Lake Theater & Café Hosts Blues Dance with Kevin Selfe, Lisa Mann, and Dean Mueller

Three of the areas most respected and exciting award-winning blues musicians, Kevin Selfe, Lisa Mann, and Dean Mueller, will be performing together in the intimate setting of the Lake Theater & Café on Monday, January, 23. For this show, the theater will be clearing space up front for dancing, and the music will be geared more for dancers. This is a rare opportunity to see Kevin and Lisa perform together, as they are usually out performing with their bands. This will also be the next to last show that Kevin will be playing in Portland before his hiatus from music, returning to Virginia to help with his family.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at laketheatercafe.com, or the day of the show. The Lake Theater & Café is located at 106 N State Street, Lake Oswego. Show time is 7:00 pm.

Mary Flower & The BBQ Boys At The Lake Theater & Cafe

Mary Flower & The BBQ Boys

Mary Flower & The BBQ BoysGuitarist, singer, and songwriter Mary Flower is that rare breed of American roots artist. Flower is fluent and masterful in the artistically tricky Piedmont style of acoustic guitar that requires a deft touch, intricate picking, and an innate sense of subtle harmonics wrapped in a rousing good time. Yet she is equally rooted and schooled in Mississippi blues, especially when rendered on a vintage lap-slide. Add to this 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.

The BBQ Boys are a four-piece jazz, blues, and jug band that has performed with many well-known artists such as Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian, David Grisman, and Dan Hicks. The band consists of Stew Dodge on fiddle and vocal, Spud Siegel on mandolin, mandola and vocals, Doc Stein on dobro, guitar and vocals, and Mark Vehrencamp on sousaphone.  In 2013 they joined forces with Mary Flower as a jazz and blues infected jug band (sans jug) and have created new masterpieces of old standbys and originals by Mary and Spud, adding rich harmonies and searing solos.

Mary Flower and The BBQ Boys will be performing on Monday, February 6 at The Lake Theater & Café in Lake Oswego. Located at 106 N State Street, the show will start at 7:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at Laketheatercafe.com for $15.00.

The 44s Bring Their Heavy Hitting Sound Back To Duff’s Garage

The 44s

The 44sThe 44’s are a Los Angeles-based band who play blues-roots-rock music and, over the past several years, have proven themselves to be one the brightest stars rising on the American blues roots scene. Make no mistake about it, the raw, rough and tough sounds generated by these four expert musicians during live performances won’t be ignored. They exhibit a genuine gift for creating blues in the moment while at the same time showing loyalty to a remarkable blues-and-r&b tradition that goes back decades. Playing vintage instruments, the band is led by vocalist and guitarist extraordinaire Johnny Main and has been touring nearly non-stop since 2010.

Highly popular in the Portland area, The 44s return to one of their favorite venues, Duff’s Garage, 2530 NE 82nd Avenue, on Saturday, February 25 for a 9:00 pm show. Admission is $10.00 and tickets are available in advance at TicketTomato.com. This is a Cascade Blues Association co-sponsored event, so show your current membership card at the door to receive a $1.00 discount on admission.

Seattle Blues-Rockers Ayron Jones and The Way Heading Back To Portland

Ayron Jones

Ayron JonesSeattle-born and raised vocalist, songwriter, and Hendrix-inspired guitarist Ayron Jones has established himself as one of the top independent rock artists in the Pacific Northwest. Opening for various Grammy award-winning and Rock and Roll Hall-of-Fame members, such as Run DMC, B.B. King, and Jeff Beck, Jones has stunned audiences and gained instant fans with a genre-defying mashup of blues-infused Grunge and West Coast Hip-hop. With a new release on its way, Audio Paint Job, Jones is set to light up Portland on Friday, February 3 at Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Avenue.

Tickets for this night filled with punk energy and blues honesty are available in advance through Ticketfly.com for $13.00. Admission at the door is $15.00. Northwest acts Foxy Lemon and Redwood Son open the show starting at 9:00 pm. 21 & over only.

