Sonny Smokin' Hess - Still Smokin' With More Talent Than Ever
Written by CBA Staff Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:01
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Article by Deborah DeSarah, CBA BluesNotes, March 2006 Photos by Greg Johnson
Multitalented and working her magic in the music industry. That would be Sonny Hess. I had the privilege of talking with her at the Candleight on a Friday night before her show. On this particular night, she was with her regular band: Kelly Pierce on drums, Jim Hively on bass and Lady Kat on vocals. Everyone was ready to dance the night away and listen to some smoking hot, live music. Of course, Sonny was playing lead guitar. The place was packed and the dance floor was full from beginning to end.
Sonny has been instrumental in shaping the music scene in the Portland area for over 20 years, in helping new venues formulate music programs, organizing several benefits, one of which won an award, and last, but not least, is the pride she takes in helping other talent be recognized.. She has made a name for herself in a male-dominated profession. She was the first woman to be nominated for a Muddy Award for Best Electric Guitarist by the Cascade Blues Association. Sonny Hess is recognized by her supporters for her soulful guitar leads that take you on an emotional train ride. Each note she plays sends you home with the feeling that you have been spoken to from the depths of her soul. She’s a seasoned veteran who knows what the audience wants and needs from her performance. Sonny told me a story about a man who had recently divorced. After the show, he told her that once again he felt inspired, and he knew that everything would be alright. Talk about power!
Sonny has musical roots which go back to her childhood. Every member of her family grew up with music as the forefront of their lives. From singing at home to creating music for audiences around the country and at local hang-outs in their home town in Idaho, to doing church programs as a family group. “I started getting into Blues around the age of 25. It was Rock ‘n Roll before that. Growing up, I used to sit in the living room with my siblings and would take my brother’s guitar, because I didn’t have one, and play the intros to sitcoms such as Bonanza or Bewitched. I would do it over and over again until my sisters were begging mom to make me stop for fear of insanity. To me though, every time I did it, I heard something different. I could do it for hours.” The music of youth has grown into talent that you can’t resist, once you feel it.
“In the past, many years ago, there were jams I would go to where at 1:50 am they would decide to let me play and I had been there since the start. They would wait till the whole show was over and there were three people in the audience and then they would let me play. Now when I walk into a place people recognize me.” I asked her how many years that took. “It wasn’t overnight. Before I started in the Blues I was in a seven-piece Rock ‘n Roll band called, The Koffee Band, as a backup singer. It was a very, very good band, opening for Quarterflash a few times and that was my first band. We had a lot of success and were with one of the biggest booking agencies in town. Most people’s first bands aren’t that good, but I was 20 something and thought this was how it was, little did I know. Wow, this is going to be fun with all these gigs and all these people behind us. I did not realize until I started doing it myself, how hard it is. But, I was lucky in that way, because it was a successful first band for me. Those guys didn’t make any bones about letting me know how lucky I was. I would look at them and say ‘it’s destiny’. I was very happy to be there and we had some big shows.”
I asked Sonny what she would like people to know about her? “The thing I most love to do is play with people who I feel have a very strong talent and are trying to make it onto the scene. I get excited about what they have to offer. So, whatever clout I may have, I use to get them seen and heard. If it doesn’t fit with what I do, I try to find the right group of people and musical thing that suits them. Right now, with Lady Kat, we are leaning more into the jazzy, bluesy piano bar feel and getting her own thing started there.” I was able to hear Lady Kat that night and she definitely has the talent that Sonny talks about.
Let’s not stop there though. Sonny hosts The Women Blues revue every Thursday night at the Trail’s End Saloon. They’ve been doing this for six years now, going on seven, and she is grateful to The Trail’s End for their commitment. “We feature a different female artists each week. One time you’ll see my niece, Brandi Hess, and different women in blues like, Kimberly Hall, LaRhonda Steele, or Linda Hornbuckle, with Lisa mann on bass and vocals each week.” Sonny loves it, because she can hear new talent that she could possibly use in her specialty show, “NW Women Rhythm & Blues.” “We have people from Seattle and we’re working on people from Eugene and San Francisco. I love having that flexibility and versatility. It’s like the NW Women Rhythm and Blues shows becomes more than a show, and more like an event that happens. It’s always different and always rotating, showcasing a new talent. I get excited about that and it may be my claim to fame as far as new people go.”
When I asked Sonny who she thought had progressed most because of these opportunities, she replied, “Everyone, if they repeatedly play, they can’t help but get better.” Sonny doesn’t necessarily consider herself a mentor, but an outlet to help get people and their talent into the public eye. With NW Women Rhythm and Blues, she feels like a whole other version of herself. She’s like the godmother of those talented women and wants them to be the best performers they can be.
I asked her what was her inspiration for starting NW Women Rhythm and Blues? “I did it with a woman years ago who is no longer in town. We did some big shows with some national acts such as Katie Webster but, the inspiration was in the very first Blues festival here in Portland; the festival was primarily men, I was one of only two women.” 
