LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Hi Blues Fans, Well, we have dived right into WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY the summer festival season Proud Recipient of a 2009 full blast, and it looks like it Keeping the Blues Alive Award is going to be busy and mu- sically fulfilling one. The new OFFICERS ReTapped Festival in Rich- President, Tony Frederickson [email protected] land, Washington is one that Vice President, Rick Bowen [email protected] all blues fans will want to put Secretary, Carolyn Palmer-Burch [email protected] on their to-do list for next Treasurer (Acting), Chad Creamer [email protected] year. This festival is taking Editor, Eric Steiner [email protected] the spot that UnTapped used to occupy on Mother’s Day DIRECTORS weekend, and we are work- Music Director, Amy Sassenberg [email protected] ing with the same partners to Membership, Michelle Burge [email protected] bring this annual kick-off to Education, Mary McPage [email protected] the summer back in full force. Volunteers, Rhea Rolfe [email protected] We learned a lot this year at Merchandise, Tony Frederickson [email protected] the new venue, and have begun to formulate a plan to continue to Advertising, Open [email protected] build and grow this event. We will have more on this later in the year! THANKS TO THE WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY 2017 STREET TEAM Sunbanks Music Festival the following weekend was one of the best Downtown Seattle, Tim & Michelle Burge [email protected] spring events I’ve attended in years. The line-up was stellar and Billy West Seattle, Jeff Weibe (206) 932-0546 Stoops really worked some magic in putting the talent together. Well, North Sound, Malcolm Kennedy [email protected] it rained a little on Friday, the weather came around and it was a very Northern WA, Lloyd Peterson [email protected] warm and sunny weekend. If you haven’t considered the Sunbanks Penninsula, Dan Wilson [email protected] events in the past, you should really give these events a try! You will Port Angeles Area Alvin Owen [email protected] quickly become a fan and frequent attendee! Central Washington, Stephen J. Lefebvre [email protected] Eastern Washington, Paul Caldwell [email protected] And to think this is only the start of our summer season. The up- Ballard, Marcia Jackson [email protected] coming Gorge Blues & Brews Festival down in Stevenson, Wash- Lopez Island, Carolyn & Dean Jacobsen [email protected] ington is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has a great line-up. Welcome Home, “Rock Khan” [email protected] Stevenson is an easy drive down or across the state, good camping is available and blues fans can still get home early on Sunday. SPECIAL THANKS Webmaster Emeritus, The Sheriff [email protected] The Wallace Festival opens July in Idaho and they have a great line- WBS Logo, Phil Chesnut [email protected] up there as well. And, the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival has a Cover Graphics, Paul Steiner [email protected] great line-up of national and international acts appearing, too. Get your tickets early as this festival may sell out early and you don’t MISSION STATEMENT want to miss it! That barely gets us into July and we still have the The Washington Blues Society is a nonprofit organization whose purpose rest of July and August into September loaded with even more great is to promote, preserve, and advance the culture and tradition of blues festivals and talented line-ups! I hope to see many of you out and music as an art form. Annual membership is $25 for individuals, and $35 about enjoying live music and please stop by and say “Hi.” 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 Washington Blues Society P.O. BOX 70604 Board of Directors, The Blues Foundation (2014-2017) SEATTLE, WA 98127 2 June 2018 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society In This Issue... BLUES RIFFS 2 Letter from the President 3 2018 Blues Society Officers & Directors 4 Contributing Writers & Photographers 5 Letter from the Editor NEWS & SHOW REVIEWS 6 Welcome Strummin’ Dog! 9 Blues Notes from Little Bill 10 Happy Anniversary: The Gorge’s 25! 30 Congratulations to 2018 BMA Recipients! FEATURE ARTICLES 12 Washington Blues Society Blues History 15 Seattle’s Creative Advantage BLUES PREVIEWS 11 Winthrop 2018 Brief Photo Preview 13 Winthrop 2018 Blues with a Twist 18 Inaugural Iron Mountain Music Festival 28 June Blues Bash Preview in Photos 29 June Blues Bash Preview WASHINGTON BLUES SOCIETY STUFF! 