CBA Review January 2015

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Rae Gordon Wins Big At
Muddy Awards
On Wednesday, November 4, the Cascade Blues Association presented its annual Muddy
Awards show at The Melody Ballroom. Hosted onstage by CBA President Greg Johnson and
Vice President Wendy Schumer, the show announced various winners in twenty-two categories,
including best performers, recordings, venues, and events of the last year, as selected by the
members of the CBA. The biggest winner of the night was Rae Gordon, who took home three
awards and was also inducted into the Muddy Award Hall of Fame for taking home the Duffy
Bishop Female Vocalist of the Year award for the third straight year. Other highlights included
first-time winners John Mazzocco, Andy Stokes, and Brian Foxworth, and a “Paul deLay”
Lifetime Achievement award presented to the late Linda Hornbuckle. Linda’s close friends, Brian
Foxworth and LaRhonda Steele, accepted the award.
Congratulations go out to all the Muddy Award recipients and
nominees!
It could not be a night of celebration of the blues without live
music and we were treated by sets from the CBA’s Journey To
Memphis winners Sister Mercy and the Rogue Rage Duo. Ben
Rice led an all star grouping that he pieced together that was a
fine showing of many of the Northwest’s best players and a
short preview of Dave Fleschner’s The Blues Cabaret with
fellow vocalists Earl Thomas, Billy Mixer, and Jimmy Wilcox.
The overall All Star band consisted of: Alan Hager, Allen
Markel, Ashbolt Stewart, Ben Rice, Dan Gildea, Dave
Fleschner, Dave Melyan, Dean Mueller, Doug Rowell, Earl
Thomas, Ed Neumann, Gabe Cox, Jason “JT” Thomas, Jeff
Hayes, Jimi Bott, John Mazzocco, Josh Makosky, Julie Amici, Karen Lovely, Kevin Selfe,
LaRhonda Steele, Lisa Mann, Naomi Tatsuoka, Rae Gordon, Rich Layton, and Steve Kerin.
Special thanks go out to the folks at The Melody Ballroom for providing their grand ballroom
once again this year, JBL Productions for the stage work, lights, and sound; Affordable Trophies,
Big Screen Productions, and Cedar House Media; Wendy Schumer for creating the slide show
and program design; Greg Johnson, Jim Dorothy, and Tony Kutter for their photography; Cherie
Robbins for assisting in handing out trophies on stage, Sandy Forst for working the door, and
Brenda Docken for assisting with merchandise sales; and finally to the CBA Board of Directors
for their work in making this event take place, and of course all of the presenters.
This years Muddy Award Recipients are:
Contemporary Blues Act: Kevin Selfe & The Tornadoes
“Lloyd Jones” R&B Act: Norman Sylvester Band
Traditional Blues Act: Ben Rice Trio
Regional Blues Act: Ty Curtis Band
Best New Act: Bottleneck Blues Band
“Duffy Bishop” Female Vocalist: Rae Gordon
“Curtis Salgado” Male Vocalist: Andy Stokes
Electric Guitar: Phil “Suburban Slim” Wagner
“Terry Robb” Acoustic Guitar: Alan Hager
Bass: John Mazzocco
Harmonica: Mitch Kashmar
Keyboards: Dover Weinberg
“Jimi Bott” Drums: Brian Foxworth
Horns: Peter Moss
Venue: The Blue Diamond
“The Hurley Award”: Steve Gross
Northwest Recording: Rae Gordon – Dirty Flowers
National Recording: Sugaray Rayford – Southside
Northwest Blues Event: Bronze, Blues & Brews
Performance of the Year: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram at the Waterfront Blues Festival
Back What You Believe In: Rae Gordon
Lifetime Achievement: Linda Hornbuckle
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Journey To Memphis Finals
On July 4, the Cascade Blues Association held the finals for the Journey To Memphis
competition at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Four acts had advanced to the finals from
the first round held at The Lehrer in early June. They were Symplistic Soles, Beacon
Street Titans, Sister Mercy and Bottleneck Blues Band. The four bands performed 25
minute sets in front of three judges, scored on blues
content, instrumentation, vocals, originality and overall
presence. When all the scores were tallied, the winners
of this year’s competition was Sister Mercy, who will be
the CBA’s representatives at The International Blues
Challenge this coming January in Memphis. They will be
joining Rogue Rage Duo, who will be representing the
CBA as the solo/duo act.
