Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder St., Portland
Wednesday, November 1 – 6:30 pm
Members always Free, Non-members attending the Muddys $5.00
It’s here again. The biggest night for the blues in the City of Portland as the Cascade Blues Association honors those outstanding musicians, venues, events, recordings, and individuals with the highly coveted Muddy Awards for excellent achievement during this past year. Twenty-two categories will be presented by members of the CBA Board of Directors, noted artists and other friends of the blues recognizing those chosen as recipients by the members of the Cascade Blues Association by ballots the past two months.
And for one night only, we will be returning to the familiar surroundings of The Melody Ballroom in the upstairs ballroom. The building has been going through a great deal of renovation, which will be most obvious with the absence of the old stage that was such a prominent feature. But the new owners will be offering a new selection of menu items for the night and food and beverages will be ordered in a new room adjacent to the ballroom which will give you a space to mingle before and during the event.
As usual, we expect tables to fill up quickly, so arrive early and since it is a gala event feel free to dress up a little, though that is not a requirement for the evening of fun. We’re hoping that the doors will be open by 5:30 pm, but this hinges on the sound and visual preparation because we want to make sure everything is spot-on before we allow entry.
The event itself will all start at 6:30, with a set of music from this year’s Journey to Memphis winning band Sister Mercy. Then we will begin the awards ceremony, handing out all twenty-two awards, followed by a long-time tradition of a jam featuring a band comprised of past and present Muddy Awards recipients and nominees. This year’s jam has been put together by and will be led by one of this year’s nominees for the Paul deLay Lifetime Achievement Award Sonny Hess. At the time of this month’s BluesNotes deadline, Sonny has already confirmed the following musicians to be part of the jam: Ben Rice, Brian Foxworth, Franco Paletta, Kathryn Grimm, Kevin Selfe, LaRhonda Steele, Lisa Mann, Rae Gordon and Robbie Laws with still more to be named!!
The Muddy Awards are a definitely a night not to be missed if you’re a fan of the blues. One of the most anticipated nights of the year for the Portland Blues Community. If you‘re not a Cascade Blues Association member, you can always join at the venue if you’d like. Open to blues fans of all ages!
Contemporary Blues Act
