On August 26, 2006, the historic town of Auburn, CA will come alive with the sound
of the healing power of the Blues at the 4th Annual Sierra Blues Benefest & Crafts Fair.
Fast becoming one of the stellar outdoor music events of the year for the foothills of California,
this event displays the enormous generosity and compassion of our communities.
The Auburn Recreation Park will be
the new location for this year's event. The majestic tree-lined, grassed park will help make
this dynamic festival even more user-friendly to the masses. Patrons will be able to casually
stroll through a wide variety of crafts, novelties and foods. We also allot free spaces
for other Nonprofits (food/beverage spaces excluded), but there will be a limited number of
these, so it's first come, first serve. There's even a play area to let their children lose
some of their energy, all the while, everyone can be listening to some of the best blues in
the world!
All net proceeds from the Benefest
are keyed in directly to cancer research at the University of California Cancer Research Center
(UCCRC) in Sacramento, CA through the Auburn Community Cancer Endowment Fund. They have become
a role model on how communities can chair their own endowments with dramatic results. Since
their inception in 2001, by some concerned Auburn community individuals, ACCEF has raised close
to $1.5 for their Endowment. Ever willing to share their experience and success with the public
as a whole, they have traveled throughout Northern California helping communities in establishing
their own Funds. They have stimulated ongoing contributions by maintaining an active and prominent
profile in the community by being involved in a wide range of fundraising ventures such as
the Sierra Blues Benefest & Crafts Fair. You're invited to visit their newly designed website,
www.ACCEF.org, to see just how active this organization is in raising funds to help find a
cure for an illness that has killed so many people and devastated so many families!
Check out this lineup! Charlie Musselwhite,
Blues Revue featuring Rusty Zinn, Ford Blues Band, Angila Witherspoon and Twanna Turner (plus
some very special guests), Big Bones, Steve Foster Band, and Andy Keane & Kinda Blue WoooooWeeeee!
Is this a show or what?
And to top that off, we're gonna have
a workshop and acoustic stage this year! Encore Music and Fitch Guitar have graciously stepped
forward to sponsor this blues education forum. They'll include presentations on the history
of the stringed instruments, a look at Delta and Piedmont blues, Big Bones with a harmonica
lead/rhythm session ala Big Bones Blues, and then there'll be a walk thru legendary mentors
with Charlie Musselwhite, Rusty Zinn (and possibly a special guest) moderated by the publisher
of Blues Revue and Blues Wax, Chip Eagle!
There's going to be a Pre-Fest Party
on August 25th at the Club Car restaurant with local blues great Bob Mora & The Third Degree
Blues Band. You can grab a great meal and start kicking your heels to some straight-up Chicago-style
blues at 9:30 PM for a mere $5 a person at the door! The Club Car is located at 836 Lincoln
Way in downtown Auburn and for info you can call the numbers below or call the Club Car restaurant
directly at 530/887-9732.
Headlining this year's event will be
the illustrious blues icon Charlie Musselwhite. With 14 W.C. Handy Awards to his credit and
6 Grammy nominations, Charlie is firmly entrenched in musical history. Continually building
on his musical legacy with relentless touring around the world, he's a walking testament to
the roots of the blues! Harmonica wizard Norton Buffalo can recollect a leaner time when his
record collection had been whittled down to only the bare essentials: The Paul Butterfield
Blues Band and Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band. Butterfield and
Musselwhite will probably be forever linked as the two most interesting, arguably most important,
products of the "blues movement" of the mid-to-late '60s - not only because they
were near the forefront logistically, but because they each stand out as being especially faithful
to the style. Each certainly earned the respect of his legendary mentors. No less than the
late Big Joe Williams said, "Charlie Musselwhite is one of the greatest living harp players
of country blues. He is right up there with Sonny Boy Williams [I], and he's been my harp player
ever since Sonny Boy got killed."
The second slot is a Blues Revue featuring Rusty
Zinn, Angila Witherspoon and Twanna Turner, plus some very special guest that we just can't
disclose!
