Bandstand August 2015

James Clem

Hi friends,

It was great playing the Waterfront Blues Festival last month, and my new blues CD Road’s Gettin’ Muddy was released the morning of the festival. I am getting some really good feedback about that CD. If you are expecting just solo acoustic guitar on this, think again, as this was planned with an ensemble sound from the get go. Recorded live in the studio to analog tape by recording whiz Ron Rogers. We had a smokin’ hot rhythm section with some very special guests such as Mary Flower, Darka Dusty and my old buddy Jeff Masters who came up from LA to play some killer harmonica. We even did an electric slide surf instrumental I wrote called “Shadow Orbit”. From 1920’s country and Delta blues to some Carter Family vintage country, and lots more, this was a project we put a lot of time into to get a variety of bluesy material on tape. You can pick up a copy at Music Millennium or downloads and mail order CD’s at CD Baby. Should be on iTunes very soon.

My recent swing/blues ukulele CD, Sugar Moon, is now being played on Pandora so give a listen. This CD is also available at the above locations, iTunes, and at my gigs. If you think what could be more boring than a ukulele CD, you might want to rethink that as we got a lot of experienced players doing some cool western swing tunes, blues, and vintage jazz. People just really like this recording. They burn copies for their friends they like it so much. Burn copies? How about buying one pal?!  Nobody wants to pay for music anymore.

Teaching guitar and uke helps keep me off the streets so contact me through my website if you are interested. Also, I am always looking for new venues to play so get in touch. Keep diggin’ the blues.

Cheers,
James Clem
www.jamesclem.com

Bolt Upright

I want to give a public thank you to Peter Dammann for hiring my band, Beats Workin’, to play this year’s Waterfront Blues Fest. Thanks to Steve Ehrmann, Aki Kumar, and Kid Andersen for driving up from the Bay Area to play this year’s festival and for joining me on my CD and on the Crossroads stage. Thanks to Scott Van Dusen for covering the drums while I jumped around and sang out front. Also, a big shout out to John Blues Boyd who sang a great BB King tune with us. Ryan McKenzie captured our performance on his camera.

Beat’s Workin’ will be playing gigs around Portland this year, so please look for us. The CD is available through CD Baby, Music Millennium, and at Bolt Upright gigs. Bolt Upright just celebrated four years of running the Nite Owl Jam, 9PM-1AM, at Montavilla Station. We will celebrate one year of running the Early Bird Jam at AREA 52 in August. Thanks to all the jammers and friends and fans that show up every week. Beat’s Workin’!

Ashbolt