Pete Anderson

Long considered one of the world’s best-of-the-best Tele-twangers, musical pioneer Pete Anderson has never been satisfied with Pete Andersonmaintaining the status quo. The last 10 years has found Anderson focusing on his solo career, perfecting his craft, honing his musical vision, and fusing together blues and country to forge a style all his own. Well known as a pioneer in the roots-rock genre, he was an early champion of the Americana movement, where he had a hand in introducing the world to artists such as Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Michelle Shocked and Rosie Flores. He is also a renowned band-leader who has appeared on “Saturday Night Live”, “David Letterman” , and “The Tonight Show,” was the musical partner of Dwight Yoakum and has played over 3,000 live shows in upwards of 15 countries around the world. Yet his focus as a solo artist has always been aimed at his first musical love, the blues.

Pete Anderson will be showcasing his guitar prowess for a performance at The Birk on Thursday, April 6 at 7:00 pm. The Birk is located at 11139 Hwy 202 in Birkenfeld. Tickets are $10.00 advance at Tickettomato.com or $15.00 day of show at the door.

Doyle Bramhall II

Doyle Bramhall IIDoyle Bramhall II is one of the most distinctive vocalists, guitarists, composers, and producers in contemporary music. Indeed, none other than Eric Clapton, with whom Bramhall has worked with for more than a decade, lauds him as one of the most gifted guitarists he has ever encountered. As the son of the late Texas music legend Doyle Bramhall, he was raised in a home filled with the blues and rock ‘n’ roll styles indigenous to Texas.  The younger Bramhall – a rare and distinctive guitarist who plays left-handed, but with his instrument strung for a right-hander and flipped backwards – was befriended and supported early in his career by Stevie Ray Vaughan, recruited by Jimmie Vaughan to play in The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and formed The Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton, Chris Layton, and Tommy Shannon. His guitar mastery even led to his being showcased on a few tours with both Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.

His latest released, Rich Man, finds Bramhall exploring an intensive spiritual and musical journey that includes instrumentation he discovered through trips to Northern Africa and India. Rich Man is a watershed achievement for Bramhall, both in terms of the many music styles in the tracks-which begin and end with his fundamental American blues influences and in between follow his global music explorations and arrangements-and the inner examinations resulting in the spiritual growth expressed in the lyrics.

“I read a quote from Charles Mingus,” Bramhall explained upon the completion of Rich Man. “He felt like he was not playing his music as much as creating the sound of his life and experiences through the medium of his music. I looked at his life and related to that, and tried to capture the same thing on the album.”

Doyle Bramhall II will be returning to Portland for a performance on Sunday, April 9 at The Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan Street. Tickets for this 8:00 pm, 21 and over show can be purchased through Cascadetickets.com for $20.00 in advance or $22.00 day of show at the door.

2017 Blues in the Gorge

2017 Blues in the GorgeThis coming September, the fourth annual Blues In The Gorge acoustic blues guitar camp will return to the Menucha Retreat & Conference Center. Presented by Menucha and co-sponsored by the Cascade Blues Association, this year’s instructors will feature world-renowned artists Guy Davis, Mary Flower, Orville Johnson, and Valerie Turner. Guests will immerse themselves in music, enjoying up to four workshops each day, with instructor concerts and jams each night.

It’s not too early to register as participants are limited to only 46 to ensure plenty of instructor attention for all. Happening September 30 through October 4, Menucha Retreat & Conference Center is located in Corbett, Oregon in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, about 30 minutes from Portland. Registration is open at menucha.org/programs/blues.

Cascade Blues Association 30th Anniversary Celebration

Cascade Blues Association 30th Anniversary CelebrationIn December 1986, a small group of Portland area blues fans decided to form a society to help support, promote, and preserve the blues and related music. It was named the Cascade Blues Association as it was the only blues society in the Northwest at the time as the former Oregon Blues Society in Eugene had folded. Thirty years later the Cascade Blues Association is still alive. And to celebrate, it’s throwing a party with the aid of many of the local performers who have been stalwarts in our music community throughout our tenure.

The party will take place on Sunday, May 21 at 4:00 pm, at McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside Street in downtown Portland, and will feature sets from the following:

  • BILL RHOADES & THE PARTY KINGS AND QUEENS
  • DUFFY BISHOP BAND
  • KINZEL & HYDE
  • LLOYD JONES STRUGGLE
  • MARY FLOWER
  • NORMAN SYLVESTER BAND
  • RAE GORDON & THE BACKSEAT DRIVERS
  • TERRY ROBB
  • TOO LOOSE CAJUN/ZYDECO BAND
  • THE STRANGE TONES with THE VOLCANO VIXENS
  • TY CURTIS BAND

Additional artists will be making special appearances throughout the night including:

BOBBY TORRES / ROBBIE LAWS /DAVE MATHIS / MIKE MOOTHART and more TBA!

Tickets for the CBA’s 30th Anniversary Celebration are available at CascadeTickets.com for $15.00.

