Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival to Feature Bettye LaVette and Tommy Castro – Aug. 28th

The 18th annual Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival will take place in Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver, Washington on Friday, August 26 through Sunday, August 28. The line-up is still fluid, but major jazz headliners The Manhattan Transfer,…

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears Coming To The Doug Fir Lounge – 9/2

Hailing from Austin, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears’ music has been described as  the collision between Southern soul, Midwestern blues, and vagabond punk.  Compared to "The Godfather of Soul" James Brown and inspired by Howlin’…
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Blues & Bargains, Sixth Annual CBA Rummage Sale Coming In September

Imagine making a big difference to your blues association while cleaning your closet of your unneeded items? And imagine having fun while you are making that difference! The annual rummage sale is coming up where you can donate your good used…

Ramblings On My Mind – August 2016

Greg Johnson / CBA President I hear it all the time. The blues are dying. Bunk! Though it may seem like there are fewer venues and a lot less media attention, the blues as a genre is definitely not on the verge of collapse. It may not look the…
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Muddy Ballots Voting To Be Held Online

The Cascade Blues Association is joining the twenty-first century — for the first time we will conduct the Muddy Awards nominations and final voting online. This will allow us to verify that only one vote is received per email address and…

David Vest

Devestatin’ Rhythm Ark-O-Matic Even if David Vest were not the articulate songwriter that he is, his piano playing would still be able to tell stories that’d capture your attention. His expressive boogie style just has a way of its own to…

Thad Beckman — A Powerful Blues Musician has Come Back Home to Portland

By Laurie Morrisey Picture a Portland, Oregon Christmas when a child was 11…“Under the tree, wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with a red ribbon was a long cardboard box containing a guitar bought from the local department store for…

“Hurricane” Book Review

I first became acquainted with Roger “Hurricane” Wilson through online blues discussion boards nearly twenty years ago. Through these conversations I knew him as a touring musician and not much else at the time. Not too long down the road…

Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers Are Going To Memphis!

On an overcast, humid afternoon at the Waterfront Blues Festival, the Cascade Blues Association held its 17th annual Journey To Memphis finals. In early June, eighteen bands began the competition to select the Cascade Blues Association’s representative…
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Portland blues band leader and historian Dave Miller passes

Last month we lost Dave Miller, who was known by many around the Portland blues scene. Dave's business card said "Brewing the Blues since '62."  In grade school and high school Dave played Dixieland jazz on trombone with his brother Fred on…