Continued from Page 8
A feature both days will be
a cigar tent named for Slim
Lively, nickname of Port-
land-based blues player Greg
Johnson, who died in March.
He served as president of the
Cascade Blues Association
from 2002 to 2021. “We are
dedicating the whole festival to
him,” Carter said.
The gate opens Friday at
5 p.m. and activities begin at
6 p.m. with the 25th anniver-
sary incarnation of “swampa-
billy” band Junkyard Jane, with
leader-songwriter Billy Stoops.
Carter’s own band, North
Coast Blues, then takes the
stage. The lineup includes Car-
ter on guitar and percussion,
Don King on bass and vocals,
and Fred Jacobs on drums. Join-
ing the lineup is John Orr, lead
guitar and vocals.
Sister Mercy plays next. The
group has gained some promi-
nence at the International Blues
Challenge, held annually in
Memphis, Tennessee. “They
are very high-energy band from
Portland,” Carter said.
Fixture
Kathy Rankin
The Portland-based Norman Sylvester Band, pictured at a prior festival. The Louisiana-born Sylvester, known as
“The Boogie Cat,” is known for his distinctive outfits. His music is heavily influenced by gospel.
Saturday’s activities begin
at 11 a.m. The Robin Gibson
Band, whose members favor
both rock and blues, draw-
ing influences from the Allman
Brothers and Joe Bonamassa,
perform at 1 p.m.
The Ben Rice Band show-
cases its leader’s versatility on
different guitars.
The Strange Tones, also from
Portland, played the festival a
couple of years ago. “They are
a fantastic stage presence. They
will put a smile on your face,”
Carter said.
The Norman Sylvester
Band, a blues band with a gos-
pel influence, is a festival fix-
ture. “I call him the peninsula’s
prodigal son. If I didn’t have
him, then I would hear about it
from my daughter, Terra,” Car-
ter said.
Headliners are Ken Emer-
son and Michael Osburn. “They
will be playing together! It’s
going to be such an awesome
show,” Carter said.
Emerson is known for his
prowess on the Hawaiian slack
Kathy Rankin
Robin Gibson, of Woodland,
Washington, will bring his band
to the Peninsula Rhythm & Blues
Festival at the Port of Nahcotta.
key and steel guitars. “He is a
very, very, very good player —
one of the best in the world,”
Carter said. Emerson performed
on the 2006 Grammy-win-
ning album “Morph the Cat” by
Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen.
Osburn spent 13 years play-
ing lead guitar alongside
late Blues stalwart John Lee
Hooker, who appeared in the
1980 “Blues Brothers” movie
and was famous for “Boom,
Boom.” A song Osburn wrote,
called “Spellbound,” featured
on a 1998 Grammy-winning
album by Hooker.
Joy
Carter and fellow musicians
are excited as the weekend
approaches.
“I love the beach,” Robin
Gibson, who performed at the
long-running Ilwaco Blues and
Seafood Festival, said. “The
joy is playing — anywhere,”
he said. “If I was in it for the
money, I would be dead poor.
It’s doing what I love and get-
ting people singing and listen-
ing and dancing. The fact that
some people like my style — I
love it.”
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2022 // 9