Main Blues

Multi-Award Winning Blues DJ Jonathan “Oogie” Richards & Sweet Danny Ray O’Bryant join forces with NWCZ Radio in Tacoma, WA. Beginning Monday, June 4, 2012, 8:00PM - 11:00PM PST they debut their new Internet Blues Radio Show “Mighty Mouth Blues” which will bring the best of Independent Blues Artists and Bands from the Pacific NW and beyond. The show will be produced live with a focus on weekly Interviews and Performance from the region’s top acts. Oogie and Sweet Danny Ray are known for their high energy, humor driven personality radio show. They will bring Blues Entertainment to a Global Audience presented in a real, honest and sometimes raw format, which is the Blues!

NWCZ Radio is proud and feels very privileged to be adding the award winning Jonathan “Oogie” Richards and Sweet Danny Ray to the Monday night line up on www.nwczradio.com. We know Jonathan and Danny bring years of experience to the new show. The Internet will give them the platform they need to bring you what they’ve really been wanting to say and play but couldn’t on terrestrial radio. It will be exciting and fresh yet with the same quality “Oogie” and Danny have been bringing their listeners for years!!

Jonathan says; “I am excited to launch the next phase of my radio career in partnership with NWCZ Radio. Internet radio is revolutionizing how consumers get what they want; good radio from relevant artists, delivered by a DJ not suffocated from a broken terrestrial radio business model. Internet radio is neither unfiltered nor polluted, it is the new frontier! Content will be King again and we are now positioned for this exciting revolution!”

Danny O’Bryant; ” This is an exciting time to be in radio. The way our music is delivered to us has been, and will continue to be in flux. The shift to Internet radio gives us more opportunities than ever before. Independent artists are now able to get exposure on a global scale, easily and affordably. We intend to showcase local and regional blues artists on an international platform.” 

NWCZ Radio brings you what corporate/terrestrial radio won’t. Streaming 24/7 online at www.nwczradio.com we are proud to play independent Northwest bands and give them the platform and exposure they deserve. NWCZ Radio’s goal is to take the proud heritage of music and talent the Northwest has to offer and deliver it to the world!

Photo by Margene Schotz

There were 240 bands from the United States and many from other countries in Memphis this past week. In the trial by fire that followed, one band survived: The winner in Memphis is THE WIRED! BAND from Everett, Washington and representing the Washington Blues Society.

Photo by Margene Schotz

The process of the bands getting there was serious business. At each stage panels of judges with forms and a point system evaluated thousands of bands on many things: the number of octaves of each singer, whether 80% of their songs are originals, whether they keep their music inside the blues genre, the skill level of each band member and how in harmony they are, and much more. And whether you agree with the process or not, it is with out a doubt a huge recognition of talent and respect by the international blues community.


Below is an article, written by Robert Horn for the Washington Blues Society's Bluesletter awhile back, about about Wired's front man Kevin Sutton:

A Conversation with the Washington Blues Society's " Best of Blues" Performer of the Year - By Robert Horn

Kevin Sutton won Best of Blues (BB) Awards this spring for Best Performer and Best Songwriter. His band, “Wired”, won the BB Award for Best Blues Act. His band was also picked by the Washington Blues Society to represent this state at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Those are pretty good things to have on your resume. This highly entertaining band does some things way outside the box. I have enjoyed seeing and hearing Kevin as the band’s front man because he is a great entertainer.

I also found out something about Kevin that made me even more interested in interviewing him. Kevin has an education that includes Anthropology, Economics, and History. Because of that I knew that he would view music a lot like I do and we would be talking a common language about some deeper things. So when we spent an afternoon talking I was not at all surprised when the conversation covered not only his music history but also both of our interpretations of philosophers like Kant, Sartre, and Bertrand Russell. Kevin teaches high school and in a phone conversation before we got together he mentioned that teaching is a performance art too. I was definitely looking forward to talking with him and hearing what he had to say about his art. I knew that the biggest challenge for me would be to not talk too much myself. Early in our conversation Kevin told me that I shouldn’t worry about that since he teaches history (among other things) and he talks a lot.

When I met Kevin and his family we talked about our lives, our families, and the world situation up until now. At a certain point I pushed the button on my tape recorder and said this: Your background in music and academically made me think you probably see music within culture and culture within a society and the historical evolution of this society related to other societies. Do you approach music with this in mind? He then said the following:

