The Washington Blues Society and Lee Oskar Harmonicas Present
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In Th s Issue... From the IBC in Memphis: Rum Boogie! From the IBC in Memphis: Sun Studio Jim Valley (Photo by Eric Steiner) (Photo by Eric Steiner) (Photo by ML Sutton) Letter from the President 2 March Blues Bash Preview 6 Report from Memphis 12 Letter from the Editor 3 Valentine’s Day Blues Bash 7 Membership Opportunities 14 Offic s and Directors 4 Street Team Report: Rocky Nelson 10 Walla Walla Festival Preview 14 On the Cover 4 Street Team Report 12 File Gumbo 30th Anniversary 15 Letter from Washington Blues Society President Tony Frederickson Hi Blues Fans, purchase of tickets. You can also purchase tickets start at 5:00 PM, and we wrap up at 8:00 PM so at the door! So save the date Sunday, April 9th and you can still get home in plenty of time to get a full The Best of the Blues due date for the final ballot make your plans to come to the Best of the Blues night’s sleep before work on Monday! It’s a one of is creeping up on us! Please be sure that you have Award show and the after party! Please see the ad those must do deals! See the ad in this issue of the your ballot to us by Tuesday, March 14th. in this edition of the Bluesletter! Bluesletter for this month’s show lineup! You can mail it in to our PO Box address (WBS, The International Blues Challenge was this past Festival season is coming up quickly! We kick off PO Box 70604, Seattle, WA 98127); give it to any month and our band (Polly O’Keary & the Rhythm the year with the Coeur de Alene Blues Festival in current Board of Director before March 14th, scan Method), our solo/duo (Stanislove) and our youth Sand Point, Idaho and Walla Walla Guitar Festival it in and e-mail it from your e-mail address that band (Samsara) represented themselves, our state in Walla Walla, WA this year! Both of these events you have on file with us, or just bring it to the and the Washington Blues Society with excellent have great line ups and are always a lot of fun! March Blues Bash at Capps Club on March 14th! performances! The right to vote and express your opinion is one Please see the ads and festival previews in this is- of the great perks of being a dues current member This event is one of the signature events for the sue for both of these events and get ready for a of the Washington Blues Society. Blues Foundation every year in Memphis! I highly road trip! You can’t go wrong with either of these encourage everyone to make plans to attend! You power packed festivals! They are both excellent The Best of the Blues award show will return to the won’t be disappointed and it will probably become values for your entertainment dollars and a nice Kirkland Performance Center on Sunday, April 9th one to those annual events that always have on way to enter into the Festival Season! this year with an early afternoon start time. Tick- your entertainment agenda! ets are available through Brown Paper Tickets and I hope to see many of you out and about as we have no additional processing fees or such. Most of Our Dinner and a Show series that we are partner- celebrate excellence in the “Blues” at this year’s the Board of directors will have tickets with them ing with Capps Club on is growing in popularity Best of the Blues Awards, the Dinner and a Show when they present the Best of the Blues nomina- and is worth checking out! We have had a steady series at Capps Club, and the start of festival tion certificates to the nominees, or you can click increase in the audience for each show so far and season! on the link on our Facebook page or the WaBlues. it is quickly becoming a weekly event for many! org website and that will take you directly to the You just can’t lose! Good Music! Good Food! And Tony Frederickson, President ticket purchase page on Brown Paper Tickets, or Great Value! Only $20.00 and that covers both din- Washington Blues Society just go directly to the Brown Paper Tickets website ner and the show! Let us do the cooking and wash Member, Board of Directors, Blues Foundation and type in “Best of the Blues April 9th” and their the dishes! Doors open at 4:00 PM for some adult website will take you to the correct page for your conversation and beverages, the show and dinner 2 Congratulations to the Highway 99 Blues Club Merrilee Rush (“Angel of the Morning”) Buck Ormsby (Photo by Eric Steiner) (Photo by ML Sutton) (Photo by ML Sutton) Blues CD Review 18 Blues Jam Listings 25 Flat 5 Blues Cartoon 27 For the Love of Jimmy 20 Open Mic Listings 25 Buck’s House Party Preview 28 Blues Venue Guide 22 Blues Talent Guide 26 27 Years of Live Blues! 