Let's not ignore the elephant in the room. Most people who use the term "mixtape" in the 21st century are too young to ever have made, listened to, given or received a cassette tape. That said, we've been dragged kicking and screaming and have surrendered to the modern vernacular. A mix CD, we concede, is referred to as a mixtape.
Also, to our sensibilities, mix tape should be two words. But we digest...
This weekend, we made two "mixtapes" for the staff. One is called GFY, it comprises music that is entirely off-concept for a rhythm & blues club, mostly rock & roll with an electronic dance club tune and an early industrial tune thrown in for good measure. The other, 99 Drinks, is a musical tour through our specialty cocktail list. Here are the track listings:
GFY
1. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle – Cake
2. Bitchin’ Corolla – J. Davis Trio
3. Caged Rat – Soul Asylum
4. Until the Good is Gone – Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul
5. Jackie Onassis – Human Sexual Response
6. I Don’t Want What You Got (Goin’ On) – Ike Reilly Assassination
7. So In Love with You and Me – Rockets Over Sweden
8. Balls to the Wall – Accept
9. Epic – Faith No More
10. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger – Patti Smith
11. God’s Gallipoli (Arqueen remix) – Poi Dog Pondering
12. Capricorn Sister – Mother Love Bone
13. Touch Me I’m Sick – Mudhoney
14. Favorite Waitress – the Modifiers
15. Can’t Hardly Wait (Tim version) – the Replacements
16. Ticking – Loud Lucy
17. Cat People – David Bowie
18. Everyday is Halloween – Ministry
99 DRINKS
The Robert Johnson
* Have you found yourself at the crossroads? Don’t make a deal with the devil. Have a shot of Rebel Yell bourbon with a dash of Crystal hot sauce. Add a Miller Highlife back for a buck.
1. Sweet Home Chicago
2. Me And The Devil Blues
The Blind Lemon Jefferson Drop
* The Godfather of the Texas blues could not have had a better name for our rendition of the Lemondrop. Pearl Black vodka, blue curacao, muddled lemons, sugar and sweet and sour. Served up in a martini glass with a sugar rim.
3. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
4. Black Snake Moan
The Chuck Berry Cosmopolitan
* We celebrate the unofficial Mayor of St. Louis and the author of all of the great early rock and roll songs and guitar licks with this Sweet Little Rock and Roller. Pearl Pomegranate, Grand Mariner, muddled limes and a splash of cranberry. Served up in a martini glass.
5. Sweet Little Sixteen
6. Roll Over Beethoven
The B.B. King Manhattan
* Take it to Beale Street and drink like a King with this blend of Crown Royal and Grand Marnier. Served over ice with a cherry.
7. The Thrill Is Gone
8. Mother Fuyer
The John Lee Hooker
* The Hook’s beverage of choice will take you back to the post World War 2 boogie scene on Hastings Street in the Motor City. This Beefeater gin and juice will leave you Boogie Chillen.
9. Boogie Chillen
10. Boom Boom
The Muddy Waters Mudslide
* Take a trip to the south side of Chicago and enjoy this concoction of Pearl Black vodka, Baileys, and Kahlua, shaken til ice cold and served straight up in a martini glass with a chocolate rim.
11. Got My Mojo Working
12. Mannish Boy
The Count Basie
* When Count Basie swings, everybody sings. Celebrate the King of “the small big band sound” of Kansas City with Stoli Vanil, Baileys, and Frangelico. Served up in a martini glass.
13. Red Bank Boogie
14. Lullaby of Birdland
The Bluesmobile
* Enjoy this tribute to the late Joliet Jake Blues. A mix of Stoli vanilla, Blue Curacao, pineapple juice and sweet and sour. Served in a mason jar over ice.
“Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”
15. Blues Brothers
16. Wilson Pickett
“She Caught the Katy”
17. Blues Brothers
18. Taj Mahal
The Highway Hurricane
* In honor of the longstanding tradition of music that has shaped its region and American music as a whole this is our house specialty cocktail served with love to you in a mason jar.
19. “Whole Lotta Loving” by Professor Longhair
20. “Fever” by The Neville Brothers
If you'd like a copy of either or both, just shoot us an email at getinfo@highwayninetynine.com and we'll hook you up.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Trademarks and such
An interesting topic came up this week. Trademarks, copyrights, patents, etc. A talented and cool graphic designer took the trouble to work up some pieces for us. We can't use the work, partly because we're happy with Haradaworld who we use for everything we produce (artists and promoters produce their own stuff and we use that too, but as far as what we have done, we're happy with our guy in Austin) - but we also couldn't use it because it included language that is copyrighted by a corporation which is large and which we respect and know a lot of folks ranging from dishwashers to the VP level. It got us thinkin' about some of the interesting trademark & copyright issues we've been exposed to. Our personal experience surely doesn't even scrape enough off the iceberg to make a Sno-Cone, but here goes.
