Sonny Smokin' Hess - Still Smokin' With More Talent Than Ever

Written by CBA Staff Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:01

Article by Deborah DeSarah, CBA BluesNotes, March 2006 Photos by Greg Johnson

       Multitalented and working her magic in the music industry. That would be Sonny Hess. I had the privilege of talking with her at the Candleight on a Friday night before her show. On this particular night, she was with her regular band: Kelly Pierce on drums, Jim Hively on bass and Lady Kat on vocals. Everyone was ready to dance the night away and listen to some smoking hot, live music. Of course, Sonny was playing lead guitar. The place was packed and the dance floor was full from beginning to end.

            Sonny has been instrumental in shaping the music scene in the Portland area for over 20 years, in helping new venues formulate music programs, organizing several benefits, one of which won an award, and last, but not least, is the pride she takes in helping other talent be recognized.. She has made a name for herself in a male-dominated profession. She was the first woman to be nominated for a Muddy Award for Best Electric Guitarist by the Cascade Blues Association. Sonny Hess is recognized by her supporters for her soulful guitar leads that take you on an emotional train ride. Each note she plays sends you home with the feeling that you have been spoken to from the depths of her soul. She’s a seasoned veteran who knows what the audience wants and needs from her performance. Sonny told me a story about a man who had recently divorced. After the show, he told her that once again he felt inspired, and he knew that everything would be alright. Talk about power!

            Sonny has musical roots which go back to her childhood. Every member of her family grew up with music as the forefront of their lives. From singing at home to creating music for audiences around the country and at local hang-outs in their home town in Idaho, to doing church programs as a family group. “I started getting into Blues around the age of 25. It was Rock ‘n Roll before that. Growing up, I used to sit in the living room with my siblings and would take my brother’s guitar, because I didn’t have one, and play the intros to sitcoms such as Bonanza or Bewitched. I would do it over and over again until my sisters were begging mom to make me stop for fear of insanity. To me though, every time I did it, I heard something different. I could do it for hours.” The music of youth has grown into talent that you can’t resist, once you feel it.

            “In the past, many years ago, there were jams I would go to where at 1:50 am they would decide to let me play and I had been there since the start. They would wait till the whole show was over and there were three people in the audience and then they would let me play. Now when I walk into a place people recognize me.” I asked her how many years that took. “It wasn’t overnight. Before I started in the Blues I was in a seven-piece Rock ‘n Roll band called, The Koffee Band, as a backup singer. It was a very, very good band, opening for Quarterflash a few times and that was my first band. We had a lot of success and were with one of the biggest booking agencies in town. Most people’s first bands aren’t that good, but I was 20 something and thought this was how it was, little did I know. Wow, this is going to be fun with all these gigs and all these people behind us. I did not realize until I started doing it myself, how hard it is. But, I was lucky in that way, because it was a successful first band for me. Those guys didn’t make any bones about letting me know how lucky I was. I would look at them and say ‘it’s destiny’. I was very happy to be there and we had some big shows.”

            I asked Sonny what she would like people to know about her? “The thing I most love to do is play with people who I feel have a very strong talent and are trying to make it onto the scene. I get excited about what they have to offer. So, whatever clout I may have, I use to get them seen and heard. If it doesn’t fit with what I do, I try to find the right group of people and musical thing that suits them. Right now, with Lady Kat, we are leaning more into the jazzy, bluesy piano bar feel and getting her own thing started there.” I was able to hear Lady Kat that night and she definitely has the talent that Sonny talks about.

            Let’s not stop there though. Sonny hosts The Women Blues revue every Thursday night at the Trail’s End Saloon. They’ve been doing this for six years now, going on seven, and she is grateful to The Trail’s End for their commitment. “We feature a different female artists each week. One time you’ll see my niece, Brandi Hess, and different women in blues like, Kimberly Hall, LaRhonda Steele, or Linda Hornbuckle, with Lisa mann on bass and vocals each week.” Sonny loves it, because she can hear new talent that she could possibly use in her specialty show, “NW Women Rhythm & Blues.” “We have people from Seattle and we’re working on people from Eugene and San Francisco. I love having that flexibility and versatility. It’s like the NW Women Rhythm and Blues shows becomes more than a show, and more like an event that happens. It’s always different and always rotating, showcasing a new talent. I get excited about that and it may be my claim to fame as far as new people go.”

            When I asked Sonny who she thought had progressed most because of these opportunities, she replied, “Everyone, if they repeatedly play, they can’t help but get better.” Sonny doesn’t necessarily consider herself a mentor, but an outlet to help get people and their talent into the public eye. With NW Women Rhythm and Blues, she feels like a whole other version of herself. She’s like the godmother of those talented women and wants them to be the best performers they can be.

            I asked her what was her inspiration for starting NW Women Rhythm and Blues? “I did it with a woman years ago who is no longer in town. We did some big shows with some national acts such as Katie Webster but, the inspiration was in the very first Blues festival here in Portland; the festival was primarily men, I was one of only two women.”

