1

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

December 2012-January 2013

2

Presidentrsquos Notesmdash Liz Walker

Sacramento

Blues

Society

is a

Proud

Member

of

The Sacramento Blues Society (SBS) is one of the oldest blues societies in California founded in1979 and

is a 501 ( c ) 3 nonprofit corporation formed to preserve and promote blues music as an art form

SBS has kept the blues tradition alive in the Sacramento area by promoting the local

blues music scene and bringing internationally renowned artists to the region

SBS is an affiliate member of The Blues Foundation and provides educational opportunities

for young people with The Blues Foundationrsquos ldquoBlues In The Schoolsrdquo Program

2012 Committee Chairs

BITS mdashCynthia Jaynes Liz Walker Co-Chairs

BlueNotes mdashVj Anderson Jan Kelley Co-Editors CD ReviewsmdashMindy Giles

EventsIBC Competition mdashVacant Gene Chambers Musicians Emergency Fund (GCMEF) mdash Kim Duvall

Sacramento Blues Hall of FamemdashSally Katen Board Liaisonmdash Jan Kelley MembershipVolunteers mdashZane Toberer

MerchandiseConcessionsGraphics mdash Rick Nolan Public Relations mdashLiz Walker

SacBlues e-NewsCalendar mdashWillie Brown Web mdashKristen Dahl

2012 Board Officers

Liz WalkermdashPresident

Dave AlcockmdashVice President

Charlene MetzlerndashSecretary

VacantmdashTreasurer

Jan Kelley-Parliamentarian

Board Members at Large

Kristen Dahl

Kim DuVall

Tammie Madill

Rick Nolan

Zane Toberer

Board of Directors Meetings

2nd Tuesday of each month 700 PM at the SMUD Building 6301 S Street Sacramento CA All SBS members in good standing are invited to attend

December 2012-January 2013

Thanks to all those travelinrsquo blue-sers who made the trip to New Or-leans for the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival We had a fantastic time You can read all about our antics inside this and future publi-

cations

Itrsquos with sadness that we acknowl-edge the closing of yet another blues venue in the area PorsquoBoyz closed its doors at the end of October PorsquoBoyz was an intimate setting with great food and music Irsquom gonna miss it and wish the best of luck to Brenda in her adventures She has as-sured me that PorsquoBoyz will still be bringing fabulous

blues to the area through her festivals at Horsemenrsquos

In closing Irsquod like to take a moment to say thank you to the SBS Board and to the societyrsquos members at large Itrsquos been a pleasure (though challenging) to serve as the president this past year Along with the society Irsquove ex-perienced some personal growth Change can be diffi-cult at times but as in all things change is essential No living organism (and that goes for organizations as well) can remain the same You grow and change or you stagnate and die The Sacramento Blues Society has been bringing the blues to the region for 40+ years To continue to do so there must be constant growth and change Please become involved There is something

for you to do

See you on the dance floor

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

It is so hard to believe that it is the end of the year al-ready and what a year itrsquos been New logo new mer-chandise new look for the newsletter new venues new people new way of doing things lots and lots of new-ness But some things have stayed the same As one of the oldest blues societies we have tried to stay true to our mission of preserving and promoting the blues as an

art form

Your Blues in the Schools programrsquos reputation speaks for itself and is evident in the invitations to return year after year by several different groups and districts Itrsquos able to fulfill its charter of bringing the blues to youth in the area through the generous (and much appreciated) donations of several large donors The Gene Chambers Musicians Crisis Fund was able to assist several musi-cians in need this year and the Hall of Fame committee

has once again decided on five deserving inductees

And of course therersquos the music The Dennis Jones Band rocked the house in May along with our aspiring young blues performers for the annual BITS benefit Wendy DeWitt and Big Earl blew us away under the stars in June and Jimmy Thackery just didnrsquot want to quit in August Wersquove seen some outstanding talent during the IBC competition (the winner still not determined at time of press) and wish the winner the best of luck in Memphis SBS has worked in collaboration with differ-ent presenterspromoters for shows at such venues as Harlowrsquos 3 Stages Swabbiersquos and Horsemenrsquoshellipand I for one am looking forward to Paula Harris bringing us her own brand of funky soulful blues to our membership

party Phew What a year

3

The Northern California Blues Festival 2012 Presents

Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Rodeomdashby Pinkie Rideau

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

consensus of the crowd was that The Wires are simply great The Daniel Castro Band from the East Bay was the head-

liner of the afternoon and let me tell you that he never fails to please His originals are clean and crisp He is mesmer-izing and tantalizing Im happily married ndash Im talking blues here Daniel just has a way about him The way he plays to a crowd is almost like hes playing for one person He draws you in and makes you pay attention to the point that you really dont mind watching and listening His play-ing is magic There was only one person we could hold responsible for such a wonderful day of blues Jason Haxton did it all He refused to let go of the Blues Festival no matter what Pure determination and a love of the blues kept the whole idea rolling into The Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Ro-deo I hope Jason never lets go I hope that all the people that organize publicize market and fund blues festivals never let go Because they we them those who care are all keeping the blues alive Thank you Jason See you all next year at The Northern California Blues Festival 2013

It was a fair day in Sacramento Those who braved the construction on Del Paso Blvd were pleasantly sur-prised by the excellent quality of mu-sic that the day was to bring forth Stoneys Rockin Rodeo was fixin to be very blue(s)

First on stage were the Soul Shakers a very well-seasoned band with a groove and a sound that got people up and dancing right away Those who got to the venue at the end of the Soul Shakers set were very upset with themselves that they werent a bit earlier in their arrival Upon speaking to the bands lead guitarist Mark Horr Sr the reason for them being so seasoned is revealed The newcomer to the band has only been in for eight years wow Sweet sounds from Davis CA Next the boys amp I did our thing Pinkie Rideau amp Blind Resistance (Nevada City CA) has been my passion for

four short years but when we get on a stage like thatbright lights and great sound men make it so easy to have fun The energy that bounces back at us is a phe-nom We like to show off our original songs when we do short shows and itrsquos always nice to see some folks who know the words The best form of flattery is to know the words trust me Sing loud ndash performers love it Leo Bootz from Sacramento was third to take the stage That power trio then bulldozed the stage and bombarded us with gnarly twisted edgy blues that was an amazing thing to behold Leo the bands bassist and lead singer was talking to me before he took the stage and he said that the edgy side of blues needs love too He had the crowd Good bad or indifferent ndash everyone was watching and listening to Leo He cant help his passion for the edge he lives there and we all like him that way Rock on Leo The Fairfield band who really got the house hoppin was the Matty T Band Jimi Hendrix Stevie Ray Vaughn and loads of originals along the same lines showed off Mat-thew Tayntons abilities to no end He effortlessly rolled through songs that have long baffled guitarists and listen-ers alike and had the crowd dancing dancing dancing I couldnt help it ndash I had to get up Next up was the long time Bay Area favorites The Delta Wires What can you possibly say about a band that has been together for 45+ years that hasnt already been said Personally I can say I am glad to call each and every one of them my friend They have held true to a form of blues that has lent them a signature a trademark ndash so to speak You know that when you go to a Delta Wires Show that Ernie Pinata and the Wires are willing to give you their hearts souls and minds to you as they play General

4

December 2012-January 2013

Al ArnettmdashFor more than 40 years Al Arnett was the bass player of choice and an im-portant part of the rhythm section which built the Sacramento

blues scene

Born in Georgia and raised in Cleveland Al started playing gui-tar professionally in 1947 wearing a fake beard and mustache to disguise his age In 1960 he switched to bass guitar and as

an Air Force serviceman played in bands com-posed of the best military musicians During his overseas tours he worked bases in France and Japan often playing six to seven nights a week In Japan he met and worked with guitarist Gene Chambers (later to become a Sacramento resident and Sacramento Blues Hall of Famer) and they backed visiting stars including Lou Rawls and