KS: Here is the interesting thing. Here is what really showed the difference (in his perspective in contrast to some that don’t have his background). Everybody has this top list of what you are supposed to do when you go to Memphis, but if you kept going when you got downtown you go past Sun Studios, you see the statue of the Grand Dragon of the KKK, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. You also see the old dilapidated house of Memphis Slim in the same neighborhood. I also noticed a place that cuts hair there in that neighborhood. (He also told about the school at Stax Studio and he wanted to check it out). The idea from my background, those are the things, for me to go and see, making the connection between this and realize ‘what is this blues music?’ and as a white folks, we can turn it on or off, but think about what blacks deal with in this country when they see that statue every day. I will never completely understand it. That’s the blues but I will never understand it the same way. Memphis is a real place. When I was at Stax Studio and nobody else noticed that (in addition to the Grand Wizard statue) across the street is the home of Memphis Slim…It is fenced in and will be renovated. There is also Stax School. Right at the T in the road I can see a hair cutting place. My perception is of the things around it. I imagine that it was there when Stax was happening. I bet I could find old people in the neighborhood who could talk about the neighborhood history. That was Memphis. It wasn’t Sun Studios, it wasn’t Graceland, … It was all the things next to what you were supposed to see. (Kevin and I talked about how the music comes from the souls of the people and has a connection to the place it came from.)

RH: You lived in St Louis so the south was not completely new to you. I also saw an online interview with you where you talked about having a heavy metal influence but then being in contact with the St Louis Blues scene. What was going on with all of that?

KS: Where in the world is that?

Photo By Tim & Michelle Burge

RH: Click on Wired Band and then click around and you may find it. Can you tell more about how you went from early interest in music to what lead to blues?

KS: Oh, that’s Madison Pub and Rob Bramblett, and Seed of Seattle. Well, I had played music all through school. Unfortunately they let me be in all band classes in high school and I didn’t learn anything. That’s why it took me so long to get out of college. They just let me take four band classes and two regular classes.

RH: They let you do that somewhere?

KS: In Moscow Idaho you could. I don’t understand why they did that. If you look at the transcripts you see choir, orchestra, band…

RH: You can do that in college. You can major in music.

KS: I was well aware of that and actually spent some time in Hawaii majoring in music at the University of Hawaii. I was learning different types of music. That was an amazing experience too because if you walk into a theory class at the University of Hawaii and you were walking into a class where it was not agreed upon that there were twelve notes in a scale. Instructors had to re-think how to teach music. Why does it (music) do what it does. In many Asian cultures there is no twelve note scale. There are semi –tones and stuff. One of the scales from Japan is a blues scale, the same notes and they bend the same way but different. In India there is a chord in their culture that is beautiful but a half step away it is discord and sounds out of tune.

RH: Can you bend genres with blues and all other cultures in the world?

KS: Absolutely.

RH: I was thinking about something you said earlier and thinking of Rye Cooter who put together the film, “Buena Vista Social Club”. He visited old neighborhoods in Cuba asking who may have known some old guys that used to perform a type of music not heard anywhere else.

KS: (Kevin picked up on this train of thought and ran with it). Some of those guys, man, some of those guys were driving buses and were janitors. Johnny Johnson, great example, you know who he is right? He was the piano player who hired Chuck Berry, and it turns out, arranged all those hits. Chuck Berry would come in with vocals and an idea for a song and Johnny Johnson would say, “This is the way it goes.” He didn’t know he was co-writing Johnny B. Good and Roll over Beethoven. But if you listen, all of those hits have the same piano player on it. He was arranging all the songs for Chuck Berry. When I was living in St Louis one of the people I ran into was Johnny Johnson. He was a bus driver. He used to play with Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry, you could see every couple weeks. He’d walk into a club and be sitting there watching music in St Louis or sitting in and playing with whoever. I played with him (Johnny Johnson) who is now in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. He had played with the Rolling Stones…and was hanging out with Keith Richards. I replaced him in a band on piano in the late ‘80s. I hired him for $40 a night to play piano during the same time period he sometimes performed with Keith Richards. I was playing some Hawaiian guitar I had been learning. He was just Johnny Johnson, a really nice guy. He may get $4,000 from Keith and $40 from me.

That was a cool thing about my education in St Louis, was to know these guys. Big Fat Smitty was one of these guys: a hard drinkin’ huge piano mover from East St Louis. He also sang in a band. Just getting him focused enough to do a gig was amazing. He was Howlin’ Wolf’s size and had the same tough as nails demeanor. He would show up and what a character: he’d always have a flask of whiskey in his back pocket…. I played with Tommy Bankhead for a while…James Crutchfield,…some amazing guys. These old guys… I got to play with some amazing old guys. That was my education.

RH: You play guitar and piano. When did each of those begin?

KS: I’ve always been a guitar player, but opportunity knocked (for piano) because I was good friends with Jimmy Lee Kent who was Godfather of the blues scene in St Louis …Greg Edick, whose father was George Edick, didn’t always show up on time. I was told to bring a bass in case he didn’t show up. So I was bringing in equipment. After a month he was used to me and finally asked (after I had played bass) “what else do you play?” I said I played piano. So I was on stage and the piano was turned off but I was going through the motions like I was Jerry Lee Lewis. After the show people came up and said “that was great.” In six months I could play piano.

