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| GREAT BIG ROCK JAM Published by Erika The Red � 2005 (Graphic donated by Don Berryman) |
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| May 3, 2005 - Page 3 |
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| While I was at Fat Cat (my second home, for those who haven't been paying attention up to now), I dropped off a copy of Downchild�s newest CD, Come On In, and received a glowing report of it from Fat Cat co-owner, Russell (along with Roxanne), who was not previously familiar with this long-running premier Canadian blues band. Maybe one of these years, the blues boys will make an appearance in The Rock.
While in the club I overhead a Blue Rodeo (coming to St. John's later this month) fan saying that Eric Clapton once had aspirations of being in The Band. Can anyone confirm that? Fat Cat happens to be celebrating its second anniversary on the May 6-8 weekend, with performances by the Billion Dollar Blues Band on Friday night (following Scott Goudie�s early show), Big Red (Chris Badcock, Jan LeDrew, Sonny Hogan and Brian Kenney) on Saturday, May 7, and Blair Harvey will be hosting the open mic on Sunday night (Mother�s Day). Come on in and celebrate Newfoundland�s own hard-working blues musicians! For more information on them, visit www.rowdyblues.com. In Seattle blues news, one of my musical acquaintances, Randy Oxford, a very unusual trombonist, led his self-titled band to multiple victories at this year�s Washington Blues Society �Best of the Blues� (BB) Awards. Randy (along with several other Seattle blues artists I know) is interested in doing a Canadian tour, so if there are any clubs in St. John�s or Toronto that might be interested in a �Seattle Showcase�, email him at [email protected] or visit his website at www.randyoxford.com. Dennis "Blues Boss" Dudley, a writer and photographer in Seattle and my "main man" for all blues music things in Seattle, tells me a photo artwork will appear on the cover of Little Bill's newest book, following up his Next Stop, Bakersfield. Congratulations, Dennis! Award-winning bassist/vocalist Little Bill (of Little Bill & The Blue Notes), who is celebrating 50 years in the music business, appears on numerous CDs, including his own excellent Naked Blues and One Night Only. Toronto�s award-winning harmonica player Carlos Del Junco just did a concert in Everett, Washington, with guitarist/guitar-maker Mark Riley (of RNB Guitars), who also just won a BB Award for �Best Acoustic Guitarist�. According to Mark, they had great fun together, which led to Mark coining the term �CA-RAZ-IANS� (a blending of crazy and Canadians). Yup � sounds like fun to me! Carlos is scheduled to perform in Edmundston, NB, on June 22 and 23, for that city�s annual Jazz and Blues Festival (hmm�maybe I could make a stop there on my way back from Ottawa�). Check out the �Seattle Rattle� section for more news on musicians there. A coast-to-coast Blues Alliance is not beyond the realm of possibility. Another website I have found educational regarding St. John�s musicians is at www.nflocals.com. Give them a look-see. They also have connecting links to musicians in our other Atlantic provinces. So much music and so little time to discover it all� |
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