Sam and Dave

In 1972 he moved to Sacramento and along with Gene Chambers and drummer Marshall ldquoSoulmanrdquo Jones formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento bands Al typically worked in two or three bands at a time for many years some of which endured for more than 20 years Al played with the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band (considered for several years the top Sacra-mento band) the Blues Express Blues Ambas-sadors Soul of the Blues (Glenn Lanes band) Nate Shiner Big Blues Revue Bits and Pieces and many others Al also led Everyday People

another solid long-time Sacramento blues band

Al played most of the Sacramento Blues Festivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festivals in multiple bands Hes backed Little Milton Lowell Fulson Jimmy McCracklin Roy Brown and countless other local and national blues luminaries He also recorded with the Blues Ambassadors Glenn Lane Arbess Williams Johnny Hearts-

man and Omar Sharriff

Al passed away in May 2012 He was best-known as the bass player that ldquoeverybody wants to play withrdquo

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Ray ldquoCatfishrdquo CopelandmdashBorn and raised in California Ray Cope-land moved to Sacra-mento in 1967 and began playing guitar where he soon met up with a local group of musicians called the Sunland Blues Band Their Guitarist Steve Samuels helped Ray get going with some blues ba-

sics

In 1976 Ray formed a band called Quick-shake where he met

blues harmonica ace and guitarist Little Charlie Baty who taught Ray all the correct chord forms for backing Charliersquos harmonica Charles joined the band and the name soon changed to Little Charlie and the Nightcats During the late 70acutes Ray played with The Nate Shiner Blues Band and then got an opportunity through local blues promoter Phil Givant to go on tour with blues piano legend Floyd Dixon followed by a short stint as guitar player for Mark St Mary In 1980 Ray was introduced to musician Johnny Guitar Knox (Hall of Fame inductee) and the band called The Blue Flames was formed The Blue Flames performed in the area until 1999 even

though Ray had left in 1985

During the next 10 years Ray managed a Tower Re-cords store in Sacramento and played occasionally at the Sacramento Blues Festival and a few local es-tablishments Ray has performed on stage with blues notables Big Momma Thornton Luther Tucker Elvin Bishop William Clark Rod Piazza Little Joe Blue Buddy Ace Johnny Heartsman Little Charlie Baty Rick Estrin (Hall of Fame Inductees) Kenny Blue

Ray and many other great musicians

Catfish and the Crawdaddies formed in 1995 and play a wide range of blues including Chicago Texas New Orleans and West Coast styles in addition to some old school RockacutenacuteRoll They have been a popular attraction at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for the last 15 years and played several years at the world famous Saloon in San Francisco Catfish and the Crawdaddies have released three self-produced recordings for which they have received

high reviews and numerous awards

SBS Announces 2012 Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Continued page 5

5

December 2012-January 2013

Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from page 4

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Steve SamuelsmdashKnown as one of Sacramentos

best blues guitaristsv o c a l i s t s S t e v e Samuels was an im-

portant contributor to Sacramentos reputa-tion as a blues town Born without a left hand his arm ended just below the elbow Nevertheless he util-ized it like a one-fingered wrist and picked a right handers guitar by holding it up-side down and back-wards

Steve grew up in Sacramento started playing guitar at 17 discovered BBKing and the blues at 19 and was a professional by age 20 In the late60rsquos Steve played guitar for Sacramentos legendary blues band of exceptional local players The Sunland Blues Band In 1969 he sat in with The Muddy Waters Band for a gig in Berkeley and was invited back for Muddys gigs the next two days In 1970 he started his own band The Steve Samuels Blues Revue and played regularly at many Sacramento area clubs including Tootsies Vangaris Melarkeys and the

Torch Club He played nearly all of the Sacramento Blues Festivals as either a leader or sideman and his band was featured seven times from 1979-1989

Steve has released two excellent LPs In 1985 he recorded On The Corner Of Blues And Swing backed

by former members of the Mighty Flyers Band along with William Clarke pianist David Fraser his brother Andrew Samuels (of Sacramento country-rock band

Redwing) and special guest Sacramento vocalist Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray He wrote two of the cuts In 1994 he recorded Saturday Night Blues which also

included David Fraser and William Clarke He also backed Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray on ldquoYour Friendsrdquo which appears on the Sacramento Blues compilation CD

Steve continued his successful blues career after moving to Los Angeles He played with William Clarke and many other Southern California blues art-ists In the late 1980s his Steve Samuels Band toured Europe He was also praised as a fine guitar teacher by Coco Montoya on the Thom Meyers radio show and he was featured in a story in Guitar Player

magazine in November 1986

Marshall ldquosoulmanrdquo JonesmdashFor more

than 30 years Mar-shall Jones was the drummer of choice and an important part of the rhythm section which built the Sacra-mento blues scene Born in Natchitoches Louisiana Marshall started drumming to accompany the coun-try music he heard as a kid After moving to Oakland in 1995 he met Johnny Hearts-

man (HOF inductee) his next door neighbor and started playing blues He began his professional career in 1959-60 with Johnnys band and devel-oped his skills in Bay Area nightclubs backing visit-ing national artists and jamming In the lsquo70s he moved to Sacramento and met har-monica player Johnny Ayers who introduced him to Dave Bonds Al Arnett and Gene Chambers (HOF inductee) Together they first formed the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band which was the most popular Sacramento band at the time They played the Sacramento Blues Festival and backed many visiting musicians including Little Milton After Bonds found religion and moved to Los Angeles Al Gene and Marshall stuck together and formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento blues bands that have endured for more than 20years He was the leader of The Blues Express and The Blues Ambassadors throughout the 1980rsquos and 1990rsquos and played with many other local bands such as Nate Shiners Big Blues Revue Marshall played most of the Sacramento Blues Fes-tivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festi-vals He also recorded with the Blues Ambassa-dors and Glenn Lane

AWARD CEREMONY will be at THE DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP PARTY

Please come and honor the musicians that contributed to the Blues in Sacramento

Continued page 6

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

2

Presidentrsquos Notesmdash Liz Walker

Sacramento

Blues

Society

is a

Proud

Member

of

The Sacramento Blues Society (SBS) is one of the oldest blues societies in California founded in1979 and

is a 501 ( c ) 3 nonprofit corporation formed to preserve and promote blues music as an art form

SBS has kept the blues tradition alive in the Sacramento area by promoting the local

blues music scene and bringing internationally renowned artists to the region

SBS is an affiliate member of The Blues Foundation and provides educational opportunities

for young people with The Blues Foundationrsquos ldquoBlues In The Schoolsrdquo Program

2012 Committee Chairs

BITS mdashCynthia Jaynes Liz Walker Co-Chairs

BlueNotes mdashVj Anderson Jan Kelley Co-Editors CD ReviewsmdashMindy Giles

EventsIBC Competition mdashVacant Gene Chambers Musicians Emergency Fund (GCMEF) mdash Kim Duvall

Sacramento Blues Hall of FamemdashSally Katen Board Liaisonmdash Jan Kelley MembershipVolunteers mdashZane Toberer

MerchandiseConcessionsGraphics mdash Rick Nolan Public Relations mdashLiz Walker

SacBlues e-NewsCalendar mdashWillie Brown Web mdashKristen Dahl

2012 Board Officers

Liz WalkermdashPresident

Dave AlcockmdashVice President

Charlene MetzlerndashSecretary

VacantmdashTreasurer

Jan Kelley-Parliamentarian

Board Members at Large

Kristen Dahl

Kim DuVall

Tammie Madill

Rick Nolan

Zane Toberer

Board of Directors Meetings

2nd Tuesday of each month 700 PM at the SMUD Building 6301 S Street Sacramento CA All SBS members in good standing are invited to attend