RH: What early influence made you go from not just liking music but deciding you wanted to play it?

KS: My dad played some piano…. I had an older brother who whenever I was interested in something, would make something happen. If I got interested in guitar he’d show up with an amp….Things were pretty boring in Moscow Idaho (where he learned to play as a kid.)

RH: Many grow up on rock and along the way get interested in blues. How did you get interested in playing blues?

KS: I think the blues always has been of interest. I like jazz but can’t play it. I couldn’t play heavy metal either. I loved it but could not play it. Blues just feels like what I feel comfortable with.

RH: With blues fans, I know in my case, after being around a while and going through the school of hard knocks a little bit, I would hear blues and think “that is what I wanted to say.” With playing it, in your case, how did it speak to you?

KS: I could listen to one measure of jazz and think about it all day long. So much going on it overwhelmed me. (Kevin then imitated some heavy metal sounds and talked about how there was a lot going on there too.)

RH: You mentioned that teaching is a performance art. What do you mean?

KS: It is not just about talking but getting a student to interact with you. It is like being a therapist and trying to get someone to lay on the couch. You sometimes get kids to say some amazing things that become an educational experience for the whole class. (He gave some examples that we discussed for some time.) There are kids from Mexico and think they are Spanish. I asked a kid if his grandparents live in Mexico and the kid says yes. I ask if their grandparents speak any other language and he said “Yes they speak this other language called ….” That is what the ancient Aztecs spoke (Kevin’s background in Anthropology was very useful for this). So I ask why they would be speaking what the ancient Aztecs spoke. They then realize where they came from. So, I have gotten good at drawing people in with teaching. It is not about me telling an interesting story, it is about me drawing kids in so they want to be part of the conversation. (Kevin also told about a situation where he was telling about the European colonization of 3rd World Nations and a kid said “So we won, right?” Kevin pointed out to the student that such “winning” was at the expense of many of the ancestors of his classmates, and asked if he had thought about that. The class got a chance to discuss the world in a deeper way right then.)

RH: Can you tell how that relates to what you are doing with music?

KS: I don’t think I am quite there yet with music. I am learning to do that.

RH: The “Minnie the Moocher” thing draws people in, and makes them interact with you doesn’t it? Do you always do that song or just sometimes?

KS: Upon request. A lot of people love that song and then the next question is where you go from there. There is so much more to do than that. With music, it’s maybe 20% of what it should be. I’ve got a couple more songs where I try to recreate that atmosphere without copying that song. There is the call and response, but it is still in development. I just know it could be a lot better…more of a connection. For this next album I have 60 or 70 songs and I have to pick about 10 of them that may help get there. I would be happy if we have one song that makes people think “Oh, those were the guys that did that song.”

RH: Is there any pattern to how you write, some riffs or some lyrics first?

KS: One song I wrote that some people like called “And You Should Be Jealous”. It is a song about politicians. Heather Coleman lives here in Everett and was at a show at Benaroyal Hall. She sends a message from the show saying “I am listening to…and you should be jealous.” I started thinking about that phrase and soon the song wrote itself. Do you practice writing songs by writing songs or by experiencing life? (Kevin argues that it is mainly life and told about how the old early blues masters who worked all day long were not the professionally trained musicians and may have played horrible guitars but came out with this music. We discussed Howlin’ Wolf who played a few licks on harmonica and had the gravel in his voice but it was able to sound great. Kevin said that when he tries to play too many notes on guitar it doesn’t work as well for him.)

RH: Will you always do this?

KS: I think so. I just finished Keith Richards’ autobiography and that is what he says too. I started teaching late and don’t have a 401K, I have to do something for retirement. In a few years maybe I will do it sitting down.

RH: So your current project is the next CD. When do you expect it to be done?

KS: It has had stops and starts, been a long time comin’, maybe by this summer.

RH: How long has there been a Wired Band?

KS: It’s been four or five years. The character behind the band though is Keith, the bass player. He has played since the sixties from Anchorage to Sacramento. He is Rick’s wife’s uncle. There’s a place in Snohomish called The Wired Coffee House. It had an open mic there. We were jamming there. So we were the Wired Unplugged Coffee House Band and got a gig at the Snohomish Farmers Market for $40 bucks. Then there was a bar that opened up called The Speakeasy and they wanted Rockabilly. Rockabilly is a little like blues, you just pick up the beat a little bit, it’s just swing music. Rick and I quit the (earlier) band we were in, which was Miles from Chicago. Eventually started writing original material and got gigs.

Kevin talked for some time that afternoon about how he feels like he just showed up recently on the blues scene here and wants to contribute more to the life of that scene. More music will be created by Kevin Sutton. It didn’t take much time from the first gig in Snohomish to getting the Best of the Blues Awards this year. On one hand there is a high degree of modesty and self-examination. On the other hand there is a determination to create music at a higher quality level than this BB Award winner has yet reached. It is the interaction of those contradictory parts of his thinking that is driving his future development. 

