Welcome to our new home as we move into The East Portland Eagles Lodge. And to start our path in the right direction of offering superb blues performances, we’re delighted to bring two great sets that are guaranteed to set the right pace of things to come.

Starting off will be a magical pairing of John Bunzow and Albert Reda, two highly successful artists with a wealth of history behind them.

It is John Bunzow’s mix of eclectic musical influences – meldling blues, country, rock and even jazz – that have helped establish him as an original artist of heartfelt depth, substance and style. He’s as likely to draw on his love of the music of scuffling barroom bard Tom Waits, as he is the smooth R&B and soul of Marvin Gaye, the iconic folk wisdom of Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Ry Cooder or the blues of Albert King.

After beginning his musical career in the Northwest scene playing in popular all-original bands Cowboy Angels and X-Angels for over two decades, John set his sights on songwriter heaven, Nashville. Scoring both a songwriting contract with EMI Nashville/Famous Music and a recording contract with Liberty/Capitol Records, he quickly found his services in big demand with Nashville recording artists and had the opportunity to write for and perform with some of country and rock music’s biggest names.

But as Nashville and country music trends shifted away from salt-of-the-earth working singer-songwriters , Bunzow returned to Portland, Oregon where he continues to hone his sizable talents. He’s found old fans and new ones as he tirelessly tours Northwest nightclubs, concert halls, festival stages, casinos, wineries and resorts playing original cuts and creating music that touches the heart of anybody who’s ever raised a little hell on a Saturday night, or felt the pangs of love gone bad.

Those familiar with the Pacific Northwest music scene need little introduction to Albert Reda. Over the years he has received numerous awards while supporting artists of all stripes playing his bass, piano, and singing.  He has been honored by the Cascade Blues Association 11 Muddy Awards and Hall of Fame status for his basswork.

Reda moved to Portland from San Francisco 25 years ago and has since performed alongside a variety of musicians such as Terry Robb, Duffy Bishop, Lloyd Jones, Bill Rhoades, Robbie Laws, The Shanghai Woolies, John Bunzow and many others. A much in-demand session artist, he has released two solo recordings, continues to play with many of Portland’s finest musicians and singers, and spends his days on his teaching practice, working primarily with students of elementary school age.

The second set of the night brings the Tom Gilberts Band. You will not find a more enthusiastic music lover than Tom Gilberts. It is his passion and obsession. It is from this perspective that he approaches his writing, performance and production – the pure joy of it. A multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, bass (electric and upright) and cello, his music influences and interests are widely varied and have no real bounds. They range from blues, jazz, art rock, avant guard, shoe gaze, pop, blues, rock, country to metal. His guitar focus has been on improvisation, and his influences are myriad. Classically trained, he has performed with the OSU Symphony Orchestra, The Mavens, Sweet Honey Dijpon Jazz Band, Nicole Campbell, and most recently with Franco Paletta & The Stingers.

A board-certified physician specializing in Internal Medicine as a profession, music has also captured his interest, passion and love. He has recorded three albums, with his most recent the critically-acclaime Grit. Joining Tom for his Cascade Blues Association debut will be longtime local jazz ace Wade Kirtley on Hammond B-3, drummer and vocalist Brian Foxworth who is a inductee of both the Oregon Music and Cascade Blues AssociationHall of Fames, and Joe Aloia who holds a master in music and teaches guitar and bass at various schools will be on bass.

The East Portland Eagles Lodge, 4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 7:00 pm. Free for CBA members, non-members $5.00. All ages are welcome.

March will find us again in our temporary home — The Mission Theater — for our monthly meetings. This is our next to last meeting here before we move in May into our permanent location at The East Eagles Lodge on Hawthorne. During our tenure at The Mission we wanted to showcase some of the most popular blues acts in our area and we’ve certainly succeeded doing so for our March meeting.

Opening our March meeting will be one of the world’s most recognized acoustic guitarists, Mary Flower. Mary is fluent in and master of the artistically tricky Piedmont style of acoustic guitar, a genre that requires intricate picking and an innate sense of subtle harmonics. But Mary — who relocated from Denver to Portland, Oregon in 2004 — is equally rooted in Mississippi blues, especially on her vintage lap-slide. Stir in her love of swing, ragtime, folk, and hot jazz, plus a healthy dose of her own song craft, and you have a modern artist with an ear for the traditional who brings an immediate vibrancy and dynamism to any concert hall and stage performance.