December 2012-January 2013

Thanks to all those travelinrsquo blue-sers who made the trip to New Or-leans for the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival We had a fantastic time You can read all about our antics inside this and future publi-

cations

Itrsquos with sadness that we acknowl-edge the closing of yet another blues venue in the area PorsquoBoyz closed its doors at the end of October PorsquoBoyz was an intimate setting with great food and music Irsquom gonna miss it and wish the best of luck to Brenda in her adventures She has as-sured me that PorsquoBoyz will still be bringing fabulous

blues to the area through her festivals at Horsemenrsquos

In closing Irsquod like to take a moment to say thank you to the SBS Board and to the societyrsquos members at large Itrsquos been a pleasure (though challenging) to serve as the president this past year Along with the society Irsquove ex-perienced some personal growth Change can be diffi-cult at times but as in all things change is essential No living organism (and that goes for organizations as well) can remain the same You grow and change or you stagnate and die The Sacramento Blues Society has been bringing the blues to the region for 40+ years To continue to do so there must be constant growth and change Please become involved There is something

for you to do

See you on the dance floor

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

It is so hard to believe that it is the end of the year al-ready and what a year itrsquos been New logo new mer-chandise new look for the newsletter new venues new people new way of doing things lots and lots of new-ness But some things have stayed the same As one of the oldest blues societies we have tried to stay true to our mission of preserving and promoting the blues as an

art form

Your Blues in the Schools programrsquos reputation speaks for itself and is evident in the invitations to return year after year by several different groups and districts Itrsquos able to fulfill its charter of bringing the blues to youth in the area through the generous (and much appreciated) donations of several large donors The Gene Chambers Musicians Crisis Fund was able to assist several musi-cians in need this year and the Hall of Fame committee

has once again decided on five deserving inductees

And of course therersquos the music The Dennis Jones Band rocked the house in May along with our aspiring young blues performers for the annual BITS benefit Wendy DeWitt and Big Earl blew us away under the stars in June and Jimmy Thackery just didnrsquot want to quit in August Wersquove seen some outstanding talent during the IBC competition (the winner still not determined at time of press) and wish the winner the best of luck in Memphis SBS has worked in collaboration with differ-ent presenterspromoters for shows at such venues as Harlowrsquos 3 Stages Swabbiersquos and Horsemenrsquoshellipand I for one am looking forward to Paula Harris bringing us her own brand of funky soulful blues to our membership

party Phew What a year

3

The Northern California Blues Festival 2012 Presents

Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Rodeomdashby Pinkie Rideau

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

consensus of the crowd was that The Wires are simply great The Daniel Castro Band from the East Bay was the head-

liner of the afternoon and let me tell you that he never fails to please His originals are clean and crisp He is mesmer-izing and tantalizing Im happily married ndash Im talking blues here Daniel just has a way about him The way he plays to a crowd is almost like hes playing for one person He draws you in and makes you pay attention to the point that you really dont mind watching and listening His play-ing is magic There was only one person we could hold responsible for such a wonderful day of blues Jason Haxton did it all He refused to let go of the Blues Festival no matter what Pure determination and a love of the blues kept the whole idea rolling into The Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Ro-deo I hope Jason never lets go I hope that all the people that organize publicize market and fund blues festivals never let go Because they we them those who care are all keeping the blues alive Thank you Jason See you all next year at The Northern California Blues Festival 2013

It was a fair day in Sacramento Those who braved the construction on Del Paso Blvd were pleasantly sur-prised by the excellent quality of mu-sic that the day was to bring forth Stoneys Rockin Rodeo was fixin to be very blue(s)

First on stage were the Soul Shakers a very well-seasoned band with a groove and a sound that got people up and dancing right away Those who got to the venue at the end of the Soul Shakers set were very upset with themselves that they werent a bit earlier in their arrival Upon speaking to the bands lead guitarist Mark Horr Sr the reason for them being so seasoned is revealed The newcomer to the band has only been in for eight years wow Sweet sounds from Davis CA Next the boys amp I did our thing Pinkie Rideau amp Blind Resistance (Nevada City CA) has been my passion for

four short years but when we get on a stage like thatbright lights and great sound men make it so easy to have fun The energy that bounces back at us is a phe-nom We like to show off our original songs when we do short shows and itrsquos always nice to see some folks who know the words The best form of flattery is to know the words trust me Sing loud ndash performers love it Leo Bootz from Sacramento was third to take the stage That power trio then bulldozed the stage and bombarded us with gnarly twisted edgy blues that was an amazing thing to behold Leo the bands bassist and lead singer was talking to me before he took the stage and he said that the edgy side of blues needs love too He had the crowd Good bad or indifferent ndash everyone was watching and listening to Leo He cant help his passion for the edge he lives there and we all like him that way Rock on Leo The Fairfield band who really got the house hoppin was the Matty T Band Jimi Hendrix Stevie Ray Vaughn and loads of originals along the same lines showed off Mat-thew Tayntons abilities to no end He effortlessly rolled through songs that have long baffled guitarists and listen-ers alike and had the crowd dancing dancing dancing I couldnt help it ndash I had to get up Next up was the long time Bay Area favorites The Delta Wires What can you possibly say about a band that has been together for 45+ years that hasnt already been said Personally I can say I am glad to call each and every one of them my friend They have held true to a form of blues that has lent them a signature a trademark ndash so to speak You know that when you go to a Delta Wires Show that Ernie Pinata and the Wires are willing to give you their hearts souls and minds to you as they play General

4

December 2012-January 2013

Al ArnettmdashFor more than 40 years Al Arnett was the bass player of choice and an im-portant part of the rhythm section which built the Sacramento

blues scene

Born in Georgia and raised in Cleveland Al started playing gui-tar professionally in 1947 wearing a fake beard and mustache to disguise his age In 1960 he switched to bass guitar and as

an Air Force serviceman played in bands com-posed of the best military musicians During his overseas tours he worked bases in France and Japan often playing six to seven nights a week In Japan he met and worked with guitarist Gene Chambers (later to become a Sacramento resident and Sacramento Blues Hall of Famer) and they backed visiting stars including Lou Rawls and

Sam and Dave

In 1972 he moved to Sacramento and along with Gene Chambers and drummer Marshall ldquoSoulmanrdquo Jones formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento bands Al typically worked in two or three bands at a time for many years some of which endured for more than 20 years Al played with the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band (considered for several years the top Sacra-mento band) the Blues Express Blues Ambas-sadors Soul of the Blues (Glenn Lanes band) Nate Shiner Big Blues Revue Bits and Pieces and many others Al also led Everyday People

another solid long-time Sacramento blues band

Al played most of the Sacramento Blues Festivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festivals in multiple bands Hes backed Little Milton Lowell Fulson Jimmy McCracklin Roy Brown and countless other local and national blues luminaries He also recorded with the Blues Ambassadors Glenn Lane Arbess Williams Johnny Hearts-

man and Omar Sharriff

Al passed away in May 2012 He was best-known as the bass player that ldquoeverybody wants to play withrdquo

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Ray ldquoCatfishrdquo CopelandmdashBorn and raised in California Ray Cope-land moved to Sacra-mento in 1967 and began playing guitar where he soon met up with a local group of musicians called the Sunland Blues Band Their Guitarist Steve Samuels helped Ray get going with some blues ba-

sics

In 1976 Ray formed a band called Quick-shake where he met

blues harmonica ace and guitarist Little Charlie Baty who taught Ray all the correct chord forms for backing Charliersquos harmonica Charles joined the band and the name soon changed to Little Charlie and the Nightcats During the late 70acutes Ray played with The Nate Shiner Blues Band and then got an opportunity through local blues promoter Phil Givant to go on tour with blues piano legend Floyd Dixon followed by a short stint as guitar player for Mark St Mary In 1980 Ray was introduced to musician Johnny Guitar Knox (Hall of Fame inductee) and the band called The Blue Flames was formed The Blue Flames performed in the area until 1999 even

though Ray had left in 1985

During the next 10 years Ray managed a Tower Re-cords store in Sacramento and played occasionally at the Sacramento Blues Festival and a few local es-tablishments Ray has performed on stage with blues notables Big Momma Thornton Luther Tucker Elvin Bishop William Clark Rod Piazza Little Joe Blue Buddy Ace Johnny Heartsman Little Charlie Baty Rick Estrin (Hall of Fame Inductees) Kenny Blue

Ray and many other great musicians

Catfish and the Crawdaddies formed in 1995 and play a wide range of blues including Chicago Texas New Orleans and West Coast styles in addition to some old school RockacutenacuteRoll They have been a popular attraction at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for the last 15 years and played several years at the world famous Saloon in San Francisco Catfish and the Crawdaddies have released three self-produced recordings for which they have received

high reviews and numerous awards

SBS Announces 2012 Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Continued page 5

