Bandstand January 2016

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Bandstand

Drop Dead Red and Martin Henry & Freedom Street Band

Both of these bands would like to thank all of our followers, family, friends, and all the wonderful venues we played during 2015. We appreciate you all so much!
A big thank you to the Cascade Blues Association for having both of these bands perform during September and October. The audience was so appreciative and with lots of dancing, it made for wonderful fun-filled evenings!
We wish you all a healthy, happy and joyful holiday season and hope to see you out and about in 2016.
Check out the BluesNotes calendar and our websites for upcoming 2016 events!

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The Ventilators

We had a good year in 2015 and hope you did, too. Thanks to Biddy Mcgraw’s, Duff’s, the Lehrer, Tigardville Station, and Division Sports Pub for booking us over the past 12 months. Thanks to Arthur “Fresh Air” Moore, Scott Clancy, and Bernie Keough for joining us on stage and for all the support. Thanks to Eric Thurber for keeping time. Thanks to Michael Bowman for engineering. And thanks to everyone who came out to hear us and dance.

Now The Ventilators are back after a productive hiatus. We’ve added Portland native and veteran drummer Kevin Shoepe to our lineup. We’ve written some hot new songs. And we’ve pulled some distinctive covers out the hat. Join us for the return of The Ventilators on January  at Montavilla Station.

All the best to you and yours for the New Year!

Bill, Bruce, Kevin, Randy, Tom, and Tom

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Happy Holidays everybody!

From Tracey Fordice and the 8-Balls, we wish you all Peace and Happiness through this wonderful season.

We had a ball at the CBA Holiday Party, and thank everybody involved for inviting us to perform with all the other great talent that gave of themselves to make your Holiday Spirits bright! Also thanks to the Spare Room & their staff, as well as James Patrick Hurley and his crew at JBL Productions for providing the super sound!

There were so many 8-Balls hanging on the stage, the stage looked like a decorated Christmas Tree. Thanks to David Alvey, our producer of our recent CD “Out Of The Blues”, for providing some super guitar licks and background vocals. Thanks to Franklin Spicer for laying down the organ parts he so tastefully put down on the CD! Thanks to Jim Toussaint for helping out on our only Christmas song performed that day, “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, and others. Which, by the way, is no reflection on his own personality! He’s a pretty nice guy and his fiddle adds a unique touch to our sound! Thanks to Randy Yearout and Johnnie Corrie, and to our new bass player, Todd Ommert, for putting down the signature mark on our music! And, last but not least, thanks to Mac Potts for joining us on saxophone. He filled in nicely on our tune “Mojo Bag”!

So, if you want to purchase on of our new CDs direct, just send a check made out to Randy Yearout for $21 (this also covers shipping and handling) to the following address and we’ll send one out to you right away.

Tracey Fordice and the 8-Balls
14845 SW Murray Scholls Drive
Suite 110 PMB 153
Beaverton, OR 97007

You can also pick one up at Music Millennium here in Portland, or go on line to CD Baby or iTunes, and most other online distribution sites.

By now you have all shaken off the Holiday Cheer and sang in 2016 with Auld Lang Syne, so once again we hope to see out in the local and regional music venues, supporting local live music throughout the New Year!

Blues to You!

Tracey Fordice and the 8-Balls

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 Dean Mueller

I wanted to shout out a big congratulations to all the BMA nominees from the area. They are all very well deserved and we are so fortunate to be in a place with such a high concentration of talent. It’s also been a great year for Julie Amici and the Lake Theater & Cafe and I thanks you much for the support. Happy holidays to you all and best wishes for a great 2016!

Bandstand December 2015

Billy D

Hi everyone — Billy D here. We don’t submit to bandstand that often, so first, congrats to all the Muddy winners and nominees. There’s a lot of great music and musicians in Portland and the surrounding area. I’m honored to be part of it. The current line-up in Billy D & The Hoodoos is myself, Mark Nerby on drums, and Joe Casimir on bass and vox. We have two upcoming shows, at our absolute two favorite venues. Our Christmas Party will be on Saturday December 19, at O’Connors, then New Years Eve at The Trails End Saloon. After two years together, these will be our last two shows—no big drama, just different phases of life happening for people. I have truly enjoyed playing with these dudes and will miss it but am also looking forward to making a new CD after the first of the year and coming back in spring, or so, with a new album and new Shows.

