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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2016)
Wallowa County Chieftain Entertainment wallowa.com August 17, 2016 A7 Local guitarist shines at smoldering blues festival By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Steve Tool/Chieftain “Bugs in Boots.” Festival not just about the blues By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain While the brews and blues may overshadow the bronze element of Joseph’s annual BBB festival, attendees take notice of the bronze art on display. Parks Foundry — one of the festival’s main sponsors — always brings a few works of art for perusing. Foundry owner Steve Parks sold a bronze at this year’s festival, a work from his wife Maria. The piece is part of Maria’s “Bugs in Boots” series and features a ladybug. “We just got done casting it last week, and we’ve al- ready sold it,” Steve said. Steve will deliver the bronze to its new owner in Alaska next weeks while installing a life-size whale sculpture in Juneau. THE SCENE Thursday, Aug. 18 • The Sagebrush Sisters, 5:30 p.m. at the Wallowa Coun- ty Courthouse Friday, Aug. 19 • Don Flemons, 8 p.m. at the OK Theatre. theoldok.com Sammy’s Barbecue wasn’t the only thing smok- ing at this year’s Bronze, Blues and Brews festival at Joseph City Park. Local gui- tar wiz Casey Kiser made his festival debut with the renowned Delgado Broth- ers blues band on Friday, the festival’s opening night. Kiser so impressed guitarist Joey Delgado with his ver- sion of the blues standard “Black Cat Bone” that the band invited him to jam on an additional song. Kiser said members of the festival committee recently saw him perform at a local party, and after broaching the subject with the band, extended a one-song invita- tion. “I wasn’t expecting to play two, and they wanted me to sing one, so I chose ‘Black Cat Bone.’” Asked if he’d like to re- turn next year, Kiser didn’t hesitate: “That would be so cool.” Additional acts who played through the jam included slide guitarist Owen Cambell and main acts Danielle Nicole and Devon Allman. Saturday brought more pyrotechnics: Campbell played a short but stellar set before Devon Allman took the stage and audience by storm with a fiery set that included a high-energy ver- sion of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry,” as well as a number of his originals. There are worse ways to start a festival than by having an audience scream for an en- core from the opening act. Allman complied, and after his five-alarm-fire set, had to change his soaking shirt. Allman said he liked Or- egon and Joseph and appre- ciated getting the chance to perform here after several past near-misses. “We tour 30 countries and try to make it everywhere we can,” Allman said. “If the routing works and the money’s OK, we can make it work ... We’ve done several shows in Oregon, and we’ve seen a lot of the countryside. This state is really beautiful, “ I wasn’t expecting to play two, and they wanted me to sing one, so I chose ‘Black Cat Bone.’” Casey Kiser local guitar wiz, speaking of his experience at the Bronze, Blues and Brews festival and it’s always a pleasure. I’d love to come back.” If Danielle Nicole and her band felt intimidated by Allman’s performance, they didn’t show it. They took the stage and threw more wood on the fire Allman started. Nicole played a foot-stomp- ing set that kept many au- dience members crowding the stage. At one point, she hauled out an acoustic guitar that did little to slow down the pace of the show. Nicole last performed at the festival as a member of the band Trampled Under- foot in 2011, and she appre- ciated the chance to return with her new band. “When Trampled Under- foot disbanded, I had a big list of venues and we whit- tled it down to target festivals I wanted to submit the new band to ... I had such a good time playing here with my brothers, I thought, ‘We really have to make it a priority.’” The harmonica trio Harp Attack followed Nicole and kept up the energy with a rocking performance that kept the stage warm for re- turning blues guitar hero Chris Cain, whose fiery, B.B. King-inspired blues kept the audience crowding the stage and shouting en- couragement. A thoroughly spent Cain said he enjoyed his third fes- tival visit to Joseph, his pre- vious stints coming in 2006 and 2010. “I love this