Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
Dancing to the blues attracts lots of folks from wide and far.
|
ENLARGE
|
Hence Phillips, right, sometimes hosts the monthly blues jams, an honor that is shared among many such bands.
|
|
ENLARGE
|
Lara Price, right, and her band will be the featured performers Sunday at the 5 Mile House as they host the Sierra Blues Society jam and good times.
|
A lot of great blues music is on tap at the 5-Mile House Sunday as Michael Sasaki, a legendary guitarist's guitarist, and the hot Lara Price Band take to the stage. And you better get there early because these monthly Blues Jams and Goodtimes, put on by the nonprofit Sierra Blues Society, tend to burst at the seams with people who want to listen and dance to the distinctive rhythms, as well as take their turn playing a bit.
Lots of folks have heard the sultry Lara Price and her band at the big U.S. jazz festivals. Indeed, they've just returned from a very successful performance at the 2007 International Blues Challenge, where the cream of the crop of fledgling blues acts that span the globe compete. The band represented the Sacramento Blues Society. Price and her band have shared the bill with headliners Etta James, Little Richard and James Brown. She also lent her talent to sing back-up with Triple Seven at the Fillmore in San Francisco, opening up for the pop band Smash Mouth.
Trained as a jazz musician, Michael Sasaki was selected by the San Francisco band Cold Blood in the '70s for his ability to play the jazz-funk rhythm guitar role the band needed, as well as soaring rock-influenced lead guitar solos. Now, years later, his eclectic tastes have broadened to country, jazz/fusion, big band swing and, of course, the blues - with such bands as Bill Summers & Summers Heat, Norton Buffalo & The Knockouts and George Yoshida's Big Band in the Bay Area.
As far as all the other musicians for the day are concerned, says Sierra Blues Society Thom Myers to blues bands, "come on in, and we'll get ya'll up right after the host band opens up this extravaganza!" Be forewarned, though, that only three bands can take to the stage, playing a set of three songs each because of limited time, so get there early to sign up. After they play, it's time for individual jammers to display their chops in what Myers calls, "one of the hottest venues around anywhere."
If you can't make it in person, you're still in luck, because community radio KVMR 89.5 FM out of Nevada City or on 105.1 FM in the Tahoe/Truckee area (also streaming on www.kvmr.org) will air all five hours live.