I’ve been traveling—played Chicago, L.A. and the southwest this summer. All awesome and with great musicians who took the time to learn my tunes and play them with feeling. I’m looking forward to more of that, including heading to the UK in May.

Thank you guys! Hope we see you at one of these holiday shows and at the new CD release next year. Happy and safe holidays to all.

Keep Rockin’ my friends!!!
Billy D

The Strange Tones

Happy Holidays everybody! We wanted to spread the word that we will be playing a couple of Christmas shows this year! We decided to try something a little different and do two shows in two great local venues. “A Cozy Crime-A-Billy Christmas” will take place in the intimate confines of Duff’s Garage and the Skyway Bar & Grill. We picked these venues because they are two of our very favorites in the area, and they’re about as comfortable as sitting home, next to the old toasty yule log. Saturday, December 12 will be at Duff’s and Saturday, December 19 will be at the Skyway. We look forward to spreading a little holiday cheer and sharing the holiday spirit in these two great locations. Both shows will feature our partners in Crime-A-Billy, the lovely Volcano Vixens and many other special guests and surprises.

So as Elvin says, “Reach out and take the hand of Crime-A-Billy!”

–Guitar Julie, Andy Strange, Suburban Slim, Andy Gauthier

Dean Mueller

As most of you know, I am booking the Music Mondays at Lake Theater and Cafe and helping bring world class music to a world class venue. Although I book a variety of styles at the theater, and quality is of the utmost importance, attendance and a full house are also important. My heart is closest to the blues and my fellow blues musicians are my family. In addition to local greats we have booked touring acts such as Janiva Magness, Rich Delgrosso, Doug MacLeod, and Nathan James. These folks love the venue, the sound, the food, and the first class treatment that they get. Unfortunately, with the exception of a couple performances a year, the attendance at these shows is lower than much of the other styles of music I bring to the theater. Last month’s show with Nathan James and Ben Rice deserved to been seen, and it needed support from CBA members. It was a great show, but the attendance was very disappointing. As blues fans we need to go out and support live music or the venues will die out, and so will the musicians.

December will be amazing for blues fans at the theater with performances from Duffy Bishop, LaRhonda Steele, Terry Robb, and Mitch Kashmar. Please check the calendar and get out and support the music you love. I’ll continue to do my best to bringing great blues to Lake Theater & Cafe and you should check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Julie Amici

Julie Amici would like to thank the CBA members and all of the great musician friends that have helped along the way. The Muddy nomination for Best New Act was an honor and I very much appreciate the support. Congratulations to Sister Mercy for their nomination, and to the Bottleneck Blues Band for taking home the award!

The morning after the Awards, I received a very special phone call telling me not to be discouraged by not winning. They told me this was my introduction into this blues community and to keep going. I feel like I have been told that by members over and over again, keep going! Keep doing what you love, because “we” need it. This support is truly the only thing that will keep me going, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you haven’t had a chance to catch a Julie Amici show, I invite you to do so. Thanks again and look forward to meeting you!

Bolt Upright

I want to take a moment to thank Greg Johnson and the CBA crew for all the hard work they put in every month to promote Portland Blues!  Also, thanks to Ben Rice for including me in the All Star JAM at The Muddy Awards, and congrats to my great friend Norman Sylvester and his band for finally taking home the R&B award. I’ve had a very eventful 2015 including celebrating 14 years co-leading the Bolt Upright Band with my wife, Susie, and playing the Waterfront Blues Fest and Lil Lou’s in CA. with my Beats Workin’ project, (with me as the frontman). As the year winds down, I’ve joined four new projects: Honeybaked & Choice Cuts (with Daniel Hamm); Billy Hagen’s The Trip; The Pollinators (w/Kenny Lavits); and Where’s Danny (with Silky Mayer). When you see these names in the CBA calendar, please stop in and support fresh faces and sounds on the Portland Blues Scene. Also, please support new clubs (and old clubs) that believe that live music makes a difference!  Peace & Pulsation in 2016!

