©2007-Linn County Blues Society

Issue 158 The Publication of the Linn County Blues Society- lcbs.org September 2007

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The Big House

Rocked!Rocked!In this issue— Final Score:

Bluesmore - 1Rain - 0

A Big Bluesmore THANK YOU to Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, The Gazette, KCRG-TV, Home Town Restyling, Peggy, Jim, and Jenny at Brucemore, Nate Hine at 16th Avenue Productions, The Guitar Center, our vendors, volunteers, the Craig Erickson Band, Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang, Mary Lane, The Kinsey Report, our back stage band, TBC Connection along with the students, our ticket outlets, my Uncle Vajta in Yugoslavia, Homer Simpson, Vito Corleone and, of course, all of you who attended in spite of the threatening rain which decided not to show up for Bluesmore 14.

Cover photos by Bill Ray

Tons of Bluesmore Photos!Thank You, Bluesmore Supporters!Moaning At Midnight - The Life & Times of Howlin’ WolfBig Mo’s CD ReviewLCBS Positions OpenBlues Women PicnicLocal LIVE Music Schedules

2 / Linn County Blues Society ©2007

The Linn County Blues Society is a way cool, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Blues music in Eastern Iowa as well as to provide charitable contri-butions to other community organizations. LCBS is an Affiliated Organization in the Blues Foundation’s international network. The BLUESPAPER is a monthly publication of the LCBS.Website: lcbs.orgBluesline: 319.399.5105

LCBS OfficersPresident - Andy DergoVice President - Evan VulichSecretary - Steve SpringerTreasurer - Sue Dergo

Directors at Large-Bob DeForest, Bill Meeks, Bob Dorr

ChairsEducation - OpenEntertainment - OpenMembership - Kevin CutsforthMerchandise - David AndrewsParliamentarian - Bill MeeksProgram - Bob DeForestPublic Relations - OpenWeb Administrator - Evan Vulich

The Bluespaper folksEditor - Evan Vulich Photographers - See bylines each issueStaff Writers - See bylines each issueDistribution - Andy Dergo, Bill Meeks

MembershipTo learn more about the Linn County Blues Society or to join, see the membership form in this Bluespaper or the LCBS website. Your membership includes;• Discount admissions to many local Blues activities.• Monthly LCBS Bluespaper.• Voting rights in the LCBS elections.• Simply being way cool.

Bluespaper Contact informationSend news, band or club live entertainment listing or advertising to: Evan Vulich, 1116 Daniels St. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 or preferrably e-mail at: evulich@mchsi.com.

Bluespaper Ad Rates$15.00 - Business card size - 2” x 3.5”$25.00 - Quarter page ad - 3.5” x 4.75”$50.00 - Half page ad - 4.75” x 7.25”$100.00 - Full page - 7.5” x 10”

Submission Requirements- All ads, photos or scanned images, either color or black/white, need to be 300ppi. Native Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, JPG, TIFF, EPS, PDF, BMP accepted. Deadline for submissions is the 23rd of the month.

Moving? Send your new address to; LCBS, PO Box 2672, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-2672 so you won’t miss a single issue of your Bluespaper.

Bluesmore SupportersThank You!

Daniel Arthur’sBlues in September

by Bill Meeks

Terry McCauley, Sat. Sept. 1, 8-11PMNick Stika, Tues. Sept. 4, 8-10PMBryce Janey, Wed. Sept. 5, 8-11PMKevin Burt, Thurs. Sept. 6, 8-11PMKevin Burt, Fri. Sept. 7, 8-11PMTBA, Sat. Sept. 8, 8-11PMMark Brown, Tues. Sept. 11, 8-10PMAdam Beck, Wed. Sept. 12, 8-10PMKevin Burt, Thurs. Sept. 13, 8-10PMBryce Janey, Fri. Sept. 14, 8-11PMJason Brown, Sat. Sept. 15, 8-11PMJason Brown, Tues. Sept. 18, 8-10PMBryce Janey, Wed. Sept. 19, 8-10PMKevin Burt, Thurs. Sept. 20, 8-11PMMatt Maybanks, Fri. Sept. 21, 8-11PMCraig Erikson, Sat. Sept 22, 8-11PMPerry Caver, Tues. Sept 25, 8-10PMKim Maloy, Wed. Sept. 26, 8-10PMKevin Burt, Thurs. Sept. 27, 8-11PMAdam Beck, Fri. Sept 28, 8-11PMTerry McCauley, Sat. Sept. 29, 8-11

