December 2017 - Page 2 of 2 - Cascade Blues Association

Applications Now Being Accepted For 2018 Journey To Memphis

The Journey To Memphis is the Cascade Blues Association’s regional competition to select the acts that will represent our organization and region in 2019’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. Up to 250 acts from around the world converge on Beale Street to perform before the music industry searching for new talent, with the chance to win recognition and prizes that include major festival performances and more. But the only way an act may participate is to win a regional competition held by one of The Blues Foundation’s affiliated societies like the Cascade Blues Association.

The Journey To Memphis competition consists of two rounds. The opening round will be held this year in mid-May at a venue to be determined. The event may take place over more than one night depending on the number of acts wishing to compete. Acts are scored by a trio of judges selected for their backgrounds and knowledge of the blues. The highest scoring acts from each night of competition (up to four acts) will advance to the finals held at the Waterfront Blues Festival on July 4th.

Applications to participate in the competition will be accepted from now until Wednesday, April 4 at the Cascade Blues Association membership meeting. No late applications will be accepted. All acts that meet our criteria as described below will be eligible to compete. The performance schedule for the competition is drawn at random.

Here’s what you need to do to enter:

Entry fee is $25.00
Each act must have at least one person in the band who is a member of the Cascade Blues Association.
Only acts located within the region of Oregon, or Washington are allowed to enter the Journey To Memphis.
Any act or member of an act that has been nominated for or received a Blues Music Awards from The Blues Foundation are ineligible to compete. No exceptions.
Any act that has competed in the International Blues Challenge two consecutive years, regardless whether with the same society or as a solo/duo or band act, must sit out a year before being allowed to compete again. Acts can only participate three times in Memphis (acts competing previous to 2017 will be grandfathered and may compete three times starting from 2017).
Along with your $25.00 application fee, send an up-to-date band bio including names of all members, a 300 dpi photo of the band, full song samples of the band’s music (this may be used on a radio broadcast to promote the event), and we need to be made aware of any band member who may be under 21 years of age at the time of the competition so the venue is aware ahead of time for Oregon or Washington Liquor Commission laws.
We require that any act that moves forward in the competition must use the same band members that they won the rounds with. In other words, if you won with a certain bass player or drummer at the Waterfront Blues Festival, that bassist and drummer must be in your band to compete in Memphis. Exceptions will made in rare circumstances when not under control of the act, such as health issues.
We do not prevent acts competing with the Cascade Blues Association from doing so with other societies. All that we ask is that if you win another group’s competition before ours is held, or if you win ours before theirs, please remove yourself from further competitions to allow other acts the chance to win the right to go to Memphis.

Isaac Scott

CD Review

Isaac Scott Live ’83-‘84
Bluestown

It has been a little more than sixteen years since Isaac Scott passed away in November 2001 at the age of 56. The Northwest icon long held a prominent position as one of the absolute best bluesmen of the region. Hailed as the King of the Blues in Seattle, his guitar work and voice that blended his roots in blues, gospel, and soul were quite distinctive and recognizable, and sometimes he may even slip in a little keyboard work on the Hammond. The man was adeptly skilled and learned in the music and its history.

Sadly, Scott only recorded a small number of albums during his lifetime and appeared on one live compilation. A live performance was released back in 2008 appropriately titled Posthumous Blues Live, but when it comes to someone who was so instrumental in crafting the Northwest blues scene, his musical legacy is unfortunately lacking. That is why whenever something new is discovered and released, it is cause to celebrate.

Steve Bailey, a harmonica player who has carved out his own respected career leading his own bands, worked as a member of Scott’s band, too. Recently he went through about 80 hours worth of performances that he recorded directly on the stage at shows from 1983 and 1984. Compiling these tracks, he selected what he felt were the best recordings from the dates that took place at The Fabulous Rainbow, Larry’s Greenfront, and at a private wedding, releasing them under the name Isaac Scott Live ’83-’84. Though the sound may not be perfect, it does capture the magnificent guitar playing that Scott so mightily displayed at every one of his shows. All you need to prove this case is to listen to the opening notes on BB King’s “Don’t Open The Door.” Scott nails it to perfection and his vocals are rich and spot on. It’s just a precursor for what comes along after. Among the songs offered aside from BB King are outstanding pieces written by the likes of Albert Collins (“Get Your Business Straight,” “Ego Trip”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Who’s been Talkin’”), Willie Dixon (“Built For Comfort”), Jimi Hendrix (“Red House”) and Tom McFarland (“Goin’ Back To Oakland”).

