The inaugural Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival is a two-day music event nestled in the small town of Sisters, Oregon. With a vision of bringing high-quality musicians to Central Oregon while supporting the local community, they are certainly hitting it off in a big way. The first festival line-up is jam packed with some of […]
Over the course of his career, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tommy Castro – a six-time Blues Music Award-winner – has played thousands of shows to hundreds of thousands of ecstatic fans. Castro, along with his band, The Painkillers — bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown — plays music that is guaranteed […]
Five Grammy Awards, fifteen nominations, millions of record sales worldwide, and thousands of sold out performances, rock blues icon Robert Cray is considered “one of the greatest guitarists of his generation.” Rolling Stone Magazine in their April 2011 issue credits Cray with reinventing the blues with his “distinct razor sharp guitar playing” that “introduced a […]
Jeff Plankenhorn, arguably one of the busiest and most highly regarded guitar players on the Austin music scene, is a larger than life presence on stage. A big man with a kind smile and generous demeanor, he is often the bedrock that binds a host of talents into a moving whole, working with the likes […]
The Pickathon Festival, one of the country’s most popular music festivals with a variety of musical genres, takes place just outside of Portland, and will be celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Taking place August 3 – 5 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Pickathon is an independent, all ages, family-friendly on multiple stages. Among […]
The finals for this year’s Journey to Memphis competition were held on July 4 at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Four strong acts, who had won the right to participate out of a field of fifteen original acts at Mekong Bistro in mid-May, brought out their best before the scoring judges and an enthusiastic crowd on […]
Wish The World Away Self Produced Is it possible for Ben Rice to get any better than he already is? Watching him from his early teens he continues to stun me with how much he seemingly improves with each and every performance I see him at. And his skill levels have shown steady growth with […]
Greg Johnson, Cascade Blues Association President Summer time is always a favorite period during the year due to the number of music festivals taking place seemingly everywhere. The Waterfront Blues Festival is a definite highlight, not only because of the sensational acts that Peter Dammann has booked (another stellar job this year I might add), […]
Mitch Kashmar I’m very excited about bringing the great (no exaggeration) Jr Watson to town for two shows and a workshop: Mekong Bistro, Friday, 8/31; a joint harmonica/guitar workshop Sunday, 9/2; and The Lake Theatre Monday, 9/3 . I’ve known Jr. for 35 years–we’ve played many gigs, done many tours, and made some records together. […]
The Oregon Music Hall of Fame announced their 2018 inductees at a special party at Tony Starlight’s on July 10 and this year there are a number of blues and blues related individuals being honored: Andy Stokes, Dennis Carter, Dover Weinberg, Monti Amundson and Ural Thomas. The induction ceremony will be held on October 13 […]