Bolt Upright
boltupright.net

 Rae Gordon

They say things come in threes….I believe it now after the Muddys!  It was an honor in itself to be nominated by CBA members for 2 awards and then one by the CBA board and another honor to be on the list along not only some of my favorite musicians, but favorite people.  So to receive them all, was an overwhelming moment….well….three overwhelming moments to be exact.  Thank you CBA and members for all your hard work to support the musicians.  I want to call out in particular the award form Best NW Recording.  Dirty Flowers was a team effort for sure.  Special thanks to Gaddis Cavenah who wrote the music and worked hard and the other guys who made it possible for the 2nd CD from the Rae Gordon Band project happen.  Special shout out to Ben Partain, Joseph Conrad, Scott Franklin, Ed Pierce, Edwin Coleman III, Kevin Nettlingham Audio and Kathy Rose for the cover photography.  It was so fun to bring that concept to life!  And thanks to all the people who waited patiently for it to happen.

Now the hard but happy work….to live up to it!  December will give me a chance to continue to hopefully “bring it” to live music lovers with Christmas Joy all month.  December 6th A Youthful Christmas has me sharing the stage with some kids for the 1st Sunday Gospel Show at Trails, then joining Sonny Hess in her incredible annual offering of the best in the northwest Women in Blues Christmas on Dec 10 and 13.  And I hope you join me and WE THREE KINGS December 19th for a Christmas show like no other at the Trails End Saloon.  Guitar kings Robbie Laws, Ben Rice and Lloyd Jones will bring gifts of groove to the stage along with featured artists Big Monti Amundson, Ben Partain, Joseph Conrad, Ed Pierce and the Holy Horns of Joe McCarthy and Scott Franklin.  Ol’ Saint Nick will also be stopping by to sing and bring joy and a comfy lap.  Please bring a good used coat to donate to needy and you will get a chance to win a prize.

As we head nearer to a close on the year 2015, it has truly been a blessing to be able to play in such a rich soil that makes us all grow as musicians and most importantly, as people.

Big Things Happening At Trails End Saloon In December

Aside from the annual Northwest Women R&B Christmas Concert taking place on Sunday, December 13 (see separate article), the Trails End Saloon, 1320 Main Street, Oregon City, has a number of superb shows happening during the month of December. Check these out:

On Sunday, December 6, Rae Gordon will be presenting a Youthful Christmas at 2:00 pm. This will happen during her regularly scheduled monthly Gospel Sunday show, this month featuring the talents of three young artists who’ll be sitting in.

Friday, December 12 will see the return of Men In Blues. This will be an 8:30 show and will feature a bevy of local blues greats Michael Quinby, Doug Rowell, Kevin Selfe and The Thunder Brothers — Justin Matz and Timmer Blakely.

Rae Gordon will be back at it again on Saturday, December 19 at 8:30 pm with a show titled We Three Kings Christmas Show. Originally titled as such to note the three guitarists to be showcased: Ben Rice, Lloyd Jones, and Robbie Laws, plus yet another guitarist, special guest Monti Amundson. The show will also include Joseph Conrad, Ed Pierce, Ben Partain and The Holy Horns of Joe McCarthy, and Scott Franklin.

And come by the Trails End for your New Year’s Eve celebration as Billy D & The Hoodoos will kick things off at 8:30 pm and will take you into the early hours ringing in 2016.

Cherie’s Blues Highway

Not long after relocating from Washington to the Portland area, Cherie Robbins kicked off her monthly concert series Cherie’s Blues Highway last February at The Lehrer Pub & Eatery. She scheduled performers who may not perform regularly together and placed them into a family friendly, all ages atmosphere, and each month, the audiences grew larger and more enthusiastic.

If you missed the series, here are the performers whom she brought to the shows: February: Jada Amy with Ben Rice & Lucy Hammond; March: Franco Paletta & The Stingers with Alfie Harpo; April: The Joanne Broh Band with Lisa Mann & Ben Rice; May: The Highway Poets with Kivett Bednar; June: Michael Osborn & The Drivers with Peter Dammann & Bill Rhoades; July: United By Music with Bobby Rush, MizzLowe, Dave Fleschner & Alan Hager; August: Sister Mercy with Rich Layton; and September: Mitch Kashmar, Terry Robb & Ed Pierce.

Unfortunately, with the closing of The Lehrer, Cherie’s Blues Highway lost its current home and the shows featuring Norman Sylvester, Karen Lovely, Steve Kerin, and Andy Stokes all had to be cancelled. But Cherie’s Blues Highway will not be away for long as she is currently seeking a new venue to continue her monthly series. And watch for her in November as she helps bring the Ken DeRouchie Band Food Drive Kick-Off Concert to the Trails End Saloon on Sunday, November 15. Cherie wants to thank Brad Lehrer in believing in her series and offering it a home and looks forward to seeing all of you at her upcoming shows in the future. Thank you.

Bandstand November 2015

Dave Fleschner/The Blues Cabaret

Congratulations to all the Muddy Award Nominees, and I’m honored and humbled to be considered for an award in the company of great players like Dover Weinberg, Steve Kerin, and Ed Neumann.  When I first moved to Portland in 1996, Dover was gracious enough to have me sit in with the Jim Mesi Band at the Candlelight, and that was a wonderful introduction to the Portland Blues Scene.

Almost twenty years later, having had the opportunity to tour the world as a band-member and or musical director with Curtis Salgado, Earl Thomas, John Nemeth and Karen Lovely – I’m finally releasing an album of my own music.  The Blues Cabaret is releasing our debut CD at the Alberta Rose on November 7th, and I’m really excited to share this music with you.  The vocals on the record feature myself, Earl Thomas, Billy Mixer and Jimmy Wilcox.  The CD features performances by some amazing musicians.  You’ll hear guitar work from Alan Hager, Vyasa Dodson and Dan Gildea.  Carlton Jackson and Russ Kleiner play the drums.  Chuck Barber adds percussion. Bill Athens plays the upright bass.  The horn section features performances by Joe McCarthy, Doug Bundy, Mary-Sue Tobin, Willie Mathias, Robert Pawlowski, Bryan Pawlowski, and Ben Medler.

I’d like to thank all these world-class musicians for their great performances, and I’d like to thank the CBA for supporting me over the years. November 7th is going to be a great night.  Tickets start at $15, but we’ll include a CD for $30 (saving you $5).  For something really special, get your VIP ticket and join the band for a champagne toast at 6:30, with music by La Musica String Quartet, who are also featured on the album.  For $60, this also includes a CD and lets you choose your seat early.  This is a CBA co-sponsored event, so $2 off any ticket price for CBA members.  Thanks to all of you for all your support of me and the Portland live music scene.

October 2015 Band Stand

Lloyd Jones

Our busiest summer of all time! I tell you, been workin’ it like a rental car baby! Came home feeling strong and a little amazed to still be able to go non-stop in planes, trains and vans.

After several dates in Canada, and festivals in Salt Lake City, it was off to Europe. My friends in Denmark are a big help with booking, road managing and hangabillty. The trip ended in Luxembourg with pals from home–Dover Weinberg, Robert Cray, and Richard Cousins–had a moment for visiting.

Did some solo touring back in the U.S. and a tiny vacation.

Saturday, October 17, at Duffs Garage, we officially “Bring it On Home” to Portland with the “Full Band Extravaganza.”

We’re already planning two trips back to Europe next summer, so I hope to see our friends this winter. It’s wonderful to be home! Come on out to Duffs, baby! Fun starts at 9pm.

 Lloyd Jones

“Groove Merchant”

www.lloydjonesmusic.com

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Duffy Bishop and Chris Carlson

Greetings from Florida–

We’d like to send our love and thanks to everyone who made our summer in Portland and the West Coast so wonderful. All of the great musicians we were privileged to play with (I count at least 75!), the venues and festivals that welcomed us, and our friends that came out to see us, we thank you. Your support was overwhelming. While we are enjoying our new adventures

in Florida, there is not a day that goes by that we don’t miss you. We’ll never be away for too long, and we’ll see you in 2016.

We’re having a Portland night here in the Sunshine State! The Ben Rice/Lisa Mann Band with Dave Melyan will be joining The Duffy Bishop Band for a gig at the famous Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, Florida on October 22nd. Y’all come down and see us, y’hear?