Flower has received many richly deserved accolades; she’s a two-time National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship finalist, a three-time nominee for the Blues Music Awards, a 2009 winner of the coveted Vox Populi award in the Independent Music Award’s Acoustic Song category, and a multiple Muddy Awards, including induction into the Cascade Blues Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018 as acoustic guitarist. While the list seems endless, for Flower it’s not about the prizes and awards. Along with her teaching, it’s about making the music come alive onstage and in her recordings. She continues to compose, record, and tour relentlessly, honing and evolving her style rooted in rich tradition but always moving America’s indigenous music forward.

As we had for the February meeting with Lloyd Jones, I asked Lisa Mann if she wouldn’t mind performing at the March meeting. Like Lloyd, Lisa has put together a terrific collection of musicians you’re likely not going to see too often working together in this type of format.

Originally from West Virginia, Mann’s vocals effortlessly moves between a southern honey-sweet warmth and the force-of-nature hard rock and rhythm and blues Mann has cultivated during her career. Her clever blues balladry is complimented by her considerable prowess on bass guitar. A two-time Blues Music Award winner for best bass player, she has also been awarded the Sean Costello Rising Star Award from Blues Blast magazine, and is a Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame member

Joining Lisa on guitar will be one of the West Coast’s finest guitarist, Michael Osborn. Best known for holding the reigns as lead guitarist for John Lee Hooker’s band for thirteen years, he was also a member of the Charles Ford Band, Sista Monica’s band, and Bill Rhoades & The Party Kings with whom he was inducted into the Cascade Blues Association’s Hall of Fame. Osborn has received multiple Muddy Award nominations leading his own band in Portland, three times for best electric guitarist and twice for Northwest Recording of the Year, including his latest Hangin’ On.

Manning the drums will be Dave Melyan. Dave has worked in multiple bands from the region throughout his career, and toured the world as a member of The Insomniacs, with whom he received a Blues Music Award nomination.  Currently he is working alongside Ben Rice in various combinations, but can also often be found joining artists like Karen Lovely and Lisa Mann on tours around the country. A perennial nominee for the Muddy Awards, Melyan is a true journeyman who can be found performing around the city somewhere almost any night of the week.

Obviously this is another one of our monthly meetings you shouldn’t miss. One more meeting at The Mission following this one and it too will be one you’ll want to see as we will present Ellen Whyte & Jean-Pierre Garau and The Strange Tones on Wednesday, April 3.

Mcmenamins Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St. Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 pm. CBA Members always Free, non-members $5.00. All ages welcome.

Catfish Lou’s, 2460 NW 24th Ave, Portland
Wednesday, October 3 ~ 7:00 pm
Members always Free ~ Non-Members $5.00
(Members please show your current cards at the door)
Opening Acoustic Set ~ Justus Reece
Second Electric Set ~ Louis Creed & The Geezers

The Cascade Blues Association is not just a group to get together with and listen to great blues music. Well, we do offer that, but we also want to provide so much more. One of those goals that we strive for is to support our local musicians and to help younger artists gain the attention that they deserve. For our monthly general membership meeting we are proud to host two young musicians who are making a name for themselves up and down the Willamette Valley. Because we all know that these will be the blues artists that we’ll be listening to hopefully for years to come.

Justus Reece played for us last year when we first started booking shows at Catfish Lou’s. He has been consistently studying guitar while also being aware that he can never know everything, and that the guitar is a lifelong pursuit. He has studied with Terry Robb with whom he has appeared at venues such as The Venetian in Hillsboro for his IBC fundraiser and the Old Liberty Theater in Camas. And aside from the IBC appearance on Beale Street, Justus has performed at events including the Blues4MS concerts, Cathedral Jazz Festival, Portland Blues Cruise, Gorge Blues & Brews, Carlton Crush, and the Waterfront Blues Festival.

The music that Justus performs includes a wide range of styles, not only blues but jazz, folk, funk, jam band, and more. You can expect to see him offer a variety of American music such as ragtime, Piedmont blues, American primitive, Delta blues and other roots music. His inspirations are many, but include among them the diversity of such as Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa, Blind Blake, Yes, Mississippi John Hurt, Charlie Hunter, and Funkadelic among them. Certainly a young musician with an open mind and on a quest to learn something new from every direction.

The second set of the night will feature another young guitar player, Louis Creed. The last time he played for us he was accompanied by William “Froggy” Hyland, who makes up just one part of Creed’s band The Geezers. Heading up from the southern end of the Willamette River, Louis and Froggy make a rare return to Portland for the Cascade Blues meeting, this time with the more Geezers.

Froggy describes the band as based south of the big city, tearing up winery and brewery venues and local dives from Cottage Grove to Newport to Eugene, and bolstering an emerging music scene in Lebanon, of all places. Louis Creed is the hottest young blues guitarist around, a Black Sabbath acolyte turned blues historian and traditionalist. His singing is fresh, his guitar antics unparalleled.

