motown, R&B, and soul will be provided by The Elite, and hip rock, folk, and reggae tunes will be represented by Portland’s band The Sale.

A Cigar Box Guitar Raffle will also be held, offering a hand-made Cigar Box Guitar donated by headliner J.P. Soars, with all proceeds going to the Kalama Helping Hand. Tickets are one dollar, but you can get six for five dollars the day of the event.

The Kalama Music Festival takes place from noon until 9:00 pm, with entry only $10.00 and 2 cans of food. Marine Park is located at 110 West Marine Drive, in Kalama. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.TicketTomato.com.

If you have not taken the time to make a trip to Lake Oswego for one of Dean Mueller’s Monday Night Concert Series at The Lake Theater, you are doing yourself a serious disfavor. This small and intimate theater holds less than 100 people and has sensational acoustics and great sight lines. Plus, Mueller has been scheduling some of the best regional acts and touring artists to perform at The Lake.

In August, on Monday 3, you do not want to miss the acoustic duet of mandolinist Rich DelGrosso and guitarist Mary Flower. Both have received multiple Blues Music Award nominations and are highly recognized as tow of the best at their respective instruments world-wide. DelGrosso hails from Houston while Flower is our own hometown gal, and together they blend with bassist Dean Mueller to acoustic perfection as they proceed through traditional blues, ragtime, and their own original material.

Then on Monday, August 10, make a point to be in attendance as the Duffy Bishop Trio will be making their farewell performance before Duffy and her guitarist husband Chris Carlson head back down to Florida for the winter. One of the most beloved couples in the Northwest blues community, this one is guaranteed to sell out. Dean Mueller will accompany the couple on bass and don’t be surprised if Julie Amici makes an appearance with the group as well.

Other Monday shows at The Lake Theater in August will include a blues dance with Dave Fleschner & Alan Hager on the 17, Portland’s own Italian folk band Mbrasctau on the 24, and Muddy Award winning female vocalist Rae Gordon on the 31. All shows start at 7:00 pm.

The Delta Saints are a Nashville-based band who have stripped their roots/blues sound down to its essence and rearranged the elements into something uniquely their own. Steeped in rock ‘n’ roll’s building blocks – country, R&B, soul and gospel – The Delta Saints explore influences like Jack White, The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses and Led Zeppelin. When asked to describe their most recent release, Bones, band leader Ben Ringel stated, “We’re trying to push ourselves forward to do something more modern, but at the same time incorporating where we come from.” A testament to their mixed appeal, they have opened for such diverse acts as Blackberry Smoke, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Taj Mahal, Dickey Betts and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Currently on a cross country tour, The Delta Saints will hit Portland on Saturday, August 8, for a 9:00 pm show at Dante’s, 350 W Burnside. This is a 21 and over only show with tickets available in advance through TicketBiscuit.com for $10.00.