KEVIN SELFE & THE TORNADOES

High-energy blues from a Muddy Award nominee

Before moving to Portland from Roanoke, Va., this master bluesman played over 1,500 gigs in 15 states, conquering a wide circle of East Coast venues. But his new start in the Northwest has given him a fresh outlook, a boatload of new fans and a deep appreciation from the blues community, so much so he and the band have been nominated for six Muddy Awards including Best New Act, Best Contemporary Blues Act and Best Electric Guitar. He's become something of a mainstay at the Landmark, giving a variety of performances, suitable to the crowd, the weather, the whatnot.

Link...

ONE WAY OUT

Blues and rock influences in a hot stew 

These guys stepped up to fill a cancellation a couple of months ago and came through like champs. Players from the South, East, and West make a blend of voices and styles unique to their new home on the Oregon Coast.  The four core players are all veterans with lots of recording and road time.  Steve Sloan hails from Long Island and his years of razor sharp lead guitar and vocal work have earned him a well earned reputation as the driving wheel of any project he’s part of. Steve Cannon is the bands’ California kid with that recognizable Bay Area feel to his singing and rhythm guitar. Richard Silen, on bass and vocals, is a veteran of the Austin music scene and brings a Texas country/blues feel to the stew. Carl Popham, another touring veteran and native of Oregon, puts the icing on their sound with his vocals and harp work.

Link...

CONJUGAL VISITORS

Mountain dance music, bluegrass, jazz, old-time country and jug/folk

Here is a band with a different sound than we have had at the Landmark, a hot jug band style that has grown popular in Eugene over the past two years. The band has played the McDonald Theater, the WOW Hall, the Seattle Folk Life Festival, the Oregon Country Fair and the Willamette Valley Folkfest -- as well as dozens of clubs, barn dances, festivals, weddings and private parties all over the Northwest. It is led by the Rev. Jesse Lawton, a mandolin player and and vocalist who has written much of the band's music. He's joined by Papa String, a carpenter from Kentucky who plays guitar; Chip "Prof. Horsehair" Cohen, a former member of the The Klezmonauts and The Holy Model Rounders, on the fiddle; and Brien "Bobo" McMullen, a veteran of the Southern California jazz scene, on upright bass.

Link...

TOUCHY FEELIACS

Alt rock from Eugene veterans, featuring Dana Vion originals

Dana has been writing songs for 20 years and while we all know about the importance of classics and standards, it's also nice to hear originals. Dana Vion's songs are funky, well-arranged music that rocks. The band has gone through some changes recently -- all for the better.

Link...

LISA MANN BAND

Blues and rock in the style of Morrisette, Sheryl Crow and Joan Osborne

Lisa Mann is a life-long bass player and budding singer/songwriter. Before forming her own group in 2007, she backed Portland blues greats Sonny Hess, Paul DeLay, Margo Tufo and Duffy Bishop. She has her own CD of original rock, pop and blues and in just her second year with her own band she got a Vocalist of the Year nomination from the Cascade Blues Association. She got a good welcome last time out at the Landmark, good to have her back.

Link...

LISA MANN SOLO

Solo blues from Portland Vocalist of the Year nominee

Lisa comes back with her solo acoustic show, featuring a different take on the blues, more intimate and up close.

Link...

THE JERRY ZYBACH BLUES JAM

Callin' all stagehogs...

Grab your 12-bar magic box and come on down...

Link...

RAS GABRIEL & 4-WORD

Hawaii-tinged reggae from a veteran on the Jamaica scene

Ras Gabriel and 4-Word have shared the stage with renown reggae artists Burning Spear, The Abbysinians, Israel Vibrations, The Wailers, Culture, President Brown, Everton Blender and Michael Rose. Ras Gabriel played keys with the Meditations, one of Jamaica's top vocal trios.

Li nk...

