Bluesletter - Washington Blues Society

Bluesle ter

Calendar

Photo by Phil Chesnut

Calendar

Calendar, Calendar,

, F FFeatur

F eatur eatures, eatur es, & & NN

News NN

s fr from fr om t tthe

t he W WWashingt

W ashingt ashington ashingt on Blues Blues Socie Socie Society Socie Socie ty •

Volume olume XIV XIV N NNumber

N umber VIII VIII • Augus ugus ugust ugus t 2002

2002

In this issue:

Bone Man Keeps the Blues Alive

Charlie Musselwhite Speaks

The Howlers

Ritzville Rocks

Northwest Harp Attack

Memo to Members

August 2002

The Board of Directors met at the University Plaza Hotel on July 2. We moved the meeting

up a day, for those who had plans to attend the Portland Waterfront Festival. Remember,

these meetings are open to the membership. We wouldn’t mind seeing some different

faces, and it’s an opportunity for you to express your concerns, ideas, and sample the tasty

food at the UPH....

This will be short, because you should be out at the many, many blues events happening all

around the state this summer, instead of sitting somewhere, reading this.

Biz this month:

We are proceeding with legal action against one of our former big advertisers that

continues to ignore their large outstanding debt to us. It was a tough decision, and we

tried other avenues, to no avail. Not pretty, but this is YOUR money, and it’s a year

overdue.

Revenue from Fremont Fair was $663.00. Thanks to the volunteers who worked over the 2

day event!!

We’ve had a huge response to our offer to sell merchandise for musicians - THANK YOU FOR

YOUR SUPPORT!!! We have some dedicated volunteers who are knowledgable enough about

our local blues that they are quite successful at selling CDs unheard by the purchaser!

Speaking of support, check out the list of New and Renewed Members - yowza!!

It’s festival season, and we hope to see you all out enjoying all the talent that’s scheduled

to appear in the next few months. Stop by the WBS booth and introduce yourselves. Don’t

forget our monthly meetings at ToST in Fremont on the second Wednesday of each month.

If you haven’t attended, you’ve missed some fine talent [and BBQ at July’s meeting!!].

Yours in the blues,

Leslie Fleury

President

ANNOUNCING

WBS Annual Summer Picnic

Concert

as part of Don Glenn’s Seattle Peace Concert Series

At Seattle’s Gasworks Park On Lake

Union

2 • Washington Blues Society

Sunday, Aug 11, from noon to 6 pm

free, but please bring food donation for NW Harvest

Featuring...

Stickshift Annie & the Overdrive

Tweety and the Tomcats

The Howlers

The Jelly Rollers

Mark Riley (acoustic)

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

TREASURER

BLUESLETTER EDIITOR

DIRECTOR, MUSIC

DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP

DIRECTOR, EDUCATION

DIRECTOR, VOLUNTEERS

DIRECTOR, MERCHANDISE

OFFICERS

Leslie Fleury

Bluzwork@hotmail.com

425-239-3321

Patrick Lynch

Lynchoid@hotmail.com

Bob Horn

horn29@aol.com

206-323-7825

Dennis Zyvoloski

denniszyvoloski@yahoo.com

206-547-3986

Michael Rose

sheriff@andrewsbay.com

206-979-0666

DIRECTORS

TBD

Todd Obermire

tobermire@msn.com

John Marshall

TBD

AREA REPS

BALLARD Dennis Zyvoloski

denniszyvoloski@yahoo.com

206-547-3986

CENTRAL SEATTLE Robert Horn

horn29@aol.com

206-323-7825

NORTHERN WA Llyod Peterson

360-671-6817

PENINSULA Andy Page

360-895-0971

SOUTH SOUND Randy Oxford

253-924-1530

CENTRAL WA John Millner

millnerB@msn.com

509-782-2905

MORE VOLUNTEERS

CALENDAR EDITOR Mary McPage

wbscalendar@yahoo.com

WEBMASTER Michael Rose

sheriff@andrewsbay.com

WEB HOSTING Adhost

www.Adhost.com

WBS LOGO Phil Chesnut

philustr8r@aol.com

GENERAL CONTACT FOR WBS

wbscalendar@yahoo.com

Mission Mission Statement

Statement

The Washington Blues Society (WBS) is a nonprofit

organization whose purpose is to promote,

preserve, and advance the culture and tradition

of blues music as an art form.

Annual membership fee is $20 for individuals,

$30.00 per couple, and $40 for overseas memberships

(please see membership application form

at back).

The Bluesletter is the official monthly publication

of the Washington Blues Society. The WBS is not

responsible for the views and opinions expressed

in The Bluesletter by any individuals, who are

WBS 2002 http://www.wablues.org, P. O. Box

70604, Seattle, WA 98107.

Bluesletter

PUBLISHER

EDITOR

CALENDAR EDITOR

DESING & LAYOUT

PRINTER

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Kim Field

Robert Horn

James Middlefield

Leslie Fleury

Washington Blues Society

The Sheriff

Mary McPage

The Sheriff

Pacific Publishing

Patrick Lynch

Patrick Lee

“Bad Dog” Shenefield

Susan Waterworth

Al Earick

Mark Dalton

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

PHOTOS The Sheriff

R. Bruce Eckley

COVER PHOTO Phil Chesnut

ADVERTISING SUBMISSIONS

1. Due by the 15 th of each month - FIRM

2. Plain text or MS Word

3. Graphics as TIFF

4. Lynchoid@hotmail.com

FEATURE AND COLUMN SUBMISSIONS

1. Due by the 7 th of each month

2. Plain text or MS Word

3. Graphics as 300 dpi JPG

4. sheriff@andrewsbay.com

Features

Randy andy Oxf Oxfor Oxf Oxfor

or ord or d - - Alls Allstar Alls ar Boneman

Boneman..............................6

Boneman

Char Charlie Char lie Musselwhit

Musselwhite Musselwhit

Musselwhit e int inter int int er ervie er vie view..................................4

vie

Ritzville Ritzville R RRoc

R oc ocks..............................................................8

Wat at ater at er erfr er fr fron fr on Blues Blues F FFes

F es estiv es tiv tival tiv al al...........................................10

Nor or or orthw or hw hwes hw es est es t Har Harp Har p A AAtt

A tt ttac ttac

ac ack..............................................11

The The Ho Howler Ho ler lers ler s Ar Are Ar e Int Into Int Int o Some Something

Some Some hing hing..............................12

hing

Columns

Memo to Members....................................................................2

Scene and Heard....................................................................9

Jukebox...............................................................................10

Welcome Wagon.......................................................................9

South Sound Profile..................................................................13

Reference

Band Directory ....................................................................21

Calendar ............................................................................22

Weekly Jams........................................................................23

Club Guide ..........................................................................20

Blues Radio.........................................................................20

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 3

4 • Washington Blues Society

A Talk with Charlie Musselwhite

Interveiw by Kim Field

At least they got a little taste of it before their time was up. And gosh,

Magic Sam would really just be huge today. He’d be bigger than Buddy

Guy. He was so warm and he would just connect with people. He just

made you feel good with his music and personally, when you met him. He

was a good guy. Everybody loved him. He was a great entertainer, hell of

a good singer and guitar player. I wish he was still here.

KF: It seems like a lot of gospel influences are coming out in your music

KF: The critics are making a big deal out of the fact that the songs on

your new CD, “One Night In America,” constitute a real mixed bag. That

there’s a Johnny Cash song on there, that you’ve got blues luminaries like

Robben Ford playing with you, as well as country picker Marty Stuart and

“Saturday Night Live” lynchpin G.E. Stewart. This new CD isn’t really a

departure for you in that sense, though, is it? You’ve always pushed the

boundaries—on your first album you had Little Walter’s rhythm section

and psychedelic rock guitarist Harvey Mandel.

the last few years. Is the attraction that gospel is a bluesy music that is

somewhat more tuneful, that offers more in the way of chord progressions,

a different sound?