Reggie Houston – Lundi Gras Celebration at Lake Theater

Reggie Houston

Reggie HoustonRenowned New Orleans saxophonist Reggie Houston brings a time honored Mardi Gras tradition to Portland as he presents Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) on Monday, February 27 at The Lake Theater & Café, 106 N State Street, Lake Oswego.  Traditional Mardi Gras music featuring a stellar line-up alongside Houston (Fats Domino, Charmaine Neville, Box of Chocolates) on saxophone, with Tyrone Hendrix (Stevie Wonder, Tony Furtado) on drums, Ben Jones (Neville Bros., Anita Baker, Oregon Symphony) on bass, award-winning Peter Dammann on blues guitarist, and Mike Elson on keyboard! In keeping with tradition, Reggie will treat guests to a slice of Mardi Gras King Cake (by Beaverton Bakery), with prizes for lucky audience members! Mardi Gras masks, beads, and costumes are encouraged!

Show time for Reggie Houston – Lundi Gras Celebration is 7:00 pm. Tickets are $20.00 – $25.00, available at laketheatercafe.com.

Dust on My Shoes – The Musical, At Hipbone Studios

Beverly Frentress - Dust On My Shoes

Local recording artist and playwright, Beverly Frentress, of Stone Soup Blues, in conjunction with PDX Playwrights, will present her play with original songs, score, and lyrics, Dust on My Shoes – The Musical. Co-produced by Miriam Feder, the play will be held at Hipbone Studios throughout February as part of the Fertile Ground 2017 Theatre Festival.

Beverly Frentress - Dust On My ShoesMarital decisions and consequences lead to a modern day blended family with teenagers. Set in anywhere, USA. Allan and Malinda allow us to put a scope on their lives. When fidelity is questioned, they take a closer look at their relationship. Family, teenagers, parents, and lawyers all weigh in. Through catchy lyrics and melodies and an engaging plot, from blues to ballads to pop, to rock, R & B, and electronica, comes the journey. An original book and song, with an original music score. You’ll come away warm and hopeful, through music and the theatre!

Hipbone Studios is located at 1847 East Burnside. Dust On My Shoes, The Musical, will be presented on Thursday through Saturday each week, February 9 – 11, 16 – 18, and 23 -25, at 7:30 pm. Admission is $10.00 and tickets may be purchased in advance at Boxofficetickets.com. This is a Cascade Blues Association co-sponsored event, so member can receive a $2.00 discount at the door.

Jon Koonce To Release New Recording, The Lost Cause

Jon Koonce - The Lost Cause

Jon Koonce - The Lost CauseNorthwest legend Jon Koonce has truly made his mark on the local music scene. Leading bands such as Johnny and the Distractions, The Gas Hogs and The Honky Tonk Trio, this singer-songwriter guitarist has a new recording, The Lost Cause, and will be holding a special release party at The Mission Theater on Saturday, February 4. The new disc is filled with stomps, twangs and rages through tales of love, lust, trailer parks, truck stops, demons and dogs. Koonce also introduces lap steel, humor and blues harp into a vintage live and loud production, a result of twenty-five years of tearin’ it up in hootch parlors has left a mark of realism.

The Mission Theater is located at 1624 NW Glisan Street. This 21 & over only event will begin at 8:00 pm, with tickets available through etix.com for $10.00 advance, or $12.00 day of show at the door.

Fundraiser To Help NW Acts Heading To The International Blues Challenge in Memphis

On Saturday, January 7, come to the Trails End Saloon to support several of the Northwest acts that will travel to Memphis in February to compete in the renowned International Blues Challenge on that city’s famous Beale Street. Each of these acts have won their respective blues societies’ regional competitions, and this will be one more opportunity to help raise funds for their trips and give them a chance to prepare their sets prior to arriving in Memphis.

To help them prepare, the acts will perform in a situation like they will experience at the International Blues Challenge, with timed sets and judges scoring their performances.  Special celebrity judges will be on hand who have first-hand knowledge about competing in Memphis. They will be Kevin Sutton from the 2012 IBC  1st place winning band The Wired from the Washington Blues Society,  Karen Lovely, three-time BMA nominee and 2010 2nd place IBC winner from the Cascade Blues Association, Tommy Marsh from the Crooked Eye Tommy Band, 2016 Ventura County Blues Best Band from the Los Angeles area, and a 2012 IBC competitor representing the Santa Barbara Blues Society.

