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May-June 2015

Volume 36 Number 3

Inside!

Ray Catfish Copeland

Ranell Carpenter

Leo Bootes

Blues on the Patio

Coming Area Events

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If you were to pick a few familiar Americana characters to describe Ray ‘Catfish” Copeland, you might pick a blend of Will Rogers and George Bailey, Jimmy Stewart‘s creation in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Catfish has always loved blues, honky tonk and rock and roll mu-

sic, playing guitar around Northern California and be-yond for the last 35 years. In 2012, he was inducted into the Sacramento Blues Hall of Fame. With the re-lease of Got Love If You Want, his new album on CFish Records, his trademark grin is as wide as his love of the broad sweep of American music.

As a multi-decade loyal employee at the iconic Tower Records, both in retail and at the headquarters in West Sacramento, California, Catfish had an insider knowledge of music and personalities. He was about the only guy who had the internal fortitude to wryly shake his head and smile when that record store giant went south in 2006. “I got more time to play music and enjoy life now.” he said.

His playing path has always been constant--in the mid to late 70s he was in the 1st incarnation of Little Char-lie and the Nightcats, then the Nate Shiner Blues Band and with Mark St. Mary's Zydeco Band. Ray toured in 1978 with blues piano legend Floyd Dixon. In 1980, he formed The Blue Flames along with Johnny "Guitar" Knox, and played during the glory years in seven Sac-ramento Blues Festivals. He also accompanied such blues luminaries as Big Mama Thornton, William Clarke, Luther Tucker, Little Joe Blue and Buddy Ace.

Catfish and the Crawdaddies formed in 1995 and re-leased three self-produced CDs between 1998-2007. His song "Crawdaddy, Crawdaddy" (from 2003’s Ve-nus Blues), written about the Isleton Cajun & Blues Festival (then called the Crawdad Festival) received the “Song of the Year” Award from Blues Unlimited Magazine. Catfish and the Crawdaddies appeared at the Sacramento Music Festival the past 18 years and at all the Isleton Cajun & Blues Festival since 1999.

Ray “Catfish” Copeland Band

GOT LOVE IF YOU WANT

(CFish Records)

“Wow…. This band rocks. It's fresh and familiar all at the same time. This band has a sound, Marilyn Woods gives things a whole other sonic thrill, and

your guitar player's tasty licks come right on through. I don't say these things lightly, you know me better than that. Congrats on a fine disc.”

Bob Keller, Legendary rock radio host (The Eagle 96.9FM, Sacramento)

This new release seems to be a pretty perfect culmi-nation of Copeland’s immersive joy of music, and he has surrounded himself with stellar new players and singers who share that love.

You can see it too in his choice of songs---many of these songs are familiar, but his arrangements are the unfolding pleasure—they are consistently original and allow room for improvisation. From the canon of Dylan to Jagger/Richards to Lennon/McCartney- the band has carved an identifiable Americana sound and flow—hand sown and homegrown on the sunny front porch, in the back 40 swamp by way of Chuck Berry through Creedence Clearwater, to some swirl-ing and gorgeous Clarence White country psychedel-ia ala The Byrds.

Singer Marilyn Woods started singing in the Pente-costal Church as a child, learning all the spirituals and popular music of the 30s and 40s from her grandmother and mother. Woods’ rich alto is yearning but confident. Her wise interpretations on both “For No One” the delicate Paul McCartney song and “What A Shame,” an early Rolling Stones song, make new womanly meanings possible. And on her won-derful duets with Catfish, (their country-gospel take on Skip James’ “I’m So Glad,” the mysterious Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues”, Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,”) her tone colors are sometimes reminiscent of Ni-colette Larson.

Catfish’s best solo vocal outing is his declamatory mantra on “I Wanna Bop.” With the lines “I wanna bop, I wanna stroll, I really loooove rock ‘n’ roll,” you really know he is singing his truth. Another joyous Dylan gem, complete with some mighty boy/girl freight train yodelin’ is “Freight Train Blues.” His lead and rhythm playing is always tasty, sure and in the pocket.

This is all held together by the genteel all-star groove-minded rhythm section of bassist R.W Grigsby (Mark Hummel & Blues Survivors, Gary Primich, Mike Mor-gan & the Crawl, Red's Blues, and the bassist on the 2013 Grammy-nominated and 2013 BMA winning CD, Remembering Little Walter.) plus the Grammy-winning Jeff Minnieweather (Curtis Salgado, Jeff Lorber, Joe Louis Walker) on drums. Together, they all allow the secret dazzling guitar genius that is Sac-ramento’s Steve Randall to fly. His inventive touch on every single song is singularly significant.

Ray Catfish Copeland—© Mindy Giles, 2014; photo by Beth Reid-Grigsby

Photo by Beth Reid‐Grigsby 

R.W.  Grigsby, Jeff Minneweather, Marilyn 

Woods, Ray Copeland &  Steve Randall 

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Randall specializes in Ameri-can roots music these days and is known as a Telecaster player doing country, blues, rock and swing--he even toured with a Tunisian band (still country music, just a dif-ferent country.) He is truly Sacramento’s James Bur-ton—his hybrid picking (rolling his fingers and using a pick at the same time) is fleet and complex, he never runs out of ideas. He's received multiple Sacramento Music Awards, including Hall of Fame notoriety and Critic's Choice Awards for Guitarist two years in a row. His influences are too numerous to mention, but he would say he ended up somewhere between “Richard Lloyd and Richard Thompson if they played a Tele thru a Vibro-lux.”

