BluesletterWashington Blues Society www.wablues.org 2020 february Welcome Back, Mindi Abair! Blues Previews & Reviews In Memoriam LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Hi Blues Fans, WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY Been a quick month for me. Proud Recipient of a 2009 Busy working on finding a Keeping the Blues Alive Award new home for the Best of the Blues award show. Some very 2020 OFFICERS good new possibilities and President, Tony Frederickson [email protected]@wablues.org hope to be announcing soon! Vice President, Rick Bowen [email protected]@wablues.org Be sure to check our website Secretary, Marisue Thomas [email protected]@wablues.org and Facebook page for Treasurer, Ray Kurth [email protected]@wablues.org updates. Lots of nomination Editor, Eric Steiner [email protected]@wablues.org ballots have been turned in and Chad Creamer has been busy putting all the data together. Be sure to say “Thank You” to him 2020 DIRECTORS at the next Blues Bash or one of our other upcoming events. You Music Director, Amy Sassenberg [email protected]@wablues.org will find the final voting ballot on the last page of this Bluesletter. Membership, Chad Creamer [email protected]@wablues.org Be sure to vote and get into us as soon as you can. All final ballots Education, Open [email protected]@wablues.org th must be in by March 10 ! Remember you must be a dues current Volunteers, Rhea Rolfe [email protected]@wablues.org member to vote. Still lots of time to join or renew! Merchandise, Tony Frederickson [email protected]@wablues.org We have set up a Fat Tuesday event, on Tuesday, February 25th, Advertising, Open [email protected]@wablues.org at Aurora Borealis! It will be fun evening, so reserve the date and make your plans to attend. You can find more information in this THANKS TO THE WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY 2020 STREET TEAM issue, on our website, www.wablues.org, and our Facebook page, Downtown Seattle, Tim & Michelle Burge [email protected]@comcast.net Washington Blues Society. We have a couple of great bands booked North Sound, Malcolm Kennedy [email protected]@msn.com and it will be a blend of blues and zydeco! Lots of dancing and good Northern WA, Lloyd Peterson [email protected]@televar.com conversation. If the attendance is good this will become a regular Penninsula, Dan Wilson [email protected]@centurytel.net event for us and a great reason to get out of the house and have Port Angeles Area, Alvin Owen [email protected]@gmail.com some fun. Good place to turn in those Best of the Blues ballots! Central Washington, Stephen J. Lefebvre [email protected]@gmail.com I was on Vinny Marini’s Music on The Couch radio show last night Eastern Washington, Paul Caldwell [email protected]@hotmail.com and it reminded that the date for the International Blues Challenge Ballard, Marcia Jackson [email protected]@gmail.com is fast approaching and I started my packing and am getting excited Lopez Island, Carolyn & Dean Jacobsen [email protected]@rockisland.com to jump on the plane and head to Memphis! We have some great talent representing us in the International Blues Challenge and a SPECIAL THANKS ton of other great talent representing the greater Pacific Northwest. Webmaster Emeritus, The Sheriff [email protected]@wablues.org Watch for updates on Facebook and our website! My hope is we will Washington Blues Society Logo, Phil Chesnut [email protected]@gmail.com some exciting news to share as of the 1st of February! Get out and support live music and I hope to be out and about MISSION STATEMENT and see many of you as we will be presenting Best of the Blues The Washington Blues Society is a nonprofit organization whose purpose nomination certificates all month long. Be sure to say “Hi.” is to promote, preserve, and advance the culture and tradition of blues music as an art form. Annual membership is $25 for individuals, and $35 for couples. The Washington Blues Society is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization and donations are tax-deductible. The Washington Blues Society is affiliated with The Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee. Tony Frederickson, President Washington Blues Society Board of Directors, The Blues Foundation (2015–2017) WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY P.O. BOX 70604 SEATTLE, WA 98127 2 February 2020 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society In This Issue... BLUES RIFFS 2 LetterLetter from the President 5 LetterLetter from the Editor FEATURE ARTICLES 7 LittleLittle Bill: On the Road to Jackpot, Nevada 10 CelebratingCelebrating the Blues in Spokane BLUES NEWS & REVIEWS 8 SuperSuper Stars of Blues Harmonica in Seattle 12 InIn Memoriam 14 A VeryVery Special “Ugly Sweater” Blues Show BLUES PREVIEWS 16 FebruaryFebruary Blues Previews 18 WinterWinter Won’t Last Forever! 21 WelcomeWelcome to the Pacific Northwest Albert Cummings! 29 GreatGreat Music at the February Blues Bash WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY STUFF! 