Mark your Calendars — First Annual CBA Member Concert @the Crossings slated for August 6th 

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Annual CBA Member Concert

First Annual CBA Member ConcertThe CBA now has a new format for its annual member picnic. Mimicking the local Concerts in the Park style, we will hold the 2017 member concert on August 6 at Columbia Crossings located at 515 N. E. Tomahawk Island Drive.  The day will include a line up of terrific blues with Billy Dee & The Hoodoos, Tracy Fordice Band, Franco Paletta & The Stingers, and The Thunder Brothers (watch this space for additional performers).

We will offer limited beer, wine, sodas, and water on site, but you’ll need to bring your own food to the event. Though we’re planning to arrange for food carts, there will be no BBQ pit or food tables. Dano’s Dogs will be offering food for sale and we hope to offer one more food option.

As in past years – this is a MEMBERS ONLY event.  A family membership permits 2 adults and 2 children living in the same household.  There will be a charge for additional children.  CBA membership will be available for purchase at the event. So bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic basket and join us for a fabulous day of good friends and some killer blues.

Thank You Volunteers!!

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Thank You To Holiday Party Volunteers

Thank YouThe Cascade Blues Association occasionally holds events where it is necessary for extra hands to assist in making sure everything runs smoothly. We want to thank the following individuals for helping us out at the CBA 30, Journey To Memphis, and June Membership Meeting; we couldn’t have successfully held these events without you! Thank you!!

Alan Craig, Annette Young, Bob Smith, Cherie Robbins, Coila Ash, Don Holland, Gary Jaskowiak, J. Lofberg, June Walker, Kathy Kiwala, Ken Johnson, Madeleine Crawford, Mark Van Presentin, Mary Maxson, Miles Holland, Miles Stewart, Phil Messina, Richard LaChapelle, Sandy Forst, Sue Craig, Susan Dishaw, Susan Johnson, Terry Nolan, Tom Rich, Winnie Chapman

An extra huge thanks goes out to the crew who worked backstage at the CBA 30 concert. They’re all professional stage hands who usually are paid to work these events, but all donated their time, some putting in up to twelve-plus hours.

Charles Rowe, James Hurley, Jay Lawhorn, Lydia Salvey, Pat McDougal, Rebecca Rutledge, Steve Gross, Tim Rutter and Wesley Yurovchak.

If we missed anyone, it was an oversight. Please let us know — you are important to us.

Opening Round Of The 2017 Journey To Memphis Competition Set For First Weekend In June At The Vinyl Tap

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Journey To Memphis All-Stars

Since 1999, the Cascade Blues Association has sent local acts to represent our organization and region in The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge. Over the years, our competition, the Journey To Memphis, has selected a terrific collection of some of our top talent, including several who have made the finals such as Junkyard Jane, Blind Rhino and Ben Rice & The iLLamtics, and even those who’ve taken home some of the top prizes, Ty Curtis Band – 2nd place 2009, Karen Lovely – 2nd place 2010, and most recently Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers – 3rd place 2017.

This year’s field of contestants seeking to reach their place competing in Memphis will come together for the first round at the Vinyl Tap, 2099 SE Oak Grove Blvd, on Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3. Set times for the acts were drawn at random and five will perform starting at 8:30 pm on Friday and the other six beginning at 8:00 pm Saturday. Set times will be 30 minutes long and they will be scored by a trio of judges on blues content, originality, vocals, instrument talent, and stage presence. The two highest scoring acts from each night will advance to the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival for the finals to be held on the Front Porch Stage, Tuesday, July 4.

The acts for this year’s Journey To Memphis are: David Pinsky, Gabriel Cox, Holfar Blue, Jason “JT” Thomas, Julie Amici Duo, Lightning Kings, Louis Creed & The Geezer, Randy Morrison’s Party Bus, Rogue Rage Duo, and The Timothy James Band.

Admission for each night is $10.00, which will be used for the prize money awarded to the winning acts to help defray some of their traveling expenses to Memphis. Winning acts will also be awarded a set at the following year’s Waterfront Blues Festival, and Rae Gordon has once again scheduled a Blues Cruise on the Portland Spirit that will include the winners to assist in raising funds for the trip for the IBC, too.