And when it comes to the band playing alongside Scott, they’re first class and putting it all together. Steve Bailey not only delivers on harmonica, but throws in some slide guitar, too. Mark Oslund paces Scott’s lead guitar lines on rhythm guitar while Ric Howell’s drums and Tony Thomas on bass are sensational keeping the beat moving.

It’s too bad that Isaac Scott was not fond of touring, perhaps he had his fill while still a playing guitar with the gospel group The Blind Boys of Mississippi as a teenager. But for what the rest of the country/world missed out upon, we were truly blessed to have one of the best right here in the Northwest. Gone too soon, but with recordings like these his work will live on. Simply put, this is one that anybody fortunate to have witnessed Isaac Scott live will want and for those who need a little blues education from our corner of the world it’s a great resource to listen in.

Total Time: 1:19:00

Don’t Answer The Door / Wrapped Up In Love / The Thrill Is Gone / Dust ‘Em / Pontiac Blues / Red House / Get Your Business Straight / Built For Comfort / Baby Please / Same Old Blues / Who’s Been Talkin’ / Goin’ Back To Oakland / Ego trip

Ramblings On My Mind – January 2018

Ramblings

Greg Johnson, Cascade Blues Association President

Every December, the Cascade Blues Association holds their annual elections to determine who will be their officers on the board of directors for the following year. Though it is a privilege to serve on the board, I do have to say that it is a bit disturbing that the same people year after year are the only people attempting to run for the positions. Once again, every officer who held the positions in 2017 were the only ones running for 2018. We do not have many people on our board. A total of seven. This makes things quite an effort for such a small group to try to uphold the events and behind the scenes work that our members expect. And it causes a great deal of burn-out.

We truly need help. We need people who know how to market our organization and to help with our events and to raise money to keep our activities possible. Time simply runs out for our small group to keep up. We have had to cut back on some of our events. We don’t want to, we just don’t have the funds or the people to put everything together. Cut-backs are going to have to happen still. We have to look at the content of the BluesNotes as we’ll have to drop the number of pages. We’ll continue to run our upcoming events and calendar, so don’t worry there. But some of the content will most likely be moved to our monthly email blast and website, such as CD reviews. Please consider advertising in the BluesNotes. It is one of the best bargains in local music publications in the area. And it can help us bring the content that you want.
Most of all, we need people to help. We are allowed by our by-laws to have up to fifteen people on our board. You do not have to hold an officer position, but we have multiple at-large member roles open. It is not a lot of commitment every month when we have bodies to fill the spots. Talk to a current board member for more information on you can become an at-large member, too.

On another more personal note, I am hoping that we have a good crowd of people heading to Memphis to support our acts at the International Blues Challenge this month. Unfortunately I will not be making the trip this year. I love supporting the musicians that we send and will miss being a part of the event that I have volunteered for the past fifteen years. But I have made twenty-five trips to Memphis so far over the years and have decided that there are other events and places that I would like to see, too. Almost all of my vacation time has been spent in Memphis, and most of that time has been spent working long hours that doesn’t always allow me to see our acts or to visit with friends for very much time. Plus it is not inexpensive to travel there. It has meant a lot to me and I hope that our acts have felt the support that I have fully offered to them. The Cascade Blues Association has and will always be represented at the highest quality by our Journey To Memphis winning acts. The best of luck to Amici and Sister Mercy as they compete for the big prize, and hoping that Timothy James & The Portland Blues Revival turn a number of heads as they hear some of the future of our blues scene.