5

December 2012-January 2013

Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from page 4

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Steve SamuelsmdashKnown as one of Sacramentos

best blues guitaristsv o c a l i s t s S t e v e Samuels was an im-

portant contributor to Sacramentos reputa-tion as a blues town Born without a left hand his arm ended just below the elbow Nevertheless he util-ized it like a one-fingered wrist and picked a right handers guitar by holding it up-side down and back-wards

Steve grew up in Sacramento started playing guitar at 17 discovered BBKing and the blues at 19 and was a professional by age 20 In the late60rsquos Steve played guitar for Sacramentos legendary blues band of exceptional local players The Sunland Blues Band In 1969 he sat in with The Muddy Waters Band for a gig in Berkeley and was invited back for Muddys gigs the next two days In 1970 he started his own band The Steve Samuels Blues Revue and played regularly at many Sacramento area clubs including Tootsies Vangaris Melarkeys and the

Torch Club He played nearly all of the Sacramento Blues Festivals as either a leader or sideman and his band was featured seven times from 1979-1989

Steve has released two excellent LPs In 1985 he recorded On The Corner Of Blues And Swing backed

by former members of the Mighty Flyers Band along with William Clarke pianist David Fraser his brother Andrew Samuels (of Sacramento country-rock band

Redwing) and special guest Sacramento vocalist Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray He wrote two of the cuts In 1994 he recorded Saturday Night Blues which also

included David Fraser and William Clarke He also backed Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray on ldquoYour Friendsrdquo which appears on the Sacramento Blues compilation CD

Steve continued his successful blues career after moving to Los Angeles He played with William Clarke and many other Southern California blues art-ists In the late 1980s his Steve Samuels Band toured Europe He was also praised as a fine guitar teacher by Coco Montoya on the Thom Meyers radio show and he was featured in a story in Guitar Player

magazine in November 1986

Marshall ldquosoulmanrdquo JonesmdashFor more

than 30 years Mar-shall Jones was the drummer of choice and an important part of the rhythm section which built the Sacra-mento blues scene Born in Natchitoches Louisiana Marshall started drumming to accompany the coun-try music he heard as a kid After moving to Oakland in 1995 he met Johnny Hearts-

man (HOF inductee) his next door neighbor and started playing blues He began his professional career in 1959-60 with Johnnys band and devel-oped his skills in Bay Area nightclubs backing visit-ing national artists and jamming In the lsquo70s he moved to Sacramento and met har-monica player Johnny Ayers who introduced him to Dave Bonds Al Arnett and Gene Chambers (HOF inductee) Together they first formed the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band which was the most popular Sacramento band at the time They played the Sacramento Blues Festival and backed many visiting musicians including Little Milton After Bonds found religion and moved to Los Angeles Al Gene and Marshall stuck together and formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento blues bands that have endured for more than 20years He was the leader of The Blues Express and The Blues Ambassadors throughout the 1980rsquos and 1990rsquos and played with many other local bands such as Nate Shiners Big Blues Revue Marshall played most of the Sacramento Blues Fes-tivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festi-vals He also recorded with the Blues Ambassa-dors and Glenn Lane

AWARD CEREMONY will be at THE DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP PARTY

Please come and honor the musicians that contributed to the Blues in Sacramento

Continued page 6

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

3

The Northern California Blues Festival 2012 Presents

Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Rodeomdashby Pinkie Rideau

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

consensus of the crowd was that The Wires are simply great The Daniel Castro Band from the East Bay was the head-

liner of the afternoon and let me tell you that he never fails to please His originals are clean and crisp He is mesmer-izing and tantalizing Im happily married ndash Im talking blues here Daniel just has a way about him The way he plays to a crowd is almost like hes playing for one person He draws you in and makes you pay attention to the point that you really dont mind watching and listening His play-ing is magic There was only one person we could hold responsible for such a wonderful day of blues Jason Haxton did it all He refused to let go of the Blues Festival no matter what Pure determination and a love of the blues kept the whole idea rolling into The Blues amp Brews at Stoneys Rockin Ro-deo I hope Jason never lets go I hope that all the people that organize publicize market and fund blues festivals never let go Because they we them those who care are all keeping the blues alive Thank you Jason See you all next year at The Northern California Blues Festival 2013

It was a fair day in Sacramento Those who braved the construction on Del Paso Blvd were pleasantly sur-prised by the excellent quality of mu-sic that the day was to bring forth Stoneys Rockin Rodeo was fixin to be very blue(s)

First on stage were the Soul Shakers a very well-seasoned band with a groove and a sound that got people up and dancing right away Those who got to the venue at the end of the Soul Shakers set were very upset with themselves that they werent a bit earlier in their arrival Upon speaking to the bands lead guitarist Mark Horr Sr the reason for them being so seasoned is revealed The newcomer to the band has only been in for eight years wow Sweet sounds from Davis CA Next the boys amp I did our thing Pinkie Rideau amp Blind Resistance (Nevada City CA) has been my passion for

four short years but when we get on a stage like thatbright lights and great sound men make it so easy to have fun The energy that bounces back at us is a phe-nom We like to show off our original songs when we do short shows and itrsquos always nice to see some folks who know the words The best form of flattery is to know the words trust me Sing loud ndash performers love it Leo Bootz from Sacramento was third to take the stage That power trio then bulldozed the stage and bombarded us with gnarly twisted edgy blues that was an amazing thing to behold Leo the bands bassist and lead singer was talking to me before he took the stage and he said that the edgy side of blues needs love too He had the crowd Good bad or indifferent ndash everyone was watching and listening to Leo He cant help his passion for the edge he lives there and we all like him that way Rock on Leo The Fairfield band who really got the house hoppin was the Matty T Band Jimi Hendrix Stevie Ray Vaughn and loads of originals along the same lines showed off Mat-thew Tayntons abilities to no end He effortlessly rolled through songs that have long baffled guitarists and listen-ers alike and had the crowd dancing dancing dancing I couldnt help it ndash I had to get up Next up was the long time Bay Area favorites The Delta Wires What can you possibly say about a band that has been together for 45+ years that hasnt already been said Personally I can say I am glad to call each and every one of them my friend They have held true to a form of blues that has lent them a signature a trademark ndash so to speak You know that when you go to a Delta Wires Show that Ernie Pinata and the Wires are willing to give you their hearts souls and minds to you as they play General

4

December 2012-January 2013

Al ArnettmdashFor more than 40 years Al Arnett was the bass player of choice and an im-portant part of the rhythm section which built the Sacramento

blues scene

Born in Georgia and raised in Cleveland Al started playing gui-tar professionally in 1947 wearing a fake beard and mustache to disguise his age In 1960 he switched to bass guitar and as

an Air Force serviceman played in bands com-posed of the best military musicians During his overseas tours he worked bases in France and Japan often playing six to seven nights a week In Japan he met and worked with guitarist Gene Chambers (later to become a Sacramento resident and Sacramento Blues Hall of Famer) and they backed visiting stars including Lou Rawls and

Sam and Dave

In 1972 he moved to Sacramento and along with Gene Chambers and drummer Marshall ldquoSoulmanrdquo Jones formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento bands Al typically worked in two or three bands at a time for many years some of which endured for more than 20 years Al played with the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band (considered for several years the top Sacra-mento band) the Blues Express Blues Ambas-sadors Soul of the Blues (Glenn Lanes band) Nate Shiner Big Blues Revue Bits and Pieces and many others Al also led Everyday People

another solid long-time Sacramento blues band

Al played most of the Sacramento Blues Festivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festivals in multiple bands Hes backed Little Milton Lowell Fulson Jimmy McCracklin Roy Brown and countless other local and national blues luminaries He also recorded with the Blues Ambassadors Glenn Lane Arbess Williams Johnny Hearts-

man and Omar Sharriff

Al passed away in May 2012 He was best-known as the bass player that ldquoeverybody wants to play withrdquo