What’s on Tap for May’s General Membership Meeting…

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

Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder Str., Portland
Wednesday, May 3 – 7:00 pm
Members always Free – Non-members $5.00
Opening Set – The Hellhounds
Second Set – Holfar Blue

May has everything in line to be a special month for the Cascade Blues Association and the blues in Portland. We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom later in the month and crossing our fingers for our local artists nominated for the Blues Music Awards happening in Memphis a week earlier. But the right way to kick it all off, as is every month, is to attend the CBA’s General Membership Meetings. Always the perfect place to check out a couple of our local musicians in a cozy setting with dancing and friends. This month we’ll be bringing a couple of acts that have always had great reception when performing for us.

Opening May’s meeting will be The Hellhounds —  “Patio Pete” Gallatin and CBA Membership Secretary Fred Morgan have each been playing the blues for over fifty years and  have been playing and performing together in the Portland area for close to five years. Both found inspiration from traditional blues and folk artists. Pete notes the vintage pre-war styles of Robert Johnson, Charlie Jordon, and Leadbelly among those who affected his playing. Fred points originally toward Josh White and Dave Van Ronk, but truly found his calling following meeting icons like Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Furry Lewis.

Both are adept guitarists with Fred taking on the acoustic six and twelve string, while Pete brings his slide-work as well as his harmonica to The Hellhounds. The duo offer a lively, entertaining walk through the history of the blues playing the hits of the 20’s and 30’s with some more contemporary songs thrown in for good measure.

Holfar BlueFor the second set of the evening will have Holfar Blue who have been delighting audiences in the Portland region for the last six years. They’ve steadily built a loyal following through their live shows and self-produced recordings and each of their performances are unique with their original music blending elements of modern blues, jazz, R&B soul, and rock. Along with their originals they weave in artful covers of classic blues and rock rarities, including songs from artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Animals, The Doors, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison.

Fronted by Michael Houlberg on lead vocals and guitar, he also writes their original material. After playing for many years for various bands in LA and San Diego, and having an eclectic ear for a wide range of music and his songwriting will make you think of other writers who marry diverse styles of music with clever and thoughtful lyrics. With seasoned band mates Dave Farrell on keyboard, Pat Bizon on bass and Brian Parks on drums, the quartet’s lively music and thoughtful lyrics will give you  something to think about that’ll stay with you. The band has a handful of self-released CDs and EPs including “Blue Suede Cadillac” (2012), “You Need Truth” (2013) and their most recent “Heard A Hound Dog Howl” (2017). All are available on Bandcamp.

Holfar Blue is a labor of love. A seasoned group of professionals in other fields, but they share a deep appreciation of music. They enjoy exploring the spaces where blues, jazz, and rock collide.

Don’t miss out on another exciting evening at The Melody Ballroom for the CBA’s monthly meeting. It’s a fun time with chances to win prizes through our ticket drawings, learn about what’s coming up in our area, listen to great blues artists and to hang out with good friends. Hope to see you there.

 

CBA 30 – A Once In A Lifetime Benefit Concert

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Cascade Blues Association 30th Anniversary Celebration

Cascade Blues Association 30th Anniversary The Cascade Blues Association is proud to present CBA 30 – A Once in a Lifetime Benefit Concert, along with McMenamins Crystal Ballroom and Music Millennium, to celebrate the CBA’s thirtieth anniversary of supporting, promoting, and preserving the blues in the Pacific Northwest. Formed in late December 1986, for the past thirty years the organization has continuously worked at focusing on our local, regional, and national touring talent that has made the Northwest a hotbed in the international blues scene. Our community definitely overflows with an abundance of blues musicians, both past and present and this event is aimed at honoring their creativity as much as the CBA’s involvement.

To help us celebrate thirty years, more than fifty musicians are coming together for this early evening event taking place at the historic McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in downtown Portland. Oregon Music Hall of Fame members Duffy Bishop, Lloyd Jones, Norman Sylvester, Terry Robb, Bill Rhoades, and Bobby Torres are only a small part of this extravaganza of amazing artists. International Blues Challenge winners Karen Lovely, Rae Gordon, and Ty Curtis will also be on hand, as well as many CBA Muddy Award winners and CBA Muddy Hall of Fame inductees

Over the years, the CBA has had its ups and downs as any business will go through. Unfortunately, at this point we are seeing a bit of a struggle financially, so this event is also a benefit to bring us back into a stable frame. We do a number of events that are expensive, and most of the cover for these events comes from our membership’s annual dues. For the past few months we have consistently experienced more outcome in funds than we have been receiving and it is catching up with us. The Muddy Awards, member picnic and holiday party, BluesNotes and various events do add up. Therefore, all of the musicians taking part in CBA 30 have offered their performances to help us get back on our feet.

