We Heart Bumbershoot

Bumbershoot is America's best festival. That's right. We said it. We are honored to have teamed up with the fine folks at One Reel to curate a Blues Block on the Mural Ampitheater stage on Sunday, Sept. 2, at Seattle's Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Our stuff: The Harmonica House Party starring the Lee Oskar Orchestra & Magic Dick, the Karen Lovely Band, and the Ty Curtis Band play on the Mural Ampitheater Stage. Among the other great stuff happening at the festival that same day: Tony Bennett, Wanda Jackson & the Dusty 45's, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Ian Hunter, Fruit Bats, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Mudhoney, former Highway 99 resident artist Eldridge Gravy & the Court Supreme; comedy with Fred Armisen, Janeane Garofalo, Brian Posehn, Laff Hole, SketchFest Seattle, and the Vancouver ComedyFest's Illegal Aliens; the writers of Futurama, Seattle Symphony "Untuxed" - and that's just some of the highlights on Sunday, only one of Bumbershoot's three great days of arts and culture. Any Seattle music lover has got to be proud that our fair city hosts one of the nation's handful of first-rate annual music and arts festivals. What separates ours from the rest, among other things, is that Bumbershoot offers a line-up as great as any other but for a fraction of any other major festival's price, with far greater musical diversity, much more expansive non-musical art and culture than the normally gratuitous quota found at most other festivals, including comedy, the 1 Reel Film Festival, theatre including sketch comedy and improv, literary lectures, visual and performing arts and installations, the Youngershoot kids zone which is a family festival within the festival... and... the food & beverage is way better than the standard festival fare you're stuck with elsewhere.

Cheaper than the rest. A line-up with as much star power that's also more interesting and diverse than the rest. More varied food and beverage options than the rest. More family-friendly than the rest. Better than the rest.

Cab Calloway, way ahead of his time

Done in '34.

Jimi Statue

Our friend and awesome singer-songwriter Brian Fitzpatrick from Jersey, is in Dublin where he posted a photo of the Phil Lynott statue (Thin Lizzy), wondering why more artists are not celebrated in statue form stateside, specifically mentioning the absence of a Joey Ramone statue in NYC. We agree with Brian: Europe seems to celebrate its artists more than we do here in the U.S. and we wonder why? Do they value the arts more across the pond? Without getting into the related political issues, lack of funding for the National Endowment of the Arts or even wondering why, at such a relatively low cost, there aren't more saucy gents out there who'd be willing to commission such landmarks celebrating the artists who were so (pun, comin' atcha) instrumental in putting our municipalities on the larger map. The Jimi Hendrix statue proudly sits on Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, at Broadway and Pine, right across from Seattle Central Community College. So we looked online for some photos of it, in the handful of ways we've seen it over the years, to celebrate it here. Okay, that's it. How many ways can one statue be shown? Jimi was a local boy done good, we celebrate him, the brilliant and prolific catalog of music he gave us in such a short time, and appreciate that the world was fortunate enough to have him at all. Naturally, we wonder what might have been. Ultimately, rather than speculate what Jimi may have given us in these last 40 years, we celebrate the amazing stuff he gave us in just four. Oh - here's Brian with the Phil Lynott statue, the original inspiration for this goofy post. Thanks, buddy!

5 Things We Like Right Now

We're checking in here to throw some of our favorite new stuff atcha. Check these artists out: 1. JD McPherson. Oklahoma guy, caught the interest of our old Chicago homeboy,original Mighty Blue King and Four Charm, Jimmy Sutton, who produced the record and plays bass. 2. Gary Clark Jr.. The present and future of Texas Blues, a complete and total animal. On the guitar. We don't know Gary personally, but we'll assume he's a perfectly nice dude when he's not making a guitar his bitch. 3. Dr. John - dude put out his best album is 30, 40 years this year. Produced by Black Keys' guitarist Dan Auerbach, this is one fine set of fresh music. 4. Jack White. He may be the most prolific if not interesting and commanding artist of the modern era. First, he played bass in the Detroit cowpunk lounge act Goober & the Peas. Then, he formed the raucous and bluesy 2-piece White Stripes with his ex-wife, Meg, who was billed as his sister. Then came the Raconteurs, then the Dead Weather. Along the way, he formed Third Man Records which puts out tons of vinyl by artists ranging from the legendary to the relative unknown, and they host crazy in-store shows at their flagship store in Nashville. His first solo album came out a couple months ago and it might be the Album of the Year. 5. Alabama Shakes. Blues-rock and Southern soul at its finest, right here. Okay, we said 5 things we like but we really meant 6. See how we're always goin' the extra mile for ya, under-promisin', over-deliverin'? Please, please, don't applaud, just throw money! 6. Kelly Hogan is probably best known among the uninitiated as a prominent member of Neko Case's band, but for those of us lucky enough to have stumbled upon her special voice, she's been unwittingly singin' us to sleep for the last 15 years. This is not her first solo album, but it will prove to be her mainstream breakthrough. It's that good. With assists from such stalwarts as Robbie Fulks, M. Ward, Jon Langford, John Wesley Harding, Vic Chesnutt, Booker T. Jones, and the unsung hero of the thing, our old friend Scott Ligon, we can't say enough, other than BUY IT NOW. Blues, real R&B, and Americana are at a relative high right now. There's so much good stuff out there that involves people writing their own stuff, bending strings, hitting things with sticks, pounding on ivory, blowing through brass, stomping on the floor and belting out their souls... and it ain't hard to find. You just gotta wanna find it. Hope to see you in a sweaty club soon, be it ours or somewhere else.