            In 1991, Sonny met the late “Blues Diva,” Paulette Davis, and created a new sound in Portland with “Paulette and Power”: “Paulette was a huge inspiration to me. We started out together and grew together as ‘virgins’ in the Blues scene starting over in the ‘hood for a few years. Nobody recognized Paulette in the clubs there, but I had some recognition and was able to get some bookings.” New doors opened for that group and they became one of the first “unsigned” groups to ever play at the Monterey Blues Festival in Monterey, California. The first year that “Paulette and Power” joined the local music scene, they won two Crystal Awards, “The Best R&B Act” and “Best New Artist” for Paulette. The ballots were cast through The Oregonian subscribers and they won by a landslide. Throughout their 10 years together they opened for Etta James, The Average White Band, Bobby Womack and jr. Walker and the All Star Band.

            Sonny says “it was because of Paulette. It’s not necessarily because she had the best voice around, but that Paulette was such a dynamic performer. The audience never knew what to expect. Their following grew over the years and was a very special time in life and may never happen again. After Paulette passed, I was a bit lost because she was my best friend and the band was my entire focus.” Though Sonny sings with a great voice, she would rather play guitar. She is inspired by vocalists and enjoys embellishing the lead singer. With Paulette, she didn’t sing at all, but she ran the whole band, and wrote songs for the band.

            “We had a gig scheduled for the weekend after she passed. The question became, ‘do we play or not.’ I received a call from a really good friend, Randy Lilya, who told me to get my ass up and do it. I tried to convince him I didn’t sing but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Randy booked me in advance for the next year. So, for a year it made me do my thing and regroup with my purpose. I’m still more comfortable with another singer because it helps to create the interaction and allows me to work the band.”

            Does Paulette still inspire you today? “Very much so. Sometimes when I’m singing a song I’ll interject a phrase or a word that Paulette used to say and the band will laugh. Kelly is one of the original members of the band, so he gets them all the time and it makes it that much more fun. I would say that Paulette is in almost every song in some form or another, there is some part of her there. I will remember Paulette’s integrity. As I went on, I came to realize how special it was. I saw later how much Paulette had my back and how spoiled I had been by that. It doesn’t always happen like that in the real world.”

            Today there are over 27 women involved in the NW Women Rhythm and Blues from all over the Pacific Northwest. Each show is comprised of seven to nine women performers, most of which have their own bands, who form an all-star cast. Some of the women who have performed in this show started with this unique and extraordinary experience. Collectively, these women have opened for talent such as, Etta James, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Gladys Knight, Earth Wind & Fire, Average White Band, Pointer Sisters, B.T.O., Bobby Womack, and Jr. Walker and the All Stars. Recently, the Cascade Blues Association nominated NW Women Rhythm and Blues for “Show of the Yaer 2005.” And if you saw them at Blues By The Sea, like I did, you would still be talking about it.

            “I don’t do it for notoriety. I stay in it because every single year I meet a new person that tells me I should stay and for some reason I’m here to help the music scene and somehow others get discovered. It’s not just for me. There are so many other people that I can help get started who don’t know the ins and outs. I can help them with the details of playing the scene and saving them from unknown mistakes.”

            But we are talking multitalented here, aren’t we. Sonny has also done bookings for some of the clubs around town and at one point had five different venues to care for. From that she has been able to hand work the musicians. Some may work out while others may not. She is good at finding places which don’t normally do music and cultivating it and getting a music scene going. “I will always do that because I want to help be sure that live music is always a choice of entertainment. That needs to always happen. Instead of being just a musician and doing a gig and collecting the earnings, I want to ensure there is always a place for myself and new people to go and play music and others to come and hear. There can’t be enough.

            “Some venues and people have really helped me with my vision. Randy Lilya, Peter Dammann, Ken Johnson, Jan Haedinger of McMennamins’s and The Trail’s End Saloon have been consistently supportive and proven over and over that they are big believers in what I do.”

            Sonny’s reputation precedes her and she can get on the phone and simply let them know this is a good thing. Though there is still a lot of beating down doors in other venues who misunderstand what this is all about and don’t recognize the talents being offered.

            What plans do you have for future projects? “I write a lot of original music, it’s my second claim to fame.” Sonny has been recognized for some of her original work in the local media. Currently she is working on a CD project, which will be mostly original music. You can look for Still Smokin’ to be released during 2006. She is also working to get on the road and bring NW Women Rhythm and Blues into some of the bigger festivals, such as San Francisco and opening for some larger acts. Sonny then wants to bring some of the bigger names here and believes she has enough experience to do that.

            In the meantime, she will continue to write original music because when I asked her what her greatest dream come true would be for her music she said, “I would like to be recognized for one of my original songs. That would be a great dream come true.” I’m sure any of us could imagine the possibilities and opportunities of having our dreams come true. Sonny would see more independence and better opportunities to do more of what she does, with artists, venues and music. 