Ed and I were in Memphis in March '92, 8 months before the original House of Blues opened in Cambridge, MA. We saw a little juke joint called House of the Blues. Took a picture of it. When HoB opened later that year, we thought it was interesting but also figured there must have been a healthy handful of greasy spoons across America called The Burger King well before BK went into business.
SWIMMER '98
I would later learn a couple things about how that stuff works when a friend of ours (mine and Ed's) in Chicago had a GREAT band called Swimmer. This guy, Nicholas Barron, is like Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker all rolled into one. Swimmer built some serious momentum in the Midwest, named as a "top band to watch in the midwest" by Playboy at a time when the Midwest was producing tons of major-label, taste-making bands. They were on the circuit of South By Suthwest type conferences where (at the time) that was the primary way bands got record deals (and at a time when getting a deal meant everything). Then some baby band from England called Swimmer signed to Madonna's label, Maverick, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. They trademarked the name and our friend Nicholas got hit with a cease-and-desist order. What he learned was, even if someone else beats you to the punch by trademarking a
name, if you can prove you were using it in trade first, you can challenge and trump that trademark. The irony is, especially when battling a company like Warner Bros., in order to protect what's yours your pockets must be deep. Our friend didn't have the dough to embark on that, and Warner Bros. was offering him [we know how much but let's call it approximately the annual income of the average American at the time] to stop using the name Swimmer, so he took the deal. After changing the band's name, the audience disappeared virtually overnight and his career has not been the same since. That said, Nicholas ranks among the world's smartest motherfuckers and despite the knuckleballs life has thrown him, dude does well and has never done anything other than create and perform music to make a living. But for that Warner Bros. thing, though, our friend would be a household name, counting his millions.
AMAZING SCREW JOB
In '98, there was a great independent psychobilly band out of Rhode Island called the Amazing Royal Crowns. They also had some good momentum, were on the Vans Warped tour and things were happening. There was a swing revival band on Warner Bros. called Royal Crown Revue, not the same name
and not musically similar in my opinion (rockabilly/punk does not resemble fake swing w/ funny suits), but as RCR was riding the wave of the swing revival at the time, Warner sued the Amazing Royal Crowns and they were forced to drop the Royal from their name, becoming the Amazing Crowns. They had just produced a shitload of CDs and t-shirts, too, but if they were caught selling them it would have been trouble. Similar to the Swimmer case, their career tanked in a hurry. At the time I was doing some writing for Original Cool, a small roots/rockabilly/swing magazine, and did a piece called "Amazing Crowns Get Royally Screwed" citing many examples of bands with similar or the same names which never resulted in lawsuits.
HOLY CRAP! ORIGINAL COOL IS DEFUNCT BUT THAT ARTICLE IS STILL ONLINE! CLICK HERE!
^ space bar challenged, I blame the editor. Seriously, major space bar issues. But we digest...
And so we learn:
1. What's in a name? A LOT, Jack!
2. Don't mess with Warner Brothers, they're bigger than RC Cola.
Ed and I were in Memphis in March '92, 8 months before the original House of Blues opened in Cambridge, MA. We saw a little juke joint called House of the Blues. Took a picture of it. When HoB opened later that year, we thought it was interesting but also figured there must have been a healthy handful of greasy spoons across America called The Burger King well before BK went into business.
SWIMMER '98
I would later learn a couple things about how that stuff works when a friend of ours (mine and Ed's) in Chicago had a GREAT band called Swimmer. This guy, Nicholas Barron, is like Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker all rolled into one. Swimmer built some serious momentum in the Midwest, named as a "top band to watch in the midwest" by Playboy at a time when the Midwest was producing tons of major-label, taste-making bands. They were on the circuit of South By Suthwest type conferences where (at the time) that was the primary way bands got record deals (and at a time when getting a deal meant everything). Then some baby band from England called Swimmer signed to Madonna's label, Maverick, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. They trademarked the name and our friend Nicholas got hit with a cease-and-desist order. What he learned was, even if someone else beats you to the punch by trademarking a
name, if you can prove you were using it in trade first, you can challenge and trump that trademark. The irony is, especially when battling a company like Warner Bros., in order to protect what's yours your pockets must be deep. Our friend didn't have the dough to embark on that, and Warner Bros. was offering him [we know how much but let's call it approximately the annual income of the average American at the time] to stop using the name Swimmer, so he took the deal. After changing the band's name, the audience disappeared virtually overnight and his career has not been the same since. That said, Nicholas ranks among the world's smartest motherfuckers and despite the knuckleballs life has thrown him, dude does well and has never done anything other than create and perform music to make a living. But for that Warner Bros. thing, though, our friend would be a household name, counting his millions.
