Happy New Year Blues Lovers!
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TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 TGGBs President’s Message: Happy New Year blues lovers! It has now been nearly one year that I have served as president of TGGBS, spending that time reorganizing, restructuring, overtaking many responsibilities, such as restoring and insuring our compliances with federal, state, and county filings, paying fees, opening and transferring accounts, acquiring new insurance, accessing our funds in PayPal, and more. One of my biggest jobs has been to oversee the finances for the San Francisco International Boogie Woogie Festival, which funds TGGBS’s Medical Relief Fund. The SF Boogie Woogie Festival is an exciting event that sells out every year. And because that event funds the Medical Relief, I (along with the TGGBS board) was proud to award Don Bassey, a local veteran musician, $500.00 at his benefit at The Empress Theater on January 5th. I have made so many valuable friends and business partners on this journey. Funding is in place to continue our 2nd Sunday Blues Jam at The World-Famous Turf Club in Hayward and the jam resumes in April of 2020! The honor of booking and working with the finest blues performers and influential leaders of our beloved blues community is beyond my wildest dreams. I am feeling so blessed to be a part of this dynamic blues society! The future looks fantastic with the Blues Music Awards coming up and knowing that so many of our local musicians have been nominated. I am planning many new ventures that will overachieve our mission to support blues musicians and their music. I cannot wait to add some more leadership to our board to fulfill our plans. Board membership starts with volunteerism. So please do not hesitate to lend us a hand in this new year. And please continue to follow us on our Facebook page and continue to read our newsletters coming to you the first week of each month. Thank you all for your interest and your invaluable support! Yours Bluely, Richard MacLaury, President of TGGBS PAGE 1 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 HERE ARE OUR JANUARY 2020 TOPICS: • RECOMMENDED BAY AREA BLUES SHOWS COMING UP • “KOKO IN CANADA” BY STEVE FREUND • DON BASSEY BENEFIT ON JANUARY 5 @ EMPRESS THEATER BENEFIT WITH LEVI LLOYD, TIMM WALKER, VOLKER STRIFLER, TOMMY CASTRO, DANIEL CASTRO, KEVIN RUSSEL, AND MORE • LISA KINDRED MEMORIAL CELEBRATION JANUARY 19TH AT THE SWEETWATER • LISA KINDRED ARTICLE • UPDATE ON BISCUITS AND BLUES • FEATURE ON MARK HUMMEL FROM MAKING A SCENE • NANCY WRIGHT ARTICLE • TOM HYSLOP R.I.P. • FILLMORE SLIM (FOR “SON OF THE SEVEN SISTERS”) IS NOW ONE OF THE FIVE FINALISTS IN THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE • FOURTEEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 37 BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS • 41ST BLUES MUSIC AWARDS & BAY AREA NOMINEES • CALL FOR MEMBERSHIPS| DONATIONS| VOLUNTEERS RECOMMENDED BAY AREA BLUES SHOWS COMING UP Wednesday, Jan 8 @ 7 PM, Quique Gomez |Club Fox Blues Jam, Redwood City, CA. Vince Caminiti does a fabulous job booking an exceptional lineup of national and local talents. Learn More: https://rwcbluesjam.com/schedule Sunday, Jan 9 from 3 -7 PM | “Friends Helping Friends” Don Bassey Benefit, @ Torch Club, Sacramento, CA with Daniel Castro, Steve Freund, Red’s Blues, AJ Crawdaddy, and more. PAGE 2 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 Tickets: http://torchclub.net/ Friday, Jan 10 @ 7 PM | “Noel Hayes Blues Bash” @ The Studio, San Jose, CA with Diunna Greenleaf, Andrew Jr Boy Jones, Rusty Zinn, Steve Freund, Rick Estrin w/ special guests Kid Andersen, Anthony Paule, Kerrie Jones, Kevin Hayes, Nancy Wright, Tony Lufrano, Dmar, Endre Tarczy, Mike Peloquin, Marcel Smith, AJ Joyce, Mike Rinta, Jim Pugh and more. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/noel- hayes-2020-blues-bash-tickets-83293094889 Saturday, Jan 11 @ 8 PM & Sunday, Jan 12 @ 7 PM | Mark Hummel’s 29th Annual Blues Harmonica Blowout, “Superstars of Blues Harp” @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA with MAGIC DICK (J. Geils Band), LEE OSKAR (The Lowrider Band), JERRY PORTNOY (Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton), DUKE ROBILLARD (Roomful of Blues, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan) w/MARK HUMMEL and the BLUES SURVIVORS! Tickets: http://bit.ly/HummelBlowOut TUESDAY, JAN 14 @ 7:30 PM | Eric Johnson, “Classic Present and Past” @ Miner Auditorium, Oakland, CA Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/eric-johnson/ PAGE 3 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 Friday, Jan 17 @ 8:30 PM | Elvin Bishop Big Fun Trio @ Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA Tickets: http://bit.ly/ElvinBishopJan7 