On Saturday, October 14, the Oregon Music Hall of Fame will be celebrating its 2017 inductees at its annual ceremony and concert. Twelve artists, acts, and industry people have been selected for this year’s honors, and the event will also include recognition for both artist of the year and album of the year.

This year’s inductees have plenty of blues individuals included. Organist Louis Pain who has worked with the Paul deLay Band, Mel Solomon, Sweet Baby James, and LaRhonda Steele, bassist Richard Cousins who has spent time with Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker, Frankie Lee, and most notably Robert Cray, and keyboardist Peter Boe, who played with Curtis Salgado and Robert Cray, have all been chosen in the side players category. Lisa Mann’s album Hard Times, Bad Decisions has been chosen as the coveted 2017 album of the year.

Other recipients include Quasi, Floater, Sean Croghan, Mickey Newbury, King Black Acid, Jimmy Boyer, plus industry people Lisa Lepine, Chris Monlux, Tres Shannon, and the Artist Of The Year: Case-Lang-Veirs (Neko Case, kd lang, and Laura Veirs).

Performing at the show will be Floater, a tribute to Jimmy Boyer featuring the Freak Mountain Ramblers, Fernando, Bingo Richey, Turtle VanDemarr and Pete Krebs, plus the Louis Pain All-Star Band with Andy Stokes, LaRhonda Steele, Peter Dammann, Dan Balmer, and more.

The event will feature a live auction of autograph guitars including. Chicago, Ry Cooder, Culture Club, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Steve Miller, and Weezer. Proceeds from this event help support the Oregon Music Hall of Fame’s music education and scholarship programs.

This year’s ceremony and concert will again be held at The Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Avenue. The event starts at 7:00 pm and is open to all ages. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketfly.com for $30.00 general admission ($35.00 day of show). VIP tickets, which include prime seating, a collectable laminated pass, a hand-pulled, numbered, and signed Gary Houston limited edition poster, and entrance to the catered after-induction party with the inductees, musicians and other VIPs, are $100.00 ($110.00 day of show).

A journey into the soul of American music, Take Me To The River is a live concert performance originating from the award-winning film and record of the same name, which celebrates the iconic sounds of Memphis and Mississippi Delta musicians who reimagines the utopia of racial, gender, and generational collaboration of the Memphis musical scene (represented by Stax and Hi Records) in its heyday. This touring concert brings an all-star lineup of Grammy-winning musicians in a once-in-a-lifetime grouping that includes William Bell, Bobby Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, Don Bryant, Al Kapone Music, Frayser Boy, the Hi Rhythm Section, and the Stax Alumni Band all under the direction of Boo Mitchell and Martin Shore.

This amazing presentation will be performing at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1111 SW Broadway, on Wednesday, October 18, starting at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at Orsymphony.org ranging from $20.00 to $55.00.

Mississippi Studios welcomes Marty O’Reilly on Thursday, October 19. This three-man orchestra seamlessly weaves trance-based blues music, harkening back to John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf, with a drunken minor swing comparable to some of Tom Waits’ darker works. Hailing from Santa Cruz, California, Marty O’Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra deliver an enthralling and passionate performance, which often leaves them out of breath and the stage littered with broken strings and bow hairs.

This 21 & over show starts at 9:00 pm with tickets available at Ticketfly.com, mostly standing and limited balcony seating for $12.00 advance and at the door day of show for $14.00. Mississippi Studios is located at 3939 N. Mississippi Ave.

Michael Roach and John Miller are two fascinating acoustic guitarists who hail from the East Coast and who were influenced in their early years by the numerous blues and folk musicians of the region. They have taken what they acquired and have become teachers themselves of the music while working at the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop and making their own name as authorities in country blues.

Michael Roach learned the blues directly from artist such as John Cephas, John Jackson and Philadelphia Jerry Ricks. For the past 25 years he has conducted workshops throughout the USA and Europe and has lectured at the Smithsonian Institute, Oxford University in England and the University of Metz in France, promoting African-American culture through the use of the blues.

At an early age, John Miller attended the Philadelphia Folk Festival where he was exposed by the likes of Dave Van Ronk, Elizabeth Cotten and Mississippi John Hurt among a variety of other in folk, country and blues formats. He has recorded on both Rounder and Blue Goose Records and he has performed in a trio with Washington-based artists Orville Johnson and Grant Dermordy.

The pair will be performing together at The Lake Theater on Monday, October 16 at 7:00 pm. This is sure to be an enlightening showcase of two acoustic masters. The Lake Theater is located at 106 State Street in Lake Oswego with tickets available in advance through the venue’s website at Laketheatercafe.com for $15.00 general admission.