The good time nature of this album surely fits a generation that now listens to classic rock radio, still has our old vinyl and regularly values friends, a good dance floor and a cold one. But the sweet instrumen-tal coda, “A Closing Thought,” credited to the entire band, is witness to how Catfish and this band together elevated great song choices into a dis-tinctly wonderful sound.

If you have not seen the Cat-fish Copeland Band lately (or mabe not at all) remedy that situation soon. He plays around town often, and Ray and his band will be playing all four days at the Sacramento Music Festival.

Once upon a time, a little girl dreamed of becoming a singer. Not just any singer, but a GREAT singer! Her family didn’t have a musi-cian in the bunch and there were never any music les-sons. Still, she dreamed. Growing up in the small town of Placerville, CA with her family of two parents and three siblings, she did-n’t think she’d ever have a chance at making the dream come true, so she didn’t try to do much with

her voice until she became a teenager. She sang at church and in the car, the National Anthem for a high school event, and became a “Karaoke addict”. But then she had a serendipitous moment, even though she had heard country music all the while, she began singing the Blues! “I don’t know why I was so drawn to the Blues, but it just felt right” said the grown up Ranell Carpenter.

This young lady is embarking on a Blues career that is headed in the right direction, performing with her small band of Blues brothers currently consisting of Joe Lev on bass, (HOF inductee), Robert Foster on guitar, and an occasional lady drummer named Rita

Harrington.

Starting out in 2010, Ranell was invit-ed to sing with the band The Tomb-stone Taillights, getting up and sing-ing Red House by Jimi Hendrix. They were impressed enough to ask her to join the band, which became the Ice House Blues Band, and recently changed to the Ranell Car-penter Band.

Ranell and guitarist Robert Foster write and perform their original Blues-based songs along with cover songs from various artists. Citing Joe Bonamassa, Susan Tedeschi and Etta James as huge influences for her, Ranell knows she has a lot to learn and is enthusiastic about her path as a Blues singer.

To gain more experience, the Ranell Carpenter Band has been performing at local casino lounges, result-ing in being nominated in the Blues category for the 2015 Sammies, and is performing around Sacramen-to at clubs such as the famous Torch Club and the Country Club Saloon in Loomis.

Look for this up and coming talented and attractive Blues singer to bring you hours of fine Blues music and encourage her to believe in her dream. Some day you will say “I knew her when she was just get-ting started and liked her even then”. You won’t go wrong and everyone will live happily ever after.

Copeland—Continued

Meet Ranell Carpenter, Rising New Blues Artist— By Jan Kelley; Photo by Bob Cosman

Photo by Bob Hakins taken at Poor House Bistro 

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Leo Bootes—by Nan Mahon; Photo by Michael Gill

Some people call him a bad boy of the blues, others refer to him as a free spirit. But most agree that Leo Bootes is one of the most gifted musicians in the Sacramento region. “Wherever Leo goes,” said drummer John Newby, “he is the most talented musi-cian in the room”. Maybe it’s the magic he creates with that slide on his guitar, or the pain in his voice when he sings, but there is no doubt that Leo was born to do what he does. When he plugs in his guitar and steps center stage, he is confident, creative, and focused. People listen. “It just pours through me,” Leo said of his so-los. “I go into a sort of trance.” His artistry is not lost on the audience or his musical peers. “Some are good musicians and some are en-tertainers, but Leo is both”, said guitarist Howard Hall.

Leo was born in 1966 in Ketchikan, Alaska. His father was a Filipino na-tional who fought with the American Army as a par-atrooper and gained Unit-ed States citizenship. His mother was a girl of Scots-Irish decent. Not long after Leo was born, the family moved to Seattle where his father joined the Merchant Marines and served as ship’s chief cook. When he was nine years old, Leo would go with his older half-sister Paula and her rocker boyfriend, Alan, to parties in the hills above Seattle where the revel-ers would smoke pot and play guitars. It was 1976 and Glitter Rock and Spoken Word were the rage. “Alan gave me an old Sears Roebuck guitar with nylon strings. He taught me how to tune it and play,” remembers Leo. “I would listen to Paula’s records and try to imitate the sounds of musi-cians like Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix. Black Sabbath was my favorite”. Early in the morning, before school, Leo would sit with his guitar trying to play the signature lines of his heroes. Wherever he went, the guitar went with him. “I be-came a KISS fan and a whole world opened up to me, “he said. “I listened to

B.B. King and Led Zeppelin”. Life was good for young Leo until the family broke up and his mother brought him to Sacramento when he was age 14. “Things went backward after the di-vorce,” recalls Leo. “We lived in the roughest areas of Sacramento. We went from middle class to poverty.” At 16, he ran away from home. He wandered from the fish canneries in Alaska to manual labor in Seat-tle. He came back to Sacramento to roam the music scene with other young musicians. Those were wild days when artistic people lived as a group in large houses and chipped in for the rent. Leo moved in with others in an abandoned house without interior walls or heat. When the guy in charge, a musician, insisted Leo join his band, Leo picked up his bedroll and guitar and walked away.

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Still, Leo never stops honing his skills. In solitary mo-ments, he sits on the floor by his bed and practices the scales on his guitar. “I have dropped by Leo’s place after hours and found him sitting alone, singing and playing old Beatles songs”, said Mendoza. “That guitar is part of him”. Knox remarked about how far Leo has come. “When I heard Leo play slide guitar at the Blues Society Hall of Fame Awards at Harlow’s during the History of the Blues show, I was highly impressed by his opening number. He has his own flavor now”. But the highs and lows of a full-time musician can take its toll, and now at age 48, with his son grown, Leo looked for some stability to his life. He found it by taking the job of dishwasher at the Oak Park Brew-ing Company and he enjoys the work. “I like having a job,” he said. “But my intelligence level lies in music”. It’s his destiny to perform, he believes and says, “I don’t know any other existence”.