The LCBS Board of Directors are very pleased to express our sin-cere gratitude to everyone who

participated in producing another won-derful success - BLUESMORE ‘07! For all those who were fortunate enough

to attend our annual “Blues Blast at the Big House” this year, you know the mean-ing of the words faith and hope! It took a lot of faith to trust that what looked like a sure rainout at noon would turn into the beautiful musical showcase we always hope it will be. It also took a good deal of hoping that the rain would stay away for the rest of the day, which it did as the clouds parted and a mild evening breeze dried the graceful grounds of the Bruce-more estate to provide the perfect setting for yet another successful Bluesmore. Early in the day we were a very nervous crew as we set about preparing for our all important, annual fund-raising show, but when the downpour diminished and the sun peaked through mid-afternoon we were a relieved bunch of blues music lovers! We were well rewarded for our efforts with a fantastic show provided by all our hard working entertainers. Many thanks to our entertainment committee for their super selection of talented, di-verse musicians. There are many others we would like

to thank as well. First and foremost, we must thank the Brucemore staff for the countless hours and tireless effort they put into the production of this fine fam-ily event that they host on the front lawn of this National Historic Trust property which is truly a local treasure from the “Big House” itself down to the classic at-mosphere it provides. Peggy, Jim, Jenny and the rest of the staff are fantastic to work with and leave no detail undone. We could not do without our wonderful

media sponsors: The Gazette and KCRG-TV9 who did an incredible job of adver-tising and promoting our show; many, many thanks to them. We also owe a huge thank-you to both

our generous stage sponsors; our Main Stage sponsor Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and our Side Porch Stage sponsor

Hometown Restyling, for stepping up in a big way to help us continue to provide such great musical entertainment. We thank our passionate Public Radio

partners, KUNI (90.9 FM in CR), for live broadcasting our show across Iowa (what a concept) and taping it for future use, and KCCK (88.3 FM in CR), for their fine pro-motional assistance. We thank Nate and the super sounds of 16th Avenue Productions for the sweet sound production work they do. We always receive wonderful compliments from the bands on the fine quality of their efforts. We thank Tom and Nick, owners of To-

maso’s Pizza, and the staff at the Center Point Road shop for generously feeding the performing artists and hungry volunteers with great pizza and BBQ all night long. There are many others we thank as well: Fleck Sales for providing refreshing bever-ages for sale and backstage, the C.R. Jay-cees for serving the fine cold refreshments, the Optimists for their work as ticket tak-ers and greeters, Wilbert Vault for pro-viding tents for cover from the sun, Craig Thomas and his crew for donating their quality security services, our many deli-cious food vendors for keeping the fans fed and refreshed, our ticket outlets for help-

Continued on Page 7

©2007 Linn County Blues Society / �

The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman - Review by James “Skyy Dobro” Walker

Moaning At Midnight

Courtesy of IllinoisBlues.com

The book Moanin’ At Midnight – The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf is perfect for a history buff who is also a

