Sam Lay Bluesland screening at Skyline Tavern – July 8th

Sam Lay in BlueslandBluesland, A new documentary film about legendary blues and rock drummer, Sam Lay is going to be screening at the Skyline Tavern in NW Portland on July 8. Terry Robb will be performing a set prior to the screening.

He was on drums when Bob Dylan went Electric at Newport. He was on the road and in the studio with blues greats Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and James Cotton. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 as a founding member of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and performed at the induction ceremonies. At the age of 80, he is still an active member of the Chicago blues scene and the man some call ‘the greatest drummer of all time’. He also was an 8mm film documentarian who shot one-of-a-kind, personal footage of the 1950s and 60s blues clubs in Chicago. 

The film, SAM LAY IN BLUESLAND traces his incredible career spanning over 50 years. Against a backdrop of troubled, even dangerous, times, and the racial turbulence of the 1960s, Sam Lay’s singular life and career are told through his own words, music and personal films in the documentary film ‘Sam Lay In Bluesland’. Interviewees in the film include musicians, JAMES COTTON, CHARLIE MUSCLEWHITE, JIM KELTNER, CORKY SIEGEL, ELVIN BISHOP and IGGY POP.

Producer of the film – Starr Sutherland will also be attending the screening.

The Skyline Tavern is located at 8031 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland. Terry Robb will be performing at 8:00 pm, with the film following afterward around 9:30 pm. The film runs for approximately 56 minutes. Seating is limited.

Red White & Blue Riverfront Festival – July 3 & 4

Since 1995, the Downtown Corvallis Association has been presenting the Red White & Blue Riverfront Festival during the Fourth of July weekend. Come help celebrate the nation’s birthday July 3 & 4 by the beautiful Willamette Riverfront on First Street between Van Buren and Monroe Avenue. This fun-filled family event features live music, magicians, colorful craft booths, kids activities, an array of food venors, and Oregon wines and microbrews. Come and enjoy the full day and stick around for the fireworks display after dusk on July 4 presented by the Corvallis Jaycees.

This year’s musical line-up will be:

July 3:

  • Rock n’ Roll Cowboys, 5-7 pm
  • Fate 55, 8-10 pm

July 4:

  • Big Outside, 11 am – 1 pm
  • Jeff McMahon, Children’s Magician, 1:30 – 2 pm
  • Parish Gap. 2:30 – 3:30 pm
  • Ludicrous Speed, 4:30 – 6:30 pm
  • Too Slim & The Taildraggers, 7:30 – 9:30 pm

This is a free festival, but they depend on your donations to keep it going year after year. For a donation of $5.00 or more at the gate you will receive a string of red, white & blue beads showing your support.

Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal – Post-Waterfront Show At Alberta Street Pub – July 5

Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal - press photo“If James Brown and Otis Redding had a love child, it would be Josh Hoyer. The Lincoln, Nebraska soul shouter and his band of merry soulsters, Soul Colossal, deliver a sound so big, so funky, so wring-the-sweat-out-of-you energetic that it reaches through the speakers and shakes you until you start moving to its groove.” – No Depression

Hoyer formed Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal in 2012 in famed blues town Lincoln Nebraska. The award-winning, six-piece band includes some of the area’s most revered and accomplished musicians. Inspired by Stax and Motown, and echoing the styles of New Orleans, Philly, and San Francisco, the band continuously crosses musical boundaries both in style and era, and joins forces each show with a common goal – to have the crowd dancing so much they forget even their smallest troubles. Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal’s combination of soul, funk and R&B is in a word, electric. Best displayed in their high-energy live show, the blend of Hoyer’s honest lyrics and his soulful (sometimes in-your-face) vocals merge with his top-notch band to create an undeniable chemistry.

Following what will surely be a couple of dynamic appearances at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival  over the July 4 weekend, you’re going to be begging for more from this hot rising band. Well, you’ll be able to catch them one more time in Portland at the Alberta Street Pub, 1036 NE Alberta Street, on Tuesday, July 5. Contact the venue for show time and tickets. Opening the night will be Portland’s own psych-folk-rock band, The Pining Hearts.

Blues Prodigy Christone “Kingfish” Ingram To Play The Birk – July 8

christone kingfishUnless you’ve been hiding under a rock or have not been paying attention to all the media about young blues phenom Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, it’s time to jump into your car and head down to The Birk for a true awakening. The stories are not hype — this is a musician who just may be the future of the blues. Sure, we’ve heard that before, but Kingfish follows a long line of Delta artists that have helped mentor and teach this young man properly, and he has heeded these lessons with both ears.

