Peter Dammann

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Well Schooled in the Music He Loves

Article Reprint from the July 1999 BluesNotes   
Article by Rick Hall    

    Peter Dammann is a man of extraordinary talents and abilities. Not only is he a freelance writer, a dedicated family man (with a wife and two small kids) and a topnotch Blues guitarist with The Paul deLay Band, but he is also the Talent Coordinator for The Miller Genuine Draft Waterfront Blues Festival. And, on top of all that, he's also a cordial and friendly human being as well! Peter took time out of his busy schedule preparing for this year's Waterfront Festival to talk with BluesNotes about his exciting and interesting life in the world of music.

    Peter is well-schooled in the music he loves, the Blues. He recalls, "I grew up around Chicago, that's where I really learned to play. I played in a garage band in high school. The keyboard player from that band, Jimmy Pugh, now plays with The Robert Cray Band. We were playing Kinks and Rolling Stones covers and later Hendrix, Cream. Then, one summer around 1967 or '68, we heard about the first Chicago Grant Park Festival which was the precursor of all the Chicago Blues festivals that have come since. Muddy Waters, Lucille Spann, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Jimmy Dawkins, Luther Allison, Koko Taylor; everybody was there! It was unbelievable. It was the first time I felt like I'd heard real music. After that festival we drove back to the suburbs and became a Blues band."

    Peter spent some time jamming down at the infamous Maxwell Street Market and at the clubs on the Chicago's Southside. He continues, "I would go down to Maxwell street on Sundays. It was a thieves market. They would have barbecues going all over the place, sort of like Saturday Market here, but in a more ethnic part of town. On nearly every corner there would be a power cord hanging out of a window. At the bottom of the power cord there would be a small drum set and an amplifier or two and a guitar player and maybe a harmonica player. There would be little bands set up all over and they would all be competing for the crowds."

    "I basically learned there most of the stuff that I know now about playing Blues guitar. I'd go down and sit in on the jam sessions and these old Black guys would just be sort of flipping out that there was this little white guy playing Blues riffs. They loved it! They were laughing kind of gleefully. Then they'd say 'You should come down to Turner's Lounge on South Indiana Street tonight.' So I'd say, 'Okay, I'll be there.' There is nothing in Portland like some of those neighborhoods in Chicago. It's intense. We would be the only white people for blocks and blocks. As soon as I walked in with this guitar though, people would sit me down and buy me a drink. I couldn't believe it. I've never been anywhere before or since where I felt such genuine warmth from strangers."

    Peter saw all the great Bluesmen of the times in Chicago: Muddy, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush. Seeing the great Chicago Blues guitarists play convinced him that "chops" and riffs really had little to do with it. The Blues was about digging deep and putting something ferocious behind every note you play. He was convinced it's what's behind the notes that matters. Peter's learned well because that's just the way he plays today; powerful, but economical.

    Peter went to college on the East Coast and worked as a full-time journalist after that, eventually moving to Seattle in 1980 where his sister lived. While there, he ran into a college friend who was working in Portland at the Willamette Week. She said the paper had an opening. so he applied and got the job as a journalist, where he stayed for five years.

    Peter played guitar in bands in college and kept an interest in the music after that. He was always lusting to play music. Then, Jimmy Pugh, his friend from high school, came through Portland with The Elvin Bishop Band who was playing at the Euphoria Tavern around 1980 or '81. He introduced Peter to Elvin saying, "Here's Pete, he's from Chicago too. He plays guitar." Peter thought nothing of it. However, at the end of the evening Elvin was getting ready to play the Blues standard "Born In Chicago" when he motioned to his rhythm guitar player to give Peter his guitar. Peter was standing off to the side of the stage and he had to grab the axe and play. He was pumped and must have burned because Bishop gave him another chorus to solo on. For Peter, it was a magical moment that tapped into a piece of his soul that he had put on hold for those years he was immersed in the workaholic life of a journalist.

    Several years later Peter left Willamette Week and was freelancing when the Oregonian asked him to do a piece on the Northwest Blues scene. Robert Cray was just breaking onto the national scene, about 1986 or so. He interviewed all the top regional acts. The Paul deLay Band was playing The Last Hurrah on a Monday night and holding auditions for a guitar player because Jim Mesi, their long-time guitarist, was leaving the band and moving to Seattle. Steve Bradley was filling in, but on the last set the band had different players come up and audition. So, he gave it a shot. The next day Peter got a call from the band asking him to come to Ashland for the coming weekend with them. Peter never wrote the article, feeling he had too much of a conflict of interest. That was the beginning of the end for Peter's journalist life.

    Peter continues, "I did that weekend with the band on the road. But, they needed someone full-time immediately. It just wasn't the right time for me yet. I went back to my freelancing gig. Meanwhile, I starting playing guitar with Johnnie Ward in the band Johnnie & The Jokers. I played with them for about a year. In early 1987, The Paul deLay Band once again found themselves without a guitarist. I got a call asking what I was doing that weekend and the rest is history. I've been with the band 12 years now."

    Peter recorded with The Paul deLay Band in the late summer of '87 on the session that became the "Burnin'" album on Criminal Records. Even back then, Paul was considered a premiere white Blues harmonica player, nominated in the mid-'80s for a WC Handy Award and endorsed by Hohner Harmonicas. The band was a hard touring regional band, Paul deLay on harp and vocals, Paul Jones on drums, Don Campbell on bass and vocals, Claire Bruce on keyboards and vocals and Peter Dammann on guitar. Peter was still doing some freelance journalism while he played regularly with the band.