You may remember Froggy as a Cascade Blues Association representative and semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge, or from his long running blues jam at the Calapooia brewery in Albany. He is currently working on his fourth album of originals, laying down harp licks, lap steel, rhythm guitar and vocals for the band and anyone else with money. More Geezers include Rex Baker on bass holding down the bottom for musical conglomerations in the area, plays with a pick and chews gum at the same time. He may know every tune ever written, or imitate it convincingly. He is a wise guy. Louisiana Andy Lade joined the band with a forged AARP card, adding some second line flavor and the thrill of the unexpected to the lineup. He is a hard working guy who puts it all out there every time.

This is traditional blues, folks. Not a rock band with a harp player. Blues by the masters, a couple of folks who are still alive, and an original or two. This band is hot and Louis fans the flames.

Head on over to Catfish Lou’s for the meeting, try their new menu featuring more fantastic Southern offerings, pick up a drawing ticket at the door for a chance to win prizes and enjoy a terrific night of blues music. What can be better than blues and friends. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, August 1 – 7:00 pm
Catfish Lou’s, 2460 NW 24th Ave., Portland
Members always Free – Non-members $5.00 (Members please show your current cards at the doors)
Opening Set –The Killer Granddaddies (acoustic)
Second Set – Johnny Wheels & The Swamp Donkeys

Hard to believe that it has been a full year since we moved our monthly meetings over to Catfish Lou’s. Remember that first night so well, it was miserably hot, but we still packed the room with friends and music. A huge thanks goes out to Michelle Bean and the folks at Catfish Lou’s for giving us a home each month.
This month’s meeting is going to be fun. Of course they all are, right? We’re featuring two bands, both exciting and crowd pleasing for certain. One will be in a different format than you may have seen them mostly as they will be working acoustically. The other is one of the fastest rising acts of the region.

Opening the night will be The Killer Granddaddies. Their genesis began in 1998 when Ladd Justesen sat down with Dave Dahl to play and sing “Lay Down Sally” on the yard at Snake River Correctional Institution. Since then, it’s been quite a ride. Dave got out in late 2004 and sold his first loaves of killer bread at Portland Farmers Market in August of 2005. Ladd got out in 2008 and their friendship—and their music—was rekindled.

The name, “Killer Granddaddies” was used tongue-in-cheek to introduce the band beginning in 2012 when they played “Blues for MS” with drummer Lenny Lanahan and bassist Jerry Skol. The band had been mostly inactive from 2014 until the spring of 2018, when Eric TwoRivers joined Dave, Ladd, and Lenny for rehearsals at Dave’s portable studio—modified from a shipping container. Since then, the Granddaddies have been rehearsing regularly, and playing a few times a month for special events. They play a lot of blues and blues-influenced covers, along with several originals. Usually this is an electric band, but they’ll be playing acoustic tonight with two acoustic guitars, one electric, stand-up bass (w/pick-up) and djembe with shakers, so we’re looking at an extra special treat. And they’re a lot fun to see, so we anticipate a big time CBA welcome to a band that will surely become favorites.

Johnny Wheels is a singer / songwriter / harmonica player inspired by the soul of the Pacific NorthWest. The “Swamp Donkeys” are Johnny’s band-mates who are inspired by Johnny to “live a song” on the edge. Johnny: “Nope! You won’t hear a song exactly the same way twice – that’s what CD’s are for. We like to add some spice of musical exploration” The son of a traveling bass player and singer, Johnny “Wheels” Kennicott had music in his blood since birth, but expressing himself musically took on new importance when Johnny broke his neck in a childhood accident, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Johnny found, through determined trial and error, he could manipulate his paralyzed diaphragm to not only sing, but also blow the harmonica. Since that time, Johnny has been traveling the Pacific Northwest music scene, spreading the gospel of the blues and the band were finalists in this year’s Journey to Memphis competition.

Collectively, the band hails from Oregon, Texas and California and is typically tagged as a Blues band; Although, the diversity of the members’ musical backgrounds becomes evident as the worlds of R&B, soul, jazz, funk and rock are blended under a blues umbrella. Members include Brandon Logan, Vocals, Guitar; Doug Knoyle, Drums; Michael Rabe, Vocals, Guitar; Sky Wescott, Vocals, Guitar; and Taylor Frazier, Vocals, Bass

One year later and we’re still showcasing hot blues music at Catfish Lou’s. Plan on joining us for more great excitement and friends. You just may be a lucky winner in our drawing, too. See you there!!