According to Zinn's mentor, Kim Wilson,
"Rusty Zinn has more talent in his little pinkie than most people could see in three lifetimes."
After listening to Zinfidelity, Vol. 1 and Zinn's current musical style, Wilson added,"Any
direction he decides to go in is going to be beautiful because he's got such a great natural
feel for all music." His raw, burning guitar work and soulful vocals strike a chord with
the most seasoned fans of roots music. His raw talent and deep feeling for his music have earned
this young singer/songwriter/guitarist critical acclaim with audiences around the world. John
Hammond was recently quoted as saying, "I toured with Rusty Zinn, and he's just phenomenal
- the guy can sing, he can play and he's got so much energy and feeling."
As the daughter of the late Blues/Jazz
great, Jimmy Witherspoon, Angila has been around music her entire life. Raised on the road
by her father, Angila had the opportunity to learn from the likes of Eric Burdon, Miles Davis,
and Robben Ford. Constantly surrounded by the greatest musicians in the world, it is little
wonder that Angila has spent most of her life singing. Most of Angila's experience could be
thought of as on the job training and one-on-one clinics with music's luminaries. She was exposed
to formal piano training at age 11. Angila began composing her own songs almost immediately,
and at the age 13, she performed one of her songs with her father. From that moment on, Angila
had the performing bug.
Twanna Turner first met her father,
Ike Turner, in 1988. It was then that she decided to pursue a singing career. As a child Twanna
sang in various church and school choirs, which greatly enhanced my vocal range, ability, and
power. With such influences are Aretha Franklin, Cher, Pat Benatar, and Chaka Kahn, she enjoys
and performs a wide range of musical styles, i.e., rock, R & B, funk, and jazz. My audiences
appreciate this musical versatility. Ms. Turner has had the privilege of sharing the stage
with her father Ike Turner, Jerry Martini & Cynthia Robinson, Wilson Pickett, Steve Cropper,
Elvin Bishop, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Joe Louis Walker, and Otis Grand. Performances
include Maxwell's Caf in Paris, France, The Battleship "Intrepid", in New York,
The Redwood Run, Wavy Gravy's Camp Winnarainbow, San Francisco Blues Festival, Vacaville's
Creekwalk Concert Series, Rio Vista Bass Festival, and the Blues and Brews Festival in Suisun
City, California.
Since popping onto the San Francisco
music scene in the late'60's, the name Ford has held a much esteemed stature in the sound and
legacy of blues on this end of the continent. To be more precise, it was 1969 when Patrick
Ford first came onto the San Francisco blues scene with brother Robben Ford. During the 70's
they spent time working with Mark in the Charles Ford Band, and then Pat and Robben hit the
road with Charlie Musselwhite. This was also when they first had the pleasure of working and
hanging with many of the blues greats like Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, and Jimmy Witherspoon.
The first version of the Ford Blues
Band featured his brother Mark Ford on harp and vocals and Garth Webber on Guitar and vocals.
On bass was Ronnie Gurewitz. They went directly into the studio and recorded enough of Patrick's
ideas for a CD. The results were the first FBB release and the band's first tour of Europe.
The release and the tour served notice that this was not just another blues band coming on
the scene. This band was new and it was different and it made no apologies for its non traditional
approach to the blues idiom.
Time has seen the band continue to record
and tour around the world. Though the guitar and bass positions have been filled by several
different players during that time, the identity of the band has remained constant. Every version
of the Ford Blues Band has featured exceptional players performing very original and very powerful
modern blues. They are journeymen who have honed their craft studying and performing with the
masters. If you compiled a list of all the blues greats that the various members of the band
have performed with it would look like a Who's Who list of the Blues and would include the
likes of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Fenton Robinson, Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulson, and
on and on. There is no lack of respect for the roots here. At the same time however, the band
remains open to any other influences that might make their music even more vibrant and alive.