“For a while that summer, I lived on a rooftop in the heart of midtown”, he said. “Late in the day, I would take my guitar and go to Sam’s Hof Brau on J Street to hear Johnny “Guitar” Knox play. “I noticed Leo standing against the wall every session but he left as soon as I stopped playing, before the others came on”, said Knox. “One day I caught him and asked why he left and he said, ‘you’re the only one I want to hear’.” Knox, a well- known guitarist, became a men-tor to Leo. Knox showed Leo how to play the slide on his guitar, taught him the rudimentary formula of mu-sic, and urged him to listen to the great musicians of blues and rock. When they practiced, sitting at a ta-ble outside Java City, people would gather on the sidewalk to listen. It was then he joined up with some other young musi-cians to form a group they called Fat Molly’s Kitchen. Leo was the front man and singer and the band be-gan to climb in success, playing up and down Califor-nia for more than three years. “We were still poor,” said Leo. “We would eat at gigs”. There was plenty of partying for the young musicians. That took its toll on Fat Molly’s Kitchen and caused the group’s end. Leo gathered other groups, The Southside Shuffle and Low Down Dirty Dogs, but they did not obtain the success of Fat Molly’s Kitchen. In 1985, Leo found out that he was to become a fa-ther, so he quit the music business and went back to Seattle to work. He left music for a 10 year hiatus to care for his son, Mason, and the boy’s mother. When Mason’s mother died suddenly, Leo became a single dad and eventually took his son to live with him back in Sacramento. In demand, Leo made a living play-ing pick-up bass or lead guitar with bands all over the Sacramento area. “I think I’ve played every bar and winery there is”, he said. At a Sunday jam in the Torch Club, he met singer/band leader Gary Mendoza, who asked him to join his group. “When Leo is in his zone,” said Mendoza, “he is jaw-dropping good.” In 2014, when the City of Elk Grove commissioned Mendoza to produce a show, “A Musical History of the Blues”, Leo was featured and sang the parts of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, BB King, The Ani-mals, and Eric Clapton. “After Leo does Hoochie Coochie Man or Crossroads no other musician measures up,” said a fan.

Leo Bootes—Continued

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Sacramento music fans look forward to the warm weather and musical events in our area. We have music in the parks, venues open outdoor spaces, and the festivals start. The Granddaddy of the festivals in Sacramento is the four day festival started in 1974 and held in Old Town over the Memorial Day week-end. As in the past, artists you have seen and met in the pages of the Blue Notes will be appearing in 2015. This month’s cover artist, Ray “Catfish” Copeland and last month’s cover artist, Beth Reid-Grigsby (Red’s Blues) will be playing all four days at the festi-val. Mick Martin closes out the Festival yearly and young Kyle Rowland has become a festival mainstay. Jimmy Pailer, Gary Mendoza, Two-Tone Steiny, the

young Todd Morgan and Wingnut Adams have all been in our pages. I also will personally seek out some modern jazz and am scheduling in Hot City (love that bass), How-ellDevine (love that bass, too), Sister Swing (I like that Boswell Sisters sound), Mumbo Gumbo, Lightning Boy, the Rhythm Vandals and Tom Rigney. This is a great way to “sample” the amazing local tal-ent in the area. I am sure some other artists will catch my ear as I wander the Festival. Hope to see you there!

SACRAMENTO BLUES SOCIETY HALL OF FAME —by Sally Katen Sacramento Blues Society Hall of Fame Ceremo-nies will be September 27, 2015 The Society Hall of Fame Committee developed an additional segment to our Hall of Fame event last year (2014). Do not confuse the Hall of Fame induc-tion and the Gone but Not Forgotten acknowledge-ment. They are two separate but prestigious honors, and you can nominate a remembered Gone but Not Forgotten individual for the Hall of Fame, also. Gone But Not Forgotten Remembrance The Sacramento Blues Society is honored to be able to acknowledge our Gone but Not Forgotten, and we need your recommendations. Please notify us of any individual that you believe should be acknowledged at our 2015 Hall of Fame event by August 31st.  Every year, we lose talented well deserving musi-cians and individuals who have had an impact in sup-porting our blues scene in Sacramento area, and this new acknowledgement will be added to our annual Hall of Fame ceremonies. These individuals will not be Hall of Fame Inductees, although they can also be nominated for that honor as well. Gone but Not Forgotten individuals are being honored, remem-bered and acknowledged by our Blues Society for their support and musical contribution to the Sacra-mento area. Please recommend anyone you believe is deserving of this honor. Hall Of Fame Induction Do you think we are missing a certain musician/supporter) that should be inducted into the Society’s

Hall of Fame? And have you submit-ted that name to be considered? And have you encouraged others to also submit a nomination for that individu-al? Then why are we receiving so few nominations? It is so easy to nominate at www.sacblues.com. Go to the website, click on the Hall of Fame tab, click on Submit now and the form is ready for you to fill out. So make those nominations! There is a lot of space where you can explain why you believe your nominee should be in the Hall of Fame. Or you can leave that part blank and the Committee members will find the information. From this information, they will develop biographies that the Committee will use to choose the inductees for the year. You did that a couple of years ago? Do it again! Each year the committee looks at the nominations with a fresh eye. The deadlines for the 2015 nomina-tions are coming soon. Although we accept Hall of Fame nominations and Gone but Not Forgotten rec-ommendations year round, there is a deadline for the information to make the current year’s Hall of Fame event. Nominate today! Hall of Fame nomination deadline for 2015 is

June 30th 2015. Gone But Not Forgotten recommendation dead-

line for 2015 is August 31st 2015. Send us some names today! 