CBA 30 takes place on Sunday, May 21, starting at 4:00 pm. McMenamins Crystal Ballroom is located at 1332 W Burnside Street. Tickets are available in advance through CascadeTickets.com, the Crystal Ballroom box office or by calling 1-855-CAS-TIXX. A limited number of VIP seats are available for $75.00 each, that include a meet & greet with Duffy Bishop, with a personal photo with Duffy and a signed event poster by her, a VIP pass and reserved seating. This event is 21 & over only.

Headlined by the Duffy Bishop Band, the line-up includes many of our favorites from throughout the years, with nine sets that’ll feature guest artists popping in and out throughout the evening. Time was limited and we had more musicians wanting to participate than we could fit into one night, and we do love and appreciate all. Thank you for being there for us. Here is who you can expect to see:

 

DUFFY BISHOP BAND

TY CURTIS BAND

LLOYD JONES STRUGGLE

NORMAN SYLVESTER BAND

MARY FLOWER

TERRY ROBB

KINZEL & HYDE

BILL RHOADES & THE PARTY KINGS AND QUEENS

TOO LOOSE CAJUN/ZYDECO BAND

THE STRANGE TONES with THE VOLCANO VIXENS

RAE GORDON & THE BACKSEAT DRIVERS

KAREN LOVELY

ROBBIE LAWS

BOBBY TORRES

LOUIS PAIN

DAVE MATHIS

MIKE MOOTHART

AND MORE TBA!!

 

There will be a silent auction and raffle tickets. We are looking for donations for these, please contact one of our board members if you have anything to offer.

A huge thank you goes out to Joey Scruggs, Terry Currier, Greg Johnson, James “Coach” Hurley & his stage crew team, Andy Strange for artwork, and McMenamins for making this event come alive.

Please join us to help the CBA continue our pursuit of keeping the blues at the forefront of the region’s music community and to experience a “Once in a Lifetime” event for the ages.

 

 

 

CBA Holiday Party Dec. 11th!

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2023 Cascade Blues Association Holiday Party

CBA Holiday PartyThe annual CBA Holiday Party is set for Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Moose Lodge, 16411 NE Halsey, Portland, 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 desert 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 Christmas 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 a $5.00 donation to attend this event

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. It will have barrels to collect dog and cat food for the Troutdale Humane Society, so bring pet food!

We have great music planned for you: 12:00 – 1:00   Harvey Brindell & the Tablerockers; 1:15 – 2:15 Bottleneck Blues Band; 2:30 – 3:30 Suburban Slim Band; 3:45 – 4:45 Franco Paletta & the Stingers; 5:00 – 6:00 Karen Lovely & Ben Rice

2016 Muddy Awards — A Night To Remember

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The Cascade Blues Association’s 28th Annual Muddy Awards was held on Wednesday, November 2 at The Melody Ballroom to once again another full house of fans and musicians. Honoring those acts, performers, venues, events, recordings and performances who helped raise the bar on the Northwest’s blues scene over the past year in twenty-two categories.

Dave Kahl - "Paul deLay" Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dave Kahl – “Paul deLay” Lifetime Achievement Award.

Three artists were big winners taking home two awards each: Andy Stokes for the “Curtis Salgado” Male Vocalist and the “Lloyd Jones” R&B Act; the Ben Rice Band taking both the Contemporary and Traditional Blues Act awards; and Dave Kahl for the Bass award and the biggest honor of the night, the “Paul deLay” Lifetime Achievement.

Dave Kahl’s award noted not only his career as a bass player with a multitude of acts including the Paul deLay Band, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers, and the Ty Curtis Band, but also due to his tireless work to bring together the music community, seeking recognition from the City and means to make finding and connecting outlets for musicians through such efforts as MyGigNet.com.

The Back What You Believe In Award was presented to CBA Vice President Wendy Schumer. This award notes those in a non-musician role that has made an impact. Wendy’s tireless efforts with the BluesNotes, various CBA events such as the Muddy Awards, a monthly blues emailing and daily posting of events in our area are just a few of the things that she has made her mark with.