The ensemble for this presentation of
the Ford Blues Band consists of Mark on harmonica, Patrick on drums, Volker Strifler on guitar
(one of the finest guitarist around) and Dewayne Pate on bass. And you never can tell who might
pop in as a surprise guest. And to add icing to the cake, we're gonna to conjure up a reunion
finally of Charlie Musselwhite and the Fords. This oughta blow the roof off the joint!
Big Bones has been a staple on the
Bay Area blues scene for many years. He first started playing the harmonica around 1973 and
was soon wrapped up in the art of performing. Perfecting his chops through a variety of styles
over the years, Bones has always been on the edge of the music. The whole odyssey started in
Reno, Nevada, where Bones began sitting in with blues musicians all over town at night and
taught weight-training at the YMCA-Reno for eight years and body-building for competition.
In August 1985, he packed up his stuff and headed for Venice Beach, California and soon teamed
up with Butch Mud Bones, who introduced him to the likes of Johnny Otis. Building up a reputation
as a first class harmonica player and vocalist, Bones migrated to San Francisco. It was there
that he connected with the great Paul Pena at KPOO radio in 1989. Up until 1995, Bones and
Pena played every coffee shop, radio program, night club, festival, opening act, museum, art
gallery, wedding and street fair, just to get their music out there. From 1994 thru 1997, Bones
played with Preacher Boy & The Natural Blues and recorded two albums with Blind Pig Records.
This relationship saw him opening and working with the likes of Gatemouth Brown, Tommy Castro,
Honey Boy Edwards, and rock acts of various clubs around S.F. such as the Great American Music
Hall, Slim's, Biscuits & Blues. Out of state we played at great clubs like Sonny Boy Williams'
Club House in Helena, Arkansas; and Buddy Guy's Club in Chicago, Illinois. Not one to stand
idle, all this while Bones was working with others like Joe Louis Walker, Ike and the Coldbloods,
Alvin Youngblood Hart, just to name a few bands -- along with performing his Big Bones Blues
Bandstand at Biscuits and Blues on Tuesday nights. And to top this off, Bones and Preacher
Boy were involved with the Blues In The Schools programs within the greater San Francisco area.
We are extremely pleased, that for this years Benefest, Big Bones will be accompanied by Henry
Odin, who worked with Joe Louis Walker for many years, to help us educated people on the art
and history of the of the blues with a dynamic roots duo performance.
Steve Foster was born and raised in
St. Paul, Minnesota. Picking up the trumpet at the age of four, he started following in the
footsteps of his career musician father. It was in 1969 that Steve turned his attention to
the guitar and has never looked back. With an adeptness that underscores his musicianship,
his mastery of the guitar soon came to the attention of the great Mojo Bufford, of Muddy Waters
fame, who hired him on the spot to handle the lead guitar position behind Mojo's legendary
harmonica. This relationship lasted the coarse of the seventies and saw them constantly touring
the US and internationally. When the dust finally cleared, Foster found himself doing the Texas
music circuit and firming up a friendship with Johnny Winter that last to this day. From Chicago
to Texas and everything in between, you can hear the intonation in Foster's style and chops.
Around 1987, Steve was hired for a job in Nevada, where he met his wife. During a trip with
a friend, he journeyed to Sacramento and enjoyed the place soon much that him and his better
half packed up and moved there. After playing with all the great musicians in the Sacramento
Valley area, and a brief stint with Mick Martin, Steve was destine to front his own group the
Steve Foster Band. This high energy trio delivers a top-notch performance every time they take
the stage. Foster sings and plays in a gutsy, fiery style that evokes memories of the best
blues/rock stars of days gone by. His honest, no nonsense presentation is a delight to fans
of both blues and rock music. Audiences delight in Steve's world class slide guitar skills.
Foster is joined by the dynamic rhythm section of Jim Cobb on bass and Steve Boutte on drums,
two of the most sought after musicians on the Valley scene.
Don't let the name Kinda Blue foul ya!
When Andy Keane and his band attack the stage, you'll be dancing on the tables for one tune
and then slow draggin' the next. Raised in the Bay Area with none other than Terry Hiatt, Andy's
been perfecting his extremely tasty guitar style on stage for thirty years. This self-taught
guitarist will grab hold of the ear of any blues aficionado! With the talent Andy has assembled,
the potential for this group is outrageous. First start with Mark Haggen on keyboard. One of
the premier ivory ticklers on the West Coast, he hails from the Seattle area and actually played
trumpet for 20 years! Jim Gillespie holds down the vocal duties, but don't be surprised if
this Academic Scholar picks up a guitar, jumps on the keys, or straddles the drums and gives
ya a few lessons! Oh! And add songwriter to that list! Jim Cobb, on bass, traveled across the
pond from the UK and has really cut a notch in the local music scene by performing with five
other local acts; FBI, What It Is!, the Illuminators, Steve Foster and also Angila Witherspoon.
The other end of the rhythm section is Jim Hart on the drums. Another Bay Area transplant,
Jim honed his skills for fifteen years on the peninsula of the blues before making the move
to the Sacramento area. This is one group to keep an eye on!
Admission for this year's event is $15
at the gate and $10 in advance. Tickets are available at Encore Music, Sun River Clothing Co.
in Auburn; Sierra Music Center in Placerville; Foggy Mountain Music and Lake of the Pines Music
in Grass Valley, The Laundry House in Georgetown and in the Central Sacramento Valley at all
Dimple Records locations; or you can also order them online at www.HighSierraTickets.com. Gates
will open at 1:00 Pm and the music will go from 2:00 till 10:00 PM at the Auburn Recreation
Park on Recreation Drive in Auburn, CA.
This is a general admission event, festival goers are asked to bring
blankets and low-profile
chairs (up to 30" with a seat height of no more than 10").
Bring personal bottled
water, sunscreen, hat, and spray bottles.
Please do not bring food, alcohol, cans,
bottles, containers, coolers, recording devices, or digital video cameras
into the event. Small
personal sized parasols (umbrellas) will be allowed, but no large umbrellas
or covers. And
please no pets.
Handicap parking is available
at the main Park
parking lot - all other festival goers will be directed to alternate
parking area(s).
The Benefest is a scrip based event and cash will
not be accepted at any booths except the
Entrance, Craft Merchandise, Artist/CD Booth. As you enter the park
please go to the Ticket
Booth and exchange your hard earned dollars for tickets.
If you need Media information, have Vendor
inquiries,
wish to volunteer or have any other questions, please, call
us at 530/268-9166 or 530/346-8525,
or email us at benefest@sierrabluessociety.org.
You can also keep posted on updates at www.sierrabluessociety.org/BENEFEST06.htm
We'd like to Thank! The sponsors that have thus far pledged support
for the 2006 Benefest;
Auburn Journal, Star Stream Communications, Mussetter Distributing
& Miller Brewing Co.,
Placer Equipment Rental & Ready Mix, Auburn Recreation District,
Sierra Blues Society,
Blues Festival Guide, KVMR FM Nevada City, KFOK LPFM Georgetown, Auburn
49er Lions, Fitch Guitar,
Encore Music, California Conservation Corp, Sun River Clothing Co.
and Super 8 Motel.
Thom
Myers
Coordinator
- Sierra Blues Benefest & Crafts Fair
President - Sierra Blues Society
Bob Mora & The Third
Degree Blues Band will performing at the Pre-Fest Show for
the Sierra Blues Benefest &
Crafts at the Club Car, 836 Lincoln Way in Auburn on August
25th. Slated to start at 9:30
PM, to alleviate any interferrance with the Club Car s dining
crowd, Bobby and his mercenaries
will be kicking the festival mentality into gear with some
great straight up Chicago blues.Tickets
are $5 per person at the door. So grab your dancin shoes
caus this smells like
a PARTY to me! For more information you can call the Club Car
at 530/887-9732.
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