Billtown Blues Notes

2 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

A letter from the president

H

ello, and welcome to the reinstated Billtown Blues Association Blue Notes Newsletter. The newsletter has been on a three year hiatus due to the retirement of our previous Editor and President Tom Butler. I would like to personally thank Tom and his wife Lori for all their years of volunteer service to the Billtown Blues Association (BBA).

Due to the generosity of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, we are now entering into a joint venture to resume the newsletter. The newsletter will go out to our current BBA members and in addition will reach all subscribers to the Sun-Gazette on a quarterly basis, in both print and digital formats.

So who am I and how did I get to be the President of the Billtown Blues Association?

Back around 2008, a young sixth grade student, with a compelling sales pitch, approached my wife and convinced her to buy tickets to an upcoming Uptown Music Collective (UMC) show. The quality of the show was unexpectedly professional and mention was made of the International Blues Challenge (IBC), which piqued my interest in the Blues. We began to attend performances of the UMC blues youth band, even following them to Memphis, Tennessee in 2017. It was there that I saw them perform at the youth showcase and learned more about the annually occurring International Blues Challenge.

That trip to Memphis opened up the door for us to the BBA. We shared time with Bonnie Tallman and Charlie Lockard, who took the time to show us the ropes at Memphis. Back in Pennsylvania, Bonnie invited us both to attend a Billtown Blues meeting to learn more about the Association. We did attend and were pleasantly surprised to find a group of welcoming individuals from all walks of life. The active members ranged in age from the mid-20’s to the mid-70’s. We went to more meetings and soon felt comfortable enough to raise our hands and volunteer to help.

That led to helping out at the next Billtown Blues Festival and to becoming what is known as a “core member.” A core member is simply a member who volunteers, attends meetings regularly, and helps out on the various committees. There are about nineteen committees in our organization, which all play an important role in putting on the Blues festival every June. Each committee is chaired by one person and includes anywhere from two to eight members.

I was then appointed to a board member position, then Assistant Executive Director (a position that was eventually dissolved), Co-President, and finally the President at

the beginning of 2023. That’s the Cliff Notes version of how I ended up where I am.

For your current information, a key upcoming event includes our March 9th Auditions Concert at The Pajama Factory, where several solo/duo acts and bands from Pennsylvania will perform and be judged by our current members in 5 categories.

Both a winning solo/duo and a band will get a chance to perform on the Billtown Blues Festival stage in June. The winners are then eligible to go to Memphis and compete in the International Blues Challenge in January representing the Billtown Blues Association. For many artists this can be a potentially career changing moment, as many individuals from the music industry are in attendance. Contacts are made, relationships are formed, and some may end up signing record contracts and booking tours as a result. Ask Gabe Stillman about his 2019 experience at the IBC. Gabe’s band made it to the final eight bands in the Challenge and Gabe won the coveted Gibson Guitar Award for being the best guitarist out of some four hundred competitors from around the world.

Besides our Audition Concert, as mentioned previously we have a summer festival every year. Our festival in June wouldn’t happen without our volunteers and our sponsors. We have approximately sixty-five people who volunteer at each festival and each and every one of them are essential in fulfilling the many assignments needed to make the festival run smoothly.

Probably the most important contributors are our sponsors. The financial contributions they make helps us to keep entry ticket prices affordable for everyone and subsidizes the outstanding artists on our stage. Make note of their advertisements in this newsletter and thank them for supporting the Billtown Blues Association.

I hope this newsletter inspires you to take an interest in live Blues performances, and to come out to one of our events to enjoy the music firsthand. Our hope is that you may even be interested enough to get involved and join the rest of us in promoting the cultural art form that is Blues Music for our community and beyond.

Oh, who was that 6th grade student that I mentioned back at the beginning of my letter? The one and only Gabe Stillman, of course.