Sunday, Jan 19 @ 4 PM | “A Celebration of the Life & Music of Lisa Kindred” @ The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA with Nick Gravenites, Pete Sears (Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship), The Saloonatics with Austin de Lone, Roy Blumenfeld (Blues Project), Barry Melton (Country Joe & The Fish), Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker), Annie Sampson, Roberta Donnay, and more. Tickets: http://bit.ly/LisKindred And a special mention for an impressive, young, developing singer songwriter--Blues Blast and IBMA nominated Katie Henry! Friday, Feb 7 @ 6 PM | Katie Henry @ Poor House Bistro, San Jose, CA Sat Feb 8, Torch Club, Sacramento Sun Feb 9, Winters Tavern, Pacifica Learn more: http://www.katiehenrymusic.com PAGE 4 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 FRI, MAR 6 | 7:00 PM, Buddy Guy & Jimmie Vaughan “Blues Master Summit” @ Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/blues-master-summit/ “KOKO IN CANADA” BY STEVE FREUND © December 1985, Steve Freund, All Rights Reserved (do not reprint without author’s permission) A few months after my emergency Europe tour with Koko, I got another last-minute call to join her band, this time in Canada, for a 3 week tour. This would be 3 cities, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary. Her lead guitarist, Maestro Saunders, had been denied entry to Canada for an unpaid traffic ticket or some other bullshit reason. So once again Bruce Iglauer called me. Within 24 hours I was being picked up by Pops Taylor and Koko at the airport in Winnipeg. As a side-note, I had to take a flight that made one stop. I had my Epiphone PAGE 5 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 Riviera with me and had no problem carrying it on and putting it in the overhead bin. We had to disembark for about 30 minutes and the flight crew changed over from Americans to Canadians. When it was to embark again, to the same exact plane, I was not allowed to carry my guitar on. When I asked why, I was told “you are in Canada now”. Whatever. So began our 3-week tour of our northern neighbor. This would be 6 nights in each city. 75.00 bucks a night. Share a room. I think this was the last time I ever toured without getting a single. Winnipeg wasn’t too bad. Nothing to speak of. Edmonton on the other hand was almost disastrous. After a gig one night a young lady invited me out for a drink, and stupidly, I accepted, not knowing she was gonna take me to a bar full of drunk, coked up, cowboy hockey players. I immediately got singled out by a crazed asshole for my Chicago- style winter overcoat and cap, and we ended up in a hockey-style fight position, each grabbing the others’ collar with the left hand and getting ready to strike with the right. Thankfully no punches were thrown, but I was definitely ready. My main thought was “shit, my guitar is locked in the trunk of her car. I gotta get out of here NOW!” Thankfully some guys broke up our grip and she reluctantly agreed to drop me off back at the hotel. I did not invite her up. That scene totally sucked. The fun really started on the last week, in Calgary. We were playing at the legendary King Eddie Hotel. Legendary for being the absolute worst gig on the continent. It was SO COLD that December that the water in our toilets completely froze. We all had to use the lobby bathroom. Koko immediately found another hotel for her and Pops, but left the rest of us to fend for ourselves at the King Eddie. During the day it was a strip club, then at night they would have blues bands, many from Chicago. It was a very depressing place for me, but this is how I paid my bills. It made Chicago seem like Hawaii. Located on the Bow River, the wind was ripping at 20-30 mph all day every day. I basically survived by eating congee, a thick rice soup that I got at a local Chinese restaurant. Every day I bundled up with sweaters and a wool scarf, thick gloves and my hiking shoes, and trekked a mile or so to this restaurant. I must admit that rice soup was damn good on those bitter cold days. So we did the 6 nights and after the last night Pops decides we are leaving, right after the last set. I was glad to go. But the shit was about to get funky…. PAGE 6 TGGBS.ORG TGGBS Newsletter January 2020__#5 So after packing up and loading the van, we hit the road heading south. We planned to cross the border into Montana. There are around 12 crossing points, and I don’t remember which we headed for. What I DO remember is that Pops was driving all this way without a license, which had been taken from him in Chicago for a moving violation of some sort. So when the Canadian Mounted Police blasted his siren behind us at 3 AM, Koko, who was riding up front, quickly switched seats with him, at 65 mph.