Judges this year were of a
high caliber — like those
who’d be found judging the
finals in Memphis. They were
former BB King and Bobby Bland drummer Tony Coleman,
three-time IBC contestant, Alligator Records recording artist
and Blues Music Award nominee Jarekus Singleton, and
zydeco legend and Grammy winner Chubby Carrier. A huge
thanks to CBA Vice President Wendy Schumer for finding
our judges for both rounds of the Journey To Memphis.
Thanks also to the Journey To Memphis Waterfront Team: Wendy Schumer as Judges’
Assistant, Kate Naiman as Time Keeper, Cherie Robbins as Score Keeper and Greg
Johnson as Host. Congratulations to Sister Mercy and thanks to all the acts who
competed; the performances were all superb!
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Journey To Memphis Finals,
July 4 Waterfront Blues Festival
The finals for the 2015 Journey To Memphis competition have been set.
After two nights in early June at The Lehrer, four acts were whittled out of
the sixteen original entries to compete at the Waterfront Blues Festival on
The Oregonian Front Porch Stage starting at 11:30 am on July 4. They will
perform before three “celebrity” judges, playing 25 minute sets and scored
in five categories: blues content, vocal talent, instrumentation talent,
originality, and stage presence.
The sixteen acts that performed at The Lehrer were: Beacon Street Titans,
Bottleneck Blues Band, Drop Dead Red, Gabriel Cox, Holfar Blue, Justus
Reece, Ken West, Mick Knight, Missi & Mister Baker, Rogue Rage Duo,
Sister Mercy, Still Water Vibes, Symplistic Soles, Ted Vaughn Blues Band,
Tim Connor, and Tracey Fordice & The 8-Balls. The two highest scoring
acts from each night won the right to place in the finals. The winning acts
were: Beacon Street Titans, Bottleneck Blues Band, Sister Mercy and
Symplistic Soles.
Because we mix both our solo/duo and band competitors together, and all
four acts moving on to the Waterfront Blues Festival were bands, we allow
the highest scoring solo/duo act from this year to have the right to
represent the Cascade Blues Association in Memphis. By using the same
judges both nights, the scoring is consistent for all the acts. The highest
scoring solo/duo act was Medford’s Rogue Rage Duo featuring Harpo
DeRoma and Dan Tiller.
The Cascade Blues Association would like to thank our judges for The
Lehrer, John Jaqua, Brendan O’Donnell and Darlene “Blaque Butterfly”
Solomon, for volunteering their time over two nights of music. We would
also like to thank Brad Lehrer, The Lehrer and their staff for allowing us to
use their room and JBL Sound (Jay Lawhorn and Steve Murray) for making
everybody sound so great. The Journey To Memphis event team: Wendy
Schumer as judge’s assistant, Cherie Robbins as scorekeeper and Andrea
Stellar and Jody Gunn who worked as time-keepers. We also want to
acknowledge volunteers Winnie Chapman Richards for working the door,
Miles and Richard LaChapelle for merchandise sales and board members
Jon Pierce, Barry Blackwell and Merry Larsen for various duties.