CM: It’s just about the feeling. Gospel is loaded with feeling. It means a

lot to me. If you’ve ever been to Memphis, you just turn on the radio

and the dial is just loaded with gospel. A lot of those programs are live,

or taped from the night before or something. You really get a good

gospel hit growing up in Memphis, so it’s always been real special to me.

CM: Usually I go in the studio with everything I want to

do, but this was a different situation. I didn’t pick all

KF: You grew up in Memphis, one of the great blues

centers. Who did you see at a tender age?

the songs. The album is what I would call a “producer’s

CM: I saw Muddy in Memphis. And Chuck Berry, Bo

project.” Randy Labbe came to me with this idea. At

Diddley, and Jimmy Reed. Those are the only guys I

first some of the tunes he had in mind I didn’t

saw doing professional gigs in club situations. The rest

particularly care for, but they grew on me after I

of the players I heard were like street singers and

listened to them for a while. Like “Trail of Tears.” First

guys playing on the corner for tips or in their homes.

time I heard that—well, I just didn’t relate to it

People like Will Shade, who played with the Memphis

initially, but it’s become a real strong tune for me in

Jug Band, Furry Lewis and Gus Cannon. They all

live shows lately. And that Los Lobos tune on the CD,

recorded in the 1920s. I’d go hang out with them and

“One Time One Night”—a friend of mine has been

pass the jug around.

trying to get me to do that for years. And I felt that it

really fit with the rest of the ideas. And the songs that

I wrote are actually re-recordings of tunes I’d done

before, and the producer picked those.

KF: I was knocked out by your guitar playing tonight.

It’s so rare these days to hear someone play in that

classic blues style. How long have you been playing the

guitar on stage?

KF: You’re one of the all-time road warriors. What’s the

road like these days?

CM: This is kind of a recent thing, although I was

playing guitar back in Memphis. But when I got to

CM: Well I’ll tell ya, a lot of people are having a hard

Chicago there were tons of guitar players, but not

time. I think 9/11 had a big impact. I was on the road right after that, many harp players. So my guitar playing sort of leveled off. I kept

and I noticed that the further east I went, the more the club owners playing guitar for my own enjoyment. My wife Henrietta kept bugging

were complaining that people just weren’t going out.

me: “You know, people would like to hear that.” It was time to do it for

KF: You’ve always had a good eye for fresh young talent. Who are some

other people, too, I guess.

of the younger players out there now who you’ve been really impressed KF: It’s great to hear you play solo and in a duo setting with Rusty. It’s

with?”

pretty low overhead without the band, too, isn’t it?

CM: Well, of course there’s Rusty Zinn, who’s playing with me on this CM: Oh, yeah. It’s great working with Rusty. The two of us, just traveling

trip. He’s in his early thirties, which seems awful young to me. The light. Rusty is a hell of a player and a great singer, too. It’s a lot of fun

guitarist in my band these days, Kirk Flettcher, is a phenomenal guitar working with him.

player who hasn’t’ even hit thirty yet. And he’s a young black man who is

playing blues. How many young black guys even give a hoot about the

blues? So that’s refreshing. And another guy in my band, Bob Welch, is a

fine piano player and guitar player. These guys all play with taste. And

I’m kinda playing rock and roll, and they’re playing straight-ahead blues,

and that’s great.

KF: You had the good fortune of coming up in the early and mid-1960s

when the A line—Muddy, the Wolf, Lightnin- Hopkins—were all still going

strong. You had personal relationships with a lot of those guys. You were

in the right place at the right time…

KF: Well, as a fan it seems that your career is hitting on all cylinders

these days. You’re put out some outstanding recordings on a regular basis

and your touring schedule is more packed than ever.

CM: It just seems to keep coming in. I’m not under contract to any label,

but that’s the way I want it. I don’t want to be under contract. Just do

one record at a time, and if something works out with a label, well,

we’ll talk about doing another one. There’s no reason to sign a contract.

KF: You were really badly injured in an automobile accident in Mexico a

couple of years ago.

CM: Yeah, I didn’t even know it at the time.

KF: When you look back at that cast of characters, is there a person or

two who you really miss?

CM: I almost died. I got T-boned—hit broadside—by a semi. Broke every

rib on one side. I had twelve broken ribs altogether. And I almost lost my

spleen and one of my kidneys. One whole side of my body was just black

and purple. I remember in the hospital when they told me I was still in a

CM: Oh, all of them. Muddy. Wolf. Sonny Boy. I think if Little Walter had life-and-death situation. I said, “You’re kiddin’ me.” I knew I was

lived he would have gotten his chops back together. He was going

leaving. It turned out to be the nicest stay I’ve ever had in a hospital.

through some real hard times with alcohol, and the alcohol was actually The best food. Nobody spoke any English except one doctor, so my

giving him mental problems like really low self-esteem, those kind of Spanish got real good. I was even able to joke with them in Spanish. It

things. I think he would have really re-blossomed, if that’s the way to happened on December 13

put it. And guys like Lightnin’ and Big Joe Williams—I reallyh miss them.

th . And on the 30th While we had Charlie Musselwhite pinned down at

the Kit Cat Theater for Washington Blues Society Best

of he Blues event, we sic’d local blues harp wizard,

Kim Field on him for an exclusive interview. Kim got

the goods, and we hereby present our interview with

Memphis Charlie. Thanks Kim and thanks Charlie!

photo by the Sheriff

I left to do a gig. They said,

“No, no, you’ve got to stay at least another week,” and I said, “Naw, I

got a gig. Gotta go.” So I got in a wheelchair and flew home and played

from a wheelchair onstage on New Year’s Eve. The millennium New Year’s

Eve. It was a good gig.

KF: So you’re back 100%, physically?

CM: Well, I still have pains that I feel from time to time. They’ll

probably always be there, but that’s a small price to pay. Beats the

alternative. It’s okay with me. No complaints.

KF: Having been in the business for so long, do you have any problems

reconnecting with the music? Do you find yourself hitting plateaus in

terms of your relationship with the music, or are you able to keep finding

that wellspring of inspiration?

CM: It just seems to keep coming. Sometimes I feel something like what

you might call “writer’s block,” but when it’s showtime, it’s all there.

It’s always there for you. I’ve got lots of ideas. It’s just finding the right

connections to put them together. Musicians that can play a certain kind

of music.

KF: You’ve spent years consistently serving up great blues, but what

really sets you apart as an artist is the fact that you’re always trying

something different and going in new directions.

CM: Well, to me it’s all about feeling. So I hope that’s what comes

across.

Guitar Lessons from BB Award Winning Guitarist

Tim Sherman

Electric Texas

& Chicago styles

Beginners welcome

206-547-1772

Camp Klawata

A Camp For Autistic Children

Fund Raiser 2002

Featuring

Steve & the Goodtimes · Steve

Stefanowicz ·Nicole Fournier & Randy

Oxford · Loose Gravel & the Quarry ·

Real Times Band · Stay Tuned

FREE KIDS RAFFLE & FACE PAINTING

Sunday, August 18 th 1:00pm – 10:00pm

$5.00 suggested donation

South Tacoma Eagles

72 nd & Pine in Tacoma·

474-5637

To donate or volunteer call Rebecca @ 253-318-9134

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 5

Tracking down Randy Oxford for an interview is not an easy

task. Randy, while one of the nicest people in the world, is

also one of the busiest. And one of the friendliest. No matter

where or when we would schedule time together, we would

constantly be interrupted as friends would stop by to chat. And

Randy would always greet them by name and ask about their

children, their pets, and their neighbors. And all of this is done with

absolute sincerity. He does care about your Mother. He asked me

about mine just last night as we attempted to set up another time

to finish the world’s longest running

interview. Thank God there is a cutoff date

for this article, otherwise, we’d still be

working on it at Christmas. Now I don’t want

to leave the reader with the impression that

Randy is a difficult subject, just the

opposite, he bubbles over with enthusiasm

and joy for the life he leads. Every gig he

plays is the best ever. Every musician he

plays with is the best ever. I checked around

with old band mates and old girl friends and

no one would give me any dirt. All I got was

praise and compliments for the nicest guy

in the NW blues scene. Even Little Bill

Engelhart took time out from kicking around

his latest guitar player to say nice things

about Randy. This article was going nowhere

fast.