AMAZING SCREW JOB
In '98, there was a great independent psychobilly band out of Rhode Island called the Amazing Royal Crowns. They also had some good momentum, were on the Vans Warped tour and things were happening. There was a swing revival band on Warner Bros. called Royal Crown Revue, not the same name
and not musically similar in my opinion (rockabilly/punk does not resemble fake swing w/ funny suits), but as RCR was riding the wave of the swing revival at the time, Warner sued the Amazing Royal Crowns and they were forced to drop the Royal from their name, becoming the Amazing Crowns. They had just produced a shitload of CDs and t-shirts, too, but if they were caught selling them it would have been trouble. Similar to the Swimmer case, their career tanked in a hurry. At the time I was doing some writing for Original Cool, a small roots/rockabilly/swing magazine, and did a piece called "Amazing Crowns Get Royally Screwed" citing many examples of bands with similar or the same names which never resulted in lawsuits.
HOLY CRAP! ORIGINAL COOL IS DEFUNCT BUT THAT ARTICLE IS STILL ONLINE! CLICK HERE!
^ space bar challenged, I blame the editor. Seriously, major space bar issues. But we digest...
And so we learn:
1. What's in a name? A LOT, Jack!
2. Don't mess with Warner Brothers, they're bigger than RC Cola.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Top Ten Artists from our iPod
In honor of Spinal Tap, we decided this list goes to eleven.
As blog entries go, this is admittedly some weak sauce. But we thought it'd be fun to share. We scrolled through the club's iPod library to see which artists were most represented among the tunes we all hear when a band isn't playing on stage. In terms of the number of songs in the library, in no particular order:
Taj Mahal
T-Bone Walker
Bessie Smith
James Brown
BB King
Buddy Guy
Joe Liggins
Magic Sam
Bob Dylan
Sam & Dave
Muddy Waters
And that's all for now!
As blog entries go, this is admittedly some weak sauce. But we thought it'd be fun to share. We scrolled through the club's iPod library to see which artists were most represented among the tunes we all hear when a band isn't playing on stage. In terms of the number of songs in the library, in no particular order:
Taj Mahal
T-Bone Walker
Bessie Smith
James Brown
BB King
Buddy Guy
Joe Liggins
Magic Sam
Bob Dylan
Sam & Dave
Muddy Waters
And that's all for now!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Make Low(rider), Not War
This blog entry may have a little more piss and vinegar than what you're used to getting from us. In this week's edition of The Stranger, Seattle's more popular weekly feature and arts-oriented paper, ran a preview for the concerts being played by the band War at Jazz Alley this week.
Important: we love Jazz Alley, its owners and staff. It's one of our favorite music venues in America. We attend shows there frequently, we hang with their staff and think Bob ranks among the best and most important music venue owners in the land. Their food, service, and total dinner & show experience absolutely f**king rocks. In no way does anything in this blog entry reflect on Jazz Alley. We love 'em and we're not just sayin' that. Jazz Alley
And now, back to the aforementioned piss and vinegar.
Here's the listing from The Stranger:
And here's the letter our music director wrote to the Stranger's editor and posted on their website's comments section:
It can all be found here
Creative artists being screwed out of the rights and associated income of their output is reprehensible (a word which may be used again here - sorry). When you see an artist who had a hand in composing iconic music which generated millions, living modestly, one of the primary reasons is that artist was shanghaied by someone, somewhere along the line. Sure, some artists blow their riches via bad habits, that's well documented. But in the category of When Bad Things Happen To Good People, talk to people like Sam Moore, Ronnie Spector, or many of the early blues artists who created the soundtrack of our lives but somehow found themselves out in the cold when the party was over. Volumes have been written on this topic, so we won't go off on too long a rant here.
Why is this story so particularly unconscionable in the case of War?