— David Strickler, BBA president

• • • • • UPCOMING EVENTS • • • • • BILLTOWN BLUES AUDITION CONCERT MARCH 9TH, 4 PM Pajama Factory (doors open 3:30 PM)

Community Room (Use Cemetery St. entrance), Williamsport, PA Performers: Solo/Duo - Gena Lanette, Nick Andrew Staver, & Son Lewis Bands - Cadillac Cats, Jeff Fetterman Band, Lone Crow Rebellion & Them Blue Cats

General Admission $20, BBA Members $12 Food & Drink: The Mad Griller & Bullfrog Brewery Note: If you are a current BBA member as of 1/14/24 you are eligible to vote for the solo/duo and band categories that you would like to see at the BBA Summer Festival and who will ultimately represent the BBA at the International Blues Competition in Memphis, TN. Please arrive at 3:30 PM to pick up your ballot.

RAISE THE REGION 2024 MARCH 13-14

On Wednesday and Thursday, March 13th and 14th, the annual Raise the Region program will be held and once again the Billtown Blues Association will be a part of it. This is one of the few opportunities we have to generate income to help support the Billtown Blues Festival in June so all donations are welcomed.

The program is simple to log into and we urge all of our supporters to use this event to help fund the festival. The benefits of supporting us in this manner are twofold.

One is, we are eligible for “stretch dollars” based upon all of our donations. This money is courtesy of The Blaise Alexander Auto Group and it amounts to approximately 10% of the total dollars donated. The other benefit is we choose a few prize group categories and if we win those categories, we stand a good chance to win an additional $1,000 per category.

To donate during this event, go to: www.raisetheregion.org and search for “Billtown Blues Association” under the participants. Once there, hit the “donate” button and follow the instructions. While it is not necessary, we certainly appreciate those donors who cover the fees associated with the program. For instance, if you donate the minimum amount of $25, and don’t cover the fees, the BBA will get between 7-8% less than the face amount of your donation.

This is a 30 hour event starting at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, March 13th, and ending at 11:59 PM on Thursday, March 14th. The prize categories that are awarded during specific time windows will be announced closer to the event, so check our Facebook Page, or our website www.billtownblues.org for those best times to donate.

Our goal this year is $17,810, which would cover the costs for us to provide the facilities for the festival. Our goal every year is to raise enough money through our local friends, businesses, and corporate sponsors to help keep the entry fees to the festival as low as possible. Without this help, our 34 year festival would not be feasible for many individuals and families.

We thank all of our past donors for their dedicated support of the Billtown Blues Festival.

34th ANNUAL BILLTOWN BLUES MUSIC FESTIVAL JUNE 21 & 22 Lycoming County Fairgrounds, Hughesville, PA

Performers: Duke Robillard, Bob Margolin, Jason Ricci, Carolyn Wonderland, Annika Chambers & Paul DesLauriers, Bywater Call, Tas Cru, Mathias Lattin, Soulful Femme, Uptown Music Collective, Audition Solo and Band Winners.

Food, Drink and Vendors on site.

To learn more or get tickets please go to https://www.billtownblues.org (Special Announcement) The following artists have been nominated for a 2024 Blues Music Award (BMA) and are confirmed for our Summer Music Festival.

They are: Annika Chambers, Mathias Lattin, Jason Ricci, and Carolyn Wonderland. Congratulations to all the nominees.

By DONNA DIXON, ALEX SKITOLSKY and URIE KLINE

DONNA: Thirty-four years and counting for the Billtown Blues Association. Did you ever expect it to go this far?

BONNIE: Yes and no. After the first Festival along the Susquehanna River in 1990, I felt there was a certain local “buzz” about blues music and a live music festival that needed to be addressed. This story has been told before, but in 1989 three important (magical) things happened. Some of the local bars were starting to book blues bands, a local independent music store was inventorying blues “albums,” and they had an employee who was a blues aficionado talking about it. Then, Goodtime Charlie finally landed a spot on startup radio station, Eagle 108. He began playing blues music for several hours a week on that radio station.

The combination of seeing live music, hearing the music on loTALLMAN cal radio and the ability to buy what they heard all came together at one time.

Blues fans started finding each other, which led to a meeting with six people who each contributed $50 to fund the first Festival in June, 1990, with one month of planning. We ended up with $30 left over after expenses, so Festival #1 was a success! Today, we have a $100,000+ budget and eleven months of planning.