To give you an idea as to how busy Randy is, let’s check out his

calendar. In the year 2002, Randy has played or is scheduled to play

at 150 jam sessions. Since Randy manages these sessions, he is

there from beginning to end keeping track of each player and

figuring out which combination of musicians will work out the best.

And he is playing trombone at each session. On top of the jam

sessions, Randy has an additional 125 nights playing with various

bands. The Steamers, The Howlers, Fat Cat, Little Bill and The

Bluenotes, Jr. Cadillac, Funkin Groovin, Loose Gravel, The Hudson

Blues Band, The Silverbacks, The Michael Kahler Band, and Randy’s

new band, Nicole Fournier and Her Three Pound Universe are just

some of the bands Randy plays with this year. Now for those

mathematically challenged blues lovers out there, that’s 275 nights

of playing in one year. Randy swears that he spends the other few

nights a year checking out the local scene.

It’s no wonder that this man has received

multiple awards from The Washington Blues

Society (Entertainer of the year, Hall Of

Fame, Keeping the Blues Alive, 4 times Horn

of the year, and also a number of band

awards). This man is truly amazing. I have

followed Randy this year to a number of gigs

and it’s been a wonderful experience. Randy

knows the name of every musician at every

jam and how they play. He knows the name

of every waitress and bartender. He also

knows everyone in the bar. If I was out at

night that much, I wouldn’t know my name,

but Randy? He knows everybody. He’s like a

traveling Cheers (the old TV sitcom). So how did he get this way

you ask. Let’s turn back the way back machine.

Randy was born in Ballard in 1960. At age 5 he moved to Chicago.

Randy remembers growing up with music always playing in the

house. In 6th grade, he took up the trombone and credits band

director Steve Hoernamann as an early influence. In high school, he

played in the 200 piece marching band, the concert band, and the

stage band. Obviously his obsessive personality started early. Randy

6 • Washington Blues Society

Randy Oxford

All-star Bone Man

By Patrick Lee

played in the Orange Bowl Parade and also received the Louis

Armstrong award from his high school. Randy said he had to choose

between music and baseball due to time constraints and we are so

glad he chose music. I have a hard time seeing that distinctive

figure of his in Center Field at Safeco. Although since Randy will be

gracing both Cheney Stadium in Tacoma and with the Aquasox in

Everett this Summer, maybe Safeco isn’t so far off. Randy remembers

seeing Maynard Ferguson and Led Zeppelin in high school and

being impressed with their energetic performances. Anyone who

has ever seen Randy knows he gives it all at

every show. As Little Bill says, 110 per cent,

all the time. After high school, Randy joined

the Army with the understanding that he

would be in the Army Band. So for the next 6

years, Randy got the best training in the

world. He played all over Europe in a variety

of musical settings. He played in large jazz

bands using Stan Kenton and Count Basie

charts. He played with the Berlin Radio

Orchestra. He played in smaller combos in

NCO Clubs on Earth Wind & Fire and Kool &

The Gang tunes. In addition to his earlier

recordings with his high school ensembles,

Randy recorded LPs with The Berlin Brigade

Army Band and The Ambassadors of Jazz, as

well as with the Al Porcino (of Woody

Herman fame) Big Band.

In 1981 Randy finagled a transfer to California to Fort Ord. There,

Randy hooked up with his first blues band, The Broadway Blues

Band. This band included a B-3, and a three piece horn section. The

highlight of their time together was playing the 25th anniversary of

The Monterey Jazz Festival. What an honor! Randy played with this

group until he left the Army in 1984. In his post army career Randy

managed a number of Domino’s Pizza franchises (I make none of

this up) in the San Francisco area until he was held up at gunpoint

one too many times. Randy then packed his bags and moved back to

the NW to join his parents printing supply business.

After settling in Redmond in 1986, Randy called up Marlee Walker

who was at that time hosting her show, “All Blues”, Sunday nights

on KPLU-FM. Marlee sent Randy down to the Blue Monday jam at

The Owl in Ballard. At Randy’s first night at

The Owl, he played with Dick Powell backing

up singer Lily Wilde. Not bad for the new kid

in town. Randy then hooked up with the

band Duo Glide and ended playing Larry’s in

Pioneer Square on Sundays for the next few

years with likes of Mark Whitman and Leslie

Clinkingbeard. Playing with Les and Lily also

led to many memorable nights playing with

Jr. Cadillac throughout the NW. Randy’s first

commercial NW release is on Jr. Cadillac’s

20th Anniversary cassette from the Sheraton

Ballroom.

In early 1989, Randy met the man who would

turn out to be the most influential person in

his career. Randy was asked to play at Little Bill Engelhart’s 50th birthday party at Prosito’s in Tacoma. Soon after, Randy was asked

to join the Bluenotes and for the next 8 years played in one of the

finest blues bands ever to grace NW stages. Bill considers that lineup

of Randy, Buck England, Tommy Morgan, Hans Ipsen, Robbie

Jordan/Brian Kent, and Hadi Al-Saadoon to be his favorite Bluenotes

line up. They played the Winthrop Blues Festival, The Waterfront

Festival in Portland, Gig Harbor Jazz Festival, Sun Banks, Mt Baker

and every bar and club in between. During this stretch, Randy

ecorded a series of classic NW blues CDs with Bill. Down For

Double, Another Rainy Day, Shades, Retrospectively Yours, and

Sweet Cucumber ’89 all have great Bill Engelhart originals with

Randy blowing his bone right along. Randy attributes Bill’s professionalism,

consistency, and financial acumen as major factors in

influencing Randy’s future direction. Randy also says he learned to

play the slow blues from Bill. Bill has a whole chapter in his book,

“Next Stop Bakersfield”, about Randy. My favorite description of

Randy is in there, as Bill says it so delicately, “Randy is a ball

grabber”. But after 8 years on the road and a full time day job,

Randy was burnt out and took a break until his next big adventure.

Randy’s reputation was growing by this time. His ability to quickly

sight read written music has made him a favorite of NW record

producers. He has appeared on over 25 CDs including Mark Riley,

Annieville Blues, Led Jaxon, L.J. Porter, The Night Sticks, Kevin

Wallace, Nora Michaels, and Seattle Women in Rhythm and Blues.

Through 1997 and into early 1998, Randy played with the group Fat

Cat, and of course won the award for “New Band of the Year” from

the WBS. Fat Cat is a horn driven band featuring the strong vocals

of Bear Barrus, original songs by keyboardist and vocalist Pat

Gossan, Hans Ipsen and Hadi Al-Saadoon from the Little Bill band

and a great rhythm section of Major Durst and James Busch. In late

1998, Randy started jamming with a Tacoma based band called

Junkyard Jane. They play an eclectic array of original music based

in folk, rock, blues, and country. The band features the song writing

talents of Leanne Trevalyan and Billy Stoops with a solid rhythm

section anchored by Barbra Blue on bass. When Randy first joined

the band, he was part of a horn section with Sue Orfield on

saxophone. After Sue had moved on, Randy found himself, for the

first time in his career, the only horn player in the band. This new

found freedom allowed Randy the room to grow and find new ways

to express himself on his instrument. Randy recalls his three years

with Junkyard Jane with great fondness. They quickly turned into

one of the most popular bands on the NW circuit. The highlight was

certainly the trip to Memphis where Junkyard Jane placed in the

final 8 in national competition. This was a major achievement for a

band that was not a traditional blues band. Randy contributed his

playing ( Washboard Highway and Milkin’ The Frog) and for the first

time his singing and songwriting (Swampabilly Snake Oil Freakshow)

to the first three Junkyard Jane CDs. Randy fans should seek out

the first printing of Freakshow for the two extra Randy tunes, Cool

Bus and 4 Dukes. After three years of touring, Randy felt he had

contributed what he could to the band and felt it was time to turn

his promotional and booking skills into a full time career in music.