A ton of thanks go out to Joey Scruggs who has been piecing this event together for us and to Terry Currier for securing the Crystal Ballroom. Both of these gentlemen have been involved with the Cascade Blues Association since the beginning and continue to show their love for the organization.

Duff’s Garage

Duff’s GarageWith a great deal of sadness we witness the loss of one of Portland’s iconic blues venues as Duff’s Garage closes its doors in April. During the last fifteen years, Portland’s music community have seen much growth in the number of its musicians, it benefit showcases, and touring artists. And now they will all find it a bit tougher to locate a room to play in the city.

So although it is bittersweet, Jon and Jennifer Wallace will be closing Duff’s with one final celebration of their fifteen year history, going out in style with a night of jumping blues featuring a doubleheader with the Ben Rice Band and The Jumptown Aces on Saturday, April 1.

Multiple Muddy Award winner and St Blues Best Guitar winner at the 2015 International Blues Challenge Ben Rice has had pretty much the length of his career coincide with Duff’s Garage, playing there on many occasions. One of the area’s most popular bands, they are a perfect way to headline this final night.

As also are The Jumptown Aces. Duff’s has always maintained a venue open for bands that offer swing music and The Aces are a natural fit for that. The essence of the band is hard hitting swinging rhythms, honkin’ sax parts, fast walking bass lines, greasy guitar riffs and blues shouting vocals that just makes your body want to move.

Duff’s Garage is located at 2530 NE 82nd Avenue. Show time is 9:00 pm.

Paris Slim

Paris SlimFormer Portland resident and Delta Groove recording artist, Franck Goldwasser, aka Paris Slim, will be heading back to Oregon for a spring tour that will be making stops at numerous venues and will also feature special guests along the way. Without doubt, Paris Slim is one of the finest and most creative international guitarists. He has a handful of critically-acclaimed solo recording and a WC Handy Award (Blues Music Award) nomination for his disc Blues For Esther. Since moving to the United States from France in the 1980s, Paris Slim has been a mainstay of the West Coast blues scene working with artists such as Jimmy McCracklin, Troyce Key, Curtis Salgado, Alastair Greene, and The Mannish Boys.

Bassist John Mazzocco and drummer Brian Foxworth will join Paris Slim during his current Oregon tour on Saturday, April 1 in Hood River for a show presented by Squrl at The Pines Tasting Room, 202 Cascade Avenue. Admission for this 7:00 pm performance is $20.00 and may be purchased in advance at the venue.

On Monday, April 3, Paris Slim will be holding the court at The Muddy Rudder filling in for Lloyd Jones’ regular acoustic showcase. This is a solo appearance, but Slim says that he’d love to have some friends drop by to join him. Located at 8105 SE 7th in the Sellwood neighborhood, this is a free event, beginning at 8:00 pm.

On Tuesday, April 4, AC Porter & The Live Wires featuring Jim Wallace will welcome Paris Slim to the Blue Diamond, 2016 NE Sandy Blvd, for a special free evening in tribute of blues legend Muddy Waters, at 8:00 pm.

Then, on Saturday, April 8, Paris Slim will be appearing in Eugene alongside Henry Cooper at Mac’s At The Vet’s Club, 1626 Willamette Street. Show time is 8:00 pm, contact the venue for admission information at 541-344-8600.

 

Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Robert Randolph & The Family Band“Robert Randolph is an American Original,” says Blue Note Records’ President Don Was. “He has mastered what is, arguably, the most complex instrument in the world and developed a unique voice that is equal parts street-corner church and Bonnaroo.”

Robert Randolph & The Family Band first gained national attention with the release of the album Live at the Wetlands in 2002. The band followed with three studio recordings over the next eight years which, together with tireless touring and unforgettable performances at such festivals as Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, won them an expanding and passionate fan base. Randolph’s unprecedented prowess on his instrument garnered him a spot on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list, and also attracted the attention of such giants as Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, who have collaborated with him on stage and in the studio.

Robert Randolph brings his intensely driving live performance celebrating his latest release Lickety Split to The Aladdin Theater on Saturday, April 1 for an 8:00 pm show. Tickets are $25.00 advance through Ticketfly.com and $27.00 at the door day of show. This is an all ages event. The Aladdin Theater is located at 3017 SE Milwaukie Avenue.

New Orleans Bluesman Luke Winslow-KingLuke Winslow-King is a New Orleans-based guitarist, singer, composer, producer, and songwriter. His work is an eclectic mix of Mississippi delta blues, folk music, traditional jazz, and roots rock & roll. His alchemical songs blend contemporary ideas with styles from bygone eras producing a sound that is rustic and urbane, elegant, and entirely his own. Like the warm tones of an old gramophone, Luke Winslow-King makes it possible for us to lose all track of time and century.  It is a sound that looks to the past to move to the future. This along with his burgundy voice, dapper attire, and versatile guitar playing have earned him a reputation as a musician who delivers soulfully energetic and dynamic performances which earned him a New Orleans Blues Artist of the Year award in 2015.