In 1991, Sonny met the late “Blues Diva,” Paulette Davis, and created a new sound in Portland with “Paulette and Power”: “Paulette was a huge inspiration to me. We started out together and grew together as ‘virgins’ in the Blues scene starting over in the ‘hood for a few years. Nobody recognized Paulette in the clubs there, but I had some recognition and was able to get some bookings.” New doors opened for that group and they became one of the first “unsigned” groups to ever play at the Monterey Blues Festival in Monterey, California. The first year that “Paulette and Power” joined the local music scene, they won two Crystal Awards, “The Best R&B Act” and “Best New Artist” for Paulette. The ballots were cast through The Oregonian subscribers and they won by a landslide. Throughout their 10 years together they opened for Etta James, The Average White Band, Bobby Womack and jr. Walker and the All Star Band.
Sonny says “it was because of Paulette. It’s not necessarily because she had the best voice around, but that Paulette was such a dynamic performer. The audience never knew what to expect. Their following grew over the years and was a very special time in life and may never happen again. After Paulette passed, I was a bit lost because she was my best friend and the band was my entire focus.” Though Sonny sings with a great voice, she would rather play guitar. She is inspired by vocalists and enjoys embellishing the lead singer. With Paulette, she didn’t sing at all, but she ran the whole band, and wrote songs for the band.
“We had a gig scheduled for the weekend after she passed. The question became, ‘do we play or not.’ I received a call from a really good friend, Randy Lilya, who told me to get my ass up and do it. I tried to convince him I didn’t sing but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Randy booked me in advance for the next year. So, for a year it made me do my thing and regroup with my purpose. I’m still more comfortable with another singer because it helps to create the interaction and allows me to work the band.”
Does Paulette still inspire you today? “Very much so. Sometimes when I’m singing a song I’ll interject a phrase or a word that Paulette used to say and the band will laugh. Kelly is one of the original members of the band, so he gets them all the time and it makes it that much more fun. I would say that Paulette is in almost every song in some form or another, there is some part of her there. I will remember Paulette’s integrity. As I went on, I came to realize how special it was. I saw later how much Paulette had my back and how spoiled I had been by that. It doesn’t always happen like that in the real world.”
Today there are over 27 women involved in the NW Women Rhythm and Blues from all over the Pacific Northwest. Each show is comprised of seven to nine women performers, most of which have their own bands, who form an all-star cast. Some of the women who have performed in this show started with this unique and extraordinary experience. Collectively, these women have opened for talent such as, Etta James, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Gladys Knight, Earth Wind & Fire, Average White Band, Pointer Sisters, B.T.O., Bobby Womack, and Jr. Walker and the All Stars. Recently, the Cascade Blues Association nominated NW Women Rhythm and Blues for “Show of the Yaer 2005.” And if you saw them at Blues By The Sea, like I did, you would still be talking about it.
“I don’t do it for notoriety. I stay in it because every single year I meet a new person that tells me I should stay and for some reason I’m here to help the music scene and somehow others get discovered. It’s not just for me. There are so many other people that I can help get started who don’t know the ins and outs. I can help them with the details of playing the scene and saving them from unknown mistakes.”
But we are talking multitalented here, aren’t we. Sonny has also done bookings for some of the clubs around town and at one point had five different venues to care for. From that she has been able to hand work the musicians. Some may work out while others may not. She is good at finding places which don’t normally do music and cultivating it and getting a music scene going. “I will always do that because I want to help be sure that live music is always a choice of entertainment. That needs to always happen. Instead of being just a musician and doing a gig and collecting the earnings, I want to ensure there is always a place for myself and new people to go and play music and others to come and hear. There can’t be enough.
“Some venues and people have really helped me with my vision. Randy Lilya, Peter Dammann, Ken Johnson, Jan Haedinger of McMennamins’s and The Trail’s End Saloon have been consistently supportive and proven over and over that they are big believers in what I do.”
Sonny’s reputation precedes her and she can get on the phone and simply let them know this is a good thing. Though there is still a lot of beating down doors in other venues who misunderstand what this is all about and don’t recognize the talents being offered.
What plans do you have for future projects? “I write a lot of original music, it’s my second claim to fame.” Sonny has been recognized for some of her original work in the local media. Currently she is working on a CD project, which will be mostly original music. You can look for Still Smokin’ to be released during 2006. She is also working to get on the road and bring NW Women Rhythm and Blues into some of the bigger festivals, such as San Francisco and opening for some larger acts. Sonny then wants to bring some of the bigger names here and believes she has enough experience to do that.
In the meantime, she will continue to write original music because when I asked her what her greatest dream come true would be for her music she said, “I would like to be recognized for one of my original songs. That would be a great dream come true.” I’m sure any of us could imagine the possibilities and opportunities of having our dreams come true. Sonny would see more independence and better opportunities to do more of what she does, with artists, venues and music.
Sonny worked her way into the music scene in Portland on the rough road. In a male-dominated profession, she was passed up at many jams because women just didn’t play lead guitar. Through perseverance and a love for music, she was the first female guitarist to be nominated for the Muddy Award for “Best Blues Electric Guitar” by the Cascade Blues Association. So, if you have a chance to see this dynamic performer, you must. Trust me, you will never be bored with the same old routine. You may be someone who can say, “I saw them when they first started,” or be able to say I shook the hand of the person who wrote that song. And let’s not forget the guitar playing. How else do you think she could get a name like Smokin’ Sonny Hess? Look for her at festivals this summer, such as Clackamas Live and Estacada Festival, just to mention a couple. You can always check her schedule at www.sonnyhess.com