While I had been aware of Brandon O. Bailey before I actually met him it was not until Memphis while I was walking through a breeze-way at my hotel that the familiar riffs of Jason Ricci’s “Snowflakes and Horses” caught my attention. In a park across from the hotel a young man sat playing a most compelling harmonica solo. Nothing doing but I had to check this out more closely. Before crossing the street to the park the familiar J. Geils “Whammer Jammer”, began followed by the Sonny Boy Williamson/Willie Dixon tune “Bye Bye Bird”. I was totally captivated as this tall, angular, handsome teenager as he shifted his effects and swung into “Billie Jean”, a Michael Jackson classic. Needless to say, that I hung around for the total performance so that I could learn more.

Photo By Suzanne Swanson

The following explains why Brandon has caught the attention of master harmonica players. In 2008 he rose through the ranks of several hundred contestants to make the finals of the Orpheum Star Search competition in Memphis winning it handily. The Blues Foundation has awarded scholarships to Brandon two summers in a row to assist in his further advancement and studies of the harmonica. Brandon adapted the post-modern harp-boxing style made famous by Son of Dave: blues riffs intertwined with beat-box rhythms. This brings the art form to a new level of awareness for a much younger generation of music fans. Although still in his teens, he's already played with some of the best harmonica players and bands in the country including Adam Gussow of Satan and Adam, Jason Ricci and New Blood, Billy Gibson, Charlie Wood, and Blind Mississippi Morris. He has performed at B. B. Kings Blues Club in Memphis, The Rum Boogie Cafe, The Orpheum Theater in Memphis, TN the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in Helena, The Mid South Fair, and the Jefferson Awards in Washington D.C.

• How did you choose the harmonica, or did it choose you?

Photo By Suzanne Swanson

I began playing the harmonica after my grandmother told me that my great grandfather (her father) used to play harmonica train songs around the house to entertain the family. This prompted me to ask my mom to purchase a harmonica, and I started from there.

• What prompted you to learn the looping technique? When did you first find out about that?

I was searching through some music videos on YouTube one day around two years ago, and somehow stumbled upon the work of a former member of "the crash test dummies" named Benjamin Darvill who now goes by the stage name Son of Dave. He was using a looping pedal to layer beat boxed grooves and bass hummed harmonies, and was playing harmonica and singing over the top. This style completely fascinated me, and I imagined that if I had a looping pedal, I would probably be able to play similar music. So fortunately some months later, I received a looping pedal from my aunt Lasonia Harris (who is also the executive producer of my album) and began studying EVERY Son of Dave video on the internet.

• Jason Ricci admires what you play and I have heard you play his material. Has his Levy method had an influence on you in any way?

Although I am a HUGE fan of Howard Levy, he has never been one of my particular sound influences. The closest influential link that I have to Howard's playing is from my friend and mentor, the late Chris Michalek. Chris was a friend of Levy's and was one of the few master jazz harmonica players who could keep up with Levy's technique.

• When did you come under the tutelage of Adam Gussow?

I actually learned how to play from watching his series of instructional videos on youtube.com. We first met after I had progressed to the semi-final round of a mid-south talent competition held yearly called the Orpheum Star Search. Mr. Gussow attended that semi-final round and was became interested in my ability after seeing me play the J.Geil's bands instrumental harmonica piece "Whammer Jammer". When I progressed to the finale round of the competition, Mr. Gussow offered to come to Memphis to give me some stage coaching for the finals. Fortunately, the stage training worked, and I won the competition. We have been friends and he has been helping ever since.

• Harp musicians are very devoted to their particular brand, and model of harmonica. Charlie Musselwhite praises Harrison harmonicas for giving him the quality he demands on the road. How did you happen to pick this manufacturer? What models do you prefer?

Photo By Suzanne Swanson

I was originally introduced to Harrison Harmonica's through my friend and fellow harmonica player Jay Gaunt, who had purchased some of their customs, and is friends with the company owner, Brad Harrison. After playing his custom harmonicas for a while, Mr. Harrison informed me that he would be manufacturing his own brand of harmonicas in Chicago, and that he wanted me to be one of his endorsees. Currently, the Harrison Harmonica's B-Radical is my favorite harmonica due to its easy of playability and workmanship. There is no other harmonica being manufactured in the United States and with such amazing quality to allow me to do what I do.

• Having met both your mother and grandmother how has their role in your life with music developed.

My mother and grandmother have been the biggest supports since the very beginning. They have been through a lot because of the music I am involved in, and have invested a great deal not only financially, but of their own time, energy and patience. I am extremely thankful to them for that.

• There are three of your self-penned tunes on “Memphis Grooves” as well as the covers you do. What might we expect to hear on your next album?