Born in 1999, Christone “Kingfish” Ingrtam experienced the sounds of gospel music in church, but he also took note of the great bluesmen of the region including Big Jack Johnson and Michael Burks. From the age of seven Kingfish has been studying music, first with drums, then bass, and now as an exciting, creative guitarist who has shared the stage alongside the likes of Buddy Guy, Guitar Shorty, and Bob Margolin. His influences are widespread, ranging from early blues musicians to southern-rock band The Allman Brothers, English blues-rocker Steve Marriott, and funk and R&B god Prince, all of whom have driven Kingfish to expand his own direction in the music he creates.

People everywhere are taking note of Kingfish, and he has appeared on numerous television shows, on festival stages across the country and into Europe, and even performing for President Obama. On Friday, July 8, Kingfish will join Jeff “Drummerboy” Hayes and local musicians to take the stage at The Birk for what will surely be a full house. This show will start at 7:00 with tickets available through Tickettomato.com for $20.00 advance and $25.00 day of show at the door. The Birk is located at 11139 Hwy 202 in Birkenfeld. Don’t miss out on a performance that will certainly be talked about for some time to come!

Brother Dege & The Brethren Oregon Tour: July 12 PDX

Born and raised in the swamplands of Louisiana, Brother Dege is the best kept secret in the DeBrother Dege - press photoep South. If you like your music real, then you’re in the right place. This is pure channeled soul minus the big money record label and promotional budgets. Like the possessed love child of Son House and Blind Willie Johnson, he plays a post-Americana style of Delta blues filtered through roots music, rock & roll, and a bunch of other stuff. No tradition can live on without the growing pains of its innovators. Well, here it is: Delta Blues for the twenty-first century in a form that Brother Dege has coined “psyouthern.”

Brother Dege & The Brethren will be bringing their Psyouthern Invasion tour through Oregon in July, with shows in Grants Pass on Saturday, July 9 at G Street Bar & Grill, Eugene at Sam Bond’s Garage on Sunday, July 10, the Trillium Café in Hood River on Monday, July 11, and in Portland at Duff’s Garage on Tuesday, July 12. Contact venues for information on admission and show times.

Brothers And Sister Recreate The Music Of The Allman Brothers – July 14

brothers and sisterThe Allman Brothers were one of the most awe-inspiring live bands of all time, and they were at their creative height in the early 1970s when they released one of the rock era’s seminal live albums, Live At The Fillmore East. Led then by brothers Gregg and Duane Allman, they inspired countless bands with their blues-based, Southern rock inspired material. Such inspiration was behind the creation of one of Portland’s favorite tribute acts, Brothers and Sister, who will be reforming once again for a rare appearance at the Doug Fir Lounge on Thursday, July 14.

Members of Brothers and Sister consist of some of the area’s most prominent musicians: Lewi Longmire (guitar, vocals), Tim Huggins (bass), Matt Cadenelli (drums, vocals), Anita Robinson (guitar), Steve Kerin (keys, vocals), and Ryan Spellman (drums). Plus they will be joined by special guests David Lipkind, Kris Stuart, and Joe McMurrian.

The Doug Fir Lounge is located at 830 E Burnside Street. Show time is 9:00 pm and tickets may be purchased in advance through Ticketfly.com for $10.00 – $12.00. This show is 21 & over only.

Versatile Texas Americana Musician Randy McAllister – July 15

If Mark Twain had envisioned a twenty-first century roots musician, he might have created a character like Randy McAllister with his easy-going persona and wry, observant wit.

Randy McAllister - photo by Kim LatheRandy McAllister is one of the premier singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist to emerge from Texas. His songwriting is filled with heartbreak, humor, high hair, and tall Texas tales this is some of the most original and innovative being written today. While comparisons are not easy, McAllister music suggests a blend of Doug Sahm, John Hiatt, and Delbert McClinton, combined with a blues man’s background and sensibilities. He is one of those rare artists who is able to seamlessly weave together genres such as gospel, blues, country, Tex-Mex, rock, and zydeco and come away with something that is uniquely his. Witnessing McAllister perform will also amaze — it is not often that you see a musician behind a set of drums working a perfect shuffle with one hand, playing a harmonica in the other and singing, sometimes all in the same song!

Touring in support of his latest recording, Gristle To Gold, the four-piece Randy McAllister Band will be playing at The Birk, 11139 Hwy 202, Birkenfeld, on Friday, July 15, for a 7:00 pm show. Then on Saturday, July 16 the band will be at the coast playing the Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NW US 101, in Lincoln City. Show time is 7:00 pm with tickets $28.00 advance, $30.00 at the door.