30 Membership Form 24 Bluesletter Update 27 2017 BB Awards Ballot 31 Eric Steiner’s Letter from the Editor Dear Bluesletter Readers, the Blues Hall of Fame and also included a number version, it would be five times as many pages as of photos that I took with my iPhone 5s. on print version. Both Tony and I hope to add Thank you for reading the Bluesletter. I’m typing value to Washington Blues Society members’ this on Delta Airlines en route from Memphis to This year’s International Blues Challenge was a lot memberships with even more online resources Detroit on a mileage run after yesterday’s exciting of fun. I hadn’t been back for several years, and and more opportunities to learn about the music Keeping the Blues Alive Award luncheon at the The Blues Foundation has really upped its game that brings us together. Thank you in advance for Doubetree Hotel in downtown Memphis. by adding several master classes and workshops your patience as we work to improve the way we for musicians and fans, special sessions devoted to get the good word out about blues music in the This Year’s Awards Luncheon in Memphis Blues Foundation affiliates, and hosting a number Pacific Northwest (and Lower Mainland of British of medical and dental checks for blues musicians Columbia). I was more than a little nervous as I walked to throughout the week. the podium before a sold-out 270-seat ballroom. This issue includes a celebration of the 30th For the first time, I had the privilege of presenting It was a thrill to see Polly O’Keary and the anniversary of a popular Pacific Northwest band, two awards: the first to White Rock, British Rhythm Method advance to the semi-finals on File Gumbo, and the second installment from Columbia’s Suzanne Swanson and the second to Friday. The Fraser Valley Blues Society’s solo/ one of the Washington Blues Society’s long-time Ed Maloney and Steve Sarkowsky of Seattle’s duo act, Blue Hearts, also advanced. At the finals street team members, Rocky Nelson. There’s Highway 99 Blues Club. One of Canada’s newest at the Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, the Cascade also previews of blues festivals in Walla Walla, blues societies, the Fraser Valley Blues Society Blues Association’s Rae Gordon and the Backseat Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and special in Abbotsford, nominated photographer Suzanne Drivers took third place in the finals at this year’s events that include our first-ever Musicians Relief Swanson and the Keeping the Blues Alive Award- International Blues Challenge at the historic Fund show at the historic Everett Theatre and recognized Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. a show honoring the legacy of Tacoma’s Buck nominated the Highway 99 Blues Club for its Ormsby. I hope that Bluesletter readers will achievement in keeping the blues alive not only Our Blues Calendar in Transition include these events on their blues calendars. along Seattle’s waterfront, but also its stalwart support of blues musicians from around the region. Regular readers will notice that, this month, our Until next month, calendar is taking a short break. We are working I saw frequent contributor Paul Brown taking behind the scenes to improve the way we list Eric Steiner, Editor pictures at a number of venues along Beale Street shows for musicians, artists and fans, and until the Washington Blues Society Bluesletter and hope that I can include a feature article on calendar returns to these pages, please visit our Board Member, The Blues Foundation (2010- this year’s International Blues Challenge and the very robust, entertaining and informative online 2013) awards luncheon in the next issue. I’ve included in calendar at wablues.org. The same goes for our this issue a short article about my first-ever visit to online venue guide: if I printed out the online 3 Washington Blues Society April 2017 Bluesletter Deadlines Proud Recipient of a 2009 Keeping the Blues Alive Award Ad Reservations: March 5th - [email protected] Officers Calendar: March 10th - [email protected] President Tony Frederickson [email protected] Editorial: March 5th - [email protected] Vice President Rick Bowen [email protected] Camera-Ready Ads: Febrary 12th - [email protected] Secretary Carolyn Palmer-Burch [email protected] Treasurer (Acting) Chad Creamer [email protected] Editor Eric Steiner [email protected] Please Note All camera ready art and photos need to be in CMYK format (for color) Directors or grayscale (for black and white) at 300 dpi or higher and sent only as Music Director Amy Sassenberg [email protected] attachments (and not embedded in emails).