January’s General Membership Meeting Scheduled for Wednesday, January 2, 7:00 pm

Please join The Cascade Blues Association as we kick off a new year in a new venue for our membership meetings —  The McMenamins Mission Theater. This is going to be the perfect way to begin 2019 since we’re bringing in some of the finest blues musicians of the region for this first meeting at The Mission.

Starting the year off will be a set from our 2018 Journey To Memphis winner Ben Rice, who will be heading to Tennessee later this month to represent us at the International Blues Challenge. A two-time finalist at the IBC and recipient of the St. Blues Guitar Award for best guitarist in the solo/duo competition. This year he was the winner of two Muddy Awards this year for contemporary act and the “Curtis Salgado” male vocalist categories.

Ben’s website explains that “[h]is music is deeply rooted in traditional blues, yet at the same time fiercely original. His guitar playing earns labels like ‘fearless,’ ‘inventive’ and ‘powerful,’ and he routinely brings audiences to their feet with his stunning and emotionally honest vocal delivery. Ben is as much home fronting his electric blues band as he is captivating a crowd solo with nothing but his voice and his resonator guitar.”

For the second set of music, we will feature this year’s recipient of a Cascade Blues Association’s Lifetime Achievement Muddy Award, Robbie Laws, playing with his Swing Trio. Renowned as a master guitarist, Robbie has been the recipient of the Muddy Award for electric guitar nine times and has shared the stage alongside some of the very best blues artists of our time, including Albert Collins and Ronnie Earl. Laws possesses the inherent ability to authentically convey different musical styles such as 1940’s Jump Swing, traditional country blues, Piedmont, Delta, early Texas, and Chicago, yet is comfortable playing uptown jazz as well as progressive rock.

Robbie will be performing at the meeting with his Swing Trio, which teams him with drummer Eric Ching and organist Ben Partain. This is guaranteed to be one groovin’ set of tasty music you won’t want to miss.

And of course we will have our popular free ticket drawing and winner-take-all drawing, so don’t miss out on the chance on your chance to win fun prizes. It is still one of the best blues happening taking place every month — no matter the venue. Great music and good friends, what could possibly be better?

The Mission Theater is located at, 1624 NW Glisan Street. Festivities begin at 7:00 pm and the fun is free to CBA members (please show current membership card at door) and $5.00 for non-members. All ages welcome.