            Sonny worked her way into the music scene in Portland on the rough road. In a male-dominated profession, she was passed up at many jams because women just didn’t play lead guitar. Through perseverance and a love for music, she was the first female guitarist to be nominated for the Muddy Award for “Best Blues Electric Guitar” by the Cascade Blues Association. So, if you have a chance to see this dynamic performer, you must. Trust me, you will never be bored with the same old routine. You may be someone who can say, “I saw them when they first started,” or be able to say I shook the hand of the person who wrote that song. And let’s not forget the guitar playing. How else do you think she could get a name like Smokin’ Sonny Hess? Look for her at festivals this summer, such as Clackamas Live and Estacada Festival, just to mention a couple. You can always check her schedule at www.sonnyhess.com

Andy Stokes - Rhythm AND Blues

Written by CBA Staff Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:01

Article by Rose Allen, CBA BluesNotes, January 2006 Photos by Greg Johnson

    I am certain that if you look into the Soul of Portland, you will find Andy Stokes…among other things.  Yes, Portland definitely has got its Soul side.  A sampling can be tasted every Sunday night inside the Candlelight on the south end of the city, near the PSU campus.  This particular show has been going on every Sunday night now for the past five years.  For any club, especially one that espouses selling Blues, that’s a pretty long winning streak.  The club is, without a doubt, one of the more consistently energetic venues in town.  “Light on hip but heavy on cool, a welcome anomaly in Portland…the crowd is diverse, covering all ages, colors and creeds” as described this past summer by Willy Week’s David Muller.

      The Candlelight is a whole ‘nother story in and of itself.  I’ve been conducting research there for a few years now.  It is definitely one of Portland’s darkest clubs, creating an atmosphere that allows for a great deal of carrying on in the deep recesses of the dance floor.  The small club is often packed tight, especially on weekends, which provides excuse for both intentional and unintentional body contact.  The dance floor, the stage, the pool hall, it all just kind of flows together in this unconscious stream of consciousness.  The place certainly has a unique energy.  Connections are made here for a single night or for a lifetime.  Personal counseling takes place alongside competition among pool sharks.  If Pioneer Courthouse Square is Portland’s Living Room, then the Candlelight is its sunken den – that dimly lit room, which features a black leather make-out couch.  Talk about bump and grind, you’d think this were its birthplace.  Sunday nights seem to be the most “happening” – a definite correlation to the music being proffered.  Andy’s tunes add fuel to the fire.  With original songs such as: Cut the Drama, Do You Wanna? Dress Code, Fade my Way, Get Back With You and I Don’t Give a Damn.  These repetitive, grooving lyrics serve to further draw people into the scene.  I would bet that the Candlelight is regularly the busiest venue in Portland on Sunday nights, with its R & B, funk scene.  It’s a fine mix of young and old, and it works.

      The club has been owned by Joe Shore for 21years now, with live music offered seven nights a week.  How many clubs can pull that off successfully?  I asked Joe for his take on Andy:  “He loves what he’s doing.  Andy would rather be on stage than on break.  He loves to entertain; he’s enthusiastic and professional.  For Andy, it’s not just a job; he loves the music.  He’s one hard-working entertainer.”

      Andy Stokes spent his formative years moving between Danville, Virginia, where he was born, and Germany, where his father was frequently relocated while in the Army.  When I asked Andy if he could speak any German, he responded with words that I could not understand.  He also went on to explain additional education he gained while in the country.  “I basically grew up over there.” Some of that involved experiences as a teen:  his first kiss at 13, along with other “schooling” by German women.  I suggested it might be inappropriate to include too much detail in this publication.

      A football scholarship brought him to the Great Northwest in 1975, where he has resided ever since.  His favored position was running back; he tells me he’s fast.  Andy was recently honored with induction into the Junior College Football of Fame through his skills on the Mt. Hood Community College field.

      He described his family, now located in the Tacoma area, as “all-Army, jocks – all sports.”  “There was some music in the household in the form of record albums:  Temptations, Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Sylistics and such.  I’d just be in my room with my back leaning against the hi-fi, using the broomstick as a mic.”  Though Andy claims that he never intentionally set out to perform music, he sort of “fell into it.”  “Sure, I sang around the house.  I especially enjoyed the sounds of James Brown and Stevie Wonder.” 

      After being in Portland for a while, “I was hanging out with some friends at this place in Beaverton called the Chase Lounge on this particular Thursday night.  A deejay was spinning some tunes; there was no one in the club.  I got up there and just made up some words.  That was the first time I ever sang in front of anyone.  I went back the next night, which was Friday.  The deejay announced ‘This singer just got back from performing in Las Vegas!’  I was looking around to see who it was.  The guy was talking about me!  So I went into the deejay both and sang Ring My Bell.  I was nervous as hell!  The owner asked if I would ad lib to some songs.  He paid me a hundred dollars.  So I did that for a couple months.”

      “Ben Wolf (now with Harry Connick, Jr.) asked if I wanted to join a band and we formed Night Life.  One of the other guys in the band was Ron Reagan, who now plays with Five Guys Named Moe.  We played together for about a year.  Tony Collins, who was with the group Pleasure, heard me sing one night when we were playing at O’Connors.  Tony formed Lights Out and I joined him.  When I was asked to join their band, I was really thrilled because I had the Pleasure albums at home that I listened to.  I was honored to be a part of them.  Here I had never even sung and I was playing with these guys!   This was in the early 1980s.  Other band members from Night Life formed Cool’R; I played with them for a while too.  In 1989, Cool’R was signed with A & M Records.  I was with that band until 1991.  From there, I went solo.” 