When they formed in the late 60s, this was a BAND in its truest sense. Multiple vocalists, no singular frontman, racially integrated at a time when that was quite uncommon, every member of the band shared in the spotlight, they wrote and composed music in a communal fashion as represented by the fact that everyone received equal songwriting credit on every song. In War, it was All For One, One For All. On tour, they stood together at racially segregated restaurants and if you know anyone in the band personally, you may know how scary some of those incidents became. Musicians take care of one another. If you know a few of them, chances are you know people who, more than those in other vocations, rise to the occasion to help a brother or sister out: moving, going through a rough patch, relationship gone bad, a child gets sick, in between places, car broke down, someone gets into an accident with no insurance... people who make music are the world's largest co-ed fraternity. Yet courtesy of the band's scumbag manager, Jerry Goldstein, who trademarked the name and enlisted the participation of keyboard player Lonnie Jordan, most of the people who created some of the most widely-known music of the last 40 years have been left high and dry. The tragically ironic disparity between the spirit in which this band formed and thrived for 25 years, and the reprehensibly disgusting manner in which it was dismantled, begs the question: how do Jerry and Lonnie sleep at night?
Since the 1994 split, War's music has been issued on at least 140 compilations and soundtracks that we can find. That doesn't speak to television commercials, the most recent of which may be Pepsi's use of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Nor does it speak to how many of War's 50 Million albums sold have occurred during that time, and how many of the 100+ soundtracks and compilations their music appeared on before the split have been sold since. Since 1994, Lee Oskar, Harold Brown, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, and the estates of Charles Miller and Papa Dee Allen have not been paid a red cent for any of the music they created.
Seven Top Ten Albums
Eleven Top Ten Singles
Our Friends:
Lee Oskar and Harold Brown have been immediate members of the Highway 99 family since early in the club's history.
Lee has lived in the area for a while and during the last five years has been playing a monthly residency, Lee Oskar & Friends, a series which features a core band for whom we'll stand on file as the finest in all the Northwest, with a rotating cast of special guests. He champions unknown locals on our stage even more than he brings in his rock star friends (but he's done plenty of that as well). Lee Oskar Harmonicas are the second-best selling in the world. Few artists of his accomplishment are as accessible and down to earth.
Harold is so embedded here, he refers to Ed and Eric Maloney as his nephews and when he calls or emails it's always from Uncle Harold. It was Harold, with Howard Scott, who first formed the band which became War. The next two members were Lee and some guy named Eric Burdon. He moved to New Orleans in '86 where he became a historian, a secretary and tour guide for the New Orleans Historical Society. While living in Seattle for a couple post-Katrina years, on the many nights he played here we've never had the pleasure of hosting a more friendly, humble, and self-contained musician than the man we know as Uncle Harold.
What can we say about Lee and Harold? We are blessed with their presence in our lives, personally and professionally.
How do we feel about:
War - in general, we're against violence
"War" - cover band
LOWRIDER BAND - THE REAL DEAL
Harold Brown, original Low Rider '07 (photo by Shoji Onozawa)
Low Rider Band '07 (photo by Shoji Onozawa)
Lee w/ Bobby Rush, July '08 (photo by Jef Jaisun)
Important: we love Jazz Alley, its owners and staff. It's one of our favorite music venues in America. We attend shows there frequently, we hang with their staff and think Bob ranks among the best and most important music venue owners in the land. Their food, service, and total dinner & show experience absolutely f**king rocks. In no way does anything in this blog entry reflect on Jazz Alley. We love 'em and we're not just sayin' that. Jazz Alley
And now, back to the aforementioned piss and vinegar.
Here's the listing from The Stranger:
Thursday 1/27
War
(Jazz Alley)
A brutally efficient hit-making machine in the 1970s, War laid down hot, heaping plates of saucy Latino funk and streetwise jazz rock while also penning a few sentimental summer jams perfect for family reunion picnics. They often summoned magic with a harmonica and a cowbell. Their greatest hits = party platinum. But the group ultimately split acrimoniously into two warring/touring factions: One goes by the Lowrider Band; the other, led by keyboardist Lonnie Jordan, got to keep the famous bellicose handle. It's usually dicey when a popular unit tries to soldier on years after its peak with one original member and hired hands, but War's best material is so strong and feel-goodly, this show should be worth the inevitable corny reminiscences from the stage and frustration over the rest of the creative core being absent. Through January 30. DAVE SEGAL
And here's the letter our music director wrote to the Stranger's editor and posted on their website's comments section:
Though understandably limited in space, it's too bad Dave Segal's preview of the War concerts at Jazz Alley couldn't more explicitly offer that "War" comprises Lonnie Jordan with some hired hands, while the Lowrider Band comprises War's four other surviving members, including those who "often summoned magic with a harmonica [Lee Oskar, who lives in the Seattle area and performs regularly at Highway 99 Blues Club] and a cowbell [percussionist Harold Brown, who lived around here for a couple years after being displaced by Katrina]." In an early 90s' coup with the band's manager, Jordan trademarked the name "War" and replaced the rest of the band with musicians for hire. Together, the four Lowriders represent the estates of their two fallen bandmates, Charles Miller and Papa Dee Allen. Since the split, the original members, who all received equal songwriting credit on all material released throughout the band's creative period from 1967-1992, have been denied publishing and licensing royalties by "War." They've been in litigation all these years, and the original Lowriders will surely get their due. In the meantime I think it's most responsible to distinguish between these two artists, noting that "War" is little more than a medium-rent cover band while The Lowrider Band is the closest thing to the real War, by a long shot.