Love, Duffy and Chris

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Dave Fleschner

Hello Fellow Blues Enthusiasts,

I’ve been working on a project called “The Blues Cabaret” now for over a year, and we are finally going to release a CD on November 7th.  This project has been a long time coming, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all.

We’re releasing our CD at the Alberta Rose Theatre on November 7th. We will be throwing a killer party, and I hope some of you can make it down.  This is all my original music featuring Earl Thomas, Jimmy Wilcox, Billy Mixer as well as myself on vocals, and we’ve got a great evening lined up for you.  You can find out more about us at www.bluescabaret.com or buy tickets at: https://www.albertarosetheatre.com/calendar.html

I produced this CD with help from Earl Thomas, and a special shout out to Bob Mensel and Dale Boss of the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus for their help in making it happen.  This CD has a who’s who of Portland musicians on it, and I’m proud to showcase their ability to make this music come to life.

I’ve been very lucky to have so many opportunities to perform with Portland’s greatest throughout the years, and I’m excited to bring to Portland something as unique and diverse as this amazing ensemble – performing music that comes straight from the heart.  Please welcome, The Blues Cabaret.

Thanks for all your support, CBA and it’s members,

-Dave Fleschner

September 2015 Bandstand

Tracey Fordice and the 8-Balls
Greetings CBA Members and more,

It’s been a busy summer and also a lot of fun. We have had some great shows and been to a lot of fun places. Hope to see everyone in the months to come.

Well we have finally completed our long awaited new CD, and it’s a good one!

It’s entitled, Out of the Blues and features 11 original songs from the band, and one penned by George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt’s “other guitarist). We have also enlisted the help of some of Portland’s finest musicians to add their flare to our music. You’ll hear Phil “Suburban Slim” Wagner on guitar, Jim Wallace on harp, Joe McCarthy, Brad Ulrich, and Ben Medler on horns, David Alvey on guitars, Franklin Spicer on organ, Jim Toussaint on Fiddle, and Chris Baum on piano. Not to mention the multitude of instruments that we put down ourselves on these tunes!

Being produced and recorded by David Alvey at Drool’n Dogg Records, co-produced by Randy Yearout and Tracey Fordice, with mastering by Steve Sundholm, you know it’s going to sound good. It’s got lots of Blues (rockin’ and traditional), Soul, Gospel, and a New Orleans flavor that will please everybody, including a nod to the British Invasion that helped bring the Blues to the forefront of the music scene in the 60s.

We can’t tell you how pleased we are with it, and the efforts put in by Johnnie Corrie, Steven Mills, Randy Yearout, and myself, Tracey Fordice, were outstanding, and possibly some of our best work ever. We think you will feel the same!

Look for a CD release party at the Lehrer on September 18, and an in-store performance at Music Millennium on September 19.

Blues to you,
Tracey Fordice and the 8-Balls

Sister Mercy
We are honored to be Cascade Blues Association’s Journey to Memphis winners for 2015 and are so excited to head to Memphis in January.  There will be several opportunities to lend your ear and support for our trip.  Rae Gordon has been instrumental in getting the 2015 Blues Cruise set up for October 3 from 3:30 – 5:30 on the Portland Spirit.  Join the Journey to Memphis All-Stars for a great afternoon of music.  We also want to call out The Lehrer and Cherie’s Blue Highway for sponsoring an afternoon show in August.  Our recent album Head Over Heels has been getting rave reviews since its release in December 2015.  Thanks also to the great sound guys at the Waterfront Blues Festival so quick set up and sound quality.

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

Bandstand July 2015

Bottleneck Blues Band
2015 has been the year of Bottleneck Blues Band. After the release of our first CD, Twenty First Century Blues, in December, the band took off. The first big event was performing at the Winter Blues Fest which led us to a slot at the Gorge Blues Fest. The band comes off a win at the first round of the Journey to Memphis and is flying high into the Waterfront Blues Fest at noon on the 4th of July at the Backporch Stage for the second round. August is shaping up to be a great month for us as well. We are headlining the Crawdad Fest at The Skyway Bar in Zig Zag on the 16th at 7:00PM followed by a big show at Director Park in Portland on the 18th at 6.30PM. At the end of the month, on the 29th at 7:00PM, the band is the featured artist at The White Salmon Concert Series in White Salmon, WA. The real blues are alive! Come dance with us! Find the Bottleneck at http://www.bottleneckbluesband.com See you soon and thanks for your support!

