Lloyd Jones - Dec 2011

Wow , what a season!

Sorry I couldn’t be at the Muddies this year because of a rare opportunity to tour Norway, Sweden, and Denmark!
It was delightful to find friends back here at home had honored me with two awards at the Muddies! Thank you once again for listening.
Playing solo at the CBA meeting this was truly a highlight for me this year because of the kind response I’ll always remember.
In order to communicate better with ya’ll out there in grooveland I’ve started a blog on my website! Now I can tell you if I’m playing drums with James Harman in Denmark at cool Monday “beatnik jam”, or gazing out the window of the ferry at Hamlets Castle on entering Denmark from Sweden!
I’ll be posting news of my travels with “Shaky Ground” in Denmark complete w/ youtube videos soon.
Just go to lloydjonesmusic.com and click on “news”, then “writings from the road”. You can blog me back too!
Just finished mixing the new band CD and will be releasing a duet single with Teresa James “I Can’t Stop”!

Happy Holidays,
Lloyd “Have Mercy” Jones

Bookmark with:

              

AC Porter & The Live Wires - Dec 2011

Maybe you have heard through the musical grapevine, and maybe you haven't yet, but our good friend and partner-in-blues, Mr. Rick Welter, has been going through some very serious medical issues as of late, so John Neish (bassist for both Rick's band, as well as mine and others...) has quickly pulled a bunch of Rick's friends and favorites to lay down a timely event to help Rick out in any way possible.

So do yourselves and Rick a solid and mark your Calendar: BLUES BASH for RICK WELTER, @ DUFF'S GARAGE, on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11th, from 2:00 pm to about 8:00pm.

I know John will be pulling more killer acts and musicians together to play, but I can tell you right now that my band will be there, and so will Mr. Lloyd Jones, D.K. Stewart, Jim Wallace, Dover Weinberg, as well as a heap o' other fine folks --- stay tuned for more info via the CBA, Facebook, flyers, radio, etcetera, 'cause Mr. Neish is on it, for sure!

I also want to express a humble and heartfelt THANK YOU to all the members of the CBA who so kindly voted for The Live Wires and selected us as Best New Act for 2011. There are a LOT of great musicians in this town, and I am super fortunate to play with a crew that 'get' what this type of music is all about.

So, to Stu Kinzel, Johnny Moore, John Neish, and Dover Weinberg--- thanks for kicking ass and giving 110% everytime we go out to play! And to our friends and fans, we'll keep on doing our best to keep the energy high, the music lowdown, and make sure the Blues torch stays lit...

Last but not least, The Live Wires will be invading the Trail's End on FRIDAY, December 9th--- featuring BOTH Dover Weinberg AND Stu Kinzel, playing together in the band for the first time to celebrate our Muddy Award! And with some luck we may be recording some live tracks that night to add to the studio cuts for the upcoming CD, so come help us make some noise--- some really BIG noise!

AC Porter

Bookmark with:

              

The Strange Tones - Dec 2011

Firstly, we want to extend a huge thank you to the CBA membership for awarding us the Contemporary Blues Act Muddy Award! We really appreciate the support that the CBA gives our band and all the musicians in this area. You folks help keep the scene alive!

Big news in the land of Crime-A-Billy! Many people have asked us, "When is your next CD coming out?", and now we have an answer. On December 10th at Duff's Garage, we will be celebrating the release of our brand new CD..."Crime-A-Billy Christmas"! That's right, The Strange Tones have just finished a holiday CD with a uniquely northwest flavor.

This show will be a very special one, featuring The Volcano Snow Vixens and many great musical guests, even including Santa Claus if our negotiations with the North Pole work out. We are also sponsoring a Food Bank food drive, so you are encouraged to bring two cans of food, and turn a fun night into an opportunity to offer a little help to the many hungry people of Oregon.

Guitar Julie

Bookmark with:

              

Kevin Selfe and The Tornadoes - Dec 2011

Hey everybody!  The band and I would like to thank the members of the Cascade Blues Association for honoring us with the Muddy Award for Traditional Blues Act of The Year!  We are humbled and blessed to be thought of for the award in a city brimming with amazing blues musicians.  It truly means the world to us, and we would like to thank you all from the bottom of hearts for the honor, and for the support of us and live blues music.

December finds us busy with shows as well as working on our new CD.  We are putting the finishing touches on the recording process and hope to have it out by late winter/early spring.   Our weekly blues jams have been going great!  The Tuesday night jam in Hood River at The Waucoma Club is really gaining momentum, with great crowds of jammers, dancers, and spectators showing up each week.  It's a really nice venue and a fun time, so if you are up that way, please stop in and say hi.  The jam there goes from 7-10PM. Our Refectory jam on Sunday has been a blast lately too!  I want to thank everyone who showed up for my birthday party on Nov. 6...it was by far the best birthday I've ever had!

Looking toward January, we are excited to announce we will be backing up 2-time Blues Music Award nominee Kirk Fletcher on a mini NW Tour!  Kirk spent years touring with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lynwood Slim, Janiva Magness, and Charlie Musselwhite, is a member of the All-Star group The Mannish Boys, and is considered one of the best young guitar players on the blues scene today.   This will be a special tour as Kirk will be reunited with former Fabulous Thunderbirds drummer Jimi Bott!  For more info, and a complete listing of all our shows, please visit our website at www.kevinselfe.com

So, that's what's going on in our little corner of the blues world.  Thanks again, and hope to see you all out and about soon!