New Music To Note – January 2018

New Music To Note

Here’s a list of new music received at the CBA office, purchased personally, or listened to this past month of note:

Adrianna Marie And Her Roomful Of All-Stars (Kingdom Of Swing (VizzTone)
Andy Gunn – Too Many Guitars To Give Up Now (Self Produced)
Billy T Band – Reckoning (Big H Records)
Blues Battalion – A Smile From Kyle (
Bobby Kyle – It’s My Life (Juicy Baby Records)
Dave Keyes – The Healing (Keyesland Music)
Downchild – Something I’ve Done (Linus)
Ilya Portnov – Strong Brew (Self Produced)
Isaac Scott – Isaac Scott Live ’83-’84 (Bluestown)
Jay Willie Blues Band – Jay Walkin’ (Zoho Music)
Jody Carroll – Back To The Country (Self Produced)
Jody Carroll – Live From The Asheville Guitar Bar (Self Produced)
Jonny Lang – Signs (Concord Music Group)
Mark Nomad – Live From Somewhere (Blue Star Records)
Michael Van Merwyk – Fight The Darkness (Time Zone)
Samantha Fish – Belle Of The West (Ruf)
Sweet Pea Atkinson – Get What You Deserve (Blue Note Records)
The Eric Hughes Band – Meet Me In Memphis (Eric Hughes Music)

JJ Thames Returns To Oregon for Three Shows

Past PDX Blues Event

Blues Diva JJ Thames & The Violet ReVolt

Mississippi blues diva JJ Thames has certainly collected her share of accolades. Legendary “Misty Blue” recording artist Dorothy Moore dubbed her “future of the blues” and Living Blues Magazine calls Thames a true “blues trailblazer.” Known as is the “leave-it-all-on-the-stage” front-woman of the Violet Revolt, she possesses the mesmerizing je ne sais quoi star-quality of Tina Turner, Etta James, Janis Joplin, Koko Taylor, and Ruth Brown — all in one raw, often wistful, powerful, and passionate voice. Her voice and stage presence is one that often incites goosebumps, tears, encores and standing ovations. Capable of commanding the attention of any room whether it be a 100 person capacity, hole-in-the-wall Mississippi juke joint, or a 20,000 seat stadium.

Thames has been wowing audiences since first being shown the ropes of performing at an early age from the likes of Bobby Bland, Denise LaSalle, Peggy Sott Adamas, and Marvin Sease. On the road since she was 18, she is known for grabbing an audience’s attention with her funny anecdotes, messages of hope, positivity, love, and encouragement.

JJ Thames & The Violet Revolt will be appearing in Portland on Saturday, January 13 at Jack London revue, 529 SW 4^th Avenue. This is a 21 & over only show, starting at 9:00 pm. Tickets are available at Ticketweb.com for $12.00.

For those in Southern Oregon, Thames and the band will be performing in Ashland on Monday, January 8 at Southern Oregon University’s Center for the Visual Arts at 6:00 pm. ~~Then on Tuesday, January 9, they will be performing in Medford at the Grape Street Bar & Grill at 7:00 pm~~. And on Thursday, January 11, she will appear at the Axe & Fiddle, 657 E Main Street in Cottage Grove at 7:00 pm. Contact the venues for ticket information.

What’s on Tap for January’s General Membership Meeting . . .

General Meetings

What’s on Tap for October’s General Membership Meeting

Catfish Lou’s, 2460 NW 24th Ave, Portland
Wednesday, January 3 – 7:00 pm
Members always Free – Non-Members $5.00
(Members please show your current cards at the door)
Opening Acoustic Set – Lee Blake
Second Electric Set – Ty Curtis

If you want to experience a tasty bit of great blues music to start out the new year, there will be no better opportunity than you’ll find at Catfish Lou’s on the first Wednesday for the Cascade Blues Association’s monthly general meeting. Two acts will be presented that have held long-time status amongst the very best of the region and you can catch them both in the same place for what is surely to be a dynamic night of music.

Opening the evening will be Mississippi Lee Blake. This expressive vocalist and sensational guitarist has been performing around the Portland area since the late 1980s, working as a solo musician and with groups such as The Rockin’ Razorbacks, The Snake Charmers, and The Lee Blake Band. For the meeting, Blake will be appearing as a solo artist, working his steel bodied resonator and slide guitars. A bluesman at heart, he can also deliver offerings of R&B, roots, and retro-style rock, both covers and original music, with a specialty of bringing people to the dance floor even with his acoustic playing. It has been a little more than five years since Blake last performed at a CBA meeting — way too long for us to host one of Portland’s true blues legends.

Over the past few years, the Ty Curtis Band has built a following not only around his home-state of Oregon, but for the past couple years in his second, adopted home in Austin, Texas. While visiting over the past month, Curtis asked to perform at the CBA monthly meeting and we’re more than happy to oblige. Along with the explosive rhythm section of drummer Jerry Jacques and bassist Tony Valdez, Curtis and his incendiary guitar work and over the top vocals bring a ton of excitement every time they take a stage. Accolades follow this young bluesman who has been a local mainstay for more than a decade; a second place showing at the 2009 International Blues Challenge and seven CBA Muddy Awards including a 2017 recognition for regional blues act of the year. Aside from his guitar prowess and singing, Curtis is a gifted songwriter who can turn up the heat on blistering rocking blues or tear at your heartstrings with emotional ballads.
This is a not to miss meeting, so you know that you’re going to want to show up early to find a seat and good view of the stage. Pick up your free drawing ticket as you enter the venue for your chance to win prizes, or purchase a ticket or even a few of our $1.00 a chance raffle to win a multi-CD package. January and 2018 is going to start the blues year off right at the CBA meeting.

Harvey Brindell

Band Stand

Dark Tales From The Road
Volume 1, Number 2

In 1993 we released our first album on the “-ism” label. It was selling in local record stores and we were selling it from the bandstand. Sales were pretty good but the real benefit was not the sales per se but rather the added bookings the band was able to get as a result of having a CD on a record label and actually having a professionally produced album to send out with our promo kit to club owners. We were able to book into regional blues clubs that were stops for many of the national acts coming through the area. Suddenly we were playing Des Moines, Topeka, Kansas City, Raid City, Omaha, and were getting increased local bookings.

We booked into a blues club in South Sioux City. It was a place we had never been before and didn’t know if we could get much of a crowd. We did know that they were doing national blues acts. We arrive about 7:30 for a 9:00 gig. The place was in the middle of a dark, cold industrial part of town, We pulled up in front of the place and a couple of us jumped out of the van to go inside and find out where we should load in. As we walked in the front door we were stunned to find a packed room waiting for us to arrive. Standing room only!

We started on time to an enthusiastic crowd that danced, hollered, and jumped around for the whole first set. We played for an hour and took a break. As we stepped down we told the crowd that we were taking a short break but had two more sets of live blues for them. We all stepped out the back door to have a smoke. After about fifteen minutes we decided it was time to go back in. We walked in the back door and found an empty room, save the bartender and one guy sitting by himself at the end of the bar. He yelled out “can you guys play Red House.” When we told him we didn’t play that song he said “well okay, I gotta go home anyway” and left.

2017 Cascade Blues Association Holiday Party

Past PDX Blues Event

2023 Cascade Blues Association Holiday Party

The annual CBA Holiday party is set for December 10th at the East Portland Moose Lodge, 16411 NE Halsey, and it is open to everyone, so bring your family and friends and have some fun. The lodge members are really excited to share their place with us and are preparing a great menu for us to enjoy. Their more than reasonable prices for food and drinks may be your first holiday gift. For faster service, the best way to pay is always cash, but the lodge will accept credit cards.

We will again set up a table for you to bring dessert goodies to share. Another table will display silent auction items for you to bid on, and a CD raffle will be held after each band, so bring your holiday shopping list.

The Moose Lodge is a very family friendly space: pool and shuffleboard are free and you can play darts for a reasonable charge. CBA members are free and all others pay only $5.00 donation to attend.

It’s the holidays, so please think of those less fortunate than you. Bring cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank as the lodge has barrels set up for us. The lodge also sponsors the Boys & Girls Club, so they will have barrels to collect dog and cat food for the Troutdale Humane Society, so bring pet food too!

This years line-up of music is once again going to be outstanding.

12:15 – 1:30 Timothy James Band
1:45 – 3:00 Billy D & the Hoodos
3:15 – 4:30 Kevin Self & the Tornadoes
4:45 – 6:00 Ty Curtis

We look forward to seeing you there!