      “While I was in Japan performing with Cool’R, I was approached by Charlie Wilson and George Clinton, who I sat with at dinner.  We were in Tokyo, performing with different bands.  I damned near had stage fright!  These guys are listening to me!  Wilson had some money and asked if I wanted to do a solo project.  So this guy starts sending me money and hooked me up with people out of San Francisco.  He flew me down there and I recorded a song called Test of Time with a label out of Atlanta.  It was played on the radio and just took off.  It made the Top 10 on the charts; that was 1992.”  I asked Andy exactly which charts:  “Billboard.”  I was impressed.

      “After returning to Portland, I was in this radio interview with Z100.  They had put out an album with some of the Trail Blazers who performed to raise money for the Blues & Girls Club.  The station called and asked if I had a song to contribute.  They played Test of Time on the air and the phones lit up.  It was a funk tune that was written by these two Jewish guys!  That’s how I gained my notoriety.  So, I put a band together and enjoyed the popularity.  Then after a while, age caught up.  I took a break for a couple years.  From there, I started the Andy Stokes Band until 1996.  Then I took another few years off, and started up again in 2000.”  During his “time off” Andy traveled mostly and visited family in Virginia.  And worked.  Andy explains that he is employed in the area of customer service.  Most recently, he earned his real estate license. 

      I asked Andy whether he has done any other recordings.  There is a cd called Tell Me What You Like, with ASB Records.  The band has recorded two live cds, Live at Bacchus I, followed by Turn Up the J (Jam) Set.  These are available for purchase thru Andy at the shows. 

       As far as the band itself, Rusty Cox serves as the band’s drummer.  He also provides for an additional, distinctive vocal style that further broadens the range of the band.  Andy was initially surprised when he found out that Rusty could sing.  When I asked for his interpretation, Andy explained, “Rusty’s got his own style, it’s goovin, hip hop, R & B.”  They have been performing together some twenty years, since the Cool’R days.  “We toured in Japan 1989 for almost six months.  Rusty came back home, I came back home and was going to take a break.  Everybody encouraged me to continue.  The only one around here was Linda (Hornbuckle); there were no other R & B bands.  It was kind of like my Second Coming.  The whole generation that saw me in Cool’R had grown up.  I was sort of nervous at first; that was in 1999-2000.”

      “Then Rusty tells me about this killer keyboard player from Detroit; I had no idea who he was.  After I heard Craig Stevenson play, it was a done deal.  I thought he was phenomenal.”  Bass player Randy Monroe is the newest band member.  “He played a couple of years with Linda’s band.  Randy and I used to play together in Lights Out – that was the second band I was ever in.”  Andy feels that Randy was the missing link.  “As far as being a funk band, drums and bass are the key.” 

      If the Candlelight room is a little more than you care to handle, Andy Stokes Band also performs on occasion at Bacchus in Vancouver and occasionally at the Liquid Lounge in Seattle.  Last year, they placed first in a Battle of the Bands competition in that city. 

      Andy has also performed with Curtis Salgado, Linda Hornbuckle, and New Shooz locally, along with Michael Bolton, George Clinton, Connie Stevens, Temptations, Stylistics and others on a broader scale.  Additionally, he was voice for one of the famous California Raisin characters, developed at Will Vinton Studios.  It was a CBS special in 1989, called “Meet the Raisins.”  Now, how many artists can say they have been able to interpret the voice of a piece of fruit? 

      Finally, I asked Andy about his involvement with the Ray Charles Tribute, which was initially performed at this summer’s Waterfront Blues Festival.  “Patrick Lamb came up with the idea; I was the first person he called.  He said, ‘If anyone can do Ray Charles, that’s you.  You have to do this.’  He paired me with Duffy (Bishop), my favorite female singer.  I’m her groupie because I just love her stage presence, and to get to do the duet with her?  That was it for me!  I’m telling you, I love Duffy Bishop.  We had one practice before the festival performance, and then we went out and did it.  We’ve since performed a couple of shows, one for the Oregon Food Bank, and another for the Trail Blazers.  The Ray Charles Tribute received a Muddy Award for Performance of the Year.  I never thought I would ever get anything dealing with the Blues; I’m not really considered a Blues singer.  I told Peter Dammann, ‘If I don’t sing another note, I’m the happiest man in the world.’”  There are some twenty performers in the Tribute Band.

      It certainly appears that Andy is comfortable out front as bandleader to his fellow performers.  I asked about that:  “It took some time.  When I was in Cool’R, I hadn’t known anything about the biz; those guys taught me:  Tony Collins, Nate Phillips, Ben Wolf.  They were the ones.  Also, a guy by the name of James Heffner heard me sing at the Rodeo Club – I was getting hoarse all the time.  He taught me Italian Opera techniques for a month and I’ve never been hoarse since.  I haven’t seen him again in 25 years.  I feel very blessed because my voice never gets tired because of what he taught me.”  Andy is looking to embark on being a vocal teacher as a next phase in his life; he already has a couple of students. 