Randy credits Barb and Bill Mosher of Jake’s Ales in Federal Way for

helping him get started. Randy started a weekly jam session on

Wednesday nights that is one of the most musician friendly nights in

the local scene. With a core band including rock steady bassist Jack

Kinney of Stickshift Annie and the ever smooth Andrew Clouthier of

Left Hand Smoke on drums, Randy imports two special guests every

week. Past guests have included Alice Stuart, Henry Cooper, John

Stephan, Mike Lynch, John Hodgkin, Ned Neltner, Tommy Boyle,

Perry Sanders, Tim Sherman, and Steve Bailey. Regular jammers

include the horn section of Steve Sarandos and Cheryl Clark and the

vocal talents of Peaches with Paul Krug on keyboards. Randy soon

started working with club owner Karl Hintz and added jams on

Sunday nights at The Lucky Star in Kent and Tuesday nights at The

Redondo Grill in Des Moines. These jams feature Nicole Fournier on

guitar, Michael Stubblefield on very electric bass, and Karl Hintz on

drums. Recent guests have included Kathi MacDonald and Patti

Allen. Randy then decided to get busy and began co-hosting jams

on Thursday nights with Loose Gravel at Tacoma’s Emerald Queen

and also started up Oxford Entertainment which is booking

musicians in every nook and cranny Randy can find. Bill Graham

would have been very proud of this boy.

If this wasn’t enough, Randy and Nicole Fournier decided to start

up a new band called Nicole Fournier and her 3 Lb. Universe. The

band has already recorded a CD of all original music featuring the

song writing and guitar playing of Nicole, the intricate and

expressive keyboards of Ric Ulsky and the solid rhythm section of

Michael Stubblefield and Michael Kinder on drums. Randy feels this

band has amazingly talented musicians and the band has great

potential for success. Randy thinks that this is a great time for

blues in the NW due to the support given to him and other

musicians by The Washington Blues Society. Specifically, the board

of the WBS headed by Leslie Fleury has shown real commitment and

dedication to the blues and to its practitioners. I think Randy’s

success is not due to just his talent as a trombone player. Randy

takes his responsibilities very seriously. He feels very strongly that a

musician should give his or her best show every time they are on

stage. It costs a lot for a couple to go out to dinner these days.

When you add in babysitting, parking, and cover charges, it’s a real

bite. By taking the time to meet the customers and get to know

them, you make the people feel special and they will want to come

back and hear you again. If you don’t want to play for people,

Randy feels you should just stay home. As I’ve mentioned before,

and can’t emphasize enough, Randy’s enthusiasm for life comes

through every time he plays.

Randy’s plans for the future include recording projects with Eric

“Two Scoops” Moore, The Howlers, Michael Kahler, Nicole Fournier,

and a solo project. As of now, he still has Monday nights free so if

any club owners out there need a Blue Monday jam, please contact

Oxford Entertainment at 253-973-9024.

Drums, Drummer & Drumming...

Seasoned Blues Drummer available. Lots of Experience,

pro gear and local references. Full

time to one time, shuffles to funk to swing.

Call Steve at 206.282.6775

for a pocket full of groove.

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 7

I’m a very white girl. Very white, and very averse to becoming a

boiled lobster at the various summer festivals. However, when

offered the opportunity to go to Ritzville this past weekend and

become the first kid on my block to see homeboy Mark DuFresne

fronting Roomful of Blues, I jumped at the chance.

Ritzville is a straight shot 3 1/2

hour drive from Seattle on I-90;

one of those glorious, peculiarly

Washington drives that sees the

scenery shift from forest to neardesert

within minutes. Arriving in

Ritzville we were somewhat

intimidated by the heat (which

rose to 107 degrees as the day

wore on), but the festival is so

arranged that there are plenty of

places to take refuge from the

heat and the sun.

The town closes its main drag and

a number of food (delicious)

vendors move in, along with a few

standard-issue festival clothing

and jewelry stalls. The main stage

sits at a crossroads, and people

set up their lawn chairs behind

what serves as a large dance area

in front of the stage. If one tired

of the main stage acts (hard to

conceive), there were six dark,

cool bars within a 1-block radius

featuring live regional blues to

choose from.

I might as well fess up from the get that I didn’t

make it to any of these clubs, in spite of buzz about

guitarist John Nemeth, highly recommended by

Junior Watson. Instead, we parked ourselves in the

shade in some lawn chairs conveniently set up by

locals who then disappeared till evening. Very

obliging of them, thought my companions Mark and

Katha Dalton and I, as we took advantage of the

very relaxed, easy-going atmosphere. Locals were

spraying themselves with water bottles, and the

mist often found us as we watched the main stage

from the shade or while dancing in front of it.

We missed opener Pat Coast, but enjoyed Chicago

guitarist Steve Freund’s set. Mark bought his CD, I’ll

be Your Mule, about which he says, “[the CD] is

truly excellent - very nice, straight-ahead produc-

Robert Jr. Lockwood

The Delta Comes to Riztville

Robert Jr. Lockwood was born on March 27th, 1915 in the little

town of Marvell, Arkansas. His mother, Esther, was later married

to Robert Johnson, and moved to Helena, Arkansas, where Robert

Jr. grew up in a household filled with music. Lockwood started to

get serious about music after some guitar lessons from his

legendary step-father, and frequently worked house parties in the

Helena area in the early 30's. After leaving home, Lockwood spent

the depression years drifting through the Mississippi Delta as an

itinerant musician, frequently working with Sonny Boy Williamson

II, Howlin' Wolf and others at parties, picnics and on the streets,

wherever a dollar was to be made playing the blues and popular

tunes of the day. Robert Jr.'s recording career has spanned more

than sixty years, starting with the Bluebird label in Chicago in

1941, and he was a fixture on the famous "King Biscuit Time" show

8 • Washington Blues Society

Ritzville Rocks

By Susan Waterworth

tion, good tunes, and top-flight players...” Freund was followed by a

typically fabulous set from Little Charlie and the Nightcats, featuring

a few new Rick Estrin tunes, “That’s Big”, and “Real Love” (“that felt

real to me, baby. Ain’t that true love?”) that had the crowd in the

palm of their hands. How Estrin stayed looking so cool and smooth in

that heat (the rest of the band

had the decency to melt, like the

rest of us) is beyond me. Man,

that’s coooool. Scheduled

performed Snooky Prior was ill, so

87-year-old legend Robert Jr.

Lockwood (see sidebar) replaced

him and drew an appreciative

crowd to the stage. In addition to

“Steady Rolling Man.” “32/20

Blues,” Can’t Face the Music” and

others, he did an old timey

ragtime piece right up Jack Cook’s

alley called “Don’t Tear it Up.” We

bailed on Sista Monica, an

undistinguished blues shouter, in

favor of an hour’s rest in the airconditioned

hotel We had to rest

up for the main event.

Anyone who saw Roomful of Blues

at Jazzbones or at the EMP

recently knows that the band and

DuFresne are a great fit. Freshly

reunited with wife Laura,

DuFresne took the stage at

Ritzville like he owned it and

didn’t let go. He was home, and

he was happy. The band is worthy of him, and

turned in a great set, preceded by a dramatic, and

welcome, thunderstorm. Look for more on Mark and

Roomful in the Bluesletter soon. Suffice to say that

Mark has fronted a number of very fine bands over

the years, but he’s ready to fly with this one.

Ritzville is a lovely little oasis that was truly

welcoming and comfortable. The festival was very

well run, with features like open hoses to mist

oneself with, bathrooms readily available in all the

open businesses and bars, picnic tables set up for

eating, great food and brews, and continuous music

from over 30 bands. The Daltons and I were

delighted with the festival, and highly recommend

it.