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Ray ldquoCatfishrdquo CopelandmdashBorn and raised in California Ray Cope-land moved to Sacra-mento in 1967 and began playing guitar where he soon met up with a local group of musicians called the Sunland Blues Band Their Guitarist Steve Samuels helped Ray get going with some blues ba-

sics

In 1976 Ray formed a band called Quick-shake where he met

blues harmonica ace and guitarist Little Charlie Baty who taught Ray all the correct chord forms for backing Charliersquos harmonica Charles joined the band and the name soon changed to Little Charlie and the Nightcats During the late 70acutes Ray played with The Nate Shiner Blues Band and then got an opportunity through local blues promoter Phil Givant to go on tour with blues piano legend Floyd Dixon followed by a short stint as guitar player for Mark St Mary In 1980 Ray was introduced to musician Johnny Guitar Knox (Hall of Fame inductee) and the band called The Blue Flames was formed The Blue Flames performed in the area until 1999 even

though Ray had left in 1985

During the next 10 years Ray managed a Tower Re-cords store in Sacramento and played occasionally at the Sacramento Blues Festival and a few local es-tablishments Ray has performed on stage with blues notables Big Momma Thornton Luther Tucker Elvin Bishop William Clark Rod Piazza Little Joe Blue Buddy Ace Johnny Heartsman Little Charlie Baty Rick Estrin (Hall of Fame Inductees) Kenny Blue

Ray and many other great musicians

Catfish and the Crawdaddies formed in 1995 and play a wide range of blues including Chicago Texas New Orleans and West Coast styles in addition to some old school RockacutenacuteRoll They have been a popular attraction at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for the last 15 years and played several years at the world famous Saloon in San Francisco Catfish and the Crawdaddies have released three self-produced recordings for which they have received

high reviews and numerous awards

SBS Announces 2012 Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Continued page 5

5

December 2012-January 2013

Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from page 4

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Steve SamuelsmdashKnown as one of Sacramentos

best blues guitaristsv o c a l i s t s S t e v e Samuels was an im-

portant contributor to Sacramentos reputa-tion as a blues town Born without a left hand his arm ended just below the elbow Nevertheless he util-ized it like a one-fingered wrist and picked a right handers guitar by holding it up-side down and back-wards

Steve grew up in Sacramento started playing guitar at 17 discovered BBKing and the blues at 19 and was a professional by age 20 In the late60rsquos Steve played guitar for Sacramentos legendary blues band of exceptional local players The Sunland Blues Band In 1969 he sat in with The Muddy Waters Band for a gig in Berkeley and was invited back for Muddys gigs the next two days In 1970 he started his own band The Steve Samuels Blues Revue and played regularly at many Sacramento area clubs including Tootsies Vangaris Melarkeys and the

Torch Club He played nearly all of the Sacramento Blues Festivals as either a leader or sideman and his band was featured seven times from 1979-1989

Steve has released two excellent LPs In 1985 he recorded On The Corner Of Blues And Swing backed

by former members of the Mighty Flyers Band along with William Clarke pianist David Fraser his brother Andrew Samuels (of Sacramento country-rock band

Redwing) and special guest Sacramento vocalist Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray He wrote two of the cuts In 1994 he recorded Saturday Night Blues which also

included David Fraser and William Clarke He also backed Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray on ldquoYour Friendsrdquo which appears on the Sacramento Blues compilation CD

Steve continued his successful blues career after moving to Los Angeles He played with William Clarke and many other Southern California blues art-ists In the late 1980s his Steve Samuels Band toured Europe He was also praised as a fine guitar teacher by Coco Montoya on the Thom Meyers radio show and he was featured in a story in Guitar Player

magazine in November 1986

Marshall ldquosoulmanrdquo JonesmdashFor more

than 30 years Mar-shall Jones was the drummer of choice and an important part of the rhythm section which built the Sacra-mento blues scene Born in Natchitoches Louisiana Marshall started drumming to accompany the coun-try music he heard as a kid After moving to Oakland in 1995 he met Johnny Hearts-

man (HOF inductee) his next door neighbor and started playing blues He began his professional career in 1959-60 with Johnnys band and devel-oped his skills in Bay Area nightclubs backing visit-ing national artists and jamming In the lsquo70s he moved to Sacramento and met har-monica player Johnny Ayers who introduced him to Dave Bonds Al Arnett and Gene Chambers (HOF inductee) Together they first formed the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band which was the most popular Sacramento band at the time They played the Sacramento Blues Festival and backed many visiting musicians including Little Milton After Bonds found religion and moved to Los Angeles Al Gene and Marshall stuck together and formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento blues bands that have endured for more than 20years He was the leader of The Blues Express and The Blues Ambassadors throughout the 1980rsquos and 1990rsquos and played with many other local bands such as Nate Shiners Big Blues Revue Marshall played most of the Sacramento Blues Fes-tivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festi-vals He also recorded with the Blues Ambassa-dors and Glenn Lane

AWARD CEREMONY will be at THE DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP PARTY

Please come and honor the musicians that contributed to the Blues in Sacramento

Continued page 6

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

4

December 2012-January 2013

Al ArnettmdashFor more than 40 years Al Arnett was the bass player of choice and an im-portant part of the rhythm section which built the Sacramento

blues scene

Born in Georgia and raised in Cleveland Al started playing gui-tar professionally in 1947 wearing a fake beard and mustache to disguise his age In 1960 he switched to bass guitar and as

an Air Force serviceman played in bands com-posed of the best military musicians During his overseas tours he worked bases in France and Japan often playing six to seven nights a week In Japan he met and worked with guitarist Gene Chambers (later to become a Sacramento resident and Sacramento Blues Hall of Famer) and they backed visiting stars including Lou Rawls and

Sam and Dave

In 1972 he moved to Sacramento and along with Gene Chambers and drummer Marshall ldquoSoulmanrdquo Jones formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento bands Al typically worked in two or three bands at a time for many years some of which endured for more than 20 years Al played with the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band (considered for several years the top Sacra-mento band) the Blues Express Blues Ambas-sadors Soul of the Blues (Glenn Lanes band) Nate Shiner Big Blues Revue Bits and Pieces and many others Al also led Everyday People

another solid long-time Sacramento blues band

Al played most of the Sacramento Blues Festivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festivals in multiple bands Hes backed Little Milton Lowell Fulson Jimmy McCracklin Roy Brown and countless other local and national blues luminaries He also recorded with the Blues Ambassadors Glenn Lane Arbess Williams Johnny Hearts-

man and Omar Sharriff

Al passed away in May 2012 He was best-known as the bass player that ldquoeverybody wants to play withrdquo

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Ray ldquoCatfishrdquo CopelandmdashBorn and raised in California Ray Cope-land moved to Sacra-mento in 1967 and began playing guitar where he soon met up with a local group of musicians called the Sunland Blues Band Their Guitarist Steve Samuels helped Ray get going with some blues ba-

sics

In 1976 Ray formed a band called Quick-shake where he met

blues harmonica ace and guitarist Little Charlie Baty who taught Ray all the correct chord forms for backing Charliersquos harmonica Charles joined the band and the name soon changed to Little Charlie and the Nightcats During the late 70acutes Ray played with The Nate Shiner Blues Band and then got an opportunity through local blues promoter Phil Givant to go on tour with blues piano legend Floyd Dixon followed by a short stint as guitar player for Mark St Mary In 1980 Ray was introduced to musician Johnny Guitar Knox (Hall of Fame inductee) and the band called The Blue Flames was formed The Blue Flames performed in the area until 1999 even

though Ray had left in 1985

During the next 10 years Ray managed a Tower Re-cords store in Sacramento and played occasionally at the Sacramento Blues Festival and a few local es-tablishments Ray has performed on stage with blues notables Big Momma Thornton Luther Tucker Elvin Bishop William Clark Rod Piazza Little Joe Blue Buddy Ace Johnny Heartsman Little Charlie Baty Rick Estrin (Hall of Fame Inductees) Kenny Blue

Ray and many other great musicians

Catfish and the Crawdaddies formed in 1995 and play a wide range of blues including Chicago Texas New Orleans and West Coast styles in addition to some old school RockacutenacuteRoll They have been a popular attraction at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for the last 15 years and played several years at the world famous Saloon in San Francisco Catfish and the Crawdaddies have released three self-produced recordings for which they have received

high reviews and numerous awards

SBS Announces 2012 Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Continued page 5

5

December 2012-January 2013

Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from page 4

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Steve SamuelsmdashKnown as one of Sacramentos

best blues guitaristsv o c a l i s t s S t e v e Samuels was an im-

portant contributor to Sacramentos reputa-tion as a blues town Born without a left hand his arm ended just below the elbow Nevertheless he util-ized it like a one-fingered wrist and picked a right handers guitar by holding it up-side down and back-wards

Steve grew up in Sacramento started playing guitar at 17 discovered BBKing and the blues at 19 and was a professional by age 20 In the late60rsquos Steve played guitar for Sacramentos legendary blues band of exceptional local players The Sunland Blues Band In 1969 he sat in with The Muddy Waters Band for a gig in Berkeley and was invited back for Muddys gigs the next two days In 1970 he started his own band The Steve Samuels Blues Revue and played regularly at many Sacramento area clubs including Tootsies Vangaris Melarkeys and the

Torch Club He played nearly all of the Sacramento Blues Festivals as either a leader or sideman and his band was featured seven times from 1979-1989

Steve has released two excellent LPs In 1985 he recorded On The Corner Of Blues And Swing backed

by former members of the Mighty Flyers Band along with William Clarke pianist David Fraser his brother Andrew Samuels (of Sacramento country-rock band

Redwing) and special guest Sacramento vocalist Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray He wrote two of the cuts In 1994 he recorded Saturday Night Blues which also

included David Fraser and William Clarke He also backed Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray on ldquoYour Friendsrdquo which appears on the Sacramento Blues compilation CD

Steve continued his successful blues career after moving to Los Angeles He played with William Clarke and many other Southern California blues art-ists In the late 1980s his Steve Samuels Band toured Europe He was also praised as a fine guitar teacher by Coco Montoya on the Thom Meyers radio show and he was featured in a story in Guitar Player

magazine in November 1986

Marshall ldquosoulmanrdquo JonesmdashFor more

than 30 years Mar-shall Jones was the drummer of choice and an important part of the rhythm section which built the Sacra-mento blues scene Born in Natchitoches Louisiana Marshall started drumming to accompany the coun-try music he heard as a kid After moving to Oakland in 1995 he met Johnny Hearts-

man (HOF inductee) his next door neighbor and started playing blues He began his professional career in 1959-60 with Johnnys band and devel-oped his skills in Bay Area nightclubs backing visit-ing national artists and jamming In the lsquo70s he moved to Sacramento and met har-monica player Johnny Ayers who introduced him to Dave Bonds Al Arnett and Gene Chambers (HOF inductee) Together they first formed the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band which was the most popular Sacramento band at the time They played the Sacramento Blues Festival and backed many visiting musicians including Little Milton After Bonds found religion and moved to Los Angeles Al Gene and Marshall stuck together and formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento blues bands that have endured for more than 20years He was the leader of The Blues Express and The Blues Ambassadors throughout the 1980rsquos and 1990rsquos and played with many other local bands such as Nate Shiners Big Blues Revue Marshall played most of the Sacramento Blues Fes-tivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festi-vals He also recorded with the Blues Ambassa-dors and Glenn Lane

AWARD CEREMONY will be at THE DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP PARTY

Please come and honor the musicians that contributed to the Blues in Sacramento

Continued page 6

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

5

December 2012-January 2013

Blues HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from page 4

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Steve SamuelsmdashKnown as one of Sacramentos

best blues guitaristsv o c a l i s t s S t e v e Samuels was an im-

portant contributor to Sacramentos reputa-tion as a blues town Born without a left hand his arm ended just below the elbow Nevertheless he util-ized it like a one-fingered wrist and picked a right handers guitar by holding it up-side down and back-wards

Steve grew up in Sacramento started playing guitar at 17 discovered BBKing and the blues at 19 and was a professional by age 20 In the late60rsquos Steve played guitar for Sacramentos legendary blues band of exceptional local players The Sunland Blues Band In 1969 he sat in with The Muddy Waters Band for a gig in Berkeley and was invited back for Muddys gigs the next two days In 1970 he started his own band The Steve Samuels Blues Revue and played regularly at many Sacramento area clubs including Tootsies Vangaris Melarkeys and the

Torch Club He played nearly all of the Sacramento Blues Festivals as either a leader or sideman and his band was featured seven times from 1979-1989

Steve has released two excellent LPs In 1985 he recorded On The Corner Of Blues And Swing backed

by former members of the Mighty Flyers Band along with William Clarke pianist David Fraser his brother Andrew Samuels (of Sacramento country-rock band

Redwing) and special guest Sacramento vocalist Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray He wrote two of the cuts In 1994 he recorded Saturday Night Blues which also

included David Fraser and William Clarke He also backed Bobby ldquoBluesrdquo Ray on ldquoYour Friendsrdquo which appears on the Sacramento Blues compilation CD

Steve continued his successful blues career after moving to Los Angeles He played with William Clarke and many other Southern California blues art-ists In the late 1980s his Steve Samuels Band toured Europe He was also praised as a fine guitar teacher by Coco Montoya on the Thom Meyers radio show and he was featured in a story in Guitar Player

magazine in November 1986

Marshall ldquosoulmanrdquo JonesmdashFor more

than 30 years Mar-shall Jones was the drummer of choice and an important part of the rhythm section which built the Sacra-mento blues scene Born in Natchitoches Louisiana Marshall started drumming to accompany the coun-try music he heard as a kid After moving to Oakland in 1995 he met Johnny Hearts-

man (HOF inductee) his next door neighbor and started playing blues He began his professional career in 1959-60 with Johnnys band and devel-oped his skills in Bay Area nightclubs backing visit-ing national artists and jamming In the lsquo70s he moved to Sacramento and met har-monica player Johnny Ayers who introduced him to Dave Bonds Al Arnett and Gene Chambers (HOF inductee) Together they first formed the Dave Bonds Rhythm amp Blues Band which was the most popular Sacramento band at the time They played the Sacramento Blues Festival and backed many visiting musicians including Little Milton After Bonds found religion and moved to Los Angeles Al Gene and Marshall stuck together and formed the core rhythm section for multiple Sacramento blues bands that have endured for more than 20years He was the leader of The Blues Express and The Blues Ambassadors throughout the 1980rsquos and 1990rsquos and played with many other local bands such as Nate Shiners Big Blues Revue Marshall played most of the Sacramento Blues Fes-tivals and many of the Sacramento Heritage Festi-vals He also recorded with the Blues Ambassa-dors and Glenn Lane

AWARD CEREMONY will be at THE DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP PARTY

Please come and honor the musicians that contributed to the Blues in Sacramento

Continued page 6

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

6

December 2012-January 2013

What is the Hall of Fame

Club which is attributed to the late Frank Texeira Looking at the display cases and pictures on the walls at the Torch one can realize the sense of what was past Ron moved the club in1982 from its original location at 8th amp L Street forsaking the last ldquowatering hole for politiciansrdquo who took an easy stroll from dinner at Frank Fatrsquos to drinks at the Torch Club It was at this time people came to the Torch Club partly for the jukebox that was known for its 45 records in addition to the socializing over drinks Over the years music was gradually added first by a live DJ and eventually bands notably The Beer Dawgs by Ronnie Texeira Ronrsquos son Thatrsquos when Samrsquos Hof Brau on J Street closed and there werenrsquot any other blues clubs around Marina Texeira daughter of Ron soon joined her father and brother and was instrumental in bringing in nationally known blues acts every day of the week Their dad Ron passed away in May 2009 Since then Marina has hosted various musical events for non-profit organizations and benefits at the Torch Club always caring for the Blues Family at large This club has continued to keep its jovial charm but has evolved into more than just a bar but also a community treasure It is now going into its 12th year at the current location on 15th Street between I and J Streets

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

T o r c h C l u b

Texeira FamilymdashThe Torch Club was one of the first bars in Sacra-mento established in 1934 the year prohibi-tion ended Frank Texeira bought it in