      There is quite a bit Andy wants to do in the upcoming years, and feels he can’t be performing forever.  Whatever Andy Stokes ends up doing, he’s served as a positive influence on many.  We are certainly grateful for his contributions to the music of this city.

Joe McMurrian - A New Voice For Traditional Blues

Written by CBA Staff Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:00

Article by Ken Condit, BluesNotes, December 2005 Photos by Greg Johnson

     Born to parents who both pursued interests in the arts, it is no surprise that Joe McMurrian inherited a passion for artistic expression.  Since childhood he has had a zeal for drawing, painting and music and has stoked these creative fires throughout his life.  Fortunately for fans of acoustic Blues, he has directed a major part of his artistic passion toward performing songs firmly rooted in that great American art form. 

      As a singer, songwriter and guitarist Joe is a performer who is skilled at pulling together various influences of “old-time” American music and blending them together to create his own distinct sound.  He performs original tunes and covers of down-home country Blues with the touch of an artist who recognizes the timelessness of traditional sounds.  His fingerpicking and slide skills amaze and challenge listeners while his moving vocals draw them into the world of a true storyteller.

      Joe views music as a tremendous form of communication and clearly loves the ability of traditional music, particularly the Blues, to relate stories about everyday people while delivering deeper underlying messages.  His creative nature is also attracted to the opportunities for improvisation that some Blues and related music styles provide with their open-ended formats. 

      He cites early Blues legends Skip James, Big Joe Williams, Fred McDowell and others as some of his main influences.  But he has found himself engrossed by the many interrelated styles of American roots music and his artistic flair has drawn him to more unique and groundbreaking performers of roots music.  He also lists as important influences a wide range of performers from the relatively obscure to the world renowned.       

     One of his biggest musical inspirations has been the lesser-known Louisiana-native Robert Pete Williams.  Williams performed Blues that were highly derivative of Field Hollers and closely tied to African roots, yet his unusual approach has been dubbed avant-garde.  Williams’ free-flowing style and penchant for improvisation helped open Joe’s eye to new creative avenues.  Another key source of inspiration for Joe was found in the banjo picking of old-time performers Doc Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb.  Like Robert Pete Williams, Boggs was an idiosyncratic performer whose styles stepped beyond the usual bounds.  And though Boggs played what might be generally described as pre-bluegrass mountain music, he took the bold step of actually learning material directly from African-American Blues players. 

      Although it has only been the last dozen years or so that he has really concentrated his musical efforts on a solo Blues career, Joe has managed to get around quite a bit.  He has performed with or opened up for the likes of Keb Mo’, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Charlie Musslewhite, and others and he has played at the Pasadena Blues Festival, the Utah Founders Title Blues and Bluegrass Festival, the String Summit and many more.

      The move to Oregon with his wife and two children came about when they decided it was time to leave the asphalt jungle of the L. A. area and find a better place to raise a family.  As a child, Joe had became enamored with the Portland area when he would travel to this region with his father on fishing trips and he had dreamed of moving north ever since.  Joe ostensibly moved here to enroll in the Fine Arts Masters program at Portland State University, but was also drawn to the healthy Portland music scene.

      Currently, Joe is putting the finishing touches on two new CD projects, one of studio recordings and one of live material; both of which he hopes to release in January.  Like his previous CDs, Under The Sun and Dredge, this new one will consist mostly of original material, but will still be focused on the traditional music Joe loves.  Given his varied talents, the production of the CD is largely a solo effort, but he has relied on drummer Jason Stewart, bassists Jason Honl and Dan Davis, and harmonica player David Lipkind to provide instrumental support.       

      Joe’s primary focus as a musical performer has been Country Blues whether from the Delta, the Hills, the Piedmont or points in between.  But like so many young performer’s, his path to the Blues had some twists and turns before his arrival.  He grew up in a small town in Northern California with plenty of music in the home.  Given that his father was from Oklahoma and his mother’s family was from Texas and Arkansas, it stands to reason that traditional Country, Rhythm and Blues and Blues were the music varieties Joe heard most often at home.  In fact, his father had performed as a guitarist both in Oklahoma and later in California, mostly in the lap-slide guitar style common to Country music. 

     Joe’s uncle also performed as a fiddle player and Joe recalls how his imagination was stirred as his Grandmother related the story of his uncle fashioning his first fiddle from a gourd and forming a group that would entertain in town.       

     Although his father had largely given up playing guitar because of the demands his job as a steelworker put on him, Joe found one in the attic as a young child and took it up.  He recalls that at about age 8 he began to play in earnest, or at least as earnestly as an 8 year old could.  Shortly thereafter his father showed him some chords and parts of Willie Nelson tunes, and the two worked out a version of Good Morning Little School Girl that was a hit at school.  Although his father provided some input, Joe basically learned on his own, generally focusing on picking out tunes rather than strumming chords.  As a youngster, Joe was attracted to the image of a Country music performer being a lone man wielding a guitar; an early image that seems to have helped shape his later  musical ambitions as a solo performer.       