Rick Estrin

Chris Vachon (Roomful)

photos by R. Bruce Eckley - www.eckleyphotography.com

and other radio shows in the south throughout the 40's. Lockwood

has appeared as a sideman on

hundreds of recordings, with

Muddy Waters, Little Walter,

Otis Spann, Sunnyland Slim,

Willie Mabon and countless

others, as well as releasing

many albums under his own

name. As his appearance at

the Ritzville Blues Festival on

July 13th clearly demonstrated,

this 87 year-old

bluesman remains an intense

and vital performer today, the

last surviving link to the

innovators of the delta blues.

Mark Dalton

photo by R. Bruce Eckley

Robert Jr. Lockwood

Well… Well…Our Well… beloved HallOfFamer Randy Oxford will be playing

trombone with Mighty Sam Mclain at the Yale Hotel in Vancouver, B.C.

Aug 7th and 8th .

Congratulations Congratulations to Julie Powers & Terry Kingen ... they got hitched

Saturday 7/13/02

Art Rodriguez writes S&H:

Friends & Family,

A dear friend, and one of our biggest musical influences is in need of

our help. Rocco Prestia, long time bass player with Tower of Power, is

in need of a liver transplant. Information and donations can be made

through a website, which has been set up to help with this fundraising

effort. Whatever you decide to donate, please send it today - the

situation is urgent. http://www.francisroccoprestia.com/. Trust this

site…we checked it out…S&H.

Legendary Legendary Chicago Chicago bluesman bluesman Jimmie Jimmie Lee Lee Lee Robinson Robinson died Saturday,

July 6, after a long painful bout fighting cancer, from a self-inflicted

gunshot to the head. Over the years he worked with such greats as

Freddie King, Elmore James and Little Walter. His latest releases were

on the APO label, including “All My Life” and “Remember Me.” Jimmie

will probably be best remembered as of late, though, for his tireless

efforts to save Chicago’s famed Maxwell Street, going on multiple

hunger strikes to prevent the destruction of the neighborhood where he

grew up. Jimmie was 71.

There’s There’s a a new new band band in in town town called called “The “The Real Real Deal”. Deal”. Deal”. They play blues,

R&B, jazz, classic rock and some reggae, with and emphasis on having

a good time. The Three musicians are Sean Denton (on guitar/vocals),

Mark Talbot (on drums), and Pat Hues (on keyboards/vocals). Pat

Hues who started the group has performed with such artists as: Jr.

Cadillac, Little Bill & the Blue Notes, Sweet Talkin’ Jones, The New

Blues Bros., local guitar greats such as Rich Dangel, Danny Hoefer, &

Mark Whitman. Others such as: Buddy Miles, Lee Oskar, Lloyd Jones,

Marilee Rush, Tiny Tony & the Statics, Tim Turner, Roger Rogers and

Dr. Funk just to name a few. (S&H…we don’t know what town these

folks are in…but we wish them luck and blues.)

King Biscuit Blues Festival, October 10, 11 & 12, 2002, Helena,

Arkansas

17th Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival Plans Unveiled. The Sonny Boy

Blues Society is pleased to announce the stage line-up for the 17th

Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas. New stages and

a new Main stage name will be dedicated during the opening ceremonies

of this year’s festival. The Main Stage shall be dedicated as the

Sonny Boy Williamson Main Stage and the Frank Frost Stage as well as

the Sam Carr Stage will be dedicated this year. For additional information

and complete festival information visit the website,

www.kingbiscuitfest.org.

HEY!!! HEY!!! HEY!!! Burnside Burnside and and Sideburn Sideburn Records Records Has Has Some Some Exciting Exciting Exciting News:

News:

They have 3 new releases.

ALICE STUART “Can’t Find No Heaven”

TERRY ROBB “ When I Play My Blues Guitar”

JOHN BUNZOW “Darkness & Light”

Check out their website at www.burnsiderecords.com for more dates

on these and all their fabulous artists.

David Jacobs-Strain returns Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop

faculty.

NorthernBlues Music recording artist David Jacobs-Strain, of whom the

Eugene Register-Guard said “His sure hands on the guitar and heartfelt

vocals reveal a maturity of understanding of the music that makes it

fascinating to speculate where his music might go from here,” will

perform and teach at Centrum’s Port Townsend Country Blues

Workshop. For workshop information and registration, contact

Centrum at 1-800-733-3608 or www.centrum.org.

After After 6 6 years years Mark Mark Riley Riley will will be be leaving leaving Little Little Bills’ Bills’ band. band.

band. During the

summer Bill will be using several fine guitar players from the Seattle

area including Rod Cook, Billy Stapleton, Criss Stevens, Tim Sherman

and Steve Blood. Billy Stapleton is scheduled to fill the guitar chair full

scene ‘n heard

time in mid September. Mark will be going solo, we hear, and trio,

with Greg Ibsen on bass, and Steve Sarkowski on drums. Riley is also

working on a new CD project, to appear soon, so keep your ears open.

The The blues blues acts acts have have been been finalized finalized for for The The Cirque Cirque de de Broadway Broadway Broadway and

promoter Jeff Hayes is very grateful to all of the artists who’ve agreed to

perform. “I’m very proud to be associated with all of you. Many

Washington Blues Society “Best of the Blues” Award winners in this

group as well as future BB Award winners I’m sure. We’ve even got an

Inland Empire Blues award winner with us this year. Now our

challenge is to let people know about all of the great talent that will be

on Seattle’s Capitol Hill on Sept. 14 & 15. Please help me and The

Festival in making this an event that will become a tradition for local

blues bands and fans for years to come! The best way to assure that

we’ve got quality gigs in the future is to support other blues artists in

those venues. Again, thanks everyone and I look forward to seeing all

of you in September if not before.” Watch for line-up, or call Jeff at

253.903.9047.

David David Samson, Samson, award award winning winning host host of of “The “The Nightshift”, Nightshift”, saturday

evenings at 10pm on kbcs 91.3 fm has assembled three of some of the

finest slide guitar players in the northwest for a show at this year’s

Bumbershoot. These players include Doug “Louisana Lightning”

Kearney, Steve Bailey of “Steve Bailey and the Blueflames,” and Billy

Stapleton, formerly of “The Mark DuFresne Band.” The show is on the

Mural Stage, Saturday, August 31st at 12:15 pm.

Send Send your your gossip gossip and and lies lies to S&H (Sangria & Halcyon) each month by

the 5th c/o the WBS Calendar (wbscalendar@yahoo.com), or by mail to

the WBS printed legibly on Springsteen tickets. If you don’t tell us

about it, we can’t print it [with occasional inappropriate embellishment,

of course].

Yer pals,

S&H

Juke Box

Juke Box fans and submittors, this month there will be no CD reviews. Two

reasons:

1) Coverage of hot blues blues events, such as Ritzville, Portland Waterfront,

and the NW Harp Attack. This is important, time-sensitive material.

2) A full page of advertising that arrived after our advertising cut-off. We

hoes.

I plan to publish the CD reviews both in the Bluesletter and on the web.

Hang in there.

the Sheriff

Formerly of Stickshift Annie and the Overdrive

Jak ak ake’ ak e’ e’s e’ s In Invita In vita vitational vita tional JJ

Jam J am

Hosted by 2002 WBS Award Winner &

“Hall of Fame” Inductee

Randy Oxford

Every Wednesday, 8 to 11pm - Kids welcome until 9pm

Jake’s Ales - 2318 SW 336th - Federal Way

253-927-1288

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 9

Waterfront Blues

by Bob (Maynard G.) Horn

Portland Oregon July 3-7 was another great Waterfront Blues

Festival with 3 stages full of talent day and night. A great place to

either dance in front of the music or lay in the sun and roll over

when each side is done. Overlooking the Willamette River full of

yachts and watching the sun go down as the sky starts turning pink,

a nice place to be in early July every year. Mainly it’s the blues

musical talent that is the reason it gets nominated for the Handy

Award for Blues event.

