Behind the Scenes - by LynnAnn Hyde      Behind the Scenes Index

   A profile on some of the men and women who have made great contributions to the Blues community. If you know of someone who qualifies as a "Behind the Scenes" profile candidate, please let us know!

Joey Scruggs

    By far the most engaging of interviewees, Joey is a wealth of info on the local, regional, and national Blues scene. He joined the brand new Cascade Blues Association in June of 1987 as a volunteer for the very first Rose City Blues Festival, (now called the Waterfront Blues Festival), and as a strong supporter of Blues music as a live art form.  He also was one of the very first writers for the BluesNotes. Joey tells me that some of the first CBA meetings were quite "rocky", and that Terry Currier (of Music Millennium) was instrumental in shaping the general assembly meetings into fun and productive gatherings.

    Joey expresses great joy with his continuing involvement at the Waterfront Blues Festival, and thanks the many volunteers who make it work each year.

    Joey Scruggs served as a CBA Board Member (President in 1989 & 1990), and was instrumental in helping with Blues In The Schools (headed by Errol & Bobbie Shervey) and many traditional and Acoustic Blues venues and events.

    Today, Joey Scruggs continues to support and promote live Blues as both booking agent and publicist for various acts, venue spaces, and events.   He calls upon CBA members to ACTIVELY SUPPORT LIVE BLUES, and reminds us that people like Terry Currier, Bob Ancheta and Bill Rhoades (my next profile) are really the backbone for our burgeoning Blues community.   Joey continues to write articles for Blues publications, and hopes that those of us who "make it" in the Blues community will lend a hand to those coming up.

Bill Rhoades

     I saw Bill at Music Millennium the other day and told him I needed to interview him for this piece.  With a very typical Bill response of "No problem!", I realized that I don't need to interview Mr. Rhoades at all to inform you of some of the wonderful things Bill has done to ensure that the Blues will live on in Portland.  (I also have not hooked up with him, we are both extremely busy, so if I miss something important, please forgive me).

    Bill was one of the ORIGINAL FOUNDERS of the CBA and he put his heart and soul into it (as well as financial support). Bill Rhoades is one of our finest harmonica players, and began to offer harmonica showcases and events to the public through his annual BLOW-OFF, which leads into his HARP SUMMIT (now in it's fifth year) providing great harmonica players a wonderful venue for doing their "thang", and the public a great opportunity to hear these guys.  Bill has had EVERY harp player of note at his events, and has been tremendously supportive of upcoming harp players.

    Bill also performs and records Traditional and Chicago Blues with his acoustic act and his Chess-records style electric outfit, The Party Kings. Bill Rhoades goes even further with his radio program (BLUE MONDAY, KBOO see Radio Programmers Profile on-line) and his status as both a preservationist and documentarian.

    Bill selflessly provides musical presentations as a Blues In The Schools performer to our kids, and also gives freely to the CBA and other Blues assemblies.

    Bill has at least three great CDs (that I know of) out in the marketplace, and continues to record the greatest gift he gives, HIS TALENT ON HARMONICA.

    Bill is a quiet guy but loves the Blues and knows more about recordings, etc. than almost ANYONE (Tom Wendt is Bill's peer in this area).  Bill Rhoades is an award winning musician (a multi-CBA "Muddy Award" winner on Blues Harp), a devoted preservationist / documentarian, and has been programming great Blues for years!  Bless him for all he's done and continues to do.

Delmark Goldfarb

    Well, Del Goldfarb has to be one of the true trailblazers on the Northwest Blues Scene.  He is another one of the FOUNDING FATHERS of the CBA and also happens to be a musician, songwriter, and self-proclaimed preservationist of the "Memphis Sound".  Del taught a class on the origin of the Blues at PCC, met Bill Rhoades and Miles Ward and they chartered the acts for the CBA.  Del also put together the first Blues festivals, and selflessly worked toward making each event successively bigger and better. Del gave his time, motivational skills, money, and his talent as a promoter to the CBA and to the Blues Festival for many years.

    Del currently is a performing artist with a "cool" CD out that features his partner (the wonderful, Linda Michelet) and several of the Memphis players that Del hangs out and performs with. There is also a great harmonica piece from John Sebastian (HE IS A GREAT PLAYER) on the recording, and Del showcases his songwriting abilities.

    MY thanks to Mr. Goldfarb for his undying love of the Blues, and for all the energy, etc. that he has put out over these many years to benefit the Blues community.

Next Time: Leah Akeridge, Ardis Hedrick, Tom Wendt.

© 2000 Cascade Blues Association