What’s on Tap for February 2012’s General Membership Meeting

Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder St., Portland

Wednesday, February 1^st, 7:00 pm

Members always Free – Non-members $3.00

Opening Acoustic Set – Barbara Healy

Second Electric Set – Bottleneck Blues Band

February is looking to be quite the busy blues month in the City of Portland and there is no better way to jump start it all off than with our monthly membership meeting of the Cascade Blues Association. Always guaranteed to bring you a terrific night of fun and blues, we’ve put together a very cool evening for you this month.

Opening the night will be one of Eugene’s finest vocalists, Barbara Healy. We last saw Barbara play a CBA meeting not too long ago as part of the Oregon super blues group I-5 Nine. This time she will be coming back to delivery her own music with guitarist Jerry Zybach accompanying her. Heavily influenced by “all” the soul singers, with special notation toward Otis Redding, she learned to play guitar from Los Angeles blues great Bernie Pearl and has been thrilling Oregon audiences for a number of years leading her own bands and sitting in with notable Northwest players like Paul deLay, Bill Rhoades, Robert Cray, Lloyd Jones and Curtis Salgado, as well as touring artists like James Cotton, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and The Neville Brothers. She has also performed at the biggest musical festivals in the state inciting crowds with her fusion of R&B, funk, soul and blues and her infectious stage presence. So come out and see why the late Gavin Fox said, “Simply stated, Barbara Healy is loaded with soul!”

Making their first appearance for the CBA will be Bottleneck Blues Band in our second set of the evening. This Portland-based band brings a fresh, red-hot, funky perspective to the blues that will get you moving, grooving and shouting out for more. The members hail from all parts of the United States covering the classics and showcasing their own original numbers. The group is made up of Noah Bell on guitar & vocals, Devon Shazier on drums, Seth Zowader on organ and Dave Cushman on bass. Bottleneck Blues states that the blues is music of life, love, happiness and sorrow and everything that happens in between. Imagine Albert Collins meets Jimi Hendrix jamming with The Allman Brothers Band. Bottleneck Blues will pull you in and make you feel alive.

We will also have our free ticket drawing between sets, our $1 per ticket multi-CD package and announcements letting you know about the great happenings in the area for February, so do not miss out.

Please bear with us at this meeting, though, as we will be short-handed with Board Members running the show. Both myself and Jody Gunn will be in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge and Wendy Schumer will be on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. But Deborah DeSarah, Mary Maxson and Art Bullis will be on hand to help you out with anything you may need. Enjoy the night and the music, and I’ll see you next month at the March membership meeting.

Good blues to you all,

Greg

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What’s On Tap for January 2012’s General Membership Meeting

Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder St., Portland

Wednesday, January 4^th, 7:00 pm

Members always Free – Non-members $3.00

Opening Acoustic Set – Al Carson

Second Electric Set – Hot Tea Cold

After all the festivities of New Year’s Eve, it’s time to start up the New “Blues” Year at The Melody Ballroom on Wednesday, January 4^th to kick off 2012 in the right fashion. You can always rely on the Cascade Blues Association to have your blues cravings in mind and this year will have a lot of fun-packed excitement in store for all as we start off the second quarter century of promoting, supporting and preserving the music that we love.

It has been far too many years since we last had the pleasure of Al Carson playing at our membership meetings and we’re glad to welcome him back. Al has been a long time performer and fan of country blues and believes it is part of American Heritage. Al devotes more time to the music and art he has loved ever since childhood and although he plays blues influenced by many of the people that made the music what it is, he does not copy or imitate these masters. He definitely has his own voice, guitar and harmonica style. He has been performing Delta and Piedmont blues as a soloist for many years and has taught the blues at the prestigious Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. Al has the ability to take the music on the road and share it, as well as to gain new influence from others. He has performed at the King Biscuit Blues Festival, BB King’s in Memphis and at the Rose City Blues Festival (now known as the Waterfront Blues Festival). And he’ll be sharing his talents with us this month at the meeting.

For the second set of music for the night we will offer the sensational young band Hot Tea Cold, who have been in existence since 2008 when guitarist Glen Hoover and bassist Brandon Hetu found a drummer who fit their style. Glen and Brandon first met at Clackamas Community College where they both studied music. After jamming together with other musicians the desire to become a band arose. Through several performances and line-up changes, they were still left without a drummer. Only by sheer luck did they find a posting for a drummer named Austin Early on Craigslist that sounded too good to be true. After several other drummers had auditioned, they were skeptical but hopeful and when they first jammed together they knew that fate had intervened. As it did again two years later when they met saxophone sensation Eric Rabe at a jam. Together the four create a fun and funky blend of many genres, with main components of blues, funk and rock. They are an exciting band that should really get your blood pumping at the meeting.

In between sets, we’ll hold our monthly free ticket drawing for great prizes and let you know about all the fun events coming up in January and beyond. Don’t forget to pick up one of the $1 raffle tickets also, for your chance to win the multi-CD pack we’ve put together just for the meeting. Hope to see you there as we kick off 2012 in the right way!

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Remember December 2011 Membership Meeting Is Also Election Night

Every year at the December General Membership Meeting, the current members present are allowed to vote for the upcoming year’s officer positions. These are the five most important roles in the Cascade Blues Association as they are the leadership positions for the Board of Directors and also are those who vote on At-Large Board Member applicants. The five positions being voted on at the December meeting are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Membership Secretary. All five are definitely working positions that require time and effort. Please remember to bring your current membership card to the meeting to receive a ballot; if you forget it, do not worry as we will have on-hand an up-to-date membership roster. 

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What’s on Tap for December 2011 General Membership Meeting

The Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder St., Portland

Wednesday, December 7^th, 7:00 pm

Members always Free – Non-members $3.00

Opening Acoustic Set – Dave Fleschner

Second Electric Set – Mean Satisfaction

Every year at the December General Membership Meeting we hold our annual elections to select the leadership for the Cascade Blues Association for the following year. This year we will also be holding a special Celebration of Life for CBA member Freddy von Hagen. Please see the articles in this issue for a little more information on both.

Opening the night of music, we are proud to present keyboardist Dave Fleschner in a solo performance. Fleschner is a highly recognized musician in a variety of musical genres, performing regularly on the jazz, rock and blues scenes in Portland as well as with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He has toured extensively with Curtis Salgado’s band and has appeared onstage and on recordings of many fine artists including the likes of blues artists John Nemeth, Taj Mahal, BB King, Charlie Musselwhite and numerous others. Fleschner also leads various projects of his own in a mix of formats. Certain to be a highly entertaining set, we’re really looking forward to this set.

The second set of the night will be from Mean Satisfaction featuring lead vocalist and keyboardist Liz Reger. She formed this rockin’ blues band three years ago and they have been working throughout Oregon and Washington since. Reger has an extensive background working with numerous bands in the Portland area over the years and she is joined in Mean Satisfaction with seasoned veterans of the music scene, Tim Rowland on guitar, Rex Baker on bass and drummer Jon Graham. Reger describes the band’s sound as, “We play music that makes people feel good. We like to get people out on the dance floor.” That shouldn’t be any problem for Mean Satsifaction at the CBA meeting.

Remember to pick up your ticket at the door for our lucky drawing give-aways, and perhaps even purchase a $1 grand prize ticket or however many you’d like for the chance to win a package of multiple CDs put together just for the meeting. Come out and spend a great evening with friends and the blues. See you there.

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