There were some lows but many more highs. First I will cover

couple lows then focus on the main aspect of things. Breweries bid

on the event and Miller won so there were no Micro brews in the

festival. This happened in the Northwest which is real strange given

that we have great micros here. The wine was, believe it or not,

Vendage. Yuck!!!! Oregon’s Willamette Valley is great wine country

and this happened. What’s next?—is Folgers Instant going to be

served to a convention of 5-Star restaurant owners, or is

Thunderbird going to be the official wine of choice for the staff of

Wine Spectator? Watch for my new song, “I Got The Middle Class

Taste-Bud Blues” soon to be released on Whiner Records.

Musically there were only 2 low points and both were with oncelegendary

performers. Ike Turner can sing some low notes very well,

but when he tried to hit a wider range wider range I think many felt

sorry for him who never thought they’d feel sorry for Ike Turner. I

was temped to yell “play the piano Ike” (like as in “use the force

Luke”) because he still can play the piano real well. His band is

greater than he is—from guitar to horn section they were fine, real

fine. Queen Ida was another that seemed a shadow of what I

expected in terms of vocals. Okay, that’s all for the low points, Now

for the main thing that was going on.

Imagine a show with 50 great acts for a week where it is openned

with Kelly Joe Phelps, Duke Robillard, and John Mayall then the

other legends follow. Well a couple of us from the WBS were lucky

enough to be there for most all of it. We voted unanimously that we

liked it. On July 4th (day 2) we found where some local Hotels had

nice wines, good food, and had a micro brew or 2, or so , and

caught W.C. Clark,and Deborah Coleman who blew me away as well

as 20-30,000 others who were in front of her. Then Candye Cain put

on her usual act (one that a lot of us like a lot), and thenTommy

Castro turned Portland into a gigantic party with what sure looked

to me like about 50,000 people ( no I was not seeing double, really I

wasn’t) I looked up at the hotels and people were standing or

dancing in the windows, people were also on the bridges over the

river, this was high energy. Then the fire works over the city began

as Tommy finished. Great show.

Friday and Saturday had so much going on that the seemed to be

one long day with a brief time where the sun took short break.

James Thackery was great as usual. I loved Gary Primich on

harmonica. Speaking of harmonica, Paul Delay did what he has done

every year in Portland since I can remember — the sounds that

reach somewhere I can’t explain with words but feel. The Neal

Family including Kenny performed twice — Friday on the Front

Porch Stage located 1/2 mile form the southernmost stage and

again on one of the main stages on Saturday. He impressed me both

times but I think especially so on the Front Porch Stage where the

audience feels closer to the music and it has a down-home flavor.

Early Saturday The Howlers openned the show and Randy Oxford

was there with them. The introduced him as the winner of the

Washington Blues Society Award for Entertainer of the Year in 2001.

As usual, Randy’s horn playing shows why — I think he will get the

award for most energy used by a horn player as well.

Among the hometown favorites each year are acts like Terry Robb

(if you haven’t heard his great acoustical guitar blues ya gotta go

do that), and Paul Delay, and some others take turns. If you don’t

see Robbie Laws, or Lloyd Jones, then you may see someone like,

maybe, Curtis Salgado. His whole band looked great on stage.

10 • Washington Blues Society

Dan Gorgas

TWO SCOOPS COMBO!

Big Fun Boogie Piano

Thanks for the BB Awards!

2002 + 2001 BEST PIANO!

2001 BEST SONGWRITER!

Big Buffet! Clean Plate! Hungry!

Eat it up (206) 933-9566 Pig out

www.twoscoopscombo.com

People talk about either his harmonica or his voice mainly — with

different people mainly talking about one and others mainly talking

about the other. One friend of mine says she worries that he will

harm his voice doing some things he does, and other friend says he

sounds just fine doing what he is doing. Gee, we can get a debate

going in the pages of the Bluesletter on topics like that sometime,

The hardest thing about the event is that it ended. After trying to

figure out a way to just listen to music forever instead of having to

work for a living the inevitable happened. That monday morning I,

like many others there, went back to work.

Nowrthwest Harp Attack!

Five harp masters wailed on a full house crowd at the Rockfish Grill. NW Harp Attack was sponsored by the Washington Blues Society. If

you missed it, woe is you! Photos by the Sheriff

Steve Bailey

Mike Lynch

Bailey’s Blues

Steve Bailey and the Blue Flames

reviewed by James Middlefield

Steve Bailey has provided us with a CD that stays true to its concept from

start to finish; a recording that, as Steve puts it on his cover, “...provides a

tribute to the early history of electric blues sounds with nasty harp, wicked

slide guitar and a solid groove.” From the very first cut called “Used to Be

My Happy Home” he combines all those sounds in raw blues. On this cut John

Stephan’s nasty slide rings true and Steve’s soulful voice and harp technique

takes you back in true blues style.

Next, Bailey serves up a tune about the satisfaction provided when playin’

the blues on “It’s Alright” to which he adds his dedication “for Isaac Scott”.

If you look through your collection of classic blues you’ll find many artists

who have sung about the joy they find in playing the blues. Steve and his

various Blue Flames spark that same joy throughout this CD. Another historic

reference to the history of the blues comes with cut three “House Party Bar

B Q”. It’s a musical history lesson describing some of the circumstances

around the purpose and use for blues music in urban settings like Chicago and

New York. This cut takes you back to the days of Louis Jordan and his

Saturday Night Fish Fry.

Blues was never lacking for love-lament songs and neither is this CD. Cuts

4,5,6,7,8, 10,11,12 and 13 tell their stories about love’s dedications,

infatuations and frustrations. With titles like “Knockin’ At Your Door”, “My

Heart Fell Like a Rock” and “Long As My Baby’s There”, you’re covered. Pick

one that relates to your situation and turn it up or sing it to your baby. There

has always been room for a sense of humor in the blues too (and everywhere

else for that matter). So Steve lightens up the CD with his novelty tune about

love with Phyllis Diller (cut 9). Maybe a little Zappa esque for some, but just

Kim Field

smile and enjoy a laugh with Steve, there’s room for it at any blues party.

Incredible skill, tone and his emotive performance on harmonica is what

draws many of us to Steve Bailey and cut 14, “Steve’s Acoustic Boogie”, is a

prime example you’ll enjoy; just pure Steve.

The CD has 14 cuts, all penned by Steve Bailey and include performances

from a wide array of area blues names including Guy Quintino (upright bass),

James Clark (bass), John Stephan (guitar), Tim Sherman (guitar), Dan Newton

(guitar), Andrew Cloutier (drums), Marty Lockwood (drums), Ric Howell

(drums), Lonnie Williams (sax), Sam Newton (trombone) with Charlene Grant

and Florence Baker-Wood on background vocals.

One thing I’ve noticed about good blues listening is that if you are going to

be lifted up by it you gotta turn it up so it surrounds you with it’s visceral

instrumentation and poetry. Don’t put this or other blues music on for

background, put it on and turn it up and it will lift you up. Then you’ll be

ready for the other things that grind your life and make you lust for more of

Bailey’s Blues.

Paul Green

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 11

12 • Washington Blues Society

Inland Empire

The The Ho Howler Ho ler lers ler s Ar Are Ar e Int Into Int o Some Something

Some hing

Since the Howlers’ home base in Richland, Washington is only a

short drive from Walla Walla, I have been fortunate enough to

witness their high energy blues show for several years, both with

their old lineup and new, and I can tell you one thing for sure …

these guys are the real deal! They come out of their corner and hit

you right between the ears, before you know what hit you, with a

bold and gutsy sound steeped in guitar driven Chicago blues … with

an emphasis on Blues. If you are looking for some down to earth,

authentic, bona fide Chicago Style Blues with a kick, you’ve come

to the right place. The Howlers have been serving up hot entrees

of Windy City blues for nearly a decade now, first with the original

lineup that included Andy ‘High Roller’ Woehler on bass, and Perry

Roper on lead guitar. But now, with the addition of ‘Deacon’ Dave

Montague on drums and Tuck Foster on harp and vocals, this band

is about as good as it gets.