Lloyd “Have Mercy” Jones
Europe in July…So sorry to miss our magnificent “Waterfront Blues Festival” this year. It is truly one of the greatest in the country.

The good news is, I’ll be playing other wonderful festivals for several weeks in July throughout Denmark, Holland and Germany! For more details please visit www.lloydjonesmusic.com. I’m proud and pleased to be able share this music around the globe and look forward to returning next year to be a part of this great musical community at home.

Ya’ll have a fantastic 28th Annual Waterfront Blues Festival and I want to hear all about it when I get back!

The Thunder Brothers
The Thunder Brothers (Timmer Thunder and J.M. Thunder) would like to thank everyone for your support on the launch of our new product, the Thunder Brothers Rhythm Section. After nearly two decades of backing national and regional blues acts together, it’s time for us to have our own identity. A special BIG thank you goes out to Jason Ricci, John Lisi, Karen Lovely, and Doug Rowell for so enthusiastically introducing us on such a large scale. In addition to continuing to back many of the Pacific Northwest’s finest artists, we will also be backing visiting regional and national artists in need of tour support. You will find our dates listed in the BluesNotes calendar section. Find and like us on Facebook to stay updated on events as they come in. And coming soon, Thunderwear!

JT Wise Band
We appreciated the supportive audience and dancers at the CBA General Membership meeting in February. Slim told us it was an exciting show and people raved about it. The videos that were taken have a lot of oohhs and aahhs — how nice and thank you. We are happy to report that we will be performing at the CBA picnic on August 2nd. It will be great to see you again!

For those of you who missed the February performance, JT’s musical influences read like a Clapton Crossroads Festival including the full spectrum from Clapton, to Billy Gibbons, to Vince Gill, Robin Ford, with a touch of Garcia and Betts thrown in as well. Band members include JT Wise on guitar, Margaret Wise on bass, Jim Stein on slide guitar, and Ken Woodside on drums.

We play mostly original rock’n blues and Americana.

Summer is a busy time for us and some highlights besides the CBA picnic will be performances at the Central Hotel in St. Johns, Saturday, July 25, from 7 to 9 PM; White Eagle, Thursday, July 30, from 8 to 10PM; Music Millennium Customer Appreciation Barbecue, August 8 at 11AM; Arts on Mainstreet Wednesday, August 12 from noon to 1PM; and Buffalo Gap Saloon and Eatery on Macadam, Saturday, August 15 9PM.

This will be our first time playing at the Central Hotel 7/25 at 7PM and Buffalo Gap Saloon and Eatery 8/15 at 9PM, please try to make it out if you can. We would love to see you! The Central Hotel has amazing cocktails and outdoor seating and the Buffalo Gap is known for their food, liquor selection, and atmosphere. No cover charge to boot.

We look forward to being part of the CBA and hopefully next year participating in the Journey to Memphis competitions. If all goes well, we will have a self-produced CD available later in the year. Wish us luck.

JT and Margaret Wise
www.reverbnation.com/jtwiseband

James Clem
Hi friends, Proud to say that I will be performing at the Waterfront Blues Festival on July 2. I will be kicking things off on Thursday with a set on the Front Porch Stage from noon to 1 pm. That same afternoon will find me on the Crossroads Stage giving a slide guitar workshop and performance from 3 to 4 pm. Harmonica man Stan Street from Clarksdale, Miss will join me for part of the set. Should be a fun time.

My new Blues CD Road’s Gettin’ Muddy was released at the end of June and will be available at Music Millennium and at their booth at the blues fest. Also, go to CD Baby for downloads and CD’s by mail. This CD has the hot rhythm section of Ken West and Craig Snazelle and we have lots of special guests. Mary Flower and I do good old blues duet on Lonnie Johnson’s “You Had Too Much” and she joins me on vocals and dobro on a vintage Carter Family tune. Lots of surprises on this recording like an electric slide surf instrumental and producer Ron Rogers out did himself dialing in the sound on this live in the studio all analog recording.

