May 2011

Is it Spring yet? Doesn’t feel like it today. Dreary and cool, but the snow is gone and there are daffodils and hyacinths in my front yard, the crocuses are already history for this year. There! Can you hear it? It’s a ways off, but you can almost hear it! When the wind blows from the direction of the river, it’s almost clear! Guitar licks, bass lines, a backbeat and even some horns! Its…it’s … The Summertime Blues! It’s almost here!

I can see it! Right there below! Blues on the river from Eau Claire to Durand! A little here, a bunch there, and man it’s going to be all over the place real soon. Tuesday Night Blues at Owen Park in Eau Claire starts May 31st with Lucas K And The Coolhand Saints. The guys who opened at Lust For Blues 3 and closed up our Young Blues Night in 2010 and had the crowd dancing in the aisles. This year’s lineup is stacked with talent and great bands, a of them new to our series but that have been making names for themselves throughout the Wissota region.

Included are the bands voted numbers 1,2 & 3 in Volume One’s “Best Of” polls. The Best Blues Band, three years running, Mojo Lemon, the pride of Durand, WI, Left Wing Bourbon and Augusta’s own Howard Luedtke & Blue Max. That’s a winning lineup all by itself, but we have lots more to help break up the workweek and make it seem that much shorter. Returning to this years lineup are the Jonestones led by the venerable David Jones, Sue Orfield with her band as well as with Catya & Code Blue. The Love Buzzards will be back again as well as Pete Newman & The Real Deal and those old blues dogs The Steve Meyer Band. Deepwater Reunion will grace our stage once again and Sparky will be bringing his Friends to entertain on the summer stage this year. Two completely new groups to us will be the Jayson Collins Group, with a very polished, jazzy variety of blues, and Ross William Perry with his band. There is not a Tuesday night that isn’t well worth the trip to Owen Park.

5/31- Lucas K & the Coolhand Saints
6/7- Jonestones
6/14- Howard Luedtke & Blue Max (Pay it Forward)
6/21- Left Wing Bourbon
6/28- Sparky & Friends
7/5- Jayson Collins Group
7/12- Code Blue
7/19- The Steve Meyer Band
7/26- Deep Water Reunion
8/2- Pete Neuman
8/9- Love Buzzards
8/16- The Sue Orfield Band
8/23- Ross William Perry
8/30- Mojo Lemon (UCP/Bike Show)

Can you smell the food? Joel will be selling dogs & brats, Famous Dave’s Barbecue sandwiches will be available again, and 9 Degrees will have folks lined up for their ice cream. Pay It Forward will have their popcorn & cotton candy for a great cause and every one of the nights promoting our chosen non-profits will have sno-cones available. We’re hoping our jewelry vendors Juanita & Pam will be back and there might be some new faces, too.

The first weekend in August Blues On The Chippewa will be once again providing 15 plus bands for free to benefit the food shelf in Durand. Free camping, a Car Show and Art Fair. I’ll get you more info on that in the next couple months.

My buddy Snapshot, from WHYS 96.3’s Best Blues Show on the web, tells me there are some great concerts going to be happening in the region. Catch him every Sunday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the latest blues news.

Here are some of the Blues artists coming to Eau Claire;

Purgatory Hill 4-30-11 @ The Mousetrap (10pm)

Pete Neuman with Special Guest The Pumps 5-20-11 @ Little Grand Theater (7pm).

WHYS Presents "Girls With Guitars" featuring Tracy Lea Landis, Catya (with Sue Orfield), Ireene Keenan Jr., and Mary Cutrufello @ Harmony Corner Cafe (6pm - 10:30pm). This is a fund raiser for WHYS and is an Acoustic show.

Please go to chippewavalleyblues.com for additional info.

Now it’s starting to really feel like spring and I’m anticipating music outdoors in the summertime. Can’t wait! Thanks for lending me an ear. See ya around.

April 2011

I’m sittin’ here struggling for words. The snow is pretty much melted off the roof, and what is left is drip, drip, drippin' on down. I CAN’T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!

With all the recent turmoil, there has been a lot of news, lately. Rallies for weeks in Madison, some with as many as a 100,000 folks expressing their discontent with change in Wisconsin. Add to that an 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hitting Japan, causing unbelievable devastation and loss of life. The tsunami rolled all the way across the Pacific and caused huge losses in some northern California coastal harbor cities. That’s a fact that has been largely overlooked because of the huge mess in Japan with the meltdown at nuclear plants and recovery efforts their. That is a lot of stuff goin’ on!

Somehow in the midst of all of this The Chippewa Valley Blues Society still managed to pull off Lust for Blues IV on Sunday March 13th at Action City in the Metropolis Resort complex in Eau Claire. While many of the attendees were pretty wore out from participation in the Madison rallies, they still managed to rock and stomp with the best of them at Lust.