Deacon Dave Montague has been drumming for 28 years now and it

really shows. He seamlessly glides

from rollicking tunes to slow

shuffles, without so much as

missing a beat (even when the

guys hired a ‘dancer’ a few years

back to dance in front of his drum

kit on his birthday).

Andy Woehler effortlessly keeps

the bass groove thick, strong and

solid, and creates an atmosphere

where the song can just flow. It’s

not surprising that his bass playing

heroes are Duck Dunn, Willie

Dixon and Tommy Shannon.

The addition of Tuck Foster on

harp and vocals was a huge

enhancement to the band. He is a

good harmonica player, and his

gritty vocals compliment the

Chicago electric blues style of the

Howlers perfectly, but I would

have to say that his greatest

contribution to the band is his

stage presence. He takes hold of

the crowd immediately and

maintains total control … and his

down-to-earth attitude and

amusing onstage antics keeps ‘em

at ease and grinnin’ from the first

note to the last.

And what can I say about Perry Roper? His guitar playing is nothing

short of awe-inspiring. He attacks his Fender with a fiery passion,

whether on a sizzling South Texas Blues number, or on a laid-back,

slow burning Chicago Blues tune. His blistering fretwork is

absolutely electrifying. I remember at a Ritzville Blues Festival 4 or

5 years ago, the early Howlers lineup was playing in one of the

many clubs on Main Street while a headlining band was playing out

on the main stage outside. Man, when Perry broke into one of his

stunning guitar solos, you should have seen the people making

tracks inside to find out who was wringing those notes out of that

guitar. I swear there were more people in that club than there

were watching the main band out on the big stage. This guy does

some mind-blowing things with that guitar of his, and if you get a

chance to catch him live you certainly don’t want to miss it.

I personally have been lucky enough to catch these guys live on

several occasions over the years, but I must admit that I have been

anxiously awaiting the arrival of a CD for way too long. But I’m

happy to announce that The Howlers debut CD has finally hit the

streets … and it was well worth the wait! Titled “Into Something”,

the album is somewhat unique in that the Howlers stepped back

and drug out an all analog recorder using 1" tape and 8-tracks.

“We wanted that smooth sound of analog,” sez Roper. “With so

By Kevin ‘Bad Dog’ Shenefiel dbaddog@hscis.net

many studios converting to digital, it was possible to find a sweet

deal on some very nice analog recording gear ... as long as we kept

the track count low. So we opted for a big (400 lbs!) MCI 8-track

machine and a late 60’s Ampex 2-track recorder and stayed analog

all the way.”

Recorded live in one room, The Howlers were able to capture their

‘Live Vibe’ on tape and mix an album that, in many ways, is how all

their favorite blues albums were recorded. Mixed down to 1/4"

analog tape, the final mix reels were then sent to Marcussen

Mastering in Hollywood to get final EQ and the Digital Conversion

to CD format.

“We recorded the album ourselves,” sez Perry. “We set up the

mics, we pressed the record button and we played our best. We

did it this way because we wanted that ‘Live Vibe’, and we wanted

to make the album ourselves. It was a huge project, but we really

took our time and we’re totally jazzed with the way it sounds and

the bluesy vibe of the music we

made.”

And you will be too. “Into

Something” is a fine collection of

10 somewhat obscure covers of

some of my favorite blues artists

… and probably some of yours too.

But these tunes aren’t merely

copies of someone else’s songs.

The Howlers make these songs

unmistakably their own … and

they come right out of the gate

with a killer version of a Luther

Allison tune, “Walking Papers”,

from Luther’s fantastic “Blue

Streak” album … one of my

favorites. I don’t think it’s

possible to do it any better than

Luther did, but the Howlers give it

a helluva try here, thanks in part

to Tuck’s powerful set of pipes.

Next is a cover of “Rollin’ and

Tumblin” (as recorded by Elmore

James) with some conservatively

juicy pickin’ by Roper that really

rocks, along with a scorching bass

groove. Then there’s a really cool

cover of “Oh Pretty Woman”, the

one that Albert King recorded …

not Roy Orbison. John Lee

Hooker’s “Big Legs Tight Skirts” features rhythm guitar work by

former Howler Gator Jim and is one of my favorite tunes these guys

do live … and this sounds just like the live version. “I Could Have

Loved You” is a haunting version of a Sugar Ray Norcia (Bluetones

and Roomful Of Blues) cover with some very classy vocals and is

followed by a slow shuffling T-Bone Walker tune, “Glamour Girl”,

that showcases some of Roper’s signature emotive fretwork. Next

is another Hooker cover, “Don’t Be Messin’ With My Bread” that

also features Roper exorcising some pretty wicked stuff out of his

guitar. “What Have I Done Wrong?”, the first Magic Sam song on

the CD, is a smooth tune, with vocals that’ll have ya begging for

mercy. It was originally Recorded in Magic Sam’s living room in

1968. The title tune, “Into Something”, is a fun little number that

includes background vocals by the rest of the band and is probably

my favorite cut on the disc. Finally, the CD closes with another

Magic Sam cover, “You Belong To Me”, with more rhythm guitar

work by Gator Jim (ask me sometime how he got his nickname) that

ends with more of Roper’s outstanding guitar riffs, leaving you

hungry for more.

But if you’re anything like me, you’ll just hit the play button and

listen to the disc again anyway. And again. Or better yet, get out

and see these guys live! But how to do that without having to drive

across our great state to see them? Well lately The Howlers have

been doing several shows in the Seattle area with Tromboner

extraordinaire Randy Oxford (recently of Junkyard Jane fame). In

fact, by the time this Bluesletter hits the streets they will also have

just recently performed together at the Waterfront Blues Festival,

the Ritzville Blues Festival, the Rock Cut Blues Festival and the

Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival (The Howlers have been steady

performers at many of the hot Eastside fests such as Untapped,

Ritzville, Sunbanks, and Joseph). I’m sure that by now there are a

buttload of you Seattle area blues fans that are just achin’ for

another chance to see them play live over on your side of the

mountains, so that you can drag your friends that didn’t make it to

Winthrop along to give ‘em a taste of what they missed. Well,

you’re in luck pal. The Howlers just happen to be playing at the

annual Washington Blues Society Picnic at Gasworks Park on August

11th. If you have a hankerin’ for a little Tabasco flavored blues, get

on out there and check these guys out. And while you’re at it, be

sure to pick up a copy of their new CD while you’re there, or off of

their website at www.howlersblues.com … where you can also find

their updated gig schedule, photos, bios, music clips and reviews.

South Sound Profile

by Al Earick

Wow, too much to say, too much to do, too much to see! This

months entry will be slightly different than previous entries. I

know, you’re thinking, how are we going to know the difference?

Well, just take my word for it! As I sit down to write this article, it

is the Fourth of July, our independence day. “What a country”, was

a funny byline for a stand-up comic, but it rings true. So, what has

this got to do with anything? Well I’m glad you asked. I know of no

other place where there are so many things to do, as there are in

the Pacific Northwest. Live music abounds at nearly every event.

Live Blues is represented at nearly every event. We have more

blues festivals up here than anywhere else in the nation! Check it

out, if you don’t believe me. Go online and check out other parts of

the country. Nowhere does it happen as much as right here! Your

W.B.S. website has links to other blues societies, so it is easy, and

fun research.

I am leaving for L.A. this weekend, and the most disturbing thing

about the trip is that there are only three blues venues left in the

entire L.A. area. The L.A. Blues society disbanded due to a lack of

interest!

The SoCal Blues society took two e-mails to two different people to

get a response. Apparently, there is blues in the San Diego area, but

after a week of emailing, I still don’t have the names of any venues

there. On the upside, it won’t take very long to check out the blues

scene in L.A. So, as I ponder the freedom I have as an American

citizen, I have also to be very thankful for the live music available

to me here.