My other recent swing/blues ukulele CD Sugar Moon is getting great reviews and is now available on iTunes and Amazon for downloads and CD Baby for mail order sales. I just got word that Pandora Radio is also going to be playing tunes from the CD so it may be up and running by the time you read this.

Anyway, stop and say hi at my gigs or at the blues fest and check out some song samples from my new recordings on my website or at the sites I mentioned above. Keep supporting the blues (tell a friend)!

Cheers,

James Clem
www.jamesclem.com

Bandstand May 2015

James Clem

Hi friends,

My new CD, Sugar Moon, is out now and available at Music Millennium, online for downloads, and CD sales at CDBaby.com. It should be on iTunes as well by the time you read this. Give a listen to the sample tracks if you can. You can also hear some complete tracks on my website. I am getting a lot of really positive reaction to this recording.

This was a long term project where producer/engineer Ron Rogers and I got some of Portland’s best musicians–such as Reggie Houston, Mary Flower, Johnnie Ward and lots more–and put them together with the hot rhythm section of Ken West and Craig Snazelle. We recorded them live in the studio onto analog tape.

There are two things that are bit out of the ordinary for CD’s that are reviewed in the CBA BluesNotes. First, it is more swing and western swing than blues, all though all the tunes are bluesy. Second, I am playing ukulele rather than my main instrument, the guitar. Actually, you could listen to this disc and not even be that aware that that is a uke and not a guitar, as they can sound pretty similar. There are some straight blues and ragtime on the disc so blues lovers should find a lot to like on this.

At the same sessions for Sugar Moon, we were recording an all guitar CD to be titled Road’s Gettin’ Muddy that will be out in late May. Pretty much the same great players I listed above on that CD. This disc is all blues but there are a few vintage country tunes from the Carter Family to give it some variety and even an electric surf instrumental I wrote.  So I hope you can look out for these and you will be hearing some of the tracks on Portland radio as well.

See you around and keep diggin’ the blues.

James Clem

www.jamesclem.com

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Ashbolt

Hello fellow blues fans! Firstly, thanks to all the jammers and blues folks that continue to support our Bolt Upright weekly jams. I want to inform everyone about a couple of things happening in May. I’m going to trot out a new project I’m calling Beat’s Workin’ with me singing and leading the band from the front for a change. I’ll be singing tunes from my latest CD.  I’m going to have my friend, Scott Mecalis, play drums (also harp/vocals and bass) along with Susie McDonald on bass/vocals, and Scott Steele on guitar and vocals. We’ll be showcasing this on the last weekend in May. May 29th at Cadigan’s Corner and May 30th at AREA 52. Please check us out.

Also, on May 30th, Susie and I will be co-hosting a blues show on KBOO radio with Joan Semprebon from 5PM-7PM. This program will feature all local talent, so if you want to be included, please get me some fresh tracks to play.

Bolt Upright with Lynn Axtell continues to host the Sunday Jam at Montavilla and most weekend shows. We have Scott Steele join us at AREA 52 and the The Lehrer. They each sound excellent. We’ve also added a new jam on Mondays at AREA 52 from 6PM till 9PM.

Please continue to support live music every chance you get! Thanks!

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Rich Layton & The Troublemakers

Dear CBA Community

It’s time to answer that age-old question: “What kind of music do you play?” Truth be told, we’re not a blues band per se – we’re more like that older first cousin who was always getting you into trouble growing up. On any given night, RLTM takes the blues out to a rockabilly barn dance, drags them though the Louisiana swamp, gets them liquored up at a Texas roadhouse and leaves them crying in their beer at a seedy dive just outside Memphis.

If you dig Dave & Phil Alvin, Marty Stewart, Delbert McClinton and JD McPherson, you’ll dig us. Like those artists, we are keepers of the flame for American roots music, blues included. We play a high-octane mix of classic and original songs that echo the sounds of Slim Harpo, Bo Diddley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and all their musical descendants. It’s the proud tradition of three chords and a bad attitude.

So look for us down at the crossroads of twang & tremolo. We’ll save you that special table under the broken Lone Star beer sign.

PS- can’t wait to spend the evening with our old Texas friends by way of LA, Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps, May 15th @ The Lehrer. Get ready for spine tingling vocals and a groove that will swallow you whole. Not to be missed!