1969 when it was origi-nally called The Tumble Inn It had an upstairs sporting bar where pa-trons would place their bets on horse racing and the fights and ldquoladies of the eveningrdquo were waiting for those

who won When the ldquofallen dovesrdquo didnrsquot have any busi-ness they would come downstairs amp sing torch songs at the piano located there Thus it became known as ldquoThe Torchrdquo although it is not known when the name officially changed There were also live jazz and lingerie shows held there as well as a competitive art show that became so popular it was televised on the local TV stations Frank was a gam-bler and fight manager who died in 1980 in Del Mar where he had gone to retire The slogan ldquoknown from Maine to Spainrdquo became recognized in association with the Torch

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESmdashContinued from Page 7

The BITS Committee is busy planning the next yearrsquos round of presentations lessons and seminars We are honored to be included in the Directory of Providers in the Any Given Child program funded by the Kennedy Arts Center in Washington DC We have already been contacted by one large middle school and are planning an outdoor concert for their students to be held next spring Itrsquos exciting to bring some national arts funds to our local musicians We are also bringing BITS to the Childrenrsquos Receiving Home and the often over-looked kids that have been inno-cently removed from their homes and truly in need of the healing power of the Blues We are really excited to serve these kids

Blues in the SchoolsmdashBy Cynthia Jaynes

I want to take a moment to explain the requirements for musicians involved with BITS First all musicians must be SBS members (which can be secured with their first pay-ment) they must adhere to all school policies and have signed agreements in place with the BITS Committee Mu-sicians involved with the after school artist in residence pro-gram must also pass a background check and a TB test A huge Thank You to our sponsors Mary Carrera of Car-rera Productions Rex Foundation Yolo County Arts Coun-cil and the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission We would not have such a vibrant program without your generous support

The Sacramento Blues Society is working to document the disappearing history of local blues music The people that built the blues scene are older and some no longer partici-pate so are not well-known to our members We want to capture the history and also honor the people that made significant contributions to blues in the Sacramento region We honor the inductees at the annual Member Party each December

Each year SBS calls for nominees from our members Nominees need not be members All nominees are re-viewed by our Hall of Fame Committee A qualifying nomi-nee is required to have Blues as the primary format or mu-sic style at least a 20 year history of Blues participation and had historical impact and overall influence on the blues in the area Nominations are accepted year-around so if you would like to nominate a deserving person go to our website and find the procedure You will find it at wwwsacbluescom

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

7

Do You Know the Real Mick Martin - By Vj Anderson and Cynthia Jaynes

December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Mick Martin is the current patriarch of the Blues in our area A native son (ldquoof a native daughter of a native daughterrdquo he adds) he has been in the music scene most of his life His byline was over the entertainment guides in the Sacramento Union for movies and music and his arts critiques were heard on local radio stations for many years He credits his book of movie reviews for putting his daugh-ter through school Any local blues fan recognizes Mickrsquos name from his 100 pm Saturday afternoon Blues show on

Capitol Public Radio since 1991 and at KZAP before that

Mick began playing in local bands in 1964 Later Phil Givant a founder of SBS and the annual Blues Festivals asked Mick to put together a band of local musicians to play and labeled them the All Stars The band changed members each year depending on availability Soon the musicians decided they were not ldquostarsrdquo among the festival headliners and changed the name to The Blues Rockers Mick has been their leader since the early 1980rsquos and the members stay constant now Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers have won the Blues Band SAMMIES three times and have been retired from competition to the Hall of Fame The only other blues band to share this honor is

Little Charlie and the Nightcats

Mick was mentored by another musician when he moved to this area a jazz and blues B-3 player named Jimmy Smith He believes Jimmy helped him not just as a musi-cian but as a music business person and confident stage presence Now he hopes to pass on that information to other musicians that want it And when he teaches his 3 times a year class in harmonica or takes on a student he works to develop not only talent but also style tone and ldquowhen playing is right and when it is ruderdquo He also be-lieves we all need to keep learning and we lose interest in life when we donrsquot have goals dreams and a desire to

know

But we would like to tell you about a different Mick Martin a man that has been very generous with his time and talent for the youth of our community He has been active for many years in both Sacramento and Placer counties in programs for at-risk youth and has many awards for his volunteer work He also has been active in programs to develop creativity and ultimately self esteem in young peo-

ple with awards for that work as well

In early 2004 the Society was struggling to get into area public schools with our Blues in the Schools (BITS) pro-gram which had long been neglected The Blues Founda-tion provides some direction for its BITS program to its af-filiated Blues societies like Sacramento Blues Society and provides some designed curriculum There is no estab-lished program or nationally directed initiative and each society that wishes to participate develops its program to meet the needs of the community and participating schools Emphasis can be various subjects like social studies American history visual arts or prose - as well as

the obvious ndashmusic education

We jumped in to the BITS program with little background and much enthusiasm SBS Board member Cynthia Jaynes pulled together a few SBS members to serve on a BITS Committee Now the challenge was gaining entrance into Sacramentorsquos schools developing a local program and finding musicians willing to volunteer We had no funds for

the program

A charter high school Sacramento High Schoolrsquos Arts Academy gave permission for the first presentation Our first venue was set but we needed musicians When Cyn-thia contacted Mick Martin he was immediately receptive to the idea and signed on to perform without accepting any compensation We had no knowledge of his prior willing-ness to assist in our youth and were pleasantly surprised at his enthusiasm He did it for the love of the blues and the importance of bringing this music to the students in the area He also brought on a young local musician to be sure to draw the students ndash a now internationally known local keyboard player and singer named Jackie Greene Now if only we could expand the program to the local pub-

lic schools

Immediately following those first Blues presentations Gaye Wood a BITS Committee member and retired music teacher provided the contacts necessary to help us gain entry into local public schools and Mick volunteered to assist us with the program Mick worked closely with Gaye to develop a lesson plan based on the Sweet Home Chi-cago documentary and adapt the related music He worked out a little levity in introducing Howlinrsquo Wolf Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters to the students just to hold their attention For the 20042005 school year Mick and accompanying local professional musicians all volunteered their time and talent to provide the informative inspiring and entertaining program for 18 performances in nine

schools reaching over 2000 students

In short order Mick became the Clinician of our program and with his name recognition we had a program going stronger than ever With Mick at the helm and with his expert leadership musicians were eager to participate without compensation This ldquopilot programrdquo was vitally im-portant to BITS by providing the experience and data needed to successfully pursue grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and other community giving organizations Since that first year all musicians have been paid for every BITS performance The BITS program grows stronger and reaches more students each year thanks primarily to Mick and the strong foundation he helped to build Mick has been and continues to be a

strong advocate for bringing the blues to area youth

Mick is also a kind mentor to young musicians and a role model for other professional artists in the region Mick has been a teacher and mentor for 19 year old Kyle ldquoRockinrdquo Rowland local blues harmonica proteacutegeacutee currently the front man for the Kyle Rowland Band Kyle says in 2003 another musician pointed out Kyle but

Continued page 8

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

8

December 2012-January 2013

Mick did not see him as he was about 10 years old and quite short at the time The third time Mick asked him to stand up he jumped on a chair and Mick saw him and invited him to play on stage the beginning of a lasting bond Mickrsquos strong and positive influence is evident as Kyle performs Kyle has taken on the role of lecturerperformer for some of the BITS presentations and does a fabulous job with lecture content onstage presence and interactions with the audiences and of course excellent harmonica playing A true reflection of Mickrsquos heart soul

and love of the blues

Mick hopes others see the need for keeping the blues alive ndash because it is a part of our history it adds to our humanity and it gives us reason to be humble in success and strong in adversity It saddens him to see rock music mislabeled as blues or a musician knowing only one genre of music Each genre has a history and a personal-