It can all be found here
Creative artists being screwed out of the rights and associated income of their output is reprehensible (a word which may be used again here - sorry). When you see an artist who had a hand in composing iconic music which generated millions, living modestly, one of the primary reasons is that artist was shanghaied by someone, somewhere along the line. Sure, some artists blow their riches via bad habits, that's well documented. But in the category of When Bad Things Happen To Good People, talk to people like Sam Moore, Ronnie Spector, or many of the early blues artists who created the soundtrack of our lives but somehow found themselves out in the cold when the party was over. Volumes have been written on this topic, so we won't go off on too long a rant here.
Why is this story so particularly unconscionable in the case of War?
When they formed in the late 60s, this was a BAND in its truest sense. Multiple vocalists, no singular frontman, racially integrated at a time when that was quite uncommon, every member of the band shared in the spotlight, they wrote and composed music in a communal fashion as represented by the fact that everyone received equal songwriting credit on every song. In War, it was All For One, One For All. On tour, they stood together at racially segregated restaurants and if you know anyone in the band personally, you may know how scary some of those incidents became. Musicians take care of one another. If you know a few of them, chances are you know people who, more than those in other vocations, rise to the occasion to help a brother or sister out: moving, going through a rough patch, relationship gone bad, a child gets sick, in between places, car broke down, someone gets into an accident with no insurance... people who make music are the world's largest co-ed fraternity. Yet courtesy of the band's scumbag manager, Jerry Goldstein, who trademarked the name and enlisted the participation of keyboard player Lonnie Jordan, most of the people who created some of the most widely-known music of the last 40 years have been left high and dry. The tragically ironic disparity between the spirit in which this band formed and thrived for 25 years, and the reprehensibly disgusting manner in which it was dismantled, begs the question: how do Jerry and Lonnie sleep at night?
Since the 1994 split, War's music has been issued on at least 140 compilations and soundtracks that we can find. That doesn't speak to television commercials, the most recent of which may be Pepsi's use of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Nor does it speak to how many of War's 50 Million albums sold have occurred during that time, and how many of the 100+ soundtracks and compilations their music appeared on before the split have been sold since. Since 1994, Lee Oskar, Harold Brown, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, and the estates of Charles Miller and Papa Dee Allen have not been paid a red cent for any of the music they created.
Seven Top Ten Albums
Eleven Top Ten Singles
Our Friends:
Lee Oskar and Harold Brown have been immediate members of the Highway 99 family since early in the club's history.
Lee has lived in the area for a while and during the last five years has been playing a monthly residency, Lee Oskar & Friends, a series which features a core band for whom we'll stand on file as the finest in all the Northwest, with a rotating cast of special guests. He champions unknown locals on our stage even more than he brings in his rock star friends (but he's done plenty of that as well). Lee Oskar Harmonicas are the second-best selling in the world. Few artists of his accomplishment are as accessible and down to earth.
Harold is so embedded here, he refers to Ed and Eric Maloney as his nephews and when he calls or emails it's always from Uncle Harold. It was Harold, with Howard Scott, who first formed the band which became War. The next two members were Lee and some guy named Eric Burdon. He moved to New Orleans in '86 where he became a historian, a secretary and tour guide for the New Orleans Historical Society. While living in Seattle for a couple post-Katrina years, on the many nights he played here we've never had the pleasure of hosting a more friendly, humble, and self-contained musician than the man we know as Uncle Harold.
What can we say about Lee and Harold? We are blessed with their presence in our lives, personally and professionally.
How do we feel about:
War - in general, we're against violence
"War" - cover band
LOWRIDER BAND - THE REAL DEAL
Harold Brown, original Low Rider '07 (photo by Shoji Onozawa)
Low Rider Band '07 (photo by Shoji Onozawa)
Lee w/ Bobby Rush, July '08 (photo by Jef Jaisun)
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Year's Eve + 2010 Wrap
Whew! We're finally recovered from the fifth installment of the "Hayride To Hell" New Year's Eve bash.