2 2020 BluesBlues Society Officers & Directors 19 WashingtonWashington Blues Society Membership Form This issue includes a range of blues previews of special events in February and March. This issue 20 WashingtonWashington Blues Society Calendar also welcomes Mindi Abair and Albert Cummings 22 WashingtonWashington Blues Talent Guide to the Pacific Northwest and honors the memory of 24 UpdatedUpdated Blues Jams & Open Mic Listings blues and extended music community members we have lost in 2019. 26 WashingtonWashington Blues Venue Guide 28 BluesBlues on the Radio (and online, too!) 30 BluesBlues Awards Observations 31 2020 BBBB Awards Voting Ballot COVER IMAGE: Mindi Abair (Photo by Monica Oro) February 2020 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society 3 FEBRUARY 2020 Volume XXXI, Number II PUBLISHER Washington Blues Society EDITOR Eric Steiner (editor@ wablues.org) PRINTER Pacific Publishing Company (www.pacificpublishingcompany.com) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rick J. Bowen, Tony Frederickson, Malcolm Kennedy, Eric Steiner, Little Bill Engelhart, Amy Sassenberg, Marie Ehrenclou, Roberta Doupe , Craig Heimbinger CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Eric Steiner, Arnie Goodman, Mark Goodmann, Travis Gauthier, Sten Thorburg, Monica Oro, Dave Corry David Larew, Jennifer Mardus BLUESLETTER DEADLINES AdAd Reservations 5PM on the 5th of the month [email protected]@wablues.org Calendar 5PM5PM on the 10th of the month PleasePlease submit @ www.wablues.org Editorial 5PM5PM on the 5th of the month [email protected] Camera-ReadyCamera-Ready Ad Art 5PM on the 12th of the month [email protected] SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Please articles and photos only as attachments. Please do not embed images or stories embedded directy in emails. Photos: High-resolution PDF, tif, or jpg saved as 300 dpi or greater in print media CMYK format only (for color) or grayscale (for B&W). Articles: Plain text (.txt) or Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) AD SPECS & COSTS SIZE B/W COLORCOLOR HT × W in mm full pg $300 $375 238 × 187.3 ½ pg verticalvertical $175 $220 238 × 91.3 ½ pg horizontalhorizontal $175 $220 116.66 × 187.3 back ½ pg horizontalhorizontal $260 $325 116.66 × 187.3 ¼ pg verticalvertical $100 $125 116.66 × 91.3 1/3 pg verticalvertical TBA TBA 238 × 59.3 1/6 pg verticalvertical TBA TBA 116.66 × 59.3 1/12 pg squaresquare TBA TBA 56 × 59.3 business cardcard horizontal $30 $38 56 × 91.3 business cardcard vertical $30 $38 91.3 x 56 BLUESLETTER ADVERTISING DISCOUNTS 20% off 12-month12-month pre-payment 15% off 6-month6-month pre-payment 10% off 3-month3-month pre-payment 4 February 2020 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hi Bluesletter Readers, Musicians Relief Fund assists musicians in need with emergency Welcome to the second Bluesletter assistance, healthcare, and other needs documented in a confidential of the new year as the Washington application process. This year’s benefit show, graciously hosted by Blues Society begins its 31st year in the Madison Pub, features the UnBound House Band: Paul Quilty, promoting and preserving blues Willow Stone, Kevin Andrew Sutton, Jesse Weston and Rick J. music in the Evergreen State. Bowen. This issue features articles and Next month, our reviews section will return. This month, I received photos of the Inland Empire only one CD review by the deadline date and I hope to receive more th Blues Society’s awards show at the by February 5 for our March edition. Please note that Bluesletter Spokane Valley Eagles Club and a content depends on contributions I receive on the editorial deadline th view through Mike McNett’s lens date of the 5 of the month for the following month and all th of Mark Hummel’s first Super advertising is due on the 12 of the month for the following month. Stars of the Blues Harmonica show at Seattle’s Triple Door. Little Until next month, go out and see live blues! Bill takes us back to Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot, Nevada in the early 1960s (when “longhairs” were decidedly unwelcome in certain establishments) and when I learned that Ken Nordine, Bill Sims, Jr., Eliot Roberts and “Pops” Chambers passed away last year, I compiled a list of blues and arts community members that we lost in 2019. Eric Steiner, Editor Reporting from Idaho, Craig Hembinger previews the 2020 line-up Washington Blues Society Bluesletter of the Coeur d’Alene Blues Festival, the Allman Betts Band’s show at Member, Board of Directors, The Blues Foundation (2010-2013) The Fox in Spokane and Tommy Casto’s return to the Inland Empire at Bridge Press Cellars, also in Spokane. Craig’s preview concludes with a show by Sweethearts of the Blues featuring the First Lady of Portland Blues, LaRhonda Steele. Washington Blues Society Vice President Rick J. Bowen previews very special shows at the Historic Everett Theatre with The Yardbirds, Seattle’s Triple Door with Albert Castiglia, Jazz Alley with Marcia Ball and Sonny Landreth, the Seattle Theatre Group’s Neptune Theatre with the Marcus King Band and guitar wizard Eric Gales at the Spanish Ballroom at McMenamins Elk Temple in Tacoma.