 

Tony Joe White Bringing The Swamp To The Mission Theater: July 15

Tony Joe White - press photoTony Joe White grew up in Northwest Louisiana, just south of the Arkansas line. On his father’s farm, he was around cotton and knew about working in the fields, as well as the aromas, tastes, and sounds of the swampland. He was also brought up on the stories spun late at night, stories peopled by preacher men and conjure women, serenaded by train whistles and illuminated by spells and signs. From his first club gigs some fifty years ago, these images and memories have taken shape in his songs, and other artists have covered many of his tunes: Brook Benton and Hank Williams with “Rainy Night in Georgia, Dusty Springfield with “Willie and Laura Mae Jones” and, of course, Elvis with his version of “Polk Salad Annie.” But other songs of his really couldn’t survive in anyone else’s hands but his;  the ones that flowed over hypnotic single-chord drones, with White’s slithery guitar fills and husky, haunted vocals. He is a link to a time that may already be lost but will be kept alive as long as he keeps revisiting it in song.

Relive that swampy sound and those musical memories as Tony Joe White performs for one night only at McMenamin’s Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan Street, on Friday, July 15. Show time is 8:00 pm and tickets are $25.00 available through etix.com. Minors permitted with a parent or guardian.

Opening the show will be Portland’s own Chris Miller and James Sasser, bringing the sounds, flavors, and good times from the honky tonks to the Mission Theater.

Cathedral Park Jazz Festival Celebrates 36 Years Of Presenting Free Music To Portland – July 15-17

As the longest-running free Jazz Festival west of the Mississippi River, the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival celebrates its 36th year with three days of world-class music. The Festival begins Friday night, July 15, with dynamic Blues, R&B, and Soul. Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17 will feature all the multiple styles of Jazz in all its glory.

The stage is situated in a natural amphitheater with a backdrop of the beautiful Willamette River to the west and the mighty St Johns Bridge overhead.  The lush, green, and beautifully maintained festival grounds are the perfect place to bring a picnic or to purchase delicious offerings available from our food vendors. You are welcome to spread a blanket or set up low-profile beach chairs in the grassy bowl in front of the stage. City regulations prohibit alcohol in the park. However, alcohol may be enjoyed by adults, 21 & over in our shady Beer Garden with full view of the stage.

Celebrating the Cathedral Park and St Johns Community is a major focus of this Festival.  Neighborhood groups will have information booths promoting local businesses and philanthropic organizations. The Cathedral Park Jazz Festival also recognizes the growing hunger problem in our area and has added a Food Drive to benefit area food banks. Barrels to collect donated non-perishable food items will be placed throughout the grounds.

Friday, July 15: Blues, R&B, and Soul 5:00 PM – 10:30 PM
5:00  United By Music North America
6:15  Bottleneck Blues Band
7:30  Sister Mercy
9:15  Ken Emerson

Saturday, July 16: Jazz 1:00 PM – 9:45 PM
1:00  American Music Program
2:30  Dan Balmer’s Go By Train
4:00  Dina Y Los Rumberos
5:30  High Water Jazz Band
7:00  Joe Manis Trio
8:30  Errick Lewis & Expressive Vibe – Tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire

Sunday, July 17: Jazz 1:00 PM – 8:30 PM
1:00  NOPO Big Band
2:30  Tim Willcox/Charlie Doggett Quartet
4:00  Mel Brown Trio
5:30  Portland Vocal Summit
7:00  TBA

Portland International Airport Features Local Artist Diane Russell

Portland Soul: Portraits in Jazz & Blues is an exhibit by local artist Diane Russell on display at Concourse E at the Portland International Airport February 9 – July 15.

Diane Russell Group Airport“This exhibit features many of my portraits of the Portland blues and jazz musicians whose music has inspired me to do the work that I do,” explains Russell.” I photographed bands for several years before I began painting and drawing them.  Most of these musicians are still with us, but sadly many have passed away in recent years, which is why it is so important to me to keep documenting their presence in the form of my oil and pencil portraits.  My first portrait was of Linda Hornbuckle, and I am so happy that her portrait is included in this display.  I think my work has showcased music to the community in a way that partners two art forms… music and art.  My intent is to keep building my body of work to include as many musicians as possible.  These musicians have all made such an enormous contribution to our region, and my hope is that these portraits will honor and celebrate their music for years to come.”

Diane’s work has appeared nationally on two Legendary Blues Cruise commemorative posters, the W.C. Handy Blues Awards poster, the House of Blues poster in New Orleans, and on the headstones of both Gatemouth Brown and Pinetop Perkins.  Her portraits are on display at Jimmy Mak’s Jazz Club in NW Portland, and also at the After Hours Concerts at the Marriott Hotel during the Waterfront Blues Festival.