The next album will featured more prominent vocal arrangements, and will feature some of Memphis's incredible live musicians as my backing. The looping will still be there, but in more of a live band context, with less emphasis on solo arrangements.

• Where do you see yourself with the harmonica in four years?

It is difficult to say where I will be with the harmonica in four years, considering how much of a whirlwind journey these last 3 years have been. I never really know what is going to happen next, which keeps things very exciting for me. I do hope that my overall mastery of the harmonica will have improved, as well as knowledge of the inner workings of music and theory. It would also be a wonderful thing to have a major record deal by that time. However, in four years I am planning to be in medical school, so we will have to see how things are going with the harmonica.

• You are in a select group of young men in this country right now who are perfecting their craft on the harp. You told me about being friends with Jay Gaunt. Are there other young harp musicians close to your calibre that you jam with from time to time?

As young harmonica artists, we are a very close-knit group of people. Therefore, I try to stay in contact with all of the other young players that I can find in the world. Some players of particular note in my generation include my friends Nic Clark, of Colorado, Zack Pomerleau, of Main, RJ Harman, of Florida, Zhin Wong, of Malaysia, Alex Paclin, of Russia, and LD Miller, of Indiana.

• I heard that you wanted to study medicine and become a doctor. If this is true, where do you see your skills with the harmonica going? Will you continue to play and study or have it as a hobby/outlet?

My primary career goal is to become a paediatric neurologist, and I am currently a pre-med student at the University of Memphis. However, pursing music is important to as great a degree as possible without interfering with my medical training. Having heavily invested in music at this point to have it a state of being a hobby is not an option. However, during medical school I will definitely have to slow down a bit with that career.

Now you can see why I was so impressed with this young artist. We look forward to his next ‘adventure’ in music and wish him much success in life. With wonderful goals like these he is to be encouraged and congratulated. The music of tomorrow is in good hands for the next generation with forward thinking such as Brandon O. Bailey.

Update: Brandon has now been chosen two years in succession by The Blues Foundation to take part in music camps to further his skills in music.

By Robert Horn

Photo by Todd Harrison

For some time I have been thinking of writing an article about Rod Cook. I consider Rod one of the best guitar players in the region, and yet he is not as well-known as I think he should be. He did get a little attention beyond the Pacific Northwest when Vicci Martinez became a national celebrity on the NBC-TV show “The Voice,” and many fans looked her up on YouTube. They may have heard some of her songs and the amazing guitar riffs by her lead guitar player. Some may have thought it was Carlos Santana, but then realized that this guy has his own style instead of someone else’s. He also plays in other bands, including Snake Oil, Rod Cook and Toast, and Rod Cook as a solo act. This summer, Rod performed at a number of festivals, including the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival with Mia Vermillion. I met Rod at Bahama Breeze near the Southcenter Mall, and we talked for a couple hours.

Photo by Blues Boss

RH: How did your interest in music start, and what lead to the blues?

RC: My family was not really musical, but probably what I think got me into it was my brother started playing guitar. He’s four and a half years older than me… and so that is about the time when I started listening to rock and roll radio. It was in the mid 1960’s. My parents were into the big band sound which I didn’t really appreciate so much then. I think I was around nine years old I got a guitar… a $14 dollar acoustic guitar. I primarily taught myself by listening to the radio and was shown a few things. It was a fairly hard guitar to play so I took my time at it. By the time I was around 13 or 14 I got my first electric guitar and that really started to open things up. I started playing with bands in high school playing for after school parties and junior high dances.

RH: You probably listened to all the rock bands of the time, right?

RC: Yeah, I was certainly listening to all that was on the radio at the time and that’s when the British Invasion was going on, and then the American equivalent: The Byrds, The Beachboys, and I liked the Yardbirds a lot. Then later on when things started to change a little more with Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, and a little later on with Fleetwood Mack, Van Morrison, and all the usual suspects.

RH: You have a variety of musical interests, not just blues rock, right?

RC: Yeah, but I was never into the hard rock thing. Bands like Black Sabbath never really did anything for me. I appreciate them more now than I did then. Johnny Winter was one of my favorite guys when I was pretty young. The bands I was in played a little “Johnny B. Good” and whatever we could play that didn’t suck. Later on Little Feet and Steely Dan became favorites. I got into listening to Jazz, got a little education in it. After graduating from high school, I went to Green River Community College and took some jazz classes. By the time that was done I was looking for people to play with.

RH: What time period was that?