Festival Time—by Val Anderson

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Recently, I renewed my yearly Sacramento Blues Society membership under the Band Category for $50.00 per year. I diligently filled all the spaces on the form, including the band member names and family names, expecting membership cards for my-self, my bandmates, and a family member or two, as I received them before. At that time, I thought this was very generous to get so many membership cards for only $50.00. This year, I got an email reply with an explanation that for my membership in the Band Category for $50.00 per year, I would get only one membership card. When I asked why last year I received SBS Membership cards for all of my band-mates and family members, but this year I would get only one card, I got a nice email response that the SBS Board recently clarified long-standing policy that bands who join under the Band Category for $50.00 per year receive one membership card, entitling the holder the benefits and votes of membership. Family members and other band members need their own membership to support the Society, receive the member benefits and vote on Society issues. This decision makes sense because they need the finan-cial support to keep going and providing all the great services they do for our community. Our SBS Board and Committee members do not get paid for their services, hard work, and many hours they spend im-proving our chances of reaching the community; they are volunteers! But printing, mailing, administering the BITS program to assure future blues fans, spon-soring and co-sponsoring shows, helping bands get to Memphis through the local IBC Competition, and holding events all cost money. SBS provides a very good service for venues, bands, the community, etc. As a musician, SBS membership is just part of my music career investment. Now knowing what membership covers, I am going to strongly encour-age each of my four band members to join the SBS too. I feel it’s an important investment in the music community, in my music career, and keeps SBS go-ing.

Also, when I first started playing music professional-ly years ago, I belonged to the Sacramento Musi-cians Union (as did my step dad who was a musician then). But the union closed down because of lack of support from musicians. Since then, bands that play clubs (at least in the Sacramento area) don't make much money anymore. I made more money in the '70s, than I do now when I play a club gig. Private and corporate gigs (also known as "casuals"), always pay much more. So I appreciate the efforts of the

What You Give Out Comes Back Ten-Fold— By Melonnee Desireé [Pagano]

Society to keep the music scene going in Sacramen-to.

I will end this by say-ing: Recently on the very same day I paid my $50.00 SBS membership renewal fee, I got a call for a gig that will pay the band $750.00. As I say, when something gives me positive results, I keep prac-ticing and doing it.

Much love to all musicians - some I know, some I don’t, and some I will meet down the road; and to all of the wonderful folks that volunteer and work so hard at SBS!

International Blues Challenge By Dave Alcock

Saturday August 1, 2015

Stoney Inn

Admission $5 The Sacramento Blues Soci-ety is proud to host the Inter-national Blues Challenge (IBC) local competition to de-termine who will go to Mem-phis and represent Sacramento. This year’s IBC battle of the bands is sure to be one of the best competitions we have done, and the best value in town. 10 bands will be competing head to head.

In addition to the bands that compete this year, we are adding a Blues in the Schools youth competition to see which young bands will also go to Memphis to perform in the IBC Youth Showcase. We are upping our game this year, and we want everyone to come out and support the Blues.

Band entries will begin on June 1st and all bands must be current members of the Sacra-mento Blues Society to qualify for entry. The bands will be limited to the first 10 to enter the competition, and can sign up now at www.Sacblues.com.

So sign up now, and see you at the show!

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Blues In The Schools (BITS)—By Liz Walker

ve Boettner and John Harmon each put in extra time on their jobs ena-bling BITS to have the fun it has with their students. We absolutely could not have the successful after school programs we have without their support. You have an opportunity to support this amazing pro-gram on May 5th. It’s the regional Big Day of Giving and your on-line donations help us to keep the pro-gram alive and growing. BITS has a lot going on and we can only do this with the contributions from YOU. Please mark your calendar for this very important day. Visit our website – www.sacbits.org - and DONATE on May 5th. And speaking of Big DOG you can witness the magic of BITS in person at the annual showcase on Tues-day, May 5th. This year we’re bringing the blues back to The Stoney Inn. Come out and enjoy Cinco de Mayo with BITS at the Stoney! In April we launched a new program for BITS. An all age’s workshop/jam on the last Saturday of the

Busy, busy, busy. This is the time of year that BITS is rocking. We’ve had several presentations in Yolo County, the after school programs are popping in three high schools, a new Saturday all ages work-shop/jam was launched, and the groundwork to sponsor a youth group to represent Sactown in Mem-phis in 2016 is underway. We so appreciate the Yolo County Arts Council for once again contracting with BITS to bring the blues to the students of Yolo County. This year we’ve fo-cused on bringing a couple of new players into the stable with duo acts performing at six sites. So far, Mick Martin and Andrew Little wowed the music stu-dents of River City High School, Kyle Rowland and Sasha Tracheff got up close and personal with the students of Midtown and Einstein Alternative Schools, and Donna Proctor and Connor James rocked ’em in Winters. There was a change in the schedule so Paris Clayton and Danny Sandoval haven’t yet blown away Pioneer High School (but I’m sure they will) and one more for Dan Jacobs High is scheduled for June. By using duo’s we were able to go to more sites and introduce some new players. It’s great to have the new sounds and voices. Thank you all for your passion and talent. Thank you also goes out to the Sacramento Metro-politan Arts Commission for awarding BITS an Artist in the Community grant which allowed the after school programs at Rosemont High, West Campus High and Woodcreek High to not only begin the pro-gram earlier but to expand each weekly session to 1-1/2 hours. Each site has several returning students along with some newbies. This year we have Jimmy Pailer & Joe Lev at West Campus, Paris Clayton and Rick Taylor at Rosemont and Steve Boutte and Lew Fratis at Woodcreek. To meet each student on their level when they walk in the door and translate their own passion for the blues into something each student can understand and learn from takes a special combination of talent, compassion and acceptance. These musicians must work with a wide assortment of students (some of whom have never played anything before.) Each of these gentlemen have shared what it means to pass on their love for this music to these young players - when the light goes on, when the ‘ah-ha’ moment hits – that’s the magic of BITS. I would also like to acknowledge the commitment of the music teachers at these sites. John Ousley, Ste-