The top CDs of the year were awarded to Lisa Mann for the Northwest Album of the Year with Hard Times, Bad Decisions and the National Recording of the Year also stayed at home with Curtis Salgado taking the prize for The Beautiful Lowdown.

Mitch Kashmar was also recognized for the Harmonica Award for the third consecutive year, placing him into the Muddy Awards Hall of Fame.

The Muddy Awards always has terrific music on hand and as tradition goes, we present sets from our Journey To Memphis winners. Band winners Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers opened the night and solo/duo winner David Pinsky played a mid-awards set bringing surprise guest Ben Rice for a dual acoustic guitar performance.

Every year the night closes with a Muddy All Star Band made up of past and present Muddy Award nominees and recipients. This year’s band leader was Ken DeRouchie who was handed the reigns to put together a group for the night, and he came through big time. The All Stars included Arietta Ward, Ben Turner, Brian Harris, Chris Lay, Dave Fleschner, David Chachere, Doug Rowell, Edwin Coleman III, Jeff Knudson, Jimi Bott, Lisa Mann, Noah Bell, Pat McDougall, Pete Petersen, Peter Dammann, Peter Moss, Rae Gordon, Rob Busey, and Timmer Blakely.

A big thanks goes out to The Melody Ballroom, Affordable Trophies, JBL Sound, Big Screen Productions, Cedar House Media, Photographer Tony Kutter, the CBA Board of Directors and all the volunteers who helped make this event happen, and to our membership, without whom none of this could occur.

Please note that we are aware that there were problems with the online balloting that we began this year. It is a first effort and we knew that there would be glitches. Thanks to CBA webmaster Buko and Wendy Schumer for assisting those who needed an extra hand getting their votes entered. We will make improvements next year on the process. But when it was all said and done, we actually received more returns for the final ballot than we have averaged over the past five years.

2016 Cascade Blues Association Muddy Award Recipients

Contemporary Blues Act: Ben Rice Band

Traditional Blues Act: Ben Rice Band

“Lloyd Jones” R&B Act: Andy Stokes

New Act: Thunder Brothers

Regional Blues Act: Hank Shreve Band

“Curtis Salgado” Male Vocalist: Andy Stokes

“Duffy Bishop” Female Vocalist: LaRhonda Steele

Electric Guitar: Alan Hager

“Terry Robb” Acoustic Guitar: Mary Flower

Bass: Dave Kahl

Harmonica: Mitch Kashmar

Keyboards: Steve Kerin

“Jimi Bott” Drums: Brian Foxworth

Horns: Peter Moss

Venue: The Lake Theater & Café

“The Hurley Award”: Barry McKinley

NW Event of the Year: United By Music North America at The Hotel Rose

NW Recording: Lisa Mann – Hard Times, Bad Decisions

National Recording: Curtis Salgado – The Beautiful Lowdown

Performance of the Year: (Tie) Kevin Selfe Buy My Soul Back CD Release Party at The Bossanova Ballroom / Karen Lovely at the Waterfront Blues Festival

Back What You Believe In Award: Wendy Schumer

Lifetime Achievement: Dave Kahl

New Muddy Hall of Fame inductee: Mitch Kashmar

Third Annual Ken DeRouchie Band Food Drive

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Ken DeRouchie Band

Ken DeRouchie BandPlease join the Ken DeRouchie Band as they seek to help feed the hungry in our region during the holiday season. For the third year collection barrels have been set up throughout the Portland metro area and they’ll be accepting your food donations through December 10.

Last year there were 1822 pounds of food collected and another $325.00 in fund donations. That was almost double the amount collected the first year. This year they’re aggressively seeking to collect 5000 pounds! Let’s make it happen!