The format for this annual extravaganza includes 3-4 artists of Americana music with an emphasis on rockabilly, some live burlesque and cabaret dancers, and a DJ playing records on stage from the time doors open until the live entertainment begins (2 hours) and during all the in-betweens (a handful of 10-20 minute pieces) as we quickly turn the stage over between bands and dancers. The idea and result: continuous live on-stage entertainment from 6pm til 1am.
The concept is, while so many clubs charge an extraordinary price for what usually amounts to an ordinary show (haven't we all at some point paid $50-70 for a ticket to see a show we can otherwise see for $15-25 on any other date?), at Highway 99 Blues Club we simply reverse the trend and charge an ordinary price ($15 this year) for an extraordinary bill of entertainment (4 live music artists + 2 world-class burlesque performers and a DJ).
This year's line-up:
Music
Tumbledown: insurgent alt.punk.country led by MxPx frontman Mike Herrera. Holy CRAP, this band is GOOD.
Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers - Austin-based honkeytonk juggernaut, imagine Loretta Lynn fronts a band with Springsteen on lead guitar and Bruce, aka Jorge Harada, gets to hog all the solos.
The Black Crabs - one of Seattle's few tried and true (best? I'll make that case) traditional rockabilly bands.
MARK PICKEREL - a very special solo performance by an artist whose pedigree includes being a founding member of Screaming Trees, an early member of Nirvana, and whose credits include work with Neko Case and Mark Lanegan.
Burlesque & Cabaret
The Shanghai Pearl performed solo, and also with the bands. Most notably, she danced while Tumbledown played Link Wray's "Rumble" after midnight.
Fuchsia Foxx killed with her arty belly dancing and holiday-themed cabaret.
2010 WRAP
In Twenty Ten, 127 different artists played the club and here's where they came from:
Northwest Washington: 84 or 66%
Portland, OR: 19 or 15%
SoCal: 9 or 7%
* Various Other: 15 or 12%
* British Columbia, Louisiana, Bay Area, Chicago, St. Louis, Texas, Michigan, Idaho, Rhode Island
Applying the weight of monthly residencies and multiple appearances, Northwest Washington bands played here on 77% of the nights we've been open. 90% of the weekend artists have been from within a 3-hour driving distance of Seattle (57% local, 26% Portland, 7$ Vancouver BC). We're as proud of our commitment to showcasing and developing local and regional artists as we are of landing the high-profile, name-brand touring acts. Here's a list of who played here in 2010, and please forgive us if we missed anyone:
SAM MARSHALL
GARRET & WESTCOTT
BUMP KITCHEN
BLUES ORBITERS
PAUL GREEN & STRAIGHT SHOT
KEVIN SELFE & THE TORNADOES
SCARLET TREE ALLSTARS
HIGHWAY 99 DANCE BAND
FILE GUMBO
SONIC FUNK ORCHESTRA
STUDEBAKER JOHN & THE HAWKS
BECKI SUE & HER BIG ROCKIN' DADDIES
PURTY MOUTH
SOURMASH STEVEDORES
MAXWELL STREET REVIVAL
NICK VIGARINO'S MEANTOWN BLUES
RAVINWOLF
INSOMNIACS
ROBBIE LAWS BIGGER BLUES BAND
LEE OSKAR & FRIENDS
JAMES HOWARD
HOT ROD'S BLUES REVUE
JD HOBSON
GEORGETOWN ALLSTARS
FABULOUS ROOFSHAKERS
JUNKYARD JANE
KOLVANE
RICHARD ALLEN & THE LOUISIANA EXPERIENCE
MARSHALL SCOTT WARNER
BLACK CRABS
ANGELATINI & THE TREBLEMAKERS
DOCTORFUNK
LLOYD JONES STRUGGLE
CROSSROADS BAND
TERRI ROBB
JIM WALLACE
JIMMY HOLDEN BAND
BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG
DK STEWART
SULTANS OF SLIDE
FOLICHON
NEARLY DAN
KAREN LOVELY
HARPER
CANDYE KANE
SKIP HELLER
MZ. DEE
SUGARSMACKS
SATELLITE 4
ELLEN WHYTE
RICK WELTER BAND
LITTLE BILL
STILL CREEK BROTHERS
ROY KAY TRIO
JOEY JEWELL
ERIC "TWO SCOOPS" MOORE
JANIVA MAGNESS
MIKE LYNCH
JOHNNY MERCURY
TWO SHEDS JACKSON
CURTIS HAMMOND BAND
TERRY EVANS BAND
LISA & THE PO'K CHOPS
TOO SLIM & THE TAILDRAGGERS
KIM ARCHER BAND
LISA MANN & HER REALLY GOOD BAND
BLUES VAULT
NEW IBERIANS
KIM FIELD & THE MIGHTY TITANS OF TONE
TERESA JAMES & THE RHYTHM TRAMPS
CHRIS STEVENS
TUMBLEDOWN
SQUIRREL BUTTER
RANDY OXFORD BAND
JOHN NEMETH
WHOZYMAMMA
JORDAN FRISBEE & TATIANA MOLLMAN
MICHAEL POWERS
ROCKIN' JAKE BAND
KENNY "BLUES BOSS" WAYNE
WIRED!
VAUGHN JENSEN BAND
ROAD DAWGS
BLUES REDEMPTION
CODY RENTAS BAND
STACY JONES BAND
CLEO'S CONFESSION
CHRIS EGER BAND
STANISLOVE
BRIAN LEE
CUGNO & BRAUNEIS
JOHN WILLIAMS
PORCH STOMP FEVER
REVEREND KEN "HONEY BUCKET" JOHNSON
WALTER TROUT
TWISTERS
HARD MONEY SAINTS
BILLY DWAYNE & THE CREEPERS
JULIE BRYANT & THE STRAIGHT SHOOTERS
MINGO FISHTRAP
RIPTIDE RAMBLERS
JAMES HARMAN
RED HOT BLUES SISTERS
DUDLEY TAFT
NATHAN WADE
URAL THOMAS
SON JACK JR. & MICHAEL WILDE
T-TOWN ACES
RAMPART RHYTHM REVIEW
LYDIA PENSE & COLD BLOOD
DUFFY BISHOP
LJ PORTER
JACK COOK
BRIAN BUTLER
DAVID VEST
BRUCE KATZ BAND
MARK PICKEREL & HIS PRAYING HANDS
JOHN LEE HOOKER, JR.
RICK ESTRIN & THE NIGHTCATS
DUKE ROBILLARD
TWANGSHIFTERS
JUKE JOINT GAMBLERS
BACK PORCH STOMP BAND
CD WOODBURY BAND
ANTOINETTE & MOTHER SPONGE
FELONIUS FUNK
JAMES KING & THE SOUTHSIDERS
RUBY DEE & THE SNAKEHANDLERS
See youz in Twenty Eleven!
The format for this annual extravaganza includes 3-4 artists of Americana music with an emphasis on rockabilly, some live burlesque and cabaret dancers, and a DJ playing records on stage from the time doors open until the live entertainment begins (2 hours) and during all the in-betweens (a handful of 10-20 minute pieces) as we quickly turn the stage over between bands and dancers. The idea and result: continuous live on-stage entertainment from 6pm til 1am.
The concept is, while so many clubs charge an extraordinary price for what usually amounts to an ordinary show (haven't we all at some point paid $50-70 for a ticket to see a show we can otherwise see for $15-25 on any other date?), at Highway 99 Blues Club we simply reverse the trend and charge an ordinary price ($15 this year) for an extraordinary bill of entertainment (4 live music artists + 2 world-class burlesque performers and a DJ).
This year's line-up:
Music
Tumbledown: insurgent alt.punk.country led by MxPx frontman Mike Herrera. Holy CRAP, this band is GOOD.
Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers - Austin-based honkeytonk juggernaut, imagine Loretta Lynn fronts a band with Springsteen on lead guitar and Bruce, aka Jorge Harada, gets to hog all the solos.
The Black Crabs - one of Seattle's few tried and true (best? I'll make that case) traditional rockabilly bands.
MARK PICKEREL - a very special solo performance by an artist whose pedigree includes being a founding member of Screaming Trees, an early member of Nirvana, and whose credits include work with Neko Case and Mark Lanegan.
Burlesque & Cabaret
The Shanghai Pearl performed solo, and also with the bands. Most notably, she danced while Tumbledown played Link Wray's "Rumble" after midnight.
Fuchsia Foxx killed with her arty belly dancing and holiday-themed cabaret.