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BITS—continued

month, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the Gold Lion Arts Stu-dio on Riverside Blvd. This workshop is an oppor-tunity for young players to sharpen their skills, play with others and keep playing the blues. The work-shop is open to any beginning player(s) in the area with Kyle Rowland and Kenny Nichols as hosts/mentors. Right now we have the funding for it to run through July. If this grows and becomes a viable pro-gram, we hope to find the funding to keep it going (see paragraph above regarding Big DOG :) Which takes us to a plan of sending someone to Memphis. With the generous donations of Carrera Productions, BITS will support a youth band, duo or solo act to go to Memphis in 2016 to participate in the International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase. A competition will be held in August 2015 to pick the

lucky winner and with the support of their parents (remember these are young folks) we’ll get them to Memphis. How exciting would that be! The rubber will really be hitting the road to have some of our lo-cal students playing on Beale Street. Personally, I can’t wait. I’ll be making the trip next year and know it will be amazing! Phew! There’s a lot going on, huh? Dave, CJ and I have been doing this for many, many years and it is getting close to time to pass the torch. If you think you’ve got the time and energy to get involved, now is the time. We could use the help (thank you Debra Schottgen for joining us.) We welcome new passion. Please check our website for news and updates – www.sacbits.org. Remember, the Big DOG and see you at The Stoney!

Enjoying Festival Season—by Cari Chenkin, President

With the arrival of spring comes the start of the Sacra-mento area music festival season. While we all enjoy listening to the Blues all year long, there’s just some-thing special about gathering with a bunch of like-minded blues lovers in a festival situation that brings an extra level of fun and enjoyment to the experience. And, living where we do, we are lucky to have a lot of great opportunities for festival fun, not to mention great weather in which to party! One of my favorite aspects of a music festival is the opportunity to see multiple bands for one admission price. And while sometimes festival food and drink can get pricey, there are lots of events that permit you to bring in your own munchies, or there are opportuni-ties for inexpensive food and drink either inside or right outside the festival. And of course, there are the fabulous FREE concerts like the ones in Cesar Chavez plaza in downtown Sacramento. So, a limited budget doesn’t always mean you can’t get out and enjoy the festivals. In My Humble Opinion, another important facet of our local festivals is the opportunity they offer to local bands and artists. While we all enjoy the national acts that frequently headline these events, it’s also great to see our local favorites and friends get the chance to showcase their music to a wider audience, as festivals become destinations for out-of-town enthusiasts too. Festivals benefit more than just attendees as well. Going to local festivals helps to support our local pro-moters (most of whom are big-time supporters of the SBS) so their businesses can thrive and they can

keep bringing great shows to our area. Festivals also support other community businesses that supply the food and drink, sanitary facili-ties, security personnel, sound and stage personnel, and other ser-vices and supplies. So, a well-attended festival becomes a contributor to our com-munity’s economic health. All of which are great reasons to get out and go to a local music festival! From April on, you’ll find lots of opportunities to enjoy festivals. Here are just a few of the upcoming local ones:

Northern CA Blues Festival, Miller Park, Down-town Sac, May 16, 2015

Strawberry Music Festival, Nevada Co. Fair-grounds, Grass Valley, May 21 – 25, 2015

Sacramento Music Festival, Old Town Sac, May 22 – 25, 2015

First Festival at River Walk Park, W. Sac, May 23, 2015

Folsom Rhythm & Brews, Palladio @ Folsom, June 20, 2015

Isleton Cajun & Blues Festival, E2 Family Winery, Isleton, June 20-21, 2015 For more information, you may want to visit a festival listing site such as www.festivaltrek.com. I intend to be at as many as I can get to this season. See you on the dance floor!

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Val and her band, The Blues Rocket, kick off each show with a bang, performing original, high energy dance oriented blues. Her 2014 release "Blues Away" reached #4 on the Airplay Direct Blues charts. Her newest cd "Woman On A Mission" is scheduled for release in June of 2015. Val Starr’s Blues On The Patio would like to recog-nize their sponsors who help to support the blues music scene in Sacramento: www.Gotradio.com in-ternet radio 24/7 including Bit O’ Blues channel; Mary Carerra Productions bringing us Folsom Rhythm & Brews, Folsom Fest, and great shows at the Harris Center in Folsom www.Carerra-Productions.com; The Sacramento Blues Society, who will have mem-bership forms, t-shirts and Blues In The Schools mer-chandise at the shows www.sacblues.com; Ed Han-nefant, a real estate agent with Keller Williams, also a representative of VAREP-Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals, helping Veterans to get housing, and representing RCONA-Roseville Coali-tion of Neighborhood Associations www.buyorsellinroseville.com; T.O.S. Automotive for the best service and repairs on Toyota, Honda and other foreign cars www.tos.com; Ed Smith, Attorney at law specializing in Auto Accidents www.autoaccident.com; Skip’s Music for all your mu-sic gear needs, www.skipsmusic.com; and our stage sponsor this year, Studio Salon, and Tattoo in Rose-ville for your salon or tattoo needs www.studiosalonroseville.com. Gates will open at 6 PM for all shows, general admis-sion seating, so get there early to get your favorite seat. The Blues On The Patio is a Holmes Ellis Pro-duction. Tickets are $15 per show, and discounted Season Passes are available for $75-(save the price of a show)-Where else can you get Six Great Shows for such a great price! More information is available at http://www.bluesonthepatio.com and you can al-ways call 916-225-0209 and speak to JohnE if you have more questions. These shows are your shows, we just help to organ-ize them, so we want to thank all of you for support-ing the blues. See you on the Patio Friday May 22 with Coco Mon-toya. Thanks!