But, from that Festival on, we never took any future festivals for granted. For the 34 years since, at the festival conclusion, we evaluate our financial position and decide if we have enough cushion to go another year. We have set high standards to best honor the blues art form, the musicians we hire and the ticket buying attendees. We have an unstated rule: if we can’t do it right, we are not going to do it. We would never consider moving forward without enough funds on hand to cover our budget for the performing musicians.

We have faced some serious challenges. One was eleven consecutive years of rain to one degree or another. And of course, the pandemic was a serious setback. Today we are faced with a loyal fanbase that is aging and not being replaced with younger blues fans. But despite all that, we are all on board for #34 and excited for another year to celebrate the blues!

DONNA: Can you speak to the role that volunteerism plays in the BBA?

BONNIE: The BBA “core” group, ten of us who are the planners and “doers,” are all non-paid volunteers. The ten of us devote hours each month in meetings and working. Beyond that, we solicit for another 40-50 volunteers to properly serve the musicians, attendees, campers, etc.

We are thankful there are so many fans of the blues art form, live music experiences, or who just recognize the special challenges of a non-profit. We have little difficulty organizing a top-notch group of volunteers. Without their service the quality of service would be diminished and the BBA’s reputation would be tarnished. We have volunteers who have been with us since the 1st fest from Wilmington, DE, Youngstown, OH, Pittsburgh, PA, and some folks who come up from FL and buy tickets, but once here jump in with their service. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the BBA and all our events.

DONNA: It seems like Central Pennsylvania loves and nurtures the blues. Any thoughts on this?

BONNIE: There is one other Blues Society that has been around longer than we and that is the Bucks County Blues Society in Levittown. Outside of that, the Billtown Blues Association and the Festival are often referred to as the “Grandaddy of the blues” in Central PA. We are pleased to have opened the door for other blues societies across the State; Harrisburg, Western PA, and Lehigh Valley have, like us, devoted time and effort to nurturing the blues. Blues is a grass roots art form, so it fits the rural communities it serves and is generally well supported. There is also an abundance of musical talent within Central PA. Gifted musicians who could devote their time and effort to any genre of music, but realize playing the blues properly is very challenging and have decided to embrace and master it. Without the musicians and the writers of the music, nothing else would happen.

ALEX: What do you see as some of the most exciting developments (or trends) in blues performance over the past decade?

BONNIE: I see two trends. One is, unlike the baby boomer audience demographic, more and more younger musicians are finding the blues and excelling. They are engaging audiences, focused on writing and creating their own sound while being loyal to the blues structure.

Ally Venable, Christone Ingram (Kingfish), Ben Levin and our own Williamsport-based Gabe Stillman have embraced the music and are present on the world stage.

Another trend is for the younger musicians to pay homage to those who came before them while playing and delivering a soulful musical experience. The 2023 Billtown Blues Festival featured Lil’ Jimmy Reed in his late eighties with support from Ben Levin in his early twenties.

On the bill for the 2024 festival, Bob Margolin will be supported by Skylar Saufley, a young “up and comer” from Alabama. In his younger years Bob offered support to the legendary Pinetop Perkins, Nappy Brown, Ann Rabson and others. An important blues trend is passing the special nuances of the art form from one generation to the next while adding important support to the elder statesmen and stateswomen while they are still able.

ALEX: Where was the most surprising location, venue, or context for a blues performance you witnessed?

BONNIE: One that comes to mind was in Seattle, WA, in the mid 80’s. I was there on business but wandered around the streets seeking a restaurant. On one of those streets I heard amazing music and followed my ear. I found a young man with a guitar and an open case for tips, playing the most incredible music I ever heard. I totally forgot about my dinner and listened in a trance. He wasn’t playing familiar covers, but was playing heartfelt and soulful music what I suspect were either original blues or his own renditions of long lost gems. I wanted to learn more about him. I offered to buy him dinner, he refused. I offered to buy him a coffee, he refused. He just kept playing. I threw my dinner money in his case and moved on. I never learned his name, but I’ll never forget him.

URIE: What role do you see Blues Music serving moving forward in American culture?

