Thursday, May 18, 2006

A Concert for Curtis...

By Uncle Ray Varner

Apparently, the benefit originally scheduled for the Schnitzer Auditorium on June 12th has been scrapped.

For Tuesday, June 13th at 7:30 PM, the Rose Quarter will be in it's "Theatre in the Clouds" configuration. A bit more intimate...it will accomodate you and about seven thousand of your closest friends.

Prices range from $35.00 to $250.00. The $250.00 ticket gets you into the after concert party. The bill now includes: The Curtis Salgado Band, Steve Miller, Robert Cray, Everclear, Phantom Blues Band, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, and possibly more.

The Phantom Blues Band includes, among others, Mike Finnegan, formerly of Finnegan and Wood, Joe Sublett (sax), and Denny Freeman (guitar), both formerly of Austin's Cobras. The Cobras were founded by Paul Ray, and some notables passed through this fine band. A couple of their alumni included Stevie Ray Vaughn and monster vocalist Junior Medlow. All of the Phantoms are highly sought after sidemen and studio guys with roots in Texas and other parts of the Southwest.

Uncle Ray

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike Finnnegan is fantastic - another in a long line of Irish-American Bluesmen (including folks like Mike Lynch and Tom McFarland, to name just a couple), Finnagan is a great B3 player and a truly amazing soul singer. Back in 1965-67, when we were playing 3.2 Bars just across the Kansas state line, we knew we were in trouble if Finnegan's band at the time, "The Serfs," from Topeka, were anywhere in the area, as everyone in town would be off at their gig! The Finnegan and Woods album is a classic, as well as Finnegan's version of "Going Down Slow" on Dave Mason's double llive album from the early 70's.

Mike Lynch said...

I recall seeing Finnigan & Wood at the Walrus Tavern in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood in the mid '70s. Finnigan's vocals really standout in my mind from that show. Check out the smokin' version of Son House's Death Letter Blues on their album from that era.