Val Starr's Blues On The Patio summer concert se-ries returns for its 2nd year at the beautiful Lions Gate Hotel with a spectacular big blues lineup! "Our goal is to showcase today's best blues artists and provide classy events at affordable prices for Sacra-mento's loyal blues enthusiasts”, states the patio's host and blues entertainer, Val Starr. The series kicks off on Friday, May 22nd, with award winning blues guitarist and Ruf Records recording artist, Coco Montoya. Guitar One Magazine calls guitarist/vocalist Coco Montoya “the hottest southpaw in the blues” and raves about his “master touch and killer tone”. On Friday, June 12th, the Dennis Jones Band hits the patio hard with blistering blues that you can rock to! Winner of the International Blues Competition in 2004 he packs a powerful punch with his high-energy stage performance, sizzling hot guitar solos and smooth and soulful vocals. Saturday, July 11th the patio will showcase blues di-va and Blind Pig records recording artist, E.C. Scott. Hailing from Oakland, California, after performing at the San Francisco blues festival, the San Francisco Examiner reported, "Oakland's fantastically powerful and soulful vocalist E.C. Scott just flat out scorched through the fog”. On Friday, July 31st, the patio is pleased to welcome Chicago blues performer, E.G. Kight She has worked with numerous top blues musicians including Luther Allison, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, and Koko Taylor. E.G. has released 8 albums and received a number of Blues Music Awards nomina-tions for both contemporary female artist and song of the year. Saturday, August 29th brings yet another incredible award winning blues diva, Janiva Magness to the pa-tio. Winner of The Blues Foundation’s B.B. King En-tertainer of the Year in 2009, Janiva became the sec-ond woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. Since 2006, she has had 22 blues nominations. USA Today stated, "Magness is a blues star”. On Saturday, October 17th, the series closer and the only blues act to return to the patio from last year's lineup is The Daniel Castro Band. A Sacramento blues band favorite, Daniel brings crowds to their feet with his blistering solos, soulful singing, and tight ar-rangements.

SBS a Sponsor to Val Starr’s Blues On The Patio 2015—by John Ellis

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3rd ANNUAL FOLSOM RHYTHM & BREWS - by Mary Carerra

Nothing brings people together quite like a festival – the day before Father’s Day – featuring great music, good food, family-friendly atmosphere and the best in craft beers! Carrera Productions, in association with the Fol-som Chamber of Commerce, is proud to bring you the 3rd annual Folsom Rhythm & Brews on June 20 from noon – 6 PM at the beautiful Palladio center in Fol-som. This 3rd annual event will feature 40+ craft breweries, a Kid Zone, two stages of entertainment, great food choic-es and more. The event is free entry, with fee-based craft beer tasting. You can order your tasting kit on line now at www.folsomrhythmandbrews.com. Tasting kits are $35 in advance (thru June 8th) and $45 at the event. The kit includes a 12 ounce official event glass and over 21 wristband. Be sure to get your tasting kits early and save! An on-line order will secure you an E-Ticket – which you print and bring to the event and re-deem for your kit. Electronic scanners will make for a quick entry and additional ticket booths have been de-ployed to handle the large crowds at the event. More information about the entertainers and participat-ing brewers can be found at www.folsomrhythmandbrews.com. Brewer list is grow-ing weekly – so be sure to check back often.

Swell Productions is bringing us another swell show. Who would have thought three musicians that were drawn to “Django Reinehardt “jazz would meet in New York, decide to add Western Swing to their music and relocate to Austin?

The trio consists of bassist Jake Ervin, guitarist Whit Smith and fiddler Elana James. Its members have been musical ambassadors for the U.S. State Depart-ment, played Lincoln Center and been inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame.

The impression that the band is in some way a country act is somewhat misleading since the Hot Club's influ-ences have always been as much the musette music of the smoky bistros of 1930s Paris as they are the hoe-downs and Western swing of the mythic American West.

Their 2011 album, What Makes Bob Holler, is a tribute to the late Bob Wills, the often-called King of Western Swing. The 2013 album, Rendezvous in Rhythm, takes another turn. It is a thrilling display of this Texas trio's virtuosity and its elegant, more European inspirations.

If you are a fan of great musicianship, of Western Swing, of music to make you dance, or music that is just plain fun to listen to, we will see you at the show!

Hot Club of Cowtown is Hot!

