new salsa tunes!
with
CALIENTE
satu rday, J u ly 5
DOORS OPEN 8:30PM • SHOW 10PM-2AM
FREE SALSA DANCE LESSONS @ 9-10PM BY DJ MARIO MORA
Wild Duck Music Hall - 169 W. 6th Ave
★
★
GRAND OPENING
★
8th & Charnelton
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BY BEN FOGELSON
Surviving
Organic Pizza, Pasta
Beer & Wine
Indulgent Desserts
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After the Country Fair
A talk with bluesman Robert Cray.
E
W : Your New album Time Will Tell
opens with “Survivor,” a blues song
that echoes from a deep well. You
don’t sound like B.B. King, but I found myself
thinking of him during your crooning. What
inspiration do you draw from King, and what
other modern artists inspire you?
RC: Well, what I like about B.B. is that he
talks to you and not at you. Once you get to meet
the guy you’re already under his spell. His per-
sonality is so congenial. He’s real down to earth,
and I like that about his music. He doesn’t smash
it over your head, he welcomes you into it.
That’s not what I like about everybody. There’s
Albert Collins, who had a completely different
style, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, who did minor
keys, a weakness of mine. I’m a big fan of a lot
of R&B singers with a gospel influence.
we’ve always had creative control. But if we
had been signed, maybe someone would have
come out from the label to check progress, and
that could be stunting. Otherwise, things were
the same.
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EW: Did you sell your soul down at the
crossroads?
RC: No. It’s a cool story though, ain’t it?
They even questioned Robert Johnson about
that. I’ve been down on that road, Hwy. 61 down
in the Delta. They say that Robert Johnson sold
his soul to the devil to get so good.
Tim Patrick
$4 no cover til 8pm
EW: Does it feel pretty cool coming back to
Eugene? What kind of ties do you still have
here?
RC: I don’t think I have any ties left. A lot of
people have moved on. We’re here so infre-
quently, everything is so rushed. It’s not like I’m
going home anymore. It’s been so long since
I’ve lived there. I might take a walk around the
mall, check out how things have changed,
what’s stayed the same.
EW: You completed Time Will Tell before
signing the album to any company. In what ways
did that affect your creative process?
RC: Well it hasn’t changed anything ‘cause
July 13th
FULL MOON PARTY
M OUNTAIN
OF
FreeWillinSoul
338-9333
V ENUS
David Kelly (juggler)
Doors open 6pm
EW: Your song “Distant Shore” deals with
war. If you could hammer out one mighty bar-
chord and teleport all the coalition forces right
out of Iraq, right now, would you do it, and what
chord would it be?
[Muddy Waters] seemed wise, and he looked
like a Buddha ... it was like you just wanted to
go hug his head it was so beautiful.
EW: In your previous albums, why are so
many of your songs about sleeping with the
neighbor’s wife and breaking hearts?
RC: (Laughs) That’s my good friend song-
writer Dennis Walker. The man had troubles!
But we sang a lot of his songs. It was our chal-
lenge and took daring to tackle those songs.
★
Blue Ribbon Rock!
RC: Yeah, I would do that. I would get an
open big E string, turn the volume up so there’s
a lot of feedback, and I’d get ‘em all out of there.
Now that Saddam’s running and hiding I’d get
‘em out of there and let the people get back to
their lives.
EW: What’s your one musical performance
that you’ll never forget? Why?
RC: That’s hard to say. There’s a lot of cool
ones. One was an opportunity to play with
Muddy Waters, which was a gas at the
Sacramento Blues Festival, some 20 some years
ago. We played like eight shows with him, and
we chatted before and after sets, talking about
everything under the sun. I was invited out to
sing “Mannish Boy” every night. Muddy was in
his 70s. He seemed wise, and he looked like a
Buddha. The big head, and that face, it was like
you just wanted to go hug his head it was so
beautiful.
ew
The Courtesy Clerks
In 1998, the Eugene music scene evolved when the Courtesy Clerks
crawled from their pool of primordial ooze up onto a big, punk rock.
The trio, comprised of Mark Rogers (guitar, vocals) Mike B. (bass,
vocals) and Ron “topofyou” (drums, vocals) has fused its talents
into a sound that is truly their own. The Courtesy Clerks have
developed a fanatical following. Make sure to check them out
this Saturday night Visit Eugene Weekly ’s clubs page and
www.thecourtesyclerks.com for further details.
—Robert Cray plays at 8:30 pm, July 3, McDonald
Theatre.
JULY 3, 2003 25