    Everything was rolling along when in 1990, bandleader Paul deLay was arrested on federal drug charges. It took almost two years before Paul was convicted and sentenced to prison and it was during that time that The Paul deLay Band produced two of their finest recordings up to that date, "The Other One" & "Paulzilla", both on the ironically named, Criminal Records label. Peter explains, "Paul became very focused not knowing what was ahead. Paul went to work crankin' out this material. Meanwhile, the court kept postponing trial date. Two months turned into two years, and we put out two CDs. Then all of a sudden, there it was, the trial date, and then a plea bargain. "Paulzilla" came out just weeks before Paul was to report to prison."

    The band at the time Paul recorded the two CDs included Paul and Peter with Dan Fincher on sax, John Bistline on bass, Jeff Minnick on drums and Louis Pain on keyboards; a cracker-jack unit. And, now a band without a leader as Paul was headed to prison (or camp as he called it). Peter tells what happened next. "We had this gig booked up at The Dandelion and now suddenly Paul was gone. We called Linda Hornbuckle in as a guest vocalist for the weekend and we had a blast. Someone asked what we were going to call the band and I said uh, No Delay! Linda was still with the band Body & Soul, but was ready to do something where she was the front person."

    The No Delay Band had a strong run while Paul was spending 42 months in a minimum security prison in Sheridan, Oregon. They recorded a self-titled CD which garnered super reviews and made people take notice of Linda Hornbuckle as a premiere female vocalist. As Paul was set to get out of "camp" in January of 1996, Peter, Louis and Dan decided to return to playing with Paul. The No Delay project had run its course and Linda wanted to delve into more R&B, Soul and Funk material. The Paul deLay Band just kind of fell back into place. They got Mike Klobas to play drums and John Mazzacco on bass to fill out the rhythm section.

    During all of this time, Peter has been the manager of the band and The Paul deLay Band has gone on from local and regional stardom to become a solid national Blues act, touring worldwide with three recordings on Evidence Records, all of which have garnered favorable national and international reviews. He is a major part of the success of the group which is strong on talent and heavy on execution!

    Peter Dammann is also the Talent Coordinator for The Miller Genuine Draft Waterfront Blues Festival, now in it's 12th year. Peter's been booking and coordinating the event's acts for the last six years. A huge job indeed! Every local Blues band wants to play this prestigious Festival. Peter notes, "It's not just local. Every band on the West Coast wants to play. And I get promo material from a great number of them. There are a lot of good acts out there!"

    Sponsors like Miller Genuine Draft, Albertsons, and the credit union group Co-Op Network make it possible to bring the talent to the Festival, keeping the cost of the event to the public to a sliding scale donation of $3 - $5 and two cans of food per day. All those donations go directly to the Oregon Food Bank, a non-profit hunger relief agency. The sponsor's generosity means that the WFBF doesn't have to charge $15 or more per day as many Blues festivals do. "This makes it possible for the whole spectrum of Portland, not just well-heeled music fans, to come down and enjoy this music," continues Peter. "That gives the Festival a fun, low-key, populist vibe. And, it's great for Blues artists to be able to perform for such a large and diverse audience."

    "But, this is not just about having a party down on the waterfront with a lot of great music. What makes this so special is that we're raising money for a great cause. This is the major annual fundraiser for The Oregon Food Bank, which couldn't do some of its important work without the support it receives at this Festival."

    The Festival has grown from a one-day event 12 years ago to a four-day affair (and sometimes even five days depending on how the 4th of July holiday falls on the calendar). This year the Festival expands from two to three stages with the addition of the Oregonian-sponsored Front Porch Stage. This will give the Festival a chance to have some jams, workshops and acoustic acts in addition to all the great regular acts performing alternately on the north and south stages in Waterfront Park.

    Peter's job has become even larger with the addition of this third stage. He states, "In January, I start looking for the national acts. It really comes down to routing. Like, who's going to be on the West Coast or Western Canada around this time. It's very expensive to fly acts in for just this specific festival. We can do that for one or two acts a year, but catching acts that are routing through the area is the key. It then comes down to getting a good mix of regional and local acts so they can showcase their music too."

    "I've always viewed my role in this event as the caretaker of the artistic part of this thing. During the year, I'm dealing with hotel arrangements, contracts, budgets and airlines. Suddenly, the stages are goin' up, all these volunteers and stage crews start showing up, it's amazing to me how this thing takes shape. There are a thousand volunteers involved in the Festival this year. Having that level of volunteerism gives this event such a positive feel from top to bottom." Peter has done an extraordinary job over the years scheduling the best talent available and working within the budget he has been given. And, this year is no exception with another solid line up for the Festival.

    In addition to the music in his life, Peter is a dedicated family man. His wife of 16 years, Kim Ray, was a dance writer at Willamette Week when they met. Peter and Kim, a visual artist, have two children Isabel Dora, now five, was born a week and a half before Peter's first WFBF. Their son, Jesse Meigs, was born two months ago.

    Between the Blues Festival, playing guitar & managing The Paul deLay Band, and being a family man with two small children, Peter Dammann has a positive outlook on life and a smile on his face. And, that's what life should be all about, isn't it?

© 1999 Cascade Blues Association