festival, and I have a wonderful time,” he said. “It’s a fun setting, and everyone’s happy. ... I’d come back here just to clean.” Headliner Sugaray Ray- Steve Tool/Chieftain Local guitar slinger Casey Kiser shares the stage with 2016 International Blues Challenge winners the Delgado Brothers during the jam night performance of the Bronze Blues and Brews festival. ford had energy to match James Brown and stopped in the middle of the set to sing a few intimate numbers, no doubt to get a breather to con- tinue his stage and vocal his- trionics to an adoring crowd that spent the entire set danc- ing in front of the stage. A sweat-soaked but con- genial Rayford signed au- tographs and posed for pic- tures with fans for some time Saturday, Aug. 20 • Don Flemons, 12:30 p.m. at Maxville Gathering, Nez Perce Homeland Site east of Wallowa • Raven and Rose CD release party, gypsy folk, 7 p.m. at Terminal Gravity. www. terminalgravitybrewing.com • Sorry, Neighbors!, 7 p.m. at Stubborn Mule Thursday, Aug. 25 • JW McClure, 5:30 p.m. at the Wallowa County Court- house after his performance. Like the other performers, Ray- ford previously headlined the BBB in 2013. “I love playing this place, I wear my Bronze, Blues and Brews T-shirt so much that it has holes in it,” he said. As the band has a four- day break, Rayford said he intended to spend time re- laxing here. “We’re going to check out the lake and have a bite to eat. I want to take the tram to the top of the mountain.” Tired but contented fes- tival attendees left the park with many calling it the best festival yet. Event official Mike Straw said attendance at this year’s event was sig- nificantly higher than the 2015 festival, a good sign for the future. Aug. 26-27 Still running out to • Wallowa County Thunder Run presents Blue Tattoo and Ashes 2 Ashes at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds. fetch the paper? Sept. 2-3 • Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Elgin Opera House. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $8- $17. www.elginoperahouse. com 6 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $26.00 1 year* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00 1 year online . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00 Thursday, Sept. 8 • The Purple Hulls, 7 p.m. at the OK Theatre. theoldok.com SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Sept. 9-10 • Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Elgin Opera House. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $8- $17. www.elginoperahouse. com Sunday, Sept. 11 • Open mic night, 4-6 p.m. at the Josephy Center with emcee Ted Hays. josephy.org Sept. 16-17 • Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Elgin Opera House. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $8- $17. www.elginoperahouse. com 541-426-4567 | wallowa.com $40.00 is the in-country price $57.00 for out-of-county subscribers Steve Tool/Chieftain Headliner Sugaray Rayford hugs two adoring fans after his high-energy performance. Athlete of the Week Wednesday, Oct. 5 • Liz Vice, 7 p.m. at the OK Theatre. theoldok.com Thursday, Oct. 20 • HoneyHoney, Wallowa Resources fundraiser, 7 p.m. at the OK Theatre. theoldok.com Please submit Enter- tainment Calendar event information to editor@ wallowa.com HEALTH LINE 4-H horsemanship. To add icing to the cake, she also won reserved grand champion in English equitation as well as reining. She also netted a grand champion in trail riding. Sept. 23-24 • Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Elgin Opera House. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $8- $17. www.elginoperahouse. com Wallowa County Alley Cooney This week’s athlete of the week is Alley Cooney. The Chieftain selected her for the honor because of her tenacity in pursuing the “Dad” Potter award for Just 17, Cooney is entering her senior year at Joseph Charter School where she also plays volleyball, basketball and track in what little spare time she has. She also manages to maintain a steady presence on the school’s honor roll. 541.426.3413 Mon-Thurs 9 to Noon/1-5pm; Fri. 9-1 Cooney is the daughter of Chad Cooney of Joseph and Lori Cooney, also of Joseph. Proudly Sponsored By: Eastern Oregon’s Full Service Propane Supplier 201 E. Hwy 82, Enterprise 541-426-0320 www.edstaub.com 519 W. 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