Irsquoll tell you what it means It means you missed the PARTY What a fabulous trip to the Crescent City Blues amp BBQ Festival The second weekend in October found 18 SBS bluesers walking into Lafayette Square along with thou-sands of locals From the jazz band that met us at the air-port (of course they were there to welcome us not the thousands of neuroscientists that were also converging on the city) to the perfect weather the fabulous food the in-credible music and the general overall well-organized festi-val the experience just couldnrsquot have been more pleasur-

able Irsquom so glad I sprung for the VIP package We had a place in the shade room to move around (which was HUGE as the dayevening wore on and the square became crowded) our own bar (bartenders Tina and Patty treated us like the

ldquoDo You Know What it means to Miss New Orleansrdquo by Liz Walker

ity Mick credits Little Charlie Baty with helping area blues musicians play what they loved rather than playing rock to make a living and blues when they could slip a song or two in the show He says Charlie was adamant about being true to the blues He also admires Johnny ldquoGuitarrdquo Knox for his loyalty to this countryrsquos roots music and knowledge of its creators And he believes the Blues represent American

history with an all-American personality

So when you turn your dial to Capital Public Radio to listen to Mick next Saturday afternoon I hope you will also think about how Mick not only loves the blues he really believes in keeping the blues alive one school and one group of students at a time And listen carefully ndash he is also giving a

lesson in American history

Thank you Mick Martin for being our BITS star and guiding

light

the real Mick Martin - Continued from Page 7

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Just another day in NOLA - By Sharon Earl

I joined the group of Blues Society members that went to New Orleans for the Blues and BBQ Festival As I rode the bus out to buy a tambourine the lady next to me ap-peared to be in some distress She commented that her labor pains were about an hour apart and she was headed home where her family was waiting for her to grab her be-longings and go to the hospital Oh my I sat next to her while she was breathing through a contraction and then got off at the next stop She apparently took riding the bus

while in labor all quite in stride

Irsquom very happy about making two new dear friends and look forward to more adventures I even ate Garbage Salad at a dive bar - hey that was good We went down Bourbon Street to the Funky Pirate to hear some blues and we stopped off at another bar to do a little dance on the way

back to the hotel

My best memory was the Oral History session with Keb Mo There were maybe 30 of us in the theatre as he told an endearing story of his youth He said he basi-cally had a lack of inter-est in anything and would come back to mu-sic now and then He didnt have a sense of direction until his mom told him he was good at making money with his music Then he got focused I got to speak with him and shake his hand and found him to be a very gracious and kind man He said he had played at Sac Blues Festivals in the past Seeing Keb Mo had been a dream of mine

meeting him was the highlight of the trip for me

VIPrsquos we pretended to be) our own potty (no waiting in long lines) and up close access to the stage While the focus of the trip was the festival we all

found time to check out some other parts of the city Some of my favorite highpoints were two-steppin to a kickinrsquo Cajun band at Rock-N-Bowl dancing at Cyril Nevillersquos birthday bash in the quarter and Sunday morning jazz brunch at Buffarsquos (a very cool neighborhood spot where everybody knew everybody else the Eggs Benedict yummy the Bloody Maryrsquos spicy and the music hot) Eve-rywhere we went generous friendly people were willing to help and engage with you (I especially loved our ride back to the airport finger snapping and singing harmonies with the cabbie) I canrsquot wait to go again

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

9

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6 December 2012-January 2013 V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Northern California Blues Festival

e-mail

infonorcalbluesfestcom

Website

httpwwwnorcalbluesfestcom

Bluebird Tours

Grady OBryant

1017 L St Ste 580 Sacramento CA 95814

(916)443-8741 office

(916)271-2685 cell

(916)473-5789 fax

wwwsactripscom

California Seller of Travel 2084147-40

10

December 2012-January 2013

Andy Keene amp Kinda Blue ajkeane3aolcom Bad Catz wwwbadcatzcom Big Earl and the Cryin Shame bigearlgmailcom Blues Vandals bluesvandalscom Bobby Blues Ray 916-422-5830 Chicken amp Dumpling wwwchickenanddumplingnet Coyote Slim wwwcoyoteslimcom Dave Croall amp the Soothers rightdavehotmailcom Diamond Bob amp the Alley Sneakers wwwdiamondbobsbluescom 408-313-7194 Gary Mendoza Band wwwgarymendozabandcom 916-599-9947 Groove Diggers 916-217-1263 Jeramy Norris and The Dangerous Mood wwwfacebookcomJeramyNorrisTheDangerousMood Julie and The Jukes cmorielucdavisedu Kyle Rowland Band wwwkylerockinrowlandcom

Support our Band Membersmdash Hire a Band

V o l u m e 3 3 I s s u e 6

Marshal Wilkerson wwwmarshalwilkersonbandcom O Street Jumps wwwmyspacecomOStreetJumpsBand Randy Carey randrockprodigynet 916-607-0695 Red Moon Band wwwfacebookcompagesREd-MOOn133617156681084 Ro Harper and the Blues Busters wwwfacebookcomRoharpo Rolling Blackouts deborahsingsblueshotmailcom Sky OBanion Blues Band wwwfacebookcomskyobanion Spotted Dogs bookingspotteddogmusiccom Sunny Blue Bland Review kingsofthebluesymailcom Steve Foster Band Stevefosterband comcastnet Used Blues Band Seanmyifpcom Val Starr amp the Blues Rocket wwwbluesrocketbiz Wingnut Adams wwwwingnutadamscomfr_homecfm

11

Sacramento Blues Society

Is Pleased To Acknowledge

our Sponsors and Donors

and Thank them for Supporting our Programs

Platinum Sponsor

Carrera Productions

Mary Carrera

The Rex Foundation

Gold Sponsor

Folsom Telegraph

Silver Sponsor

M-3 California

Jobe Custom Guitars

Byron and Ginny Jobe

Crystal Basin

Bronze Sponsor

AAA Insurance

Emmy Sabra

916-724-0351

CLA Real Estate

Max Moon

916-214-4348

The Couch Sports Lounge

wwwthecouchnet

Damore Hamric amp Schneider Inc

Marta Williams CPA

916-481-2856

Gotradiocom

916-765-0162

Keller Williams Real Estate

Edward Haneffant

916-782-1000

Roseville Station Lounge

wwwthestationloungenet

Torch Club

Marina Texeira

wwwtorchclubnet

Arts Education Sponsor

Donor

Sacramento Blues Revue

Sacbluesrevuecom

Private Donor

The Read Family

Business Donor

Barber Blues

916-258-BLUE (2583)

wwwbarberbluesnet

Bluebird Tours

Grady OrsquoBryant

wwwsactripscom

Bluezzee Tees

530-321-7197

Bluezzee-teescom

Elk Grove Sports Bar

916-685-6103

wwwelkgrovesportsbarcom

HammondLeslie salesservice

sound

John Noxon Musician

916-660-6466

San Juan Club

Nick amp JoAnn Jamson

wwwsanjuanclubnet

12

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U S POSTAGE PAID SACRAMENTO CA PERMIT NO 2149

Blue Notes is

The official bi-monthly

Newsletter of the

Sacramento Blues Society

Co-editors

Vj Anderson amp Jan Kelley

Send information for the newsletter to

editorsacbluescom

or mail to

Editor

P O Box 60580

Sacramento CA 95860-0580

Not a Member

Join on our website

wwwsacbluescom Current calendar news past

newsletters and more

Cover Artmdashgraphic by Richard White

Richard White has pursued photography 35 years In 1978 he started as a ldquoroadierdquo in North Highlands CA then started working for local Rock bands ndash KTTK and Cherry Bomb as roadie photographer and all around ldquogood guyrdquo In 2011 he was invited into the blues scene by Bruce Pressley He has since worked closely with Mick Martin amp The Blues Rockers documenting many of their performances He has gone on to photograph Lydia Pense Donny Baldwin J Geils Jerry Beaudoin Jeff Pitchell Terry Hanck and many local Blues players He created the Bruce Pressley commissioned art work for the Stephen S Schofer Memorial Benefit held at The Torch Club this year He also used his backstage privileges to

obtain the signatures of J Geils Gerry Beaudoin and Jeff Pitchell on a guitar destined for a BITS raf-fle His work has been published in prior issues of Blue Notes The Sac Blues News and the Exam-inercom Richardrsquos special thanks go out to all who have assisted him along the way too many to name but especially Virgil White Paul Bean Casey Corrigan Bruce Pressley Mick Martin Skip Murphy Mary Carrera and The Sacramento Blues Society ldquoI couldnt have done it without yourdquo

P O Box 60580

Sacramento CA

95860-0580