     As Joe grew older his musical interests inevitably shifted toward that ubiquitous rock and roll.  Joe’s initial forays into performing as a professional musician were during high school when he was a guitarist in rock bands doing “Led Zeppelin covers and Black Sabbath remakes.”  But his interests pushed him toward experimentation and he tried his hand at songwriting.  During this phase, he concentrated on instrumentals, employing the flat pick “like Bill Monroe on speed,” as he investigated “cool arpeggios and scale formations.”  Perhaps in large part because of his creative drive and penchant for experimentation, Joe’s involvement in the Bay Area rock scene was destined to be short lived.       

     The shift toward roots music and the transformation as a solo performer that lay in waiting for Joe began when he was given the Robert Johnson CD box set one Christmas.  This welcome change further blossomed when he heard the recordings of many Country Blues artists from the 1960s Newport Folk Festivals.  He became obsessed with Folk or Country Blues, cast away the flat pick, and immersed himself in the fingerpicking styles of traditional Blues guitarists.  Soon thereafter he broke a tendon in the ring finger of his fret hand which prevented him from fingering the frets for a few months.  Like a true Blues performer, he turned to the bottle neck slide which he now wields with considerable skill.  

      In the early 1990s, with a new focus on playing traditional music as a solo act and a desire to further his career as an artist, Joe decided to leave his home in Northern California and move to L. A..  He spent ten-years living in and around L. A., studying and working in visual arts by day and following his own solo musical path by night.  He played at clubs throughout the area and met many excellent performers, including Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Doug McCloud.  Joe remembers McCloud offering him some sound advice that helped his approach to the music.  Joe recalls “Doug always talks about getting inside a song, fishing within it for the real tone, the real substance of the song or emotion that guides it.”  Joe managed to get inside some of his own compositions and eventually released his first CD Under The Sun, which was primarily made up of new songs. 

      Interestingly, when Joe talks about his career in Art, he’s generally seems to be referring to his life-long interest in drawing and painting; an interest nurtured by his mother who loved to draw her own folk art.  Joe’s fascination with painting has resulted in both a bachelors and a masters degree in Fine Arts and public showings of his paintings.  He also finds the time to teach freelance at various private colleges.  Of course, the story of his pursuits in non-musical art forms isn’t for these pages.  But Joe’s talents and work in the visual arts have played an interesting role in his musical development.  Not only was the art program at PSU a lure that helped bring him here to Portland, but a job that he took in the mid 1990s as a mural painter led to a meeting with one Jack Owens, a key figure in the Blues style known as the Bentonia Sound.

      While living in Southern California, Joe had the opportunity to travel to Mississippi for a company that painted large-scale murals for hotels and casinos.  Naturally, with his interests in painting and the Blues, Joe jumped at the offer.  Given the heavy demand for his mural-painting services, he worked out of Memphis, Tennessee and Tunica, Mississippi for weeks at a time.  And though he spent plenty of time on Beale Street and down along the Mississippi River playing his guitar, it was a field trip into central Mississippi that made the strongest impression on Joe.   

      Aware of the significance of Bentonia, Mississippi, hometown to the legendary Skip James, a friend of Joe’s looked up where Jack Owens, a one-time partner of James, lived and they resolved to travel to Bentonia for a visit.  This journey to meet a living link to the roots of the Blues proved to be an important moment in Joe’s performing career.  Given his love of Skip James’ recordings, he knew it was an extraordinary opportunity when he found himself at the home of the “proprietor of the Bentonia Sound.”

      At Owens’ request devotees brought some liquid refreshment as a kind of entrance fee and were granted a sitting with the veteran Blues man who at the time was pushing 90 years old.  As Joe relates it, “This guy was alive and full of songs and crazy good guitar work that typifies that region.  To sit with and hear a person like that is a rare thing in this world.  It was all I needed to legitimize applying myself fully to acoustic blues based performance.  He talked of music like it was a thing that lives with all of us, not just those who grew up in the south.  He made sure we understood it was a universal thing that doesn't have borders.”

      Many different forms of traditional American music have been recognized, recorded and, mostly for marketing purposes, labeled.  These various musical styles tend to overlap to such an extent that distinctions between them inevitably become blurred.  As the labels are pulled and stretched to cover performers and their work, they steadily lose meaning.  But the music itself remains as vital as ever for those willing to give it a chance.  And, with a talented performer like Joe carrying on these musical traditions, we can hope that plenty more people will continue to give it a chance. 

Marco Savo - A Solid Contributor To The Portland Blues Scene

Written by CBA Staff Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:00

Article by Rose Allen, BluesNotes August 2006 Photos by Greg Johnson

       Over the past half dozen years of interviewing various musicians while researching articles for this publication, the name Marco Savo has been mentioned several times. When I used this fact to "sell" Marco on the idea of being featured, he joked that the mentions were most likely derogatory. Not so - he is recognized for his skills as a musician. It was time for a feature, despite the fact that Marco initially turned down the offer.

         Anyone who has interacted with this man has experienced his extremely eccentric wit and totally offbeat sense of humor.  Most have simply observed his quirky onstag mannerisms.