Kevin

Bookmark with:

              

Big Monti - Dec. 2011

If you’re looking for something new on Wednesdays, look into Blackwell’s Grubsteak Grill, 1815 NE 41st Avenue, in the Hollywood District. Big Monti, Kelly Dunn, and Dave Kahl will play, from 8 – 11pm, in a setting that is down to earth, friendly, and convenient.  Located just a walk across from the historic Hollywood Theater, Blackwell’s is a quick jump of the Banfield and down the street from other great places for Wednesday fare, like Duff’s Garage and the Blue Diamond. There is abundant parking on the street and in the lot next door. Since this is an earlier gig, you can start here and make the rounds, that is, if you can pull yourself away. Monti is a great guitar player, singer, songwriter, and story teller. His bands are always tight and, with Dave and Kelly, this tradition continues. Blackwell’s is a full service bar, with great food and working class prices. Let’s make it happen. Wednesdays are a first step in what they hope will be a new, popular venue for quality blues, roots, and jazz music. For more information, go to www.bigmonti.com or call (503) 288-5164.

Bookmark with:

              

The Dover Weinberg Quartet - Dec 2011

The holiday season finds the Dover Weinberg Quartet, in their workshop at Duff’s Garage on Tuesdays, making musical treats for all the good boys and girls in the neighborhood. Hell, who are we kidding? This is our excuse for getting out of the house, hanging with a bunch of good friends, making more, and playing whatever we want. With Chris Carlson in San Francisco until January, his seat has been filled by the likes of Alan Hager, Terry Robb, Lloyd Jones, Larry Pindar, and Rick Welter (Rick our prayers are with you and, even when Chris gets back, we’ll bump him out for the chance to play a few with you). Many notable guests regularly show up and sit in. You’ve likely heard this all before, so I’ll keep it short. Get out to 1635 S.E. 7^th Avenue (corner of Market Street), leave your $3.00 at the door and your worries with it. From 9pm-12 midnight it’s going to be a musical buffet and you will leave full and satisfied. Dover Weinberg Quartet and Duff’s Garage. Check us out on www.doverweinberg.com, on MyGigNet, and www.duffsgarage.com, or call (503) 234-BEER

Bookmark with:

              

Kenny Lee & the Sundowners - Nov 2011

Greetings Blues Lovers!!

Kenny Lee & the Sundowners (Mike Taylor and Alan Wicks) here.  We are so blessed to be playing the
blues for all of you!  Kenny Lee is down off the mountain and playing stronger than ever!! 
Mike and Alan have really locked in and are laying down some good grooves for your dancing pleasure!  We’ve 
had a busy summer and would like to thank so many people:  The fine folks at the CBA for having us play at
the August meeting (and thanks to all the CBA members that have come to our shows to support us!),
all the top-notch jammers that have been showing up to Knuckleheads on Thursday nights, ABATE for
having us play a couple of the runs this year (Fossil and End of Summer run) and all the clubs from The Dalles,
Hood River, Mt. Hood, Vancouver, Washougal, the Portland area and the Coast. We also want to thank the Disabled
American Veterans for inviting us to play their benefit. A special thank you to Kimberly, Mikes fiancé, for selling our
CD's at the shows and helping to promote the band.

As we head into the fall, we are still continuing to groove.  We plan on heading to the studio to follow up on “Outlaw.” 
By the way – a HUGE thanks to all those people that have purchased our CD, thank you!  We have some great tunes planned
for the new CD!  Look for our CD release party around the summer of 2012.

Hope to see you at a show soon.  Find us at www.facebook.com/kennyleeandthesundowners  or www.reverbnation.com/kennyleeandthesundowners.

 Mike Taylor

Bookmark with:

              

Arthur "Fresh Air" Moore - Nov 2011

Over the many years I had the pleasure of knowing Paul deLay I acquired numerous cassettes of unpublished live recordings of Paul.  These ranged from Claudia's in October 1976, my basement in August 1990 to a "Harmonica Party" in December 1995.  Stu Kinzel helped me put these treasures on a 80 minute cd.  This is a tribute cd to Paul which is not for sale but I'll give it to any Paul deLay fan who wants it. The cd is available at any of my gigs, every Tuesday 6-9 pm at Vino Vixens, 1st Saturday at Beaterville 8-11 pm and 2nd Saturday at Vino Vixens 8-11 pm.

Bookmark with:

              

Franco Paletta/Franco & The Stingers - Nov 2011

Hey everybody,

Nice seein' you again. After a busy year of festivals and travellin', and a really busy schedule here in town, things have slowed down enough to hunker down and start work on a new cd...I'll keep y'all posted.
Thanks to all for the Muddy Award nomination for Harp Player. I am humbled yet again....
As always, I want to thank each and every one who has supported the band with their presence at shows and for buying our cd, "Can't Kick Love"....you can't imagine how much I appreciate you all. BTW, you can get a copy of the cd at Music Millennium, from CdBaby, or at one of our upcoming shows.
I know it's gettin' tougher out there, but please get out and SUPPORT LIVE BLUES MUSIC! wherever and whenever you can...See youse on da block!

Franco Paletta
ps: Anyone lookin' for a fairly decent Blues band for New Year's?
;0) 

Bookmark with:

              

The Strange Tones - Oct. 2011

Greetings Friends,

We'd like to send a huge thanks to the CBA members for our Muddy nominations! We are so appreciative of all the support the blues community gives to us and to all of the many fantastic musicians in this area. The CBA is what keeps Portland's blues scene thriving, and we're very fortunate to be a part of it!

The band had its best summer of music yet. We had several exciting shows with our partners, the Volcano Vixens, and we'd like to thank them for their incredible talents and contribution to our Waterfront Blues Festival Best Performance nomination.

The band has been real busy working on two recording projects. Our fourth CD is coming along great, and we've slipped in another special project as well: a Crime-A-Billy Christmas CD is in the works and due to be released in early December - stay tuned for details.

Catch you all out and about...

The Strange Tones

Bookmark with: