Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Preachers Play at the Starday Tavern and Leslie Milton turns 75

The Preachers trekked down to Portland, OR on July 19th to play at the Starday Tavern.  The Starday is located on Foster Road in Southeast Portland, and is owned by the same folks that own the popular Duff's Garage across town.

We had to slog through a 50-mile long traffic jam in Washington, that stretched from the Southcenter Mall to Olympia.  As usual, the backup in the southbound lanes appeared to be caused by people rubbernecking at an accident that occurred on the I-5 northbound lanes.  Once we passed the site of the accident on the other side of the freeway the traffic cleared out.

However, we made it to the club early enough to set up and relax for a little bit before the 9:00 PM downbeat.  The Starday is a small narrow bar with the stage located next to the front door and the front windows. A portion of space at the rear of the club is allocated to video gambling machines.  The club provides a small four channel PA system with flying speakers.

We played a two hour show to a small but appreciative audience that included several of Portland's fine musicians, plus our old friend Ray Varner, and Cascade Blues Association President Greg Johnson (he created the black and white photos below).  A special shout out to our friends Rob and Kristi (and friends) for always coming to our shows.  Thanks guys!

Here's a couple of photos from the Starday date:


Photo created by Greg Johnson


Stoop Down's got the blues!  Photo created by Greg Johnson.

In other news, our friend Leslie "Stardrums" Milton (aka: "Pops" or "The Miltonian Institute") is turning 75 years-old and they threw a big birthday party for him at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant yesterday.  A New Orleans native, Leslie has had quite a career recording with numerous artists in New Orleans and Los Angeles, and playing with many bands in the Seattle area including the Bluestars, the Slamhound Hunters, and Stardrums & Lady Keys.

I could only stay for a minute to wish Les happy birthday, but I did get a few photos while I was there:


Happy birthday, Les!


Eric "Two Scoops" Moore on the rocket 88s.


Guitarist Daddy Treetops with Bassist Mark Dalton and his wife Katha.

You can find out more about the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

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