BONNIE: Although some see blues music as a dying art form, (I am not a fan of the phrase often used “Keeping the Blues Alive”), I see the blues as a solid and necessary part of the American fiber, just as Bach and Mozart are part of the European fibre. I do see the need for greater education about the blues and that has fallen upon blues societies. There is little about blues music taught in schools. The Billtown Blues Association is an affiliated member of the Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. That means we are part of a network of over 250 like-minded blues societies worldwide. Each of these societies impact the prominence of the blues art form in American culture in their own way. Be it through festivals, workshops, school programs, publishing newsletters, or pushing to get blues on their local radio stations. The blues continues to be an expression of life experiences through music.

Those experiences can be happy, sad, even painful, but somehow the sound of the blues unites and is embedded in American Culture. Life experiences will never go away, and therefore the vessel to sing about them is perpetual.

URIE: Upon reflection, what are the challenges and opportunities facing an arts organization in a more rural community?

BONNIE: A common denominator among arts organizations, especially blues organizations, is capturing the ear and support from the younger music fans, no matter the size of the community. It is sad to think so many young people do not know of Charlie Patton, Big Joe Turner, Luther Allison, Howlin Wolf, KoKo Taylor, Odetta. Actually, when you think of where the organizations are such as Billtown are, it is the rural communities where the festivals are occurring and thriving.

Many of the legendary city festivals I attended through the years are no longer around. San Francisco — gone. Kansas City — gone. I heard recently a great festival in Davenport, IA, may not be happening this year. These are major city festivals that have faced sponsorship burdens, festival sites being turned into apartment complexes, etc. We here in “Billtown” have survived thirty-four years because of our loyal attendees, devoted volunteers, our sound business-minded management, our willingness to work hard within, and the ability to sell our story of an organization devoted to the arts, expressing our mission to protect, perpetuate and promote a valuable American art form.

Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

The Newsletter Committee caught up with Bonnie Tallman, BBA Founder and current Events Producer to talk all thing Billtown Blues.

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An interview with the association founder

4 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

By MARCUS HELMINIAK

watch the acts and correct them day after day. People who employed Ma n 1912, Bessie Smith stood Rainey, an established performer who before the rickety wagon of was already wildly popular, and who the Moses Stokes Minstrel would go on to be named the “Mother Troupe traveling show. It of the Blues.” Bessie had to meet the was the same show her brother standards set by someone who was Clarence ran away from home to on the forefront of establishing the join eight years before. He had blues as one of America’s most popular arranged an audition for her, and music genres. it might be her only chance at a But Bessie wasn’t just good at different life. singing, she was great. She knew that, Bessie needed this. She was and even more importantly, she loved just seventeen, and so far life singing. Music had always been a part had been anything but easy. Her of her life and identity, through good father died before she was old times and bad. Through music she enough to even remember him. could express things she could never By the time she was nine, her mother and her brother Bud had say with words. She didn’t just want also died. Her oldest sister Viola to join the troupe to escape poverty, she wanted to make music the most became the primary caretaker of the many siblings, and things important part of her life. Becoming a performer was her dream. were tough. They didn’t have So Bessie stood in front of the much, and Bessie and her other brother Andrew performed on troupe’s management, taking what she street corners for pennies just to must have seen to be her one chance scrape by. to make that dream a reality. Her only Her voice was the one thing experience in professional performance Bessie could always rely on. was her appearances at the Ivory Even then it was powerful and Theatre on amateur nights. I imagine deep, like a contralto ocean she must have been terrified, but also of pure emotion pouring out excited. So amidst this jumble of emoof her with every note. There tions, Bessie performed. was a reason she sang to make Bessie Smith would go on to become ends meet. Much later Clarone of the most lauded blues perence’s wife, Maud, would tell formers of all time, earning the title reporters that the only reason “Empress of the Blues.” She would Clarence didn’t take Bessie inspire generations of blues players with him when he ran away was that she was still a child, and other musicians long after her storied career. Her confidence and her even though he thought she commitment to expressing who she was talented. was, regardless of what anyone else But Bessie didn’t know thought or said, laid the foundation Clarence thought that. All for countless artists coming after her she knew was that she somehow had to impress the to take up causes which were worth fighting for. But before she was a owners of this troupe with legend she was a young woman with a her singing and dancing.

