A Summer Gig on the Beach

I played a gig with the Brian Butler Band last week on the beach in West Seattle.  This was an annual backyard party that Brian's band has been playing for the last five years.  As you can see from the photo below, the host's back yard is actually on the beach, just about a stone's throw from the Fauntleroy ferry dock.

This was an easy, fun party.  I munched on catered barbecue while party attendees took over the stage and played Neil Young and Grateful Dead songs.  I have known guitarist  Brian Butler since the mid-'70s.  He played in my band Nitelife briefly back in the day when we were playing the dives downtown on First Avenue.

We managed to wrap the gig up and split before it started raining, so it was all good!

You can check out the band I play in, the Boneyard Preachers, here.  See you at the nightclub!

Brian Lee & the Orbiters at the Highway 99 Blues club

I dropped by the Highway 99 Blues Club tonight to see Brian Lee and the Orbiters do a tribute to to the music of the great Little Walter Jacobs and Big Walter Horton.  The Orbiters are recent recipients of Best Band and Best Traditional Blues Act awards from the Washington Blues Society.

The Orbiters are normally a quartet, but this evening they hired guitarist Eric Daw so that Brian could play harp during the "tribute" portion of the night (the first set).  Journeyman bassist Mark Dalton was also filling in for the regular Orbiter bassist, Hank Yanda.

I had to leave early to get my beauty sleep, but here are some photos from the gig:

Left to right: Brian Lee, Mark Dalton, and Eric Daw.

Brian Lee and Eric Daw

Left to right: Steve Yonck, Mark Dalton, Eric Daw, and Brian Lee.

Russ Kammerer and Mark Dalton.

I wonder what will become of the Highway 99 Blues Club when they finally get Bertha, the waterfront tunnel boring machine unstuck, and they tear the remaining portions of the Highway 99 viaduct down?  The club is practically underneath the viaduct structure.

You can check out the band I play in, the Boneyard Preachers, here.  See you at the nightclub!