Luke Winslow-King last toured through Oregon this past and he will be returning to the state for a couple shows in early April.

On Sunday, April 2, Winslow-King will be playing at The Trillium Café in Hood River. Located at 207 Oak Street, contact the venue at 541-308-0800 for show time and admission.

On Monday, April 3, he will appear at Portland’s The White Eagle Saloon at 7:00 pm for a 21 and over show. Tickets are $8.00 in advance and can be purchased at Cascadetickets.com, or at the door day of show for $10.00. The White Eagle is located at 836 N Russell Street.

Walla Walla Guitar Festival

Walla Walla Guitar FestivalNow in their sixth year, The Walla Walla Guitar festival has gotten even bigger than ever before. Combining forces with Feast Walla Walla, you’ll be treated to amazing national and regional acts, along with gourmet food and wine offerings. This multi-venue event will host approximately thirty bands performing in downtown Walla Walla starting with a jam on Thursday, April 6, with the main festival taking place Friday, April 7 through Sunday, April 9.

It all opens up at Sapolil Cellars on Thursday night with a pre-festival jam hosted by Randy Oxford and Robin Barrett.

On Friday, the festival officially kicks off with a 7:00 pm performance at Walla Walla Elks by Alligator recording artist and multiple Blues Music Award winner, including the 2013 BB King Entertainer of the Year, Curtis Salgado.

Friday will continue with The Friday Kick-Off Party, at The Eagles, The Elks, The VFW and Sapolil Cellars with performances from Junkyard Janes celebrating their 20th Anniversary, Shoot Jake, Brett “Bad Blood” Benton, Iguana Hat, Frog Hollow and Josephine Fox.

On Saturday, an acoustic showcase will begin at noon at The Elks with two acts; Chicago’s Jaik Willis and glass neck guitar master Ned Evett. Multi-platinum awarded master guitarist Pete Anderson will appear at The Elks. And the “Large Show” will be held in the Feats Party Tent with Robin Barret & The Coyote Kings featuring Tiph Dames, and The Mannish Boys All Stars with Sugaray Rayford, Kid Ramos, Anthony Geraci, Jimi Bott, Willie J. Campbell and Allan Walker. The Guitar Crawl begins at 8:00 pm at Sapolil Cellars with Debra Arlyn and Rafael Tranquilino, while at The VFW Post 992 The Thunder Brothers and Vaughn Jensen will hold the stage. The Walla Walla Eagles will host The Randy Oxford Band along with Polly O’Keary and The Rhythm Method. An all-star jam will be hosted by Vaughn Jensen from midnight ‘til 1:45 AM at the VFW to end out the night.

On Sunday Morning, the Downtown Gospel Brunch will feature a gourmet breakfast buffet while International Blues Challenge third place winner Rae Gordon will provide Southern Gospel performances, as you enjoy your Mimosas and Bloody Marys!

The Coyote Kings Invitational Walla Walla Guitar Festival is brought to you by Robin Barrett & Coyote Kings Tourism ,Walla Walla, The Downtown Walla Walla Foundation, The Walla Walla Blues Society, CH2M, The Washington Blues Society, The Cascade Blues Association, The Inland Empire Blues Society and the Blues Therapy Radio Show.

The WWFGF is a 21 and over festival. For tickets and additional information, please visit http://wallawallaguitarfestival.com.

With the heart of a genuine Texas bluesman, the head (banging) of a Zappa and Lemmy disciple, and the boots of a man resting in the dust outside of town at sunrise, Scott H. Biram journeys through the harrowing human condition like no one else. A walk on the Biram side straddles the chasm between sin and redemption and The Bad Testament lands somewhere west of the Old Testament and south of an AA handbook. It’s a record of hard-grinding lost love, blues and deep, dark Americana.

Self proclaimed as the ‘Dirty Old One Man Band,’ Scott H Biram is THE one-man band.  The master of the realm. Why? Because even though he’s one man, he ain’t one thing.  Austin-based Biram ain’t no candy-ass singer/songwriter either, sweetly strumming songs about girls with big eyes and dusty highways. His singing, yodeling, growling, leering, and brash preachin’ and hollerin’ is accompanied by sloppy riffs and licks from his ’59 Gibson guitar and pounding backbeat brought forth by his amplified left foot. The remainder of this one-man band consists of an unwieldy combination of beat-up amplifiers and old microphones strung together by a tangled mess of guitar cables.

Dayna Papaleo of the Rochester City News describe Biram as “[a]n impassioned multi-instrumentalist unleashing a brutal cacophany with the fury of someone whose check from the Devil finally cleared. Half dirty blues, half underground punk, half honky-tonk, half revival meeting…oh shut up about the math. You’ll see the light.”

Scott H. Biram will be appearing at Dante’s, 350 W Burnside, on Saturday, April 1, for a 9:00 pm show. Also on the bill will be Jesse Dayton with his guitar shredding, country-infused Americana sound and Texas duo Alien Knife Fight. Tickets for this night of eclectic sounds are available in advance through Ticketweb.com for $14.00. 21 and over only.