Food collection barrels are located at:

KINK FM 101.9
Alpha Broadcasting
PacWest Center
1211 SW 5th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Banner Bank (Tualatin Branch)
7675 SW Nyberg St,
Tualatin, OR 97062

Banner Bank (Lake Oswego Branch)
412 A Ave., Ste. 100
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034

Rogue Distillery and Public House
1339 NW Flanders
Portland, OR 97209

Rogue Hall
1717 Southwest Park Ave.
Portland, OR 97201

The Green Dragon
928 SE 9th Ave
Portland, OR

Portland Music Co
531 SE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd,
Portland, OR 97214

Portland Music Company
2502 NE Broadway St,
Portland, OR 97232

Portland Music Company
10075 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy,
Beaverton, OR 97005

Portland Music Company
12334 SE Division St.
Portland, OR

Trails End Saloon
1320 Main St
Oregon City, OR 97045

The Blue Diamond
2016 NE Sandy Blvd,
Portland, OR 97232

Five Star Guitars
2303 NW 185th Ave,
Hillsboro, OR 97124

Silkin Management Group
6655 SW Hampton St.
Suite 120
Tigard, OR 97224

Tiny’s Coffee Northeast
2031 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd,
Portland, OR 97212

Tiny’s Coffee  Southeast
1412 SE 12th Ave,
Portland, OR 97214

Guitar Center
1147 N Hayden Meadows Dr
Portland, OR 97217

Guitar Center
9575 SW Cascade Ave
Beaverton, OR 97008

Guitar Center
13029 SE 84th Ave
Clackamas, OR 97015

Laurel’s Wine Shop
263 N Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR

If you can’t make it to one of these locations and would still like to help by providing a cash donation, go to the Ken DeRouchie Band’s website and click on the link to the Oregon Food Bank for the food drive’s location on their site.

CBA Rummage Sale Rescheduled to October 15th

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Who would have thought it? The entire week prior to the date for this year’s Cascade Blues Association’s annual Rummage Sale the weather had been sunny and comfortably warm, but on the Saturday morning of our rummage sale, the rains came — big time. Our trusty Rummage Sale leaders Cherie Robbins and Rae Gordon, Board Members Greg Johnson, Wendy Schumer, Fred & Joann Morgan, and a handful of volunteers like Deidre DeMier & Al Hooten, Jimmy Wong & his family, and Gary Jaskowiak (on Friday for truck loading), were on hand to set up the sale, pop-up tents and tables were put up and a truck full of donated items were at The Bomber parking lot, but we were not able to set everything up before it was determined that it just wasn’t going to happen that day. Attempts to relocate to an indoor site were futile.

Thanks to Jimmy Wong for volunteering his barn in Mulino to store all of the items to save the CBA from the expense of continuing the U-Haul truck and finding a storage unit. Better yet, he has volunteered his barn to hold the rescheduled Rummage Sale indoors, plus he has an outdoor covered stage for performances (if the weather is good, inside the barn if not).

So . . .the Rummage Sale has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 15, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The location is 26412 S Highway 213 in Mulino, Oregon, directly behind the Mill Barn Espresso drive through stand. There will be music and plans are looking to hold another side event at the same time, so keep up to date by checking the CBA website and Facebook page.

A special thanks go out to all the musicians who were originally scheduled to perform at the Rummage Sale in September: Timothy James, Justus Reece, Kathryn Grimm, and Ben Rice, we will try to see if you’re now available for October. Thanks to Robin Gibson for bringing his PA system for set-up, plus all of his work with the moving of the sale items to Mulino. We will still need volunteers for the new date, so if you’re available to help, contact Rummage Sale chair-person Cherie Robbins at cherieerobbins@gmail.com.

The Annual Muddy Awards set for Wednesday, November 2

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muddy_awardMark your calendars for Wednesday, November 2 as the Cascade Blues Association’s annual Muddy Awards celebration will return with a fun-filled night of excitement, recognition, and amazing music. It will take place at The Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder Street, upstairs in the main ballroom, beginning at 6:30 pm. Various music celebrities and CBA board members will present awards, as selected by our members, in a number of categories honoring the musical achievement from the past year.

Of course, the Muddy Awards would not be complete without musical entertainment. This year’s event will follow tradition set a few years back with an opening set from this year’s Journey To Memphis winning band Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers. Midway through the awards, we will have a short intermission set for the solo/duo Journey To Memphis winning act David Pinsky. And to top the night off in grand fashion, an All Star Set featuring many of past and current Muddy Award winners and nominees, put together and led by the soulful vocals and steamy guitar of Ken DeRouchie. Ken already has commitments from some of the best musicians in the region, so expect another over the top night with the All Stars.

The Muddy Awards is an all ages event and is free for CBA members with their current membership cards. Non-members are just $5.00 for one of the most anticipated nights of the year in Portland’s blues community.