People whose job it was to dream, and she took her chance.

I

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An insider’s look at the

SON LEWIS

guaranteed to be an unveiling to expose parallels between his personal life and the American experience, no matter the size of stage, from house concerts to theaters. Each song lends a new frame to further develop the focus on both the benefits and struggles that come with small town rural life.www.nickandrewstaver.com

LONE CROW REBELLION

GENA LANETTE

school, he helped form the “On the Spot Blues Band,” which performed in the Youth Showcase of the International Blues Challenge in 2009.

Loukus has performed with various jazz, blues and rock bands in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

His solid, driving bass skills help define the backbone of Them Blue Cats. Jordan Sedlock brings a highly dynamic style honed through a multi genre musical journey. From Bluegrass, to Rock, to Rockabilly, and now focusing on Blues, Jordan sits in the pocket and throws fills in that bring every song to life.

Them Blue Cats on Facebook

JEFF FETTERMAN BAND

Son Lewis has been an active figure on the Lone Crow Rebellion is a blues rock quartet that Blues music scene for some time. His work excels at rocking the blues and classic grooves. as a modern day exponent of the Blues, and Hailing from western Pennsylvania, the rust belt R&B, has led him to recognition as a performer, and postindustrial region provides muse to the teacher and recording artist. Son was influbands proven style and modern approach to enced greatly by artists such as Robert Johnblues rock music. Elements of blues, gospel, son, Otis Rush, and Hubert Sumlin (who he had southern rock, Americana & good ole’ rock the pleasure of accompanying in December & roll can be heard in their music. The band Gena Lanette is a multi-instrumentalist and 2006). His own particular guitar style developed vocalist. She plays guitar, pedal and lap steel, formed in 2018, wrote and recorded their first under the guidance of Blues guitarist Danny bass, mandolin and keys amongst other things. collection of tunes found on the album “Ain’t No Kalb (founder of the Blues Project, a seminal Shame”. More new singles have been released She has been writing songs since childhood, Blues band of the 1960’s). Lewis’ reputation has and released her first solo EP, “Wings Without and another collection is on the way. The band been built upon well-crafted recordings and sol- A Word” on June 4th, 2023, and will release a evolved into the current lineup of Greg Long id live solo performances and with his own SON full length solo album later this year. Her songs on lead vocals and guitar, Pete Horm on Bass, Born and raised in small town America in LEWIS Blues Band. www.sonlewis.com blend Blues, Appalachian and Celtic folk music, John Samanka on Keyboards and harmonica, Bradford, Pa., Jeff began his musical journey and Jason Sopic on drums. The music they classic country and rock influences with an at age of 13. Decades later he has received nuproduce is timeless, as well as, very much up emphasis on showcasing the slide guitar. She merous awards for his playing and writing. Jeff to date. Excellent listening no matter what the currently co-hosts the blues Jam at The Circle has also received endorsements with Zemaitis situation. www.lonecrowrebellion.com Hanover, and is a former member of Copper guitars and Nicola brand strings. He has played Bets and The Herd of Main Street. with some of the greatest blues musicians in Gena Lanette on Facebook the business including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ana Popovic, Joe Louis Walker, Jimmy Vaughan, Samantha Fish, Chris Duarte, Steven Stills, and Robert Randolph. For Jeff, the end of the road is nowhere near in sight as he continues to play and write music and tour. www.

JeffFetterman.com

NICK ANDREW STAVER

CADILLAC CATS

THEM BLUE CATS

Nick Andrew Staver has emerged as a captivating American Roots & Blues songwriter.

Writing and recording as a solo artist since 2014 has led to the release of albums including Medicine (2020), Live. In House (2021) and recent Sam Louderback: Originally hailing from the studio release, Rust Don’t Shine.

Pittsburgh area where he cut his teeth playing Rust Don’t Shine fan favorites “Laramie” & “In A five-piece band based out of Williamsport PA, with Pittsburgh jazz hall of fame saxophonist The Morning” are featured as perfect examples Kenny Blake at Joey’s: The Edge. His style is The Cadillac Cats are keeping the Blues alive of Nick’s versatility between both country and influenced by this history. His greatest guitar and well. Delivering high energy, foot stumping blues writing. From start to finish the album influences include: Buddy Guy, Joe BonBlues at every show. Playing classic hits like transports the listener from the hospital floors amassa, Walter Trout, Warren Haynes, and Rory Boom Boom, and Little By Little, too great origof “Maybe It’ll Shine”, the kitchen tables of “If I inals like Billtown Boogie, or The Cadillac Swing Gallagher. Steve Loukus: A transplant from the Had To Guess”, the steel mills of “Rusted Belt” this band is sure to entertain! www.thecadillacUpper Peninsula of Michigan, Steve Loukus and right into the moonshiners hideout of “Apis an accomplished musician who plays bass, cats.com palachian Moon.” Nick’s live performances are saxophone, guitar, and drums. While in high

WHAT IS IT?

The Audition Concert is a highlight on the BBA calendar. Every year we host a group of performers all vying for the chance to headline at our Summer Festival and to represent the Billtown Blues at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.

WHEN AND WHERE?

MARCH 9TH, 4:00 PM, (doors open at 3:30 PM). PAJAMA FACTORY, (entrance on Cemetery St.) Williamsport,PA. General Admission $20. BBA Members $12.

WHY?

Come for the music! Come to find out who will win this year? Enjoy dinner with food and beverages from our partners for the evening, The Mad Griller and Bullfrog Brewery.

Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

BILLTOWN BLUES ASSOCIATION audition concert

6 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

By BONNIE TALLMAN

T

he Deane Center in Wellsboro took a giant chance booking Eddie 9V on a Wednesday night in January. Despite being a totally unknown name to the buyers, the band needed a routing date, and was reminded by their agent Eddie had played the nearby Billtown Blues Festival just two years ago, hoping some of those fans would support the show. It turned out to be a great decision because the people came out and the show was great. There was even a little surprise at the end when Eddie and Gabe Stillman performed a set together. But who IS Eddie 9V and what is it about

that name?

Brooks Mason, a.k.a. Eddie 9V, hails from “Atlanta GA. The story behind the transition from his first blues band, the Brooks Mason Blues, to Eddie 9V started as just another long-drive, gig-togig pastime of the band calling each other mobster influenced names,” which stuck for Brooks. Any guitar player using pedals knows the need for 9V batteries, and thus Eddie 9V was born.

Eddie 9V recorded his first album, Left My Soul in Memphis, in 2019 at age 23. Steven Ovadia from the American Blues Scene describes it as a low-fi project. Ovadia writes the album was recorded in a Georgia shack, with Eddie playing all instruments except keys. The result was quality, full sounding

tracks with polish. Ovadia describes the vocals as, “ caking of light mud that makes you think you’re hearing a track recorded 60 years ago.” Little Black Flies followed and garnered him a signing with the German label Ruf Records, plus a nomination for the (Sean Costello New Artist Award) at the Blues Blast Awards. In 2020, there was a Blues Music Award in the Traditional Blues Album Category.

Little Black Flies landed at #5 on Billboard Blues.

His third and current release, Capricorn, has received rave reviews, including notice in Rolling Stone and Guitar Magazine.

Eddie’s music is self-identified as “retro-soul.”

He has a passion for the early music of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s that is foundationally the root of his style.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

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• • • • WHO WE ARE • • • BBA MISSION STATEMENT: The Billtown Blues Association, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, an affiliated Member of the Blues Foundation and a recipient of a “Keeping the Blues Alive” award. Our goals are to preserver, promote and enjoy the blues.

NEWSLETTER STATEMENT: The Billtown Blue Notes is a quarterly newsletter written by the Billtown Blues Newsletter Committee and published in cooperation with the Sun-Gazette. It is a labor of love written by our member volunteers. The opinions of our writers do not necessarily reflect the views of the BBA or the Sun-Gazette.

CONTACT INFORMATION: For more information or to become a member go to: billtownblues.org Follow us on Facebook and instagram Newsletter Committee: bbabluenotesnewsletter@gmail.com

Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

His Deane Center performance displayed a blend of funk, rock and roll, soul and blues. I especially enjoyed his song “Borrow and Steal” from his Capricorn release and was pleased when he chose it to open his show. Joe Gross ( Rolling Stone) says “ ‘Borrow and Steal’ is a joyous Southern Soul Scorcher.”

The Deane Center appearance showcased Eddie alongside a solid rhythm section. Lane Kelly was on bass, David Green on drums, and Chad Mason on a variety of keys, including a vintage Rhodes electric piano. Eddie’s upbeat material pulled folks to the dance floor, and was interspersed with fun quips about his travels and songs. When preparing for this story I asked about a band experience that stands out. Eddie shared a story about a trip the band made from Atlanta to Lake Tahoe. Born and raised in Georgia, their rare experience of dealing with a few inches of snow evolved to trying to navigate several feet of snow nearing Tahoe. The story goes that his windshield wipers broke and Eddie had to drive with his head out the window to see. As a snow-plow approached he ducked inside, only for a giant wave of snow and ice to come gushing in the open window and land on the sax player’s face.

Eddie laments the sax player “went on to quit as soon as they got back home.”

At just 28 years old, Eddie 9V is one of many young musicians who are drawn to the blues art form with reverence and respect for the music and its history, while enjoying the challenge of keeping the music fresh and compelling for new audiences.

8 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Friday, February 16, 2024

By URIE KLINE

M

uch as it might pain any genre aficionado to admit, musical trends can be fickle; ask all those swing musicians from the 90s. Blues, for all its storied history, is not immune to this effect, having seen its popularity wax and wane over the course of the 20th Century. One peak of particular interest is the revival of the 1980’s.

While one should always be skeptical of the phrase “single-handedly,” it’s an apt description for pioneering guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan’s impact on blues music.

Born in Dallas in 1954, Stevie first picked up a guitar at the tender age of seven; two decades later, he was playing Montreux (along with his stellar Double Trouble bandmates, of course) and being discovered by David Bowie. (Fun aside, that’s Stevie Ray playing those wailing licks on “Let’s Dance”.) The latter almost meant a world tour in support of the titular album, but Vaughan wound up being too busy with his own projects. (Nice problem to have!)

Vaughan’s debut album Texas Flood kicked off a string of hit records, some of which kept up the Western weather imagery (Couldn’t Stand the Weather, The Sky is Crying). The band’s studio albums were true crossover hits, and excellent music to boot. They succeeded as equally bluesy and rockin’ productions not through some gimmick, but through excellent delivery and studious interpretation. Equal parts Albert King and Jimi Hendrix — the latter’s “Voodoo Child” being a cover hit for the Texan — Vaughan’s eclec-

tic guitar playing incorporated many of his stylistic heroes, while emerging as something both timeless and modern.

That a “blues guitarist” was putting up gangbuster album and ticket sales in a decade that was to be dominated by the likes of Michael Jackson and Def Leppard spoke to a need that the Reagan Era music industry often ignored: the human element. Drawing from the well of a deep-rooted American artform, SRV’s guitar-driven jams offer a slight rebuke of the trendy music of the time. Without overproduced effects and drum machines (who needs the latter when Chris Layton is in your band), the albums and live performances sound remarkably consistent. Supported by his phenomenal rhythm section, Vaughan’s growling, wailing vocals and fiery guitar playing soar, making tracks like “Little Wing” and “Pride and Joy” instant jam session standards.

Tragically, as is all too often the case with gifted, young rock and rollers, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s life was cut short, not by alcoholism — though that was a struggle too — but by a freak helicopter crash. (Put another way, less Kurt Cobain, and more “The Day the Music Died.”) At just 35, there’s little doubt Stevie had a great deal of music left in him, even allowing for the inevitable dry spells and misfires veterans are sure to experience. Even with a relatively short international career, Vaughan emerged as a new generation of Guitar Hero at exactly the right moment for the blues. Even thirty years on, we’re still enjoying the tailwinds generated by Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tornado.

ASSOCIATED PRESS