This is our long overdue 2011 recap. What a year! Of the 365 days on the calendar, we had live music on 239 of them. Not bad for a blues-based music venue which only opens when there's a show. Below, we'll list the artists who graced our stage, but first, some highlights:

Drummerboy, Lisa Theo & Kim Field, the 3 Guitars series, the Louisiana Houseparty series by Sean "Gator Boy" Donovan, Son Jack Jr. and his projects with the Delta Hothouse, Michael Wilde, and the awesome House of Bourbon series - residency bookings can be a double-edged sword. Some artists treat them like a paid rehearsal, and that usually means they don't treat it like a real show, don't promote it, etc. The aforementioned artists have treated each of their resident dates here as an occasion, not just another show, by bringing something new to the party every month and turning another show into an occasion. That approach has led to all kinds of good stuff, from growing the audience to putting something fresh and interesting on stage each time, and we appreciate it. Far more than that, the audience appreciates it.

Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers - they couldn't make it for the New Year's Eve Hayride to Hell for the first time in six years, but we're so happy to have had them up here from Austin twice in 2011, and some of us made it down there for the brilliant wedding of Ruby and Jorge. We can't wait to see 'em again in twenty twelve!

Rockabilly - we've been committed to this genre from Day One, we like it, and we think it's a "gateway drug" for fans of blues and rockabilly alike to expand their horizons. In 2011 our partnerships with Western Gents and Marshall Scott Warner helped kicked things up a notch. The Valentine's Bop, the Rockabilly Meets Rock & Roll Party, the Route 66 @ Highway 99 BBQ & Hot Rod Show, the Rockabilly Blow-Out... nothing but fun, good music, and good folks.

Pre-Holiday Throwdown with Mia Vermillion and the Ho Ho Ho's - we didn't know what else to do with Christmas falling on a Saturday, so Ed put on his "chef blacks", cranked out a free buffet of food and booked an awesomely topical night of live music with no cover. We make fun of that goofy bastard, but he has a heart as big as his belly and he sure does know how to throw a party. Also, Mia and the Ho's rocked the house!

Rockin' Toys For Tots - an annual event we believe in, getting toys to kids who need them, always a kick-ass night of music and always courtesy of our old friend, a staple in the global burlesque community and ex-Marine, Miss Kitty Baby.

Jam For Cans, again raised record numbers of food and money for Northwest Harvest during this time of record-high homelessness in Washington. Among those who graced the stage on that November night: Little Bill, Fat James, Kathi McDonald, Patti Allen, Nick Vigarino, Dick Powell, Mark Whitman, Billy Stapleton, Anniieville Blues, Stacy Jones, Tom Jones, Bill Brammer, Chip Hart, Chris Leighton, Tracy Arrington, Dave Cashin, Sam Pierce, Stan Eike, Scotty Lind, Billy Reed,Tommy Morgan, Don King, Howard Hooper, Jeff Beals, Rick Bowen, Jeff Menteer, and Billy Blackstone.

Bernadette Bascom, a legend and local hero, joined Bump Kitchen and later, Lee Oskar & Friends. If you ever need your joint classed-up, if you're lucky, Bernadette can do that.

Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble, played on a Sunday in June, the joint was jumpin', the place was packed, and at the end of the night Curley asked us, "Say, you guys open tomorrow? Can we do a second night?" And so it was.

Dudley Taft Band - the farewell show, with local legends John Kessler and Chris Leighton, Evan Sheeley, Scott Vogel and Patrick Napper on stage. We miss Dudley, a longtime resident artist here, longtime Seattle stalwart in the rock and blues worlds, and as nice a fellow as any of us are lucky enough to know.