The acts performing at the Trails End are the Cascade Blues Association’s Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers, David Pinsky, and Timothy James (youth); the Washington Blues Society’s Polly O’Keary & The Rhythm Method; and NattyBone from the Rainy Day Blues Society. Following the individual judged performances there will be an All Star jam featuring the contestants.

The Trails End Saloon is located at 1320 Main Street in Oregon City. Admission is $10.00 at the door, plus there will be a silent auction and drawing all to help the acts on their trip to Memphis.

Just This One: Muddy Winners to Shine at Paul deLay Tribute

It’s been ten years since the great Paul deLay passed away, but a room full of Cascade Blues Association Muddy Award winners will bring his songs and spirit back to the stage on Saturday evening, January 21, at the Alberta Rose Theatre.

Just This One is a concert performance of a new musical based on the music and life of Portland’s favorite blues monster. Multiple CBA honorees will perform “Beautiful Bones,” “Silly Smile,” and “Maybe Our Luck Will Change,” plus dozens of other deLay’s tunes.

Sugaray Rayford (photo by Alejandro Rodriguez)

Sugaray Rayford takes the lead. A six-time Blues Music Award nominee, his Waterfront Blues Festival main stage set was the 2014 Muddy Performance of the Year.  He’ll be joined by CBA Hall of Famer and two-time Blues Music Award winner Lisa Mann, whose mantle overflows with Muddy hardware for Singer, Bassist, and Recording of the Year. LaRhonda Steele, the 2016 “Duffy Bishop” Female Vocalist of the Year, also joins, along with rising local star Saeeda Wright. Best Regional Act and International Blues Challenge participant Hank Shreve will honor Paul’s unforgettable harp work. Northwest Event of the Year Muddy winners United By Music will present a feature set of deLay’s tunes. They’ll all groove under the direction of Dave Fleschner, keyboardist on multiple Muddy moments with Curtis Salgado, Karen Lovely, United By Music, and more.

The concert is produced by CBA member Wayne Harrel, who wrote the book for Just This One. “Our goal is to tell just enough of his story so that when you hear ‘I’m gonna miss talkin’ to you,’ you truly feel what he was trying to say.”

Duffy Bishop knows the feeling. “I loved his intelligence,” she says, “his wit and energy. When somebody like Paul can say what’s on his heart, put it out there, that’s very sexy.”

A very sexy – and award-winning – cast of performers will take the Alberta Rose stage January 21 to celebrate the wonder of Paul deLay once more. Tickets for Just This One are $20.00 advance or $24.00 at the door, with special preferred seating in the first few rows center for $35.00 and are available at albertarosetheatre.com. This is a Cascade Blues Association co-sponsored event so CBA members can use the code word “CBA” for a $2.00 discount when ordering online. The Alberta Rose Theatre is located at 3000 NE Alberta Street. Show time is 7:30 pm and this is an all ages show, with minors allowed when accompanied by a parent or guardian.

An Evening With King Louie and Andy Stokes

On Monday, January 30, The Lake Theater & Café is proud to host an intimate evening of soulful sounds featuring two of the Northwest’s premier musicians: New5 recording artist Andy Stokes and Portland’s Boss of the B-3, Louis “King Louie” Pain.

Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee and Muddy Award winning vocalist Andy Stokes has one of the most powerful and soulful voices on the planet. As the leader of the band Cool’R in the 80s he set the standard for soul in Portland and The Andy Stokes Band continues to deliver night after night. Stokes recently released his newest recording, Full Circle, that has already received high acclaim.

Louis “King Louie” Pain has long been one of the foremost keyboardist in the Portland area, working with icons like Paul deLay and Sweet Baby James Benton. Downbeat magazine named his most recent recording with LaRhonda Steele as one the best releases of 2016.

Filling out this exciting group: drummer Edwin Coleman III of Soul Vaccination and The Thunder Brothers.

The Lake Theater & Café is located at 106 N State Street in Lake Oswego. Tickets for this 7:00 pm show are available at laketheatercafe.com. General admission tickets are $15.00. Special VIP tables are $80.00 and can seat four in the lower section of the theater closest to the stage.