Classic rock from a hot new Portland group

Here's a four-man band of veterans of varied backgrounds who gave up touring and decided to relax. Kerry Stickler, lead guitar; Jim Killinger, bass; Cactus Davis, keyboard; and Rob Elliott on drums, formed the group with the intention of enjoying the kind of music they play, without the pressure of being booked night after night. Stickler is musical director for the Missing Children's Locate Center telethon at the Drum in S.E. Portland. Killinger's background includes a stint in the military where he often played with his band on the deck of an aircraft carrier while hosting a barbecue. Davis sang in America's Youth in Concert,  appeared at Carnege Hall, toured Europe, and  performed for the Queen of England and the Pope in Rome. Elliott's father was in the Portland group Rapid Transit and snuck his son into clubs to play drums because he was underage. 

Link...

An acoustic duo doing all original music

Two guitars and two voices influenced by the Eagles, Peter Gabriel, Jackson Browne, U2 and Hall & Oates. Bobby Wood is the lead singer and songwriter and the rhythm guitar player. He's been writing songs since he was 13. Richard Parris, the lead guitar, has a background that includes a cover band on the Gulf Coast and a recording studio in Tulsa. The two bumped into each other on the Oregon Coast and are making their second appearance at the Landmark. Very smooth stuff.

Link...

NORTH OF WEST

Keyboard driven jazz and blues with a European base

Here's a group built around the keyboard skills of Terry "Fingerprince" Reniex, a native of France who has performed around the globe, including a memorable Stevie Wonder tribute in the Mercadante in Naples, one of the oldest theaters in the world. He moved to Eugene where he studied music and has performed with many different people and acts. North of West is his latest project where is joined by Carlito Sway, who started in Orlando, Florida, where he developed his Afro-Cuban percussion style. He was the host of a New York City loft scene before heading to Eugene for a more down-style scene.

Link...

Special national attraction!
ERIC JERARDI BAND

Red-hot blues guitar from the heartland of Ohio

The band has been featured on the Beale Street Caravan, Blues Delux and the House of Blues Radio Show. Jerardi’s last CD “Virtual Virtue” featured legendary keyboardist Chuck Leavell [Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton etc.] and he just released his first ever DVD titled “Troubled Places, Troubled Times.” Blues Matters magazine from England recently featured Eric on the cover and had this to say: “Well crafted pieces that take you on a ride of musical styles without fear, without genre, without prejudice...with style, with feeling, with talent, with joy, with funk, with guts and with awesome playing and variation" and the House of Blues said, "Eric Jerardi has exploded onto the national scene as one of this country's foremost blistering blues/rock players!"

Link...

Pure New Orleans funk from two the city's first families of music

Russell's father, David Batiste, was a founder of the funk scene in New Orleans and the patriarch of one of the city's great music families. Jason Neville is the son of Aaron Neville, another musicial dynasty in the Cresent City. Russell began playing drums at age four and began sitting in with the family band at age seven. He was a member of the nationally known Marching One Hundred Band, playing in the drum section and writing cadences still heard during Mardi Gras parade season today. He played with the Charmaine Neville Band until 1989 when he joined Art Neville and George Porter Jr. of the Meters and guitarist Brian Stoltz to form the Funky Meters. He's also played with Harry Connick, Jr., Champion Jack Dupree, Robbie Robertson. Jason Neville is the lead singer in the group, which includes several other New Orleans musicians. You won't get any closer to authentic funk then on this Saturday night at the Landmark.

Link...

Alt country soloist with a fondness for poetry

Sinclair braids music and poems into her own distinctive weave with a country style that is fully original. As an example, in 2006 this Portland singer included a Langston Hughes’ poem/song “Lament Over Love” on her CD "Avalanche." She realized she was onto something and  began writing songs to the works of poets who struck her fancy. She subsequently added bookstores, libraries, and literary festivals to the more conventional music venues at which she performs, cross-pollinating music and poetry audiences. Recently Sinclair opened for national folk stars Tracy Grammer and Jim Henry. This is a first for the Landmark and should be mightily interesting.

Link...