The Lee Boys - serious Gospel family band from Florida, made their Highway 99 debut and took us all to church.

Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner, John Lee Hooker Jr. - it was just nice to see 'em again. The class of the class. La creme de la creme. The fruit of the loom.

LJ Porter Memorial and Tribute, Sunday, March 6:
Lee Oskar, Duffy Bishop, Patty Allen, Nick Vigarino, Scotty Harris, Ken Cole, Tom Erak, John Hanford, Lonnie Williams, Steve Peterson, Chris Carlson, Ben Smith, Ricky Lynn Johnson, Aury Moore, Tim Turner, Kathy MacDonald, Valerie Rosa, Mark Riley and more.

Washington Blues Society International Blues Challenge event, Sunday, June 19:
Randy Norris & the Full Degree, Mary McPage & the Assassins, Julie Powers & the Uptown Blues Band, Ray Rivera Band, Rafael Tranquilino Band, the Red Hot Blues Sisters, and the Cody Rentas Band.

And in alphabetical order, here's a list of who "Hit the Highway" in 2011:

3 Guitars: Jack Cook, Chris Stevens, Brian Butler
Alice Stuart
Andrew Jr. Boy Jones
Angie & the Car Wrecks
Bernadette Bascom
Bill Brown & the King Bees
Billy Dwayne & the Creepers
Black Crabs
Blue Velvet Burlesque
Brandon Santini (formerly of Delta Highway)
Brian Lee & the Orbiters
B-Stars
Bump Kitchen
Candye Kane
Capt. Leroy & the Zydeco Locals
Cody Rentas Band
Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble
Curtis Hammond Band
David Vest All-Stars
Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe
Doctorfunk
Don King (Jr. Cadillac)
Drummerboy
Dudley Taft Band
Duffy Bishop
Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner & the Trouble Twins
Eric "Two Scoops" Moore
Farko Collective
Felonius Funk
File Gumbo
Folichon
Franck "Paris Slim" Goldwasser
Franco Paletta
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie
Ghost Town Hangmen
Guitar Shorty
Hamilton Loomis Band
Hank Shreve
Hard Money Saints
Ho Ho Ho's
Hot Roddin' Romeos
Hot Rod's Blues Revue
House of Bourbon
Insomniacs
James Harman Band
James Howard Band
James King & the Southsiders
James Miller
JD Hobson
Jim Wallace
Jockomo
Joe Blue's Rikers Island Blues Band
John "Scooch" Cugno Band
John Lee Hooker, Jr.
John Nemeth
Juke Joint Gamblers
Julie Powers & the Uptown Blues Band
Junkyard Jane
Karen Lovely Band
Kathi McDonald Band
Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne
Kevin Selfe & the Tornadoes
Kim Archer Band
Kim Field
Kim Field & the Mighty Titans of Tone
Lee Boys
Lee Oskar & Friends
LeRoy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners
Li'l Brian & the Travelers
Lisa & the Po'k Chops
Lisa Theo, Kim Field, & the Titans of Twang
Little Bill & the Blue Notes
Little Ray & the Upercuts
LJ Porter
Lloyd Jones Struggle
Los Orchids
Mad Dog & the Smokin' J's
Mark DuFresne Band
Mark Pickerel
Marshall Scott Warner
Mary McPage & the Assassins
Mercury Four
Mia Vermillion
Miss Kitty Baby
Moonspinners
Moses & Hightown
Mutha Knows Best
Nathan James
Nearly Dan
Nick Vigarino
Orville Johnson
Petunia & the Vipers
Phil Gates
Philly's Phunkestra
Picketts
Rae Gordon
Rainieros
Randy Norris & the Full Degree
Randy Oxford Band
Raphael Tranquilino Band
Ravin'wolf
Ray Rivera Band
Red Hot Blues Sisters
Red House
Rick Welter
Robbie Laws Bigger Blues Band
Rock Estrin & the Nightcats
Ron Hendee Band
Roy Kay Trio
Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers
Sam Marshall Trio
Sammy Eubanks Band
Savoy Brown
Sean "Gator Boy" Donovan
Sea-Town Rhythm & Blues Players
Son Jack Jr.'s Delta Hothouse
Souvenirs
Sugar Thieves
Tamaraw
Terry Evans Band
The Infamous Swanks
The Relentless Rhythm Machine
Too Slim & the Taildraggers
Tripwires
Troupeau Acadian
True Romans
T-Town Aces
Tumbledown
Twangshifters
Twisters
Two Sheds Jackson
Ty Curtis Band
Volker Strifler Band
Western Bluebirds
Whozyamama
WIRED! Band

Mixtapes

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.

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.