Sparky & The Wipers pretty much blew the roof off the joint when they got started at 2:30! Even though they haven’t performed much of late you wouldn’t know it with the way they funked things up. Tight as the proverbial drum, they made it hard for folks to sit still in their seats, and kept em' rockin' in the aisles for a couple hours. What a treat! These guys were cooking’ with gas.

In amongst all the people were some really fine silent auction offerings from Rock fest Tickets to framed limited edition Blues Coalition prints. Some of the most popular items were donated by Sport Motors Harley Davidson. Action City donated a handful of Unlimited Play cards as well. Lots of good stuff, not to mention Bar-B-Que plates, hot dogs and drink specials. No one went away hungry if they didn’t want to.

About 5 o’clock Mojo Lemon lit things up in a way that almost made you forget Sparky and the boys. It was a version of Mojo you have never seen before and likely won’t again. This very limited edition of Mojo just blistered the crowd with guitar solos traded by Josh and Mike Schlenker, who was sittin' in for Will Chopper. So instead of Guitar keyboard, bass & drums, they presented with dual guitars and no keyboard. Man did they present! Like I said a version of Mojo not seen before. Call and answer, dual leads all blessed by Mojo Terry Demars’ soulful growl beltin' out the lyrics. Truly awesome! These guys always are, but this was unique and it was Lust and, man it was just special! If you weren’t, you should have been there, caused you really, really missed out.

I want to shout out to everybody involved for their help. Thanks, Much!! That includes this publication.

Next month I will be introducing this summer’s events and lineups, including Tuesday Night Blues and Blues On The Chippewa.

Please go to cvblues.com for additional info. We will soon be introducing a new website, I’ll let you know next month.

Thanks for lending me an ear. See ya around.

March 2011

Wow, it seems like winter has been around for months now. Oh, Yeah, it has been! Five days ago it was –26 deg. On the way to work, Sunday it was 46 above. Quite a swing. Being only mid February, hard to believe this weather will last. I’m ready for spring! 

Besides the thaw another sure sign spring is coming is the Chippewa Valley Blues Society’s first event of the year. Lust For Blues IV is just around the corner. March 13th to be exact. The Metropolis Resort & Hotel in Eau Claire will be hosting again, this time at Action City. What a great spot for a fun afternoon! While you can do some grown up socializing to great music and food and beverages, the kids can race go-carts, climb rock walls or play at a bunch of different games and attractions. For the price of an adult admission to Lust For Blues you get some serious discounts on unlimited play at Action City’s seemingly limitless games and entertainment.

Speaking of Lust For Blues, the CVBS will be presenting Mojo Lemon, Volume One’s Best Blues Band in the Chippewa Valley. Mojo will be heatin’ things up with their particular brand of blues, rock, funk and good times. It is hard to sit still when these guys get wound up. Things will be movin’ and groovin’ as they lay it down their in the ballroom right next to the go-cart track. If you have never heard them you will be glad you finally got the chance. When they play Tuesday Night Blues at Owen Park the place is usually wall to wall with folks dancin’ and shakin what they’ve got.

Voted The Best in the Valley three years running, 2008, 2009 & 2010, Mojo Lemon is the 800-pound Gorilla everyone is talking about. For over ten years these guys have been playing festivals, bars, nightclubs and just about every venue you can think of. With Josh Entzminger’s stinging guitar licks, Terry DeMars rock bottom bass lines, Will Choppers’ rockin’ keyboards and Jason Introwitz keeping everybody on time on the drums. They all sing, and they are all excellent talents in their own right, but this is one of the tightest units on stage you are likely to see in western Wisconsin. They are that good!

Leading things off and setting things up for Mojo will be Sparky & the Wipers! These guys were our headline band just two years ago and brought people out of the woodwork to hear that Sparky style on vocals and guitar and Mike Schlenker’s soaring leads. Their fans can never get enough of the rock & soul & blues these boys produce. We are really glad to have them once again.

There will be food and beverage specials all day long, and the super specials on Action City unlimited play.

Blues & Barbecue in the winter! When we get things rollin’, spring will be racing to get here in time so it won’t miss out on the action. This is the one event of the year we actually ask for admission. It is our only fundraiser for ourselves, but we will give great value for your donation. Admission is $10, but join the Chippewa Valley Blues Society and you can have access to the great music, food and beverage specials, Action City unlimited play specials, and some other excellent deals for only $7! Last years Lust was a big success and a great time had by folks from four states. Action City is in The Metropolis Resort & Hotel and Chaos Water Park complex on the south side of I-94 at the intersection with Hwy 93 at Exit 68 in Eau Claire.

Doors open at 1:30 on March 13th

In future Blues Notes, I will bring you more histories and more info about performers, concerts in the region and other blues news from around the country.

Thanks for lending me an ear! See ya at Lust For Blues IV!