fan of American music. Howlin’ Wolf stands with Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker among the giants in the blues pantheon. Born Chester Arthur Burnett in 1910 in White Station, Mississippi, Howlin’ Wolf was a giant of a man both physically and in his impact on the early foundations of Rock and Roll. “The Wolf” stood 6’3”, weighed nearly 300 pounds, and was a powerfully built man, but all that was small compared to his influ-ence on the future Rock and Roll bands, es-pecially those of the British Invasion in the 1960s. A common theme for us Baby-boomers is coming to the Blues through the backdoor of Rock and Roll. When the Rolling Stones released their third American album (The Rolling Stones, Now!) in April 1965, I was a freshman in high school, green as a pool table and just as square. I listened to a cool song on the album, “Little Red Rooster,” with no idea it was a Howlin Wolf original, nor did I have much of an idea who Howlin’ Wolf was. We Boomers were listening to blues music before we knew it was the “Blues”.Billed as the first full-length biography of Howlin’ Wolf, this critically acclaimed book was first published in hardcover, and it was updated and revised and published in paper-back. “Moanin’ At Midnight” is as thorough as a biography can be, but to authors Hoffman and Segrest the project was clearly a labor of love. A dozen years, hundreds of hours of interviews, cross-country commutes to glean insights into a personal hero, the relentless pursuit of detail...the devotion is unmistak-able. The book is also a valuable Blues history resource in general by virtue of its inclusion of many of the Wolf’s fellow bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, and others. It tells the heroic story of a man born in the south in the first decade of the 1900s amid grinding poverty, extreme racial prejudice, and an unhappy childhood, who found his freedom and his place in the world of the trav-eling blues man. His early life scarred him both physically and emotionally, and it can be heard in his music. Wolf was a large man with a powerful, raspy voice and a keen intelligence. As the authors show, he endured “crushing poverty” and al-

most constant c h i l d h o o d p h y s i c a l abuse, the source of much of the anger in his music. A stu-dent of Char-lie Patton and Sonny Boy Williamson, Wolf rose

from the poor sharecropper’s life that was typi-cal for blacks in Mississippi’s Delta region to stardom in first Memphis and then Chicago. Segrest and Hoffman tell how Wolf was com-plex and unpredictable: sometimes ferocious and angry, but other times “gentle” and “sweet.” Always, however, he was a proud man and a very professional businessman and entertainer - “one of the truest, straight-forward fellas in the business.” On Self Improvement: “Typical of Wolf’s no-nonsense work ethic was his passion for self education. Still barely literate and numerate in the 1950s, Wolf confronted the problem in his direct way: He took adult education classes in reading, writing and arithmetic at Crane High School and Wendell Phillips High School. As with his music lessons, Wolf took his 3Rs very seriously. During intermissions, Billy Boy Ar-nold often saw him sitting at a table with his schoolbooks , doing his homework.” Compared to Muddy Waters: In regards to Chess Records and their relationships to Leon-ard Chess, “Muddy had a plantation mentality when it came to Chess Records. Leonard was the boss, and Muddy did as the boss man said. But, Wolf was a rebel who had left the planta-tion behind. All his life, he strove to be his own man.” Throughout the book, Hoffman and Segrest use words like “gargantuan, ferocious and pri-mal” to describe Wolf’s persona. The surviving videos are enough to get the point across. It was not only the man’s size that was intimidating, it was the way he wrapped his huge voice around a song. It was his big hands dwarfing a guitar neck or reducing a harmonica to relative invis-ibility. Having read the book, you will want to see the available videos on DVD: (1) The Howlin’ Wolf Story – The Secret History of Rock and Roll (Bluebird) (2) The American Folk Blues Festival – Volume Two 1962 – 1966 (Hip-O Records) (3) Devil Got My Woman – Blues at Newport 1966 (Vestapol 13049).

The Soul of John BlackGood Girl BluesYellow Dog RecordsRelease Date – July 2, 2007

Watcha Got?Fishbone-er John “JB” Bigham is on his own for his second solo release without production/writing help from bassist Chris Thomas. ‘Good Girl Blues’ leaves the islands behind and covers African-American music from field hollers to Memphis to Tarkio Road? (One Hit). It’s stripped down to the edge with an occasional grin thrown in. Loses points for occasion-ally sounding contrived. Watcha Got? Gotta Lot. And if it says Yellow Dog, that’s enough for me.

Give it 4 1/2 Stella guitars!

—John Heim (A.K.A. “Big Mo”)

Nominations Open for LCBS Board of Directors Positions The LCBS Nominations Committee is cur-rently seeking candidates for Linn County Board of Directors positions to be filled in the October Board election. The following LCBS Board positions will be up for election for the term of November 2007 through October 2009: Vice-President, Secretary, Membership Chair, Education Chair, Entertainment Chair, and one Director-at-Large position.