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McConnell Estates Winery 10686 W. Stockton Blvd, Elk Grove, CA 95757 www.mcconnellestates.com All shows at 6:30 p.m. June 13 Daniel Castro Band July 11 Briefcase Full of Blues, Tribute to the Blues Brothers Aug 8 The Zydeco Flames Sep 13 The Lara Price Band Oct 3 Blue Collar Men, Tribute to Styx Viaggio on the River Estate and Winery 100 E Taddei Road, Acampo, CA 95220 Please call Ronnie Lozano at (209) 471-5437 or email at lozano39savegrill@yahoo.com for details. All shows 1:00 p.m. May 3 Rick Estrin and the Nightcats and TBD June 7 Ron Thompson and Friends July 5 Lydia Pense and Cold Blood w/ Bump City/ Reunion Watts Winery 17036 N Locust Tree Rd, Lodi, CA 95240 www.wattswine.com June 20 Jeff Watson Band July 18 Blue Collar Men Tribute To STYX & The Great Rock Classics Aug. 15 Moments Notice Sept. 26 Divine Diva Review No excuses of nothing to do or that you are bored. Take a short “road trip” and get your music with a choice of red or white.

Looking for a place to enjoy some wine with your blues or blues-related music in our beautiful weath-er? Here are a few suggestions that take just a short drive to make it a reality for you this summer. Crystal Basin Cellars 3550 Carson Road Camino, CA 95709 www.crystalbasinbistro.com Saturday Shows 4:30-8:00; Sunday Shows 4:00-7:30 Food Available

June 6 Late for Dinner; 21 Jras

July 11 Simple Creation; 12 Cash Prophets; 18 Lantz Lantzwell; 19 Late for Dinner and Friends Fundraiser; 25 Island of Black & White; 26 Dennis Johnson & the Mississippi Ramblers

August 1 Jeramy Norris & the Dangerous Mood; 2 No BS Band; 8 Tiki Lounge Lizards; 9 Jelly Side Down; 15 Ray “Catfish” Copeland; 16 Exquisite Corps; 22 Rockinbocker; 23 BB and the Bumps; 29 Cash Prophets; 30 Out of the Blue

September 5 Ancestry; 6 Uncommon Ground; 12 Island of Black & White; 13 Randy Carey Band; 19 Jras; 20 Late for Dinner; 26 Merry Mac Band; 27 Easy Street

October 3 Midtown Jazz 4 Jeramy Norris & the Dangerous Mood; 11 Boomer; 12 Lovella; 18 Late for Dinner GV Cellars 1635 Mason Rd, Fairfield, CA 94534 www.GVCellars.com Aug 29 Loose Blues Band

Red or White With your Blues? Jan Kelley

Apologies!

Blue Notes regrets we did not give full information on last issue’s cover artist. To see photographer Phil Kam-pel’s work or to contact him, go to: www.philkampelphotography.com Thanks again, Phil, for your cover photo of Catfish.

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As we leave winter in the past and look forward to the warmer weather, I have to say that SBS is excit-ed about the events being planned for this summer! The February 28th event celebrating Black History Month was a great success for the Sacramento Blues Society's first event of the year. An encore performance show by Ms. Arbess Williams featured five SBS Hall of Famers in the same night: Ms Arbess Williams, Lena Mosley, Marshal Wilkerson, Jimmy Pailer and Joe Lev. Our members showed up and supported the event, as well as the Blues aficio-nados from all around town, the meetups, and the Facebook friends of the SBS. The raffles gave away some great prizes for the ticket winners, we had BITS CD's for sale, T-shirts and other great SBS merchandise. We want to thank each and every one of you for your support, and we are pleased to announce our sec-ond event coming on June 7th at the Torch Club from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. and featuring the amazing Chris Du-arte! Opening for Chris Duarte will be Two Tone Steiny and The Cadillacs. This will be another great show, so save the date. We’re really excited to be able to bring these awesome musicians to you

and especially excited to be doing this one at the Torch Club! On May Day (May 1) Swell Produc-tions will bring us John Nemeth, named 2014 Soul Blues Male Artist of Year - Blues Music Awards. Then in June, they’re bringing two great shows: Hot Club of Cow Town on June 11th and Glen David Andrews on June 24th. All three shows will be at Harlow’s Nightclub and Restaurant. Carrera Productions is busy planning for Folsom Rhythm & Brews on June 20th at Palladio in Folsom. This promises to be a great time for all, and we are in need of volunteers to help with various booths. If you are interested, please contact Daniel Hernandez, our volunteer coordinator, or any one of the Board of Directors. Some Future Events! July 25 Blues & Bones at Angels Camp August 1 IBC Competition at The Stoney Inn August 8 FolsomFest Sep 27 Hall of Fame Induction at Harlow’s Oct 3 Blues On The River at Swabbie’s

Events—By Renee Erickson

Ready for the Brass Band?

New Orleans is coming to visit Sacramento. Glen David Andrews was born in the historic Tremé neigh-borhood. Starting on the bass drum as a child, An-drews soon picked up the trombone; he was blowing a joyful noise by the time he was 12. Transfixed by the magic and mystery of the city's second-line pa-rades, Andrews and his older brother, Derrick Tabb of the Rebirth Brass Band, along with their younger cousin Troy “Trombone Shorty,” soaked up life's mu-sical lessons by learning the history of the brass band tradition firsthand from iconic figures like Tuba Fats.

In recent years he began making waves as a head-liner at the world’s biggest block party – the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as well as many other festivals and legendary clubs around the US, including The Lincoln Center, Voodoo Music Ex-perience, Chicago Folk and Roots Festival, Houston International Festival, Joe’s Pub, House of Blues No-la, Tipitina’s and American Jazz Museum, KC.

If you love joyous music, this show is for you. You can find more information on Glen David at http://glendavidandrewsband.com.

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Board of Directors Mee ngs—2nd Tuesday, each

Month; 7:00 PM Check  

www.sacblues.com for loca on. 

 All SBS members in good standing are invited to

a end.

Sacramento Blues Society is Pleased To Acknowledge our Sponsors and Donors and Thank them for Supporting our Programs

Mary Carrera 916‐941‐9001  

www.powerhousepub.com

www.La‐Z‐Boy.com/sacramento

Gold Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Business Donors

Edward Smith www.autoaccident.com

Marina Texeira

www.torchclub.net

Edward Haneffant www.kellerwilliams.com

The Sacramento Blues Society (SBS) is one of the oldest blues socie es in California, founded in 1979. SBS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corpora on formed to preserve and promote blues music as an art form.

SBS has kept the blues tradi on alive in the Sacramento area by promo ng the local blues music scene, bringing interna onally renowned ar sts to the region and

publishing the “Blue Notes” six mes a year for our membership. SBS is an affiliate member of The Blues Founda on, and provides

educa onal opportuni es for young people with The Blues Founda on’s “Blues In The Schools” Program. 

2015 Committee Chairs

Blue Notes – Vj Anderson & Jan Kelley Blues In The Schools ‐ Liz Walker & Cynthia Jaynes

Blues News – Willie Brown Donor Gi s – Sco Sullivan

Events ‐ Renee Erickson Finance – Val Anderson

Hall Of Fame ‐Sally Katen Membership ‐ Linda McShane

Public Rela ons ‐ Guitar Mac MacKnally Public Rela ons & Social Media‐ Cari Chenkin

Social Media ‐ Dave Alcock Volunteer Coordinator ‐ Daniel Hernandez

Webmaster ‐ Sco Willson

For adver sing rates contact

editor@sacblues.com

2015 Board Officers President—Cari Chenkin

Vice‐President—Mari Lu Onweller Secretary—Janna Welk

Treasurer—Sharie Mar n Parliamentarian—Dave Alcock

Board Members at Large

Renee Erickson Daniel Hernandez

Barbara Katen Sally Katen

“Guitar” Mac MacKnally Jimmy Reego

Sacramento Blues

Society is a

Proud Member

of

Mindy@swellproductions.com

Silver Sponsors

www.louiescocktaillounge.com

Grady O’Bryant www.sactrips.com

Ann Malveaux

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Support our Band Members—Hire an SBS Member Band!

Bad Catz Badcatz.com Big Earl and the Cryin' Shame bigearl@gmail.com Bob Mora & the Third Degree thirddegreebluesband.com Bobby Blues Ray Bobbybluesray.com Dave Croall & the Soothers rightdave@hotmail.com Highway Blues Band chrisandkevin@sbcglobal.net Jeramy Norris & The Dangerous Mood facebook.com/JeramyNorrisTheDangerousMood Julie & The Jukes jullieandthejukes.com

Kyle Rowland Blues Band kylerowlandbluesband.com Melonnee Desiree & Cauzin’ a Ruckus melonneedesiree.com Mr. December Band mrdecembertheband.com Nedra Russ njrmusic.com Ray “Catfish” Copeland Band raycatfishcopeland.com Red’s Blues www.facebook.com/pages/Reds-Blues/160672484071187 Rube & the Rhythm Rockers ruberhythmrockers.com The Blues Spectrum facebook.com/TheBluesSpectrum

The Blues Vandals bluesvandals.com The Bluez Houndz (916) 991-6148 The Bongo Furys 916-607-1940 gtrman@gmail.com Tony and the Tuff Times tatttblues@gmail.com Two-Tone Steiny twotonesteiny.wordpress.com Used Blues Band Sean@myifp.com Val Starr & the Blues Rocket valstarrandthebluesrocket.com William Mylar Band mylarville.com

Bad Catz Nasty Confrontation www.reverbnation.com/badcatz; Amazon, iTunes Blues Vandals Partner in Crime www.bluesvandals.com, Amazon, iTunes Bobby Blues Ray Blues Knight of the West Coast www.bobbybluesray.com Guitar Mac— She Done Moved www.guitarmac.com/cd

Jeramy Norris Band Blues Man www.cdbaby.com; www.reverbnation.com Kyle Rowland Alone in my Dark Room www.kylerockinrowland.com Marshal Wilkerson Propaganda propagandarecordsonline.com Nedra Russ / NJR Everybody’s Been Somewhere www.cdbaby.com; njrmusic.com

Ray “Catfish” Copeland Band Got Love if You Want It www.cdbaby.com Red’s Blues Red's Blues www.cdbaby.com/cd/redsblues

The Used Blues Band Used Again www.tatemusicgroup.com Val Star & the Blues Rocket Blues Away www.cdbaby.com; Dimple Records

SBS Musician CDs Available! Listed below are our SBS member musicians and bands with CDs available for purchase.

Please consider adding a CD to your collection to support the Sacramento area's live music scene.

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Blue Notes! is The official bi-monthly

Newsletter of the Sacramento Blues Society.

Co-editors Vj Anderson & Jan Kelley

Send information for the

newsletter to editor@sacblues.com

or mail to Editor at above address

Not a Member? Join on our website www.sacblues.com Current calendar,

news, past newsletters and

more!

P. O. BOX 60580 SACRAMENTO, CA 95860-0580

Although we may only see Bob Cosman around town in the clubs, he does take his camera else-where. Here is a bit of his work from the great outdoors..

If interested in seeing more, you can reach Bob at:

bobsled101@gmail.com

Cover Artist—Bob Cosman