20 Washington Blues Calendar 22 Updated Washington Blues Talent Guide 24 Membership Benefits & Membership Form 25 Blues Jams & Open Mics 11 26 Live Blues Venue Guide This month, the Bluesletter includes many festival previews, such as the inaugural Iron Mountain Music Festival in British Columbia, the 25th anniversary of the Gorge Brews and Blues Festival in Stevenson and two articles on the Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Fetsival. COVER IMAGE: Norman “The Boogie Cat” Sylvester and LaRhonda “Portland’s First Lady of the Blues” Steele (Photo Courtesy of the Gorge Brews and Blues Festival) ABOVE: Bailey Ann Martinet will perform at the June Blues Bash! (Photo by Kenley Scott) June 2018 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society 3 JUNE BLUESLETTER Volume XXVII, Number VI PUBLISHER Washington Blues Society EDITOR Eric Steiner (editor@ wablues.org) PRINTER Pacific Publishing Company (www.pacificpublishingcompany.com) CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Son Jack, Jr., Eric Steiner, Tony Frederickson, Malcolm Kennedy, Little Bill Engelhart, Polly O’Keary, Amy Sassenberg CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Strummin’ Dog, Kenley Scott BLUESLETTER DEADLINES Ad Reservations 5th of the month [email protected] Calendar 10th of the month Please submit @ www.wablues.org Editorial 5th of the month [email protected] Camera-Ready Ad Art 12th of the month [email protected] SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Please only send attachments. Please do not embed in emails. Photos: High-res PDF, tiff, or jpg— 300dpi, CMYK (for color) or grayscale (for B&W). Articles: Plain text (.txt) or Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) AD SPECS & COSTS SIZE B/W COLOR HT × W in mm full pg $300 $375 238 × 187.3 ½ pg vertical $175 $220 238 × 91.3 ½ pg horizontal $175 $220 116.66 × 187.3 back ½ pg horizontal $260 $325 116.66 × 187.3 ¼ pg vertical $100 $125 116.66 × 91.3 1/3 pg vertical TBA TBA 238 × 59.3 1/6 pg vertical TBA TBA 116.66 × 59.3 1/12 pg square TBA TBA 56 × 59.3 business card $30 $38 56 × 91.3 BLUESLETTER ADVERTISING DISCOUNTS 20% off 12-month pre-payment 15% off 6-month pre-payment Special thanks to our advertisers! 10% off 3-month pre-payment Tell them you saw their ad in the Bluesletter 4 June 2018 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hi Bluesletter Readers, blues bash in Snohomish. Rest assured that we are working hard behind the scenes to bring these important blues content options Welcome to blues festival season! back to the July issue. This issue is packed with blues I also plan to include a preview of a new must-see blues event festival previews, ranging from at Charlie’s in downtown Olympia and bring back a feature that a photo and editorial preview frequent contributor Rocky Nelson has nurtured, “Invite Me to Your of the 2018 Winthrop Rhythm Gig,” where we feature local musicians’ perspectives from the stage. and Blues Festival, a celebration of this month’s Gorge Blues and I also hope to include a remembrance of Jason Buie. During the Brews Festival in Stevenson and production of this Bluesletter, I had the privilege of attending a a welcome to the first-ever Iron special day of music honoring one of British Columbia’s finest blues Mountain Music Festival in British ambassadors. He co-founded the White Rock Blues Society over Columbia. 10 years ago with Rod Dranfield. It was a special day of music for a very talented bluesman who left us too soon three years’ short of There’s also our complete listings his 50th birthday. sections, including the June blues calendar, blues venue guide, open mic and jam guide and blues Thank you for reading the Bluesletter. talent guide. This issue also features a history lesson from former Washington Blues Society officer Malcolm Kennedy that brings back memories Eric Steiner, Editor of past Washington Blues Society Best of the Blues Awrds shows Washington Blues Society Bluesletter (“BB Awards”). Board Member, The Blues Foundation (2010-2013) Regular readers will notice that two items aren’t included in this issue: 1) CD reviews, and 2) Coverage of last month’s second Tuesday June 2018 BLUESLETTER Washington Blues Society 5 NEWS & REVIEWS Welcome Strummin’ Dog to the Musiquarium! A son of Sitka brings “songster-style” blues to the Triple Door By Son Jack, Jr. “Strummin’ Dog” (aka Dave Galanin), is a son of Sitka, Alaska, and a force of nature. This comes through loud and clear in his music, which has the intensity that only a master practitioner of old-school, gritty, authentic blues can deliver. He cites his main influences as Son House, Bukka White and Mance Lipscombe among many others. He will be performing at the Triple Door Musicquarium on June 25th, 5-8pm. As a self-taught musician, he has played guitar for over 40 years, and began playing out publicly in New Zealand where he opened for Paul Ubana Jones and ‘lil Ian Goodsman. Strummin’ Dog has also shared the stage with the likes of Guy Davis, and Jake La Botz, and in addition has recorded with Hanni El Khatib (video posted on YouTube).