        After those months in Denmark, the family returned home to Pacific Grove, California, Marco's birthplace.  “Mostly I just listened to my parents’ records, which were primarily a lot of jazz, but there was always a good Blues cut, with jazz-oriented chords.  Jazzy Blues is what I had heard most of my life. I started goofing around with that on guitar.” 

        In his late teens, Savo devoted himself to pursuing that interest in jazz guitar. He signed up for music theory classes at Monterey Peninsula College and performed with the school Jazz band.  Marco attended a couple semesters, but really didn’t want to be in school any more.  “I hated school.”  He also quit guitar shortly after that.  “I wasn’t trying to go for a degree or anything, I just wanted to learn the music stuff. I realized how much work it was to play jazz guitar. It was too hard, so I quit - I just put it down."

       It was a full 13 years before Marco would pick it back up again. “I started thinking about playing guitar again and finally figured out I wanted to play Blues. A friend who is a very accomplished player in L.A. told me to go see Chris Cain. His show freaked me out so bad I only stayed for two songs and left. He was so intense, just climbing all over the guitar; it blew my mind. He was doing exactly what I wished I could do. He was playing again the next night, and so I went back a little more prepared for the playing I was to experience.

       "From there, I spent $100 on an electric guitar and basically started bootlegging. Chris gave me permission to record his shows. So, I remember this time frame because I wrote the date on the tapes - it was 1989. I started going up to San Jose to see Cain perform there - that's where he's from. I would record every night and study those tapes. I wasn't interested in any other guitar players, really. But, once in awhile I would listen to Albert King, B.B. King, and Freddie King. I had seen Freddie King in Denmark too; it was extremely intense. But, after I saw Chris, it really changed things. He played lines that I heard the horn players play on my Dad's Jazz records, combining it with Blues Funk.

        "I started practicing like a fiend after being inspired by Cain and stealing, honestly, too many licks. At some point, a tribute becomes a rip off. I can't say what the defining line is, but if a musician takes too many licks to the point where it just isn't right - there are too many of one guy's ideas in your stuff. I worship Chris Cain - Junior Watson too.

         "I bought a lot of Blues guitar records that I listened to and got rid of immediately; names aren't even important. The other stuff just didn't stimulate me. So, I stopped buying them. Two or three years after that time period, I went and saw Junior Watson for the first time and had my mind blown again. Watson was completely different than any other – very complex, melodic, changing the course of his ideas, breaking in with new ideas while playing.  That string of interrupted ideas becomes a solo. Both Chris and Junior share some common threads, one of which is knowledge of some Jazz training and Jazz study.  They both look for that really complex, really melodic playing style. They are the two most influential guitarists for me. There are a couple of great Jazz guitarists that have impressed me too, but nothing like those two players." (Marco wanted to be certain I used the word "worship" in reference to Cain and Watson. He also included Little Charlie Baty in this category.)

          Marco first started performing publicly in the early '90s. "I started going to Sunday jams on Cannery Row and bands were formed out of that." He is embarrassed by the name of his first band, "The Next Blues Band." "We played for about a year or two around Monterey and Santa Cruz. We had the only real shuffle drummer in town.

          "I came up to Portland to visit an old girlfriend who had moved up here. My second parent had died, so I really had nowhere to go. I didn't want to stay in Monterey. This gal and I hit it off real well and she invited me up here. We had this whirlwind tour of the Blues scene in town - like seven nights in a row. People were going out in the wintertime and seeing bands and going into the clubs. This was in 1994. I sat in with D.K. Stewart somewhere, he offered me the guitar gig, and I accepted. That lasted about three months. What happened was, I was so stressed from my parent dying, moving to a new place, and joining a new band. I was just so distracted and stressed. So, here was the big guitar hero from out of town who couldn't play his way out of a paper bag. I really admire D.K.'s playing and wished I could have performed better at that time. I only played well one night, my last. D.K. asked why I hadn't played like that the whole time. After the night I played well, everybody asked, 'What happened to you?'

         “Right off the bat, I played for two or three weeks with Margo Tufo Phil Haxton, Benny Wilson, Renato Caranto, Jeff Frankle.  I was fired with no notice three hours before a gig one night.  I played with Mel Solomon for a bit, Jim Wallace.  Wallace and I formed the Lucky Devils.  I played guitar, bass and then took up drums late in the Lucky Devils incarnation – that probably lasted five or six years.  We were almost the house band at Kelly’s Olympian." 

           I placed a phone call to the Wallace residence to get some input from Jim. "Right. Marco played with The Lucky Devils for a few years. He's a crazy, crazy guitar player and lots of people should go out and hear him play. He is approaching things from a much different angle than most guitar players and it's something that people should experience - sort of a be-bop direction. he's playing all the notes that nobody else is using. It's a completely refreshing take on the same old Blues guitar bag."

          In no particular order, Marco mentions some of the other musicians with whom he has performed during his dozen years in Portland, whether on guitar, bass or drums. Jack Cook, Johnnie Ward, Bill Rhoades and the Party Kings, and Jimi Bott. "I remember once when Jimi had to break in the middle of a set to pee and I had to sit in for him; talk about pressure. there were several months with Jimi's band at Hopper's on Monday nights; there were some hellacious nights out there."

           Marco then developed his interest in the drums. "I needed a break from the guitar and had never played drums before. But, I know exactly what the guys up front want from the drummer.  And, that’s not what the drummers necessarily want to do, which is why I did well.  I practiced hard, worked with a metronome and listened to countless hours of music. I listened specifically to the drums, to what they were doing, and what they weren’t doing.  I got gigs because of that.  I wasn’t a real drummer; the drummers hated me.  Once, I had a guy try to take the sticks out of my hands.  But, sometimes that’s what it gets down to if a band needs a drummer: ‘Well, let’s see . . . who do we know that owns a drum set?’  I played drums, bass, and guitar with LynnAnn Hyde & Stu Kinzel, then with the Dover Weinberg Quarter for a couple years.”

           “I still own my drum set and think about taking it up again but it takes a lot of maintenance, regular practice to keep up the drum chops.  Drums are the toughest instrument because people are depending upon you. A terrific band won’t get off the ground with a poor drummer.  The drummer is the most important player in a combo-type band.  You just can’t get anywhere with a lousy drummer.  A good one can take a poor band up several notches.  Drums helped me learn a totally different perspective on what could and should go on with the other instruments of bass and guitar.  

          Marco describes his love/hate relationship with the guitar:  “It gives me tremendous anxiety, but I can’t put it down.  A lot of times it feels like the guitar is playing me.  I drifted into bass out of necessity for a bass player; it was easier to find a guitar player and play bass than play guitar and find a bass player. I don’t have that anxiety at all playing bass – there’s more emphasis on the feel and how you meld with the drummer.  Generally, the guitar has a different role. I eventually bought a bass guitar and bass amp.  The thing is, you can’t stop and take a break while playing bass.  It was at the Gemini that I first played bass.  The first three or four gigs on bass I would just stop playing, to rest, you know.  Everybody looked at me!  Somebody said, ‘You know the bass is not supposed to stop playing.’  I forget.  But I’m used to that now.  I really enjoy it – I love the feeling of turning my ears toward the drummer and finding a place to put my note with the drummer’s note.”

          “The jam at Duff’s is one of the most consistently well-attended gigs I have ever had.  Attendance is either good or great.  I started that gig on drums for the first six months or so.  Phil (Wagner, aka Suburban Slim) is the best jam host I have ever seen.  He takes the time to combine the right people.  Only two guys have been ‘86ed’ in the three years we’ve been doing it, and they had to behave really badly to get tossed.  Basically, they were bullying their way up onto stage.” 

          I wanted to get Phil's input: "We've been at Duff's about four years now, and we played together a few years before that too. Marco's playing style is completely unique. He knows what he likes and diligently works toward obtaining his goal. He's a man on a mission - a madman! I enjoy playing with him because he brings a totally unique perspective to the table. Marco is completely creative and very entertaining. Sometimes I can't believe what is going on from the other side of the stage when he is over there! As a great bass player, he knows what he needs to do to make the music good on bass. It's a real team effort. He is a talented drummer as well. Anything he puts his mind to, he can do. His technique and feel are phenomenal. I just know that whenever I hire Marco, he is always going to give 100%. He is a fun guy on stage and likes to yuck it up. He makes the groove happen, but we always have fun at the same time. Marco is a great friend, lyal and true."

          Marco proudly mentions two soon to be released CDs that he has recorded on, "Havin’ My Say" with the Suburban Slim Band, available at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  It is a combination from some of those live performances at Duff's. The second recording will be called, "Bott & Paid For" recorded live at Duff's. Another Jimi Bott production, it has a host of local talent. "It's kind of like three different bands; quite a mixed bag.  I’m super happy to be on it."  That will be available in late August on www.cdbaby.com or pick one up at Duff’s on any Wednesday night to pick . 

          I’ve noticed that most times I’ve seen Marco perform, he usually wearing Converse sneakers.  I asked about that.  “Well, it’s a matter of familiarity and I always like to have them.  I can’t say that I am really superstitious, but they are my ‘playing shoes.’  They remind me of being a kid.  Every time I look down I see the stupid kid shoes and it lightens my heart.  It’s part of my childhood identity – I wore them as a kid.  If I get self-conscious with all these people looking at me, I’ve got the shoes as a reminder to lighten up.  Plus, they go with all the other dowdy outfits I wear.  But, I do wear black wing tips for a gig if necessary.”

           In dealing with music fans, Marco noted that his threshold for patience is lower now, but he respond differently: "Not as harshly, but more quickly.  I just won’t tolerate someone invading the band’s space.  If you handle it professionally – the audience appreciates it.”

           “I love playing with (Paul) deLay because you never know what he’s going to do.  He never gives you the name of a song. ‘Let’s do this in A, kind of a mint julep sort of thing.’  Then he starts counting, stops and says:  ‘Let’s try G.’  It’s like jumping around banana peels – that friendly kind of test. Can you get through this little obstacle course?  His creativity on harp and singing is amazing.  He’s got the charisma.  I’ve done a handful of gigs with him.  I’m pretty proud of that.”