2010 WRAP
In Twenty Ten, 127 different artists played the club and here's where they came from:
Northwest Washington: 84 or 66%
Portland, OR: 19 or 15%
SoCal: 9 or 7%
* Various Other: 15 or 12%
* British Columbia, Louisiana, Bay Area, Chicago, St. Louis, Texas, Michigan, Idaho, Rhode Island
Applying the weight of monthly residencies and multiple appearances, Northwest Washington bands played here on 77% of the nights we've been open. 90% of the weekend artists have been from within a 3-hour driving distance of Seattle (57% local, 26% Portland, 7$ Vancouver BC). We're as proud of our commitment to showcasing and developing local and regional artists as we are of landing the high-profile, name-brand touring acts. Here's a list of who played here in 2010, and please forgive us if we missed anyone:
SAM MARSHALL
GARRET & WESTCOTT
BUMP KITCHEN
BLUES ORBITERS
PAUL GREEN & STRAIGHT SHOT
KEVIN SELFE & THE TORNADOES
SCARLET TREE ALLSTARS
HIGHWAY 99 DANCE BAND
FILE GUMBO
SONIC FUNK ORCHESTRA
STUDEBAKER JOHN & THE HAWKS
BECKI SUE & HER BIG ROCKIN' DADDIES
PURTY MOUTH
SOURMASH STEVEDORES
MAXWELL STREET REVIVAL
NICK VIGARINO'S MEANTOWN BLUES
RAVINWOLF
INSOMNIACS
ROBBIE LAWS BIGGER BLUES BAND
LEE OSKAR & FRIENDS
JAMES HOWARD
HOT ROD'S BLUES REVUE
JD HOBSON
GEORGETOWN ALLSTARS
FABULOUS ROOFSHAKERS
JUNKYARD JANE
KOLVANE
RICHARD ALLEN & THE LOUISIANA EXPERIENCE
MARSHALL SCOTT WARNER
BLACK CRABS
ANGELATINI & THE TREBLEMAKERS
DOCTORFUNK
LLOYD JONES STRUGGLE
CROSSROADS BAND
TERRI ROBB
JIM WALLACE
JIMMY HOLDEN BAND
BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG
DK STEWART
SULTANS OF SLIDE
FOLICHON
NEARLY DAN
KAREN LOVELY
HARPER
CANDYE KANE
SKIP HELLER
MZ. DEE
SUGARSMACKS
SATELLITE 4
ELLEN WHYTE
RICK WELTER BAND
LITTLE BILL
STILL CREEK BROTHERS
ROY KAY TRIO
JOEY JEWELL
ERIC "TWO SCOOPS" MOORE
JANIVA MAGNESS
MIKE LYNCH
JOHNNY MERCURY
TWO SHEDS JACKSON
CURTIS HAMMOND BAND
TERRY EVANS BAND
LISA & THE PO'K CHOPS
TOO SLIM & THE TAILDRAGGERS
KIM ARCHER BAND
LISA MANN & HER REALLY GOOD BAND
BLUES VAULT
NEW IBERIANS
KIM FIELD & THE MIGHTY TITANS OF TONE
TERESA JAMES & THE RHYTHM TRAMPS
CHRIS STEVENS
TUMBLEDOWN
SQUIRREL BUTTER
RANDY OXFORD BAND
JOHN NEMETH
WHOZYMAMMA
JORDAN FRISBEE & TATIANA MOLLMAN
MICHAEL POWERS
ROCKIN' JAKE BAND
KENNY "BLUES BOSS" WAYNE
WIRED!
VAUGHN JENSEN BAND
ROAD DAWGS
BLUES REDEMPTION
CODY RENTAS BAND
STACY JONES BAND
CLEO'S CONFESSION
CHRIS EGER BAND
STANISLOVE
BRIAN LEE
CUGNO & BRAUNEIS
JOHN WILLIAMS
PORCH STOMP FEVER
REVEREND KEN "HONEY BUCKET" JOHNSON
WALTER TROUT
TWISTERS
HARD MONEY SAINTS
BILLY DWAYNE & THE CREEPERS
JULIE BRYANT & THE STRAIGHT SHOOTERS
MINGO FISHTRAP
RIPTIDE RAMBLERS
JAMES HARMAN
RED HOT BLUES SISTERS
DUDLEY TAFT
NATHAN WADE
URAL THOMAS
SON JACK JR. & MICHAEL WILDE
T-TOWN ACES
RAMPART RHYTHM REVIEW
LYDIA PENSE & COLD BLOOD
DUFFY BISHOP
LJ PORTER
JACK COOK
BRIAN BUTLER
DAVID VEST
BRUCE KATZ BAND
MARK PICKEREL & HIS PRAYING HANDS
JOHN LEE HOOKER, JR.
RICK ESTRIN & THE NIGHTCATS
DUKE ROBILLARD
TWANGSHIFTERS
JUKE JOINT GAMBLERS
BACK PORCH STOMP BAND
CD WOODBURY BAND
ANTOINETTE & MOTHER SPONGE
FELONIUS FUNK
JAMES KING & THE SOUTHSIDERS
RUBY DEE & THE SNAKEHANDLERS
See youz in Twenty Eleven!
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