Nominations for office will be accepted from any LCBS members in good standing for one year. Nominations are being taken now and will continue to be accepted up to the election. If you are interested in running for an LCBS office, please contact Bill Meeks, Nomination Committee Chair, at 319/364-8035 to express your interest and to request information on what is involved. LCBS is always open to new ideas and we encourage your active partici-pation in your Blues Society! Volunteers are always needed and welcome!

� / Linn County Blues Society ©2007

Great Music! Huge Crowd! Huge Success!No Rain at Bluesmore 14

Special thanks to all our sponsors including Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, The Gazette, KCRG and Home Town Restyling. Also Nate Hine at 16th Avenue Productions and The Guitar Center. Bands this year included TBC Connection, the Craig Erickson Band, Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang w/ special guest, Mary Lane and The Kinsey Report. Bluesmore 2007 • Brucemore Mansion • Cedar Rapids • Iowa • August 4 • Spread photos by Bill Ray.

©2007 Linn County Blues Society / �

No Rain at Bluesmore 14

Special thanks to all our sponsors including Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, The Gazette, KCRG and Home Town Restyling. Also Nate Hine at 16th Avenue Productions and The Guitar Center. Bands this year included TBC Connection, the Craig Erickson Band, Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang w/ special guest, Mary Lane and The Kinsey Report. Bluesmore 2007 • Brucemore Mansion • Cedar Rapids • Iowa • August 4 • Spread photos by Bill Ray.

� / Linn County Blues Society ©2007

• LCBS Members SAVE 10% off meals atLeo’s Italian Restaurant!

29 South Frederick Avenue, Olwein.

• SAVE at - Tic Toc RestaurantBuy one, get one ½ price

on any regular breakfast entrée or sandwich!• SAVE at - Genghis Grill10% off entire ticket ANYTIME!• SAVE at - Papa Juan’s10% discount on meals only

SAVE at Hamilton Mortgage$2�0 off closing costs (ask for Jessica)

Specializing inRIBS, STEAK, PRIME RIB, LOBSTER & CRAB

Featuring our award winningBBQ Pork Ribs!

Seafood • 30 item salad barKids menus • Specialty desserts

A very special THANK YOU to these businesses who have signed up to help us

Keep the Blues Alive!

• C.R. Bank & Trust• Chappy’s Safari• Chrome Horse• Longbranch• Dudley Bros. Co.• Cocktails & Co.• Ron Schantz Const.

• The Fifth Gear• 1�th Avenue Prod.• KCCK 88.�• Checkers Tavern• Home Town Restyling• Next Door

Sun.- Checkers Tavern-Blue Sunday-6PMSun.- Mahoney’s - Various artists-Never a Cover, 6pmSun.- Charlie’s, Coralville-Blues JamTues. - Rumors - Jam hosted by Dan DJ Johnson 8-11PWed.- Checkers Tavern-Kevin BF Burt solo 6-9Wed.- Mahoney’s-D-Licious Vinyl w/ Bobby D 8-12Thurs.-J.M.O’Malley’s-T-Bone Giblin Jam FestEV

ERY

The LCBS meets the 1st Monday of each month. We moved the meeting to the 2nd Monday due to Labor Day. See you at the Longbranch on September 10, 6:30PM for the LCBS Board & Member meeting. Guests are welcome!

90 Twixt Town Rd., Marion • 377-6386

Congratulations to Dan DJ Johnson for his induc-tion into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Septem-ber 1& 2 along with the Blue Band!