RC: The mid-70s. In ’76 I was 20 years old, and a guy I wanted to play with who I met through my older brother, was putting a band together and wanted me to play bass, and I said “yeah.” It was kind of a country rock thing. That was my first professional gig. That band lasted a couple years. It introduced me to the country rock scene of the 70s with Emmy Lou Harris and Jerry Jeff Walker. I wasn’t really familiar with it before. When that band broke up, I was in another band that turned into The Royals. That band was together about ten years. It was an eclectic band. We eventually started playing some blues stuff. Jim King was in that band. Before Jim, John Hodgkin was in that band, too. When Jim joined the band he brought in some Springsteen stuff and I brought in some Little Feat stuff. That band was really pretty successful. It worked. For a long time it worked.

RH: So you were able to play music professionally most of that time?

RC: Yeah, I actually haven’t had a real full time job since I was about 21 years old.

RH: How did you do that?

RC: Well I was poor. I didn’t have much overhead. Getting back to The Royals now. Lilly Wild joined the band, and it was called Lily Wild and the Hysterics. When she left it reverted back to The Royals. We lasted another year or so and I had started playing with Laura Love. I played with her for about 15 years. She got a record deal and toured the country. We played a lot of festivals. It was a great experience. It was a great gig. I hooked up with Curley Cooke, too, and we later performed as Double Cookin’.

RH: Were you on the road a lot in the 90’s.

RC: Yeah, a lot of flying.

RH: I can see the evolution toward blues.

RC: Yeah, in the 80s, I went back and looked at the early blues. I was kind of interested in mastering, or at least handling, jazz, so that was a big influence. You learn how people think, when you sit down and learn their souls, and what they are doing and why they are doing it. Later on I started realizing how really cool guys like Chuck Berry, T-Bone Walker, Freddy King, guys who were more simply players than the English guys that I gravitated to when I was younger. I learned why it was they had such influence.

RH: I first heard you over ten years ago at a Washington Blues Society meeting, and you were there as Rod Cook and Toast. How did that band come about?

RC: Well in The Royals we all split the duties. I had a gig with Curley at Forecasters. Curly couldn’t make it so I called Chris Leighton and Keith Lowe. It was only a two hour gig and we didn’t have a lot of material. We had a couple more gigs and I added some original material. Usually I was a side man, but out of necessity, I did this. It has never been an ambition to have my own band. Maybe if I had a manager they would do something with it. I am really proud of that band, great players. It is a little eclectic. I am still, by nature, more of a side man. I am not great at connecting with the crowd and being an entertainer. If you really want to make a goal of having your own band you have to book a lot of gigs and it is a pain in the ass. Guys like Too Slim decided to make a go at it and do it that way. I like playing with a lot of people. With the Laura Love Band, I could play with them. Then come back home, play in my own band and do my own thing. When the Vicci Martinez Band came along it was sort of the same thing: it had serious potential and this is going to be my priority. That band has been a wonderful experience, they are wonderful people!

RH: I was recently talking to Blues Boss, and he said two things: 1) He thinks you are the best guitar player in the region, and 2) Vicci would say that she is a better musician because of you. Rod interrupted me and asked of the Blues Boss: “What does he know?” He then joked about himself for a while, and told me Blues Boss suggested the idea of one of “Snake Oil”. Rod told about how he likes working with Snake Oil bandmates Mark Riley and Rob Moitoza.

Photo by Blues Boss

RC: I love working with Rob. He is an extremely talented guy. He is a good song writer, too. I think he’s brilliant. Mark’s a great guitarist, too!

RH: What is next? Is there a new album in the works?

RC: I am thinking of doing a solo acoustic thing. I have been doing a lot of that lately. I have fragments of things written, and I have thought of doing an instrumental album.

RH: Your singing is ok too. Actually I think it is a lot better than “ok.”

RC: Nice of you to say that but I consider myself a guitar player who sings as opposed to a singer/guitar player. I have been writing some instrumentals but have had a lyric block lately. I have a few songs I have written that I am proud of and think are good songs.

RH: Do some songs come when you have decided you wanted to get one written or when a life experience hit you?

RC: Yeah, that’s more the way it has worked with me. Someone like Paul Simon may set aside a certain amount of time every day to work on lyrics for music.

RH: Two songs you do one after the other a lot are “I Ain’t The Fool I Used to Be” which sounds hurt and bitter, and it is followed by “I Want to Be In Love Tonight” which sounds like you are ready to try again. Where did those come from?

RC: “I Ain’t The Fool” was kind of a fictional song because I wanted to write that type of hurt blues song, and “I Want To Be In Love Tonight” was about a crush I had. I feel good about both of those songs, they aren’t trite.

Photo by Blues Boss

Rod talked about his current schedule. Every Wednesday, he is at PC’s Pub in Everett, and on Thursdays, he is at CC’s Lounge in Burien with Chris Leighton. He also is playing with The Little Bill Trio at Johnny’s Dock in Tacoma, plays with Snake Oil, Rod Cook and Toast, and The Vicci Martinez Band when it is performing live in the region.