Back to the South Sound. This month I’d like to introduce Brian

Feist to you. He is a young guitar slinger from Centralia. Now

residing in Olympia, Brian started playing guitar at 13. He was a

rocker then, and can’t specifically remember when he got turned

on to the blues, he does remember that it was Eric Clapton and

Stevie Ray Vaughn who first influenced him. Then it was Michael

Bloomfield and Elmore James. Elmore James’ lyrics were particularly

appealing to Brian. Someone introduced Brian to the guitar

work of Freddy King. “Man that guy had attack” was his comments.

“The equipment determined the sound, that’s why it is so hard to

accurately reproduce the sound”. Take it from me, Brian has no

problem making “the sound”.

“I play tribute blues” was how he described himself. “Stevie Ray

Vaughn played tribute blues. He played tribute to Albert King. He

got ragged because he combined different musical styles. Ray

Charles got ragged because he combined different musical styles.

Now they’re geniuses”! When asked how his age, (or lack thereof),

affected his career, he said, “I’m not a seventy-nine year old black

guy, are ya gonna listen anyway?” He then furthered his point with,

“People are trying to compare you to people who broke the mold

anyway. What’s the point”?

Brian currently is working with his band, which includes Sean

O’leary on drums and enthusiasm, and Michael Carrol on bass.

These guys have a great sound, and it is constantly evolving. “Little

Bill and Mark Reilly are like Gods to me”, He gushed, after a recent

show at Tugboat Annies. “Mark is so talented, yet he will take the

time to show you his licks. What a great influence”. No doubt, kid.

With heroes like those, you can’t go wrong!

When asked about the frustration of getting recognition for his

band, he commented, “Don’t overlook where you’re at, or you

don’t deserve to get to the next level”

Brian is also currently doing solos, and duets, “just to see if I can

hold it up by myself” was his reasoning.

I am looking forward to playing with Brian this Friday. He will be a

special guest of FunkinGroovin at El Serape on the Westside if

Olympia. I can’ wait to tell you how much fun it was!

See, told ya it would be different! Now, off to that barbecue grill,

after all it is the Fourth! TTFN (that’s tiggerspeak……..tata for now)

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 13

14 • Washington Blues Society

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 15

George T. Cowan *

ENTERTAINMENT LAW

...WHEN YOU HAVE ISSUES OR OPPORTUNITIES.

James ames Walls alls ~ ~ b bblues

b blues

lues sax saxophonist

sax ophonist

gigs ~ sessions ~ lessons

“The horn duties...were very well done by Jim Walls.

He has a nasty, raspy tone that fits the blues perfectly.”

-Randy Oxford

free demo 206 333 2450 ~ saxguyjim@hotmail.com

16 • Washington Blues Society

Free Initial Consultation

(up to one hour)

(206) 386-5903

gcowan@vjglaw.com

Vandeberg, Johnson & Gandara

One Union Square

600 University Street, Suite 2424

Seattle, WA 98101

*Licensed in California and Washington

The Dan Page Trip

July 4 Red, White and Blues Fest., Lake Chelan 1-4 PM

July 4 Deepwater Brewing, Lake Chelan 8-12 PM

July 11 Viscount Ballroom, Portland 9 PM

July 12 Tugboat Annie's, Olympia 9 PM

July 13 Tukwila Days, Tukwila Noon

July 20 Allyn Day's, Allyn 4 PM

July 23 Frontier Saloon, Fall City 6 PM

July 26 Whaling Day's, Silverdale 6 PM

July 27 Tour De Terrace, Mountlake Terrace 1-3 PM

July 27 The Castle, Centralia (open for former Foghat guitarist

Rod Price) Call or email for ticket info

July 28 Aquafest, Lake Stevens 3-5 PM

New CD HERO available through website

Booking: Andy Page 360-895-0971

www.danpagegroup.com

the Hudson Blues Band

on the web

on CD

on stage

www.hudsonblues.com

206-789-6606

MARY McPAGE

& The Funk Brothers

Tuesday - August 13th Strummin' Time Live

Public Access TV 8:00

Saturday - August 24th Diamond Knot Brewery

8:00 - 12:00

August 29 Rox Broiler (Kenmore)

See Website for Additional Dates

www.marymcpage.com * (206) 850-4849

Look for the CD “Leaving OZ “ to be resleased soon!

Thursday

Night is

Blues

Night

8-10 ~ Clancy’s Bar & Grill

10-Midnite ~ Blues Odyssey

LIVE BLUES IS BACK IN GIG HARBOR!

Jeky Jekyll Jeky ll & & Hyde Hyde’s Hyde

Pub

Now Featuring Great Music

and Family Dining

Aug. 9th and 10th..SPECIAL ZYDECO

WEEKEND..The “Gumbo Twins,” Marc Bristol

and Doug Bright from the File Gumbo band.

Cajun BBQ with Crawfish and Ribs.

Food starts at 5 p.m. Music at 9:30...

Aug 16th..Night Train

Aug 17th..Crossroads

Aug 23rd and 24th..Mark Riley Band

All shows 930pm to 130am

Jeky Jeky Jekyll Jeky Jeky ll and and Hyde Hyde’s Hyde s Pub

Pub

3222 56th Street NW

Gig Harbor

(just behind Lumbermans)

253-858-5555

Fun, Friendly Atmosphere!

Welcome Wagon

Michael Miller

Kevin Short

James Lowry

Thomas Fitzhugh

Lilli White

Pam Cox

“The Blues Stage”

New Members

Renewed Members

Don & Sue Beranek

Elinor Wooden

Bruce Rhodes

Heidi Robey

George Clark

Kurt Aemmer

Greg Roberts

Patrick Lynch

Steve Wood

Gary Court

Patricia McCollum

Neil Kelly

Larry Jamieson

Michael Stevenson

Theresa Bartolini & Wayne O’Brien

Dennis “Zab” Zyvoloski

Rhea Rolfe

Dennis Clark

David Samson

Cirque de Broadway Street Festival

Presented by the Washington Blues Society

September 14 & 15, 2002

FEATURING

THE THE THE BL BLUES BL UES ORBITERS

ORBITERS

ALICE ALICE STU STUAR STU AR ART AR

STICKSHIFT STICKSHIFT ANNIE

ANNIE

RA RAVEN RA RAVEN

VEN & & THE THE EMPTY EMPTY SHOES SHOES SHOES B BBAND

B AND

THE THE JELL JELLY JELL Y RR

ROLLERS

R OLLERS

ROBER OBER OBER OBERT OBER T CASEY’S CASEY’S BL BLUES BL UES P PPAR

P AR ARTY ARTY

AAR AAR AARON AAR AARON

ON RICHNER’S RICHNER’S BL BL BLUES BL BL UES DRIVERS

DRIVERS

HENR HENRY HENR Y COOPER

COOPER

Peter Christian

Brian Moore

Sandra Hopp

Marty Solis

Doris “Peaches” Gray

Denise Souza

Additional Festival Attractions:

Food, Crafts, Performance Stage, Main Stage Music, Arts Exhibit, Poetry Slam, Kids Fair.

For Festival information contact: Gina Gregory 206.323.2929 or gina@seattlebroadway.com

Bill Mattocks

Ian Gunsul

Clave McCraw

Gael Kurath & Dale Schultz

Mark Colombo

Michal Denully

Chuck Larson

Ester Wilfong

Bad Alberts

Bobby Moody

Marel Harsted & Ralph Baker

Jeff Nicely

Cathy Gaylord

Buzzard Inc.

Michael Coy

Arlen Rons

Fred Langford

Andy Page- The Dan Page Trip

Bluesletter • August 2002 • 17

18 • Washington Blues Society

Join Join the the Washington Washington Blues Blues Society

Society

your your blues blues authority

authority

�New �Renewal �Address change �I would like to volunteer!

___________________________________________

Name

__________________________________________________________

Address

__________________________________________________________

City State Zippo

__________________________________________________________

email phone

__________________________________________________________

Bluesletter - Washington Blues Society

products

Resources

Company

Bluesletter - Washington Blues Society

Delete template?

Save as template?

products

Resources

Company