September Blues CalendarSat. 1 New Bo Music Fest

Chappy’s SafariEMC 7PM Jacknife

Sun. 2 Checkers TavernMahoney’s

Mem ShannonHunab 6-10PM

Wed. 5 O’Kelly’s-Baxter, IA Billy Janey Trio w/ Dan Johnson

Thur. 6 Checkers Troy Harper & Craig Dewitte 6-10PM

Fri. 7 Checkers TavernC&D- Mt. VernonErnie’s

McMurrin & Johnson Trio 9-1Mike Williams, Rob Wallace 8-12McMurrin & Johnson 6-8:45P

Sat. 8 Chappy’s SafariHills Bar & GrillHills Bar & Grill

Billy Janey Trio w/ Dan Johnson 9-1Electric Mule 3-7PMMike Williams 9-1

Sun. 9 Checkers TavernScooters, AnamosaMahoney’s

Rockin’ JakeBilly Janey Trio w/ Dan Johnson 4-8Justin Crippen & The Revival 6-10P

Thur. 13 Checkers Tavern5th GearJ.M. O’Malley’s

Sun Dogs 6-10PMMike Williams & Rob Wallace 9-1DDog & The BBits 9-1

Fri. 14 RumorsChappy’s SafariCheckers TavernDuma’sErnie’s

4 Box O Rocks 9-1Gimmick 9-1B.F. Burt & The Instigators 9-1Mike Williams & Rob Wallace 6-10PBilly Janey & Dan Johnson 6-8:45P

Sat. 15 Chappy’s SafariTuscon Moon, KalonaSundown-Williamsburg

D Dog & The B Bits 9-1Tornados 7:30-10:30PMMike Williams & Rob Wallace 8-12

Sun. 16 Checkers TavernOpen Throttle-Shells.The ShackMahoney’s

Damon Fowler BandMike Williams & Rob Wallace 9-1Bryce Janey & Dan Johnson 6-10P56 Hope Road 6-10PM

Wed. 19 Rumors McMurrin & Johnson 8:30-11:30P

Thur. 20 Checkers Tavern McMurrin & Johnson 6-10PM

Fri. 21 Checkers TavernDrinks, N. LibertyErnie’s

Boogie Woogers 9-1Mike Williams & Rob Wallace 5-9PMcMurrin & Johnson 6-9PM

Sat. 22 Chappy’s SafariLaPorte CityNext Door

Copper Moon 9-1Bryce Janey w/ DJ 3-6, Bike RallyBryce Janey Group w/ DJ, 9-1

Sun. 23 Iron HorseMahoney’s

Billy Janey Trio, Savannah, IL 4-8PChicago Afrobeat Project 6-10PM

Wed. 26 Rumors McMurrin & Johnson 8:30-11:30P

Thur. 27 J.M. O’Malley’s Billy Janey Trio w/ DJ 9-1

Fri. 28 Checkers TavernRumorsErnie’sNext DoorThe Blend

Tornados 9-1Electric Mule 6-10PMDJ w/ Tom Bruner 6-8:45PM4 Box O Rocks 9-1EMC 8-11PM

Sat. 29 Chappy’s Safari Stormwatch 9-1

Sun. 30 Checkers TavernThe ShackMahoney’s

James ArmstrongBryce Janey & Dan Johnson 6-10The Station 6-10PM

©2007 Linn County Blues Society / 7

Blues Women PicnicBlues Beat

Blues Women Picnic Blues Wom-en! On Sunday, September 16, this is where all Blues women will want to be! Deb Bodson will be host-ing the 5th annual Blues Women Picnic this year at her lovely home at 2108 Ninth St SW, Altoona, IA starting at 2 p.m. Bring a hot dish, salad or dessert and your choice of beverage. Please RSVP (515) 967-2701 (or any board member). We’ve had a great time the last 4 years - please join us! If you forget to RSVP - no biggie - just come on over! Next year’s 6th annual pic-nic will be around the same date with Janet Weitenhagen Johnson as the host.

ing us promote our show, and any others I may be forgetting in my dazed post show delirium. Finally, before we run out of ink, we cannot forget to thank our many fine board mem-bers and volunteers for the countless hours of dedicated work they donated to make our show possible: Andy Dergo, our President, fearless ringleader and organizer extraor-dinaire; Gary Gibson, our Entertainment Chair, stage manager and Blues School or-ganizer; Evan Vulich, our stage coordina-tor, webmaster, newsletter editor and staff artist/designer; Bob DeForest, our emcee, KCCK coordinator and stage host; David Andrews, our Merchandise Chair and vol-unteer organizer; Sue Dergo, our Treasurer and financial guru; Steve Springer, our Secretary and merchandise volunteer, Kev-in Cutsforth, our Membership Chair and backstage organizer, Bob Dorr, our KUNI coordinator and production consultant; Ja-mie Gorecki, our staff photographer and writer. Additionally, we had many wonder-ful volunteers who worked in various areas including: the merchandise tent, backstage on one or both stages, on-stage setup and teardown crews, etc. and we want all these folks to know their work is greatly appre-