Please join us on July 4 at 11:30 am as we kick off the final round to
determine who will represent the CBA in Memphis as our band entry. Good
luck to all. The acts will perform in the following order:
11:30 – Symplistic Soles
12:00 – Bottleneck Blues Band
12:30 – Sister Mercy
1:00 – Beacon Street Titans
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2015 Journey To Memphis
Opening Round To Be Held
Two Nights At The Lehrer-June
5th & 6th
The opening round of the 2015 Journey To Memphis competition will be
held at The Lehrer, 8775 SW Canyon Lane, on Friday, June 5 and
Saturday, June 6. This year’s line-up has eighteen acts vying for the right to
represent the Cascade Blues Association in Memphis next January at the
International Blues Challenge. To get there, they have to go through this
opening weekend and then the finals at the Waterfront Blues Festival on
July 4. All acts will perform twenty minute sets before a group of judges
scoring them on blues content, originality, instrumentation, vocals, and
presentation. The top two highest scoring acts from each night will move on
to the finals.
Show time each night begins at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00 each night.
Please note that this is the main fundraiser for the prize money for the
Journey To Memphis competition, no family members, spouses, roadies,
friends, or special guests of the performers are allowed free entry. This
includes the acts not performing if they chose to attend both nights. We
want to raise enough money to offer as much as we can to the winners.
The Journey To Memphis is like a mini blues festival: nine acts each
evening over two nights with enough musical variety to appeal to everyone.
Always one of the most entertaining events of the year for the Cascade
Blues Association.
This year’s competitors and schedule is as follows:
Friday, June 5
8:00 – Holfar Blue
8:30 – Mick Knight
9:00 – Symplistic Soles
9:30 – Tim Connor
10:00 – Tracey Fordice & The 8 Balls
10:30 – Still Water Vibes
11:00 – Missi & Mister Baker
11:30 – Sister Mercy
12:00 – The Mojoblasters
Saturday, June 6
8:00 – Bottleneck Blues Band
8:30 – Rogue Rage Duo
9:00 – Gabriel Cox
9:30 – Ted Vaughn Blues Band
10:00 – Ken West
10:30 – The Eric Sugar Larsen Band
11:00 – Drop Dead Red
11:30 – Justus Reece
12:00 – Beacon Street Titans
(Times and order are subject to change)
Posted in Cascade Blues Note, Journey to Memphis, PDX Blues Event
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Bottleneck Blues Band Will Get
You Up on the Floor and
Dancing the Night Away
By Laurie Morrisey
Picture those old-time dance contests. The ones where
the dancers groove the night away and nearly pass out
on the floor, but are having so much fun they won’t stop
until they drop. Now you’ve just envisioned the dance
floor at the end of the night after the dancers have
danced to Bottleneck Blues Band.
The band covers the classics and performs originals
that will make you want to dance the night away. Their
Facebook pages describes it this way, “Imagine Albert
Collins meets Jimi Hendrix jamming with the Allman Brother Band. Bottleneck Blues
Band will pull you in, get you moving, and make you feel alive.”
The band
The four band members that form this phenomenon hail from all around the country—
Indiana, New York, Michigan, and Oregon, but came together to form Bottleneck Blues
Band five years ago. Noah Bell plays guitar and handles vocals; Seth Zowader plays
keyboards; Devon Shazier mans the drum kit; and Ethan Bear rounds out the quartet on
bass. “We just added Ethan this summer. Dave Cushman, our original bass player, had
to leave the group due to life issues,” according to Noah. Dave and Noah started the
band out of their love for the blues.
All the guys have been serious about being professional musicians from a young age.
Noah bought a guitar at a garage sale at age five and had always wanted to play music
for a living. Seth began playing keyboards as a child and Devon grew up playing in
church. When not on stage, two of the guys still work in the music industry. You can find
Noah and Seth working at Portland Music Co. in Beaverton. Noah is the assistant
manager and has been there for 15 years. Seth is the keyboard guru and has been
employed there for five years.
Influences
“We are followers of the three Kings: BB, Albert, and Freddie. We also listen to a lot of
Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters,” Noah said. Other influences are Clarence
Gatemouth Brown, JJ Cale, Willie Dixon, Robert Cray, and Albert Collins. These artists
have help shaped Bottleneck’s music—their sound. “Our music is red hot funky blues.
The kind that make people dance.” And boy do they dance!
CD’s
Bottleneck Blues Band released their first CD (self-produced) in December 2014,
Twenty First Century Blues. Most of the tracks were first-take recordings. “The delivery
is authentic. There is no over-embellishment that you’re likely to find with a lot of newer
acts these days, and because there is no over-playing you are treated to a steady pulse
that is raw and natural. Everything flows nicely,” said Greg Johnson, CBA President.
(See the February CBA BluesNotes for the complete CD review.)
They are currently writing their second CD. Noah says several of the tunes have made it
into their set list.
Experience
With over 25 years of playing music, Noah has opened for a wide variety of top notch
musicians from reggae’s Steel Pulse to the King of country music, Willie Nelson. He’s
also opened for various members of the Grateful Dead, including Bill Kreutzmann, not to
mention classic blues man Elvin Bishop. He also has a degree in guitar from Missouri
State. Seth trained at Berklee College of Music. “His masterful organ technique has
thrilled spectators leaving them amazed at his sonic prowess.” Devon started playing
the drums in church at a young age. His radical beats have amazed audiences across
the US. Steve Rodriguez, owner of the Blue Diamond in Portland, OR, says “I can’t
believe he keeps going the whole three hour set.” The newest member of the band is
Ethan. The Oregon native has been playing the blues since he started performing live
up and down the coast. “His vibe has taken the band to a new level of excitement. This
kid has skills as he holds down the bottom like an old pro. He plays like he
has something to prove and the people respond” Noah said.
Bottleneck has performed with several bands around the Pacific Northwest, including
Sammy Eubanks, Robbie Laws, Kevin Selfe, Norman Sylvester, and Papa Dynamite.
In Closing
Noah has a philosophy about blues, “Blues is music of life, love and loss, happiness
and sorrow, and everything that happens in between. All these emotions come to life,
and the standard grooves live again while Bottleneck lights up the dance floor.” You
have to experience it yourself.
For more information and upcoming shows, visit the Bottleneck Blues Band website at
http://www.bottleneckbluesband.com
Bottleneck Blues Band CD Review
Twenty First Century Blues (Self Produced)
If you prefer your blues straight ahead with no frills, played the way it should be,
then the Bottleneck Blues Band may just be up your alley. The group is made up
of four long-time friends who have been enjoying performing for fans and friends
for the past four years in local venues such as The Blue Diamond, The Stickman
Brewery, The Lehrer and Biddy McGraw’s as well as a few festivals like
Hempfest and the Kalama Blues Festival. Led by guitarist/vocalist Noah Bell and
keyboard master Seth Zowader, the quartet is completed with the solid rhythm
section of drummer Devon Shazier and bassist Dave Cushman.
Twenty First Century Blues is the first release from the Bottleneck Blues Band
and most of the tracks were first take recordings, as stated on their website,
which make for a true sampling of the way the band
actually sounds live. The delivery is authentic. There
is no over-embellishment that you’re likely to find
with a lot of newer acts these days, and because
there is no over-playing you are treated to a steady
pulse that is raw and natural. Everything flows nicely.
The sound mixes well throughout with the individual
soloist brought to the forefront when appropriate and
the solos work exceptionally well as noted on tunes
like “Riverboat Blues” with Zowader and Bell trading
the lead spots, and also Bell’s slide on “Jack & Jill.” The disc opens with a short
Delta styled acoustic run on guitar that leads into a more rockin’ pace with “Life
Gets You Down.” The band can certainly display a lot of fresh angles to their
blues approach and even give a bit of country taste on the song “Barstool” that
features guest Jerry Aasen providing a little extra flair with his harmonica.
Bottleneck Blues Band are the perfect way to spend the night with the blues,
whether catching them onstage at a club or by spinning the Twenty First Century
Blues CD. The band wanted to pay tribute to the genre’s past and they got it
right.