Who knows? We may see Rod more on the national stage where he belongs, even if he acts bashful when I told him that. We talked about his Best of the Blues Awards from the Washington Blues Society, too. Rod was nominated 24 times for a BB Award before receiving honors in the Best Acoustic Guitar category in 2004 and 2006, and that same year, he received the Best Electric guitar award. I’m guessing that Rod may have been overly modest about his count of nominations, too.

There are some nights when Rod plays acoustic, or electric, or slide (electric or acoustic) and you wonder if anyone can be better than that. He is a treasure to have in this region, and just maybe one of the best kept musical secrets of the great state of Washington.

Mia Vermillion is an artist who offers an original contribution to the blues scene. She entered the blues scene through the backdoor not really knowing who-is-who in blues, but rather playing from within and with classic vocal inspirations from the past. She has played the popular Jazz Alley venue in Seattle, opening for John Hammond. She has opened the festivities at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival in July 2011, which is the largest blues festival on the west coast. She has represented Washington State at the 26th annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Mia has self produced her hit recording "Alone Together With The Blues", which has made the top picks on Bluesville Sirius XM.

Does she need validation from others of just how good she is? According to Mia, "that is something that most people strive for, but the important thing is to be at peace with yourself and then the light will shine on what you can do".

I had  an opportunity to chat with Mia Vermillion and we discussed a wide range of topics from her past, present, and future. Mia shares  her accomplishments and struggles as an artist in the blues industry. The opportunity to share this discussion is coming straight at you now…

MIA: I have played some great venues this summer. I opened for John Hammond at the infamous Jazz Alley venue in Seattle, Washington, and opened the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival with Buddy Guy, in Portland, Oregon.

DEW: Your latest debut recording is "Alone Together With The Blues", which is self produced, how did you get into producing your own material?
MIA: My husband Todd helped inspire the studio. In the 1990′s, the internet was developed for communication, and the web was not available at the time. I knew there would be the ability for graphics and sound, as applications were developed. By 2002-2003,  the technology for independent recording became viable.

DEW: Did you begin performing while in college?
MIA: My first band called Ryan, was formed when I was a senior in high school. Ryan is named after an airplane because our band practiced in a large airplane hanger. I sang in choir, played guitar and piano, and have always been interested in vocals. The experience of studying vocals and working with other vocalists in college, proved that I had a wide range of vocals.

DEW: The style and tone of the recordings on "Alone Together With The Blues" sound like a mix of easy listening blues, folk, and jazz. What inspires you to this unique style?
MIA: I like different and interesting chord progressions, besides the traditional three chords in twelve bar blues. The people that really get this recording, hear something different every time they listen. The first time, it hits them but they don't know quite what they are hearing. Folks enjoy discovering something new with every listen. I'm inspired by classic styles such as, Lil Green and Big Bill Broonzy from their 1930′s and early 40′s blues ballads, which were influenced by jazz.

DEW: I know you were out of the music scene for awhile because of a serious injury. Can you explain what that period of your life was like?
MIA: Yes, the injury was serious and took me away from actively being involved with music. I still wanted to be around the music scene and tried to use my vision, but the vision and inspiration were taken away. I began to recover when realizing that I can not be sidetracked by pain and suffering. The vision and inspiration began to return with peace, it was a test in recovery. I have learned that peace provides vision and inspiration, the validity comes from within as light begins to shine on what you can do.

We continued to discuss the vision and inspiration of Mia Vermillion's music. I felt a connection develop that truly began to inspire me. We related as human beings and could recognize the need of peace, which provides vision and inspiration of what one can accomplish. Mia is working on a new recording, and I believe it will be one with a message that inspires us all. Thank you Mia.

Whenever I go out on the town and run into Dominique Stone, I know things are about to get interesting. Dom's got himself situated squarely on the pulse of the blues in the South Sound area and beyond. You may know Dominique Stone from his days holding down the bottom with the Randy Oxford Band, a great gig, but just one facet of a very talented local gem.

Nominated for Best Blues Bass in 2008, when asked what he has been doing lately, I got the low down for you all. Though I do see Dominique here and there at benefits and at shows, I must say, I didn't know jack.

"I joined up with Paul Manual and helped him get his youth organization up and running by training the kids on how to perform, how to be a team, how to learn songs as a band, and other things in life. It is not just about being a good musician, but how to be a good person that respects everyone in the business. I have also been giving lessons to kids for drums, bass, guitar, and vocal training too."

"I have been writing a lot of songs on my own plus collaborating with a few local artists, including Aury Moore and Charlie Marinkovich (presently the guitar player with Iron Butterfly), and performing 'a Ii'l on the rock side,' and finally, I have had my own band called 'On The Level' that was a 'strictly variety' kind of music group playing around the south end, featuring Heather Rayburn (formerly of TROB). I worked a few open mic nights that didn't pan out very well, maybe because of the economy."

"So what am I up to now? The market in Washington is really tough. I came out of a scene were it was variety dance music (Vegas, Minneapolis, etc.), mostly casinos and a lot of traveling, but the money was greater than it is around here. I am heading back out there to try and make that kind of money again, 'cause I can't make it here (unless some miracle happens with a friend). There are a lot of clubs here, but the budgets are really at an all-time low - the worst I have ever seen or been a part of in Washington."

"Rev Deb also asked me if I had anything to say to any kid or player out there trying to make it in the business. What I would tell them is to respect everyone around, be a team player, never stop learning, and don't get stuck on one style cause there are many ways to make money in this business if you know more than one style. If you think you are better than someone else, there is someone out there with the same attitude, and they are probably better than you. So stay humble, learn from each other, and if you are having trouble with a style or song, go out and listen to a band playing what you want to play and learn from hearing and seeing. There are so many great players in the area that you can learn from."

"Music comes from God; when all is said and done, when all the bombs, economy, and whatever goin' on in the world gets bad, remember as a musician it is your job to make people forget about their troubles and have fun."

Wow, that is an armload of great advice. I am saddened to learn how difficult it can be for an innovative and gutsy performer of Dominique Stone's caliber to make a living as a working musician here in the great Northwest. That's one great big footprint to leave behind, but something tells me the young people he has been mentoring are already reaching to fill those shoes, and to do us all proud.

Thank you Dominique for all you contribute. We hope your next journey brings you joy, and we look forward to having you back safe, happy, and wealthy, with life stories to share. Please bring your beautiful smile and your down-to-earth musical genius back to us soon!

You can contact me at deb@revdeb.com if you are interested in baring your soul to the reverend.

By Eric Steiner

 Pacific NW blues artist Mia Vermillion will open up for award winning blues guitarist John Hammond at Jazz Alley in Seattle on Feb. 22nd and 23rd. Washington Blues Society (WBS) President Eric Steiner had the good fortune to catch up to Mia Vermillion recently, and published this interview in the Society's February 2011 Bluesletter:

WBS: Congratulations on your upcoming Jazz Alley performance, opening up for John Hammond. How are you going to develop your set list for this pretty high-profile gig?

MV: By maintaining a degree of focus. I have a fairly short time to present my music. So, with this in mind I will be preparing two new songs that I've written as well as revisiting songs from my album "Alone Together With the Blues." I'm rehearsing the program on guitar by doing some unannounced solo performances over the month of January/ February and of course rehearsing it with Orville. In addition, I'm offering a house concert February 12th in Anacortes which I see as a warm up for my opener at Jazz Alley.

WBS: Since I first saw you and Orville Johnson at the Anacortes Public Library a few years ago, your CD has taken off. Literally! Bill Wax plays songs on it on BB King's Bluesville at XM Satellite Radio and John Kessler regularly uses it on All Blues. Are there any really far-flung places that have played it?

MV: Oh yes! For example, Radio Upper Galilee Israel 105.3 FM. It's on radio in Russia, Croatia, Norway ... and on and on. It's all over the globe really. On the Russian Facebook equivalent networking site vkontakte.ru, I've seen my music on people’s playlists. In July 2009, I put up a map on Google maps of where I was aware of it playing at that time. It's an interesting look at locations. You can still find the map in a blog post on my website under the blog tab. lt's representative at that time (July 2009).

WBS: You won our International Blues Challenge, but could not compete due to health reasons. I hope your health is getting better, and that we'll see you out more and more in 2011. What are your plans for 2011?

WBS: What are the last five CDs you've listened to?

MV: The last 5 CD's I've seriously listened too were Candye Kane "Super Hero" I listened for inspiration and healing myself. Thornetta Davis "Sunday Morning Music" for the power of her voice. Joni Mitchell "Blue" because I was told by Sue Ennis it was her masterpiece, and I had never listened to any of her work before. I fell in love with it as a songwriter. Eva Cassidy "Songbird" because of the beauty and soul in her voice and again it was recommended to me by a friend who felt it was a must 'listen' for me. I took a shine to Dusty Springfield recently, and have been listening to individual songs, but I want to get "Dusty in Memphis" and listen to it closely. When I hear a female voice that speaks to me, I'll take quite a bit of time to 'get' it.

WBS: When will you release a new record? Any plans in the works to follow "Alone Together with the Blues?"

MV: I do want to release a second album of work. I'm planning on starting a project this coming fall 2011 for release in spring 2012. I expect to write the majority of songs on this project with a few covers. I feel a vetting of emotionality coming through in my writing. It is the healing aspect of this type of personal inspection that will lead me in creating another record. I've been needing a lot of fun in my life lately and I've done quite a bit of traveling this past fall to find some and I plan to do more. It's has helped me get better and feel good and I find it freeing. So, perhaps the shaping of my personal journey via some traveling blues is the order and the ticket to my next album.