ciated and they are welcome back any-time. If you see any of these folks out and about, be sure and thank them for putting on such a fabulous, fun-filled, family event. AND, DON’T FOR-GET TO RENEW YOUR MEMBER-SHIP – WE NEED YOU!

Continued from Page 2

Tomaso’s Pizza

3234 Center Point Rd.

Official Pizzaof Bluesmore!

364-4313

Friday-• 6-10 PM - Da Friday Blues with John Heim• 10-11 PM - Backstage Blues• 11 PM to midnight - Beale Street Caravan• Midnight Blues CDSaturday -• 6-10 PM - Da Blues with Bobby D• 10-11 PM - The Crawfish Circuit• 11 PM -midnight - The Melting Pot• Midnight Blues CD

kcck

.org

4651 1st Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52402319.378.1720guitarcenter.com

Helping people make great music and pursue their dreams for over 43 years.

BLUE BAND GIGS

Sept. 1 Hampton Summer Fest Hampton IA 4-7 pmSun. Sept. 2 Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Arnolds Park on West Lake Okoboji. The Blue Band receives its award!

Thurs. Sept. 6 Chamber of Com-merce Wing Ding, Overman Park, Cedar Falls IA 5-8pmSat. Sept. 8 Sugar Grove Vineyard & Gathering Place, Newton IA 6-9PMFri. Sept. 14 John & Gary’s Gametime Sports Bar, West St., Grinnell, IA 9-12Fri. Sept. 21 - Renewable Energy Fair, Downtown Square Washington, IA 8-11PMSat. Sept. 22 Brew-B-Q, River Walk Park, Independence, IAFri. Sept. 28 Celebration Belle River-boat Cruise, Moline, IL 7-10PMSat. Sept. 29 Tabor Home Vineyard Harvest Celebration on the vineyard grounds, Baldwin IA- 2-5:30 pm.

©2007-Linn County Blues Society

Linn County Blues SocietyPO Box 2�72Cedar Rapids, IA�2�0�-2�72

1st Annual

Eclectic mix

of music genres-

Alternative to Gospel

• Traveling Minstrels• Street Performers• Music Concessions

Saturday, September 1 • 3rd Street SE • Cedar Rapids NEw BohEMiA CulTuRAl DiSTRiCT 3pm-2am • $10 in advance, $15 at gate, age 12 & under free

STAGE loCATioNS Nexus Stage: 10th Ave

Music loft Stage: New Bo Parkhenry Davison Stage: 3rd St

Matyk i & ii Stages: 11th Ave 3rd Street live! Stage: 12th Ave Chrome horse Stage: 12th Ave

Tornados Stage: 14th AveBRiNG ThE KiDS!

Children’s Fair will feature“Music Construction Zone”

and the“Sound Machine Factory”Visit www.newbohemiamusicfestival.com

for more info. and a complete list of bands!

FooD VENDoRSTraditional & Ethnic Foods

Tickets Outlets: CD Warehouse, Art Cellar, Music Loft/16th Ave. Music, Music Go Round, West Music,

Stars Guitars, Feral!, Mohair Pear, Chrome Horse, 3rd Street Live!, Brewed Awakenings, Illusions Fine Portraiture, Blue Strawberry, Tic Toc, Speed Print, African American Museum, Iowa Cultural Corridor

Alliance, Synergy Massage, Village Bank, Bob’s Guitars, Heartscape Studios, National Czech & Slovak Museum

Major Sponsors: Rockwell Collins, Alliant Energy, Mercy hospital,

Tattoo Majik, Diversity Focus

50+

Bands

8 Stages

Media Sponsor: