National attraction!
MEM SHANNON
& THE MEMBERSHIP

One of New Orleans' hottest performers, funk dug from deep in the French Quarter

For 15 years, Mem Shannon drove a cab in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In 1995 he turned the experiences into "A Cab Drivers Blues," a record that launched a career. Shannon has put out four more albums and solidified a place in the top strata of the New Orleans scene. The Washington Post called him "the blues field's finest social commentator." He had a hit record with "S.U.V." in 2002, earning Living Blues Magazine's Critics Poll Best Song of the Year. He has expanded the definition of the blues with performances at the King Biscuit Blues Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He's shared the Kennedy Center stage with Gregg Allman, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor and John Hiatt. He's performed with Robert Cray, Karl Denson, Taj Mahal, Toots & The Maytals, and RL Burnside. And for 13 years in a row he has performed at the invitation-only New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

memshannon.com

JERRY ZYBACH BAND

Jerry is joined by Chris Alexander on the Hammond B-3 and backed by the bluest hogs around

Adding the B-3 to the Stage Hog sound makes that blue glow ever deeper. Jerry has a satin voice that matches the resonant wood of the old organ. Alexander rolls up with a big old trailer that carries two of the beasts. He needs the second one for spare parts. With Mack Singleton and Mike Brewer providing the easiest rhythm section around.

stagehogs.com

John Pounds brings in the seven-string bass for the deep blues.

Not many can handle seven strings on a bass, but J.P. not only can get his hands around the thing - he can make it rise. Backed by keyboard and drums, John has a voice to go with the bass and gets every ounce of his Monroe, La., upbringing into the sound. Welcome.

CHUCKBARRYMANILOW

Reeotch and Tricky P add a few players and throw together a weird stew

This is a hyrda-headed band devoted somehow to Chuck Barry and Barry Manilow. How we ask? And what also does one make of the myspace reference to Louis Armstrong on acid. Did Armstrong actually take acid, back in the days when it was legal, back around the time Chuck Barry began to duck walk and the young Manilow wrote his first nursery rhyme. You never know what you'll get at the Landmark, so let's all see what we shall see.

chuckbarrymanilow

PAUL BIONDI
& THE ALLIANCE

Oregon's premier sax player brings his Eugene horn band

Biondi is one of those wonderful pieces of flotsam and jetsam that wash up on the shores of the Oregon Coast. Originally from Philly, he has played with everybody from Sinatra to Smokey Robinson, with the Platters and Gladys Knight; he's done the movies and the television. He gave up the L.A. scene in 1998 to live on the coast, playing his magic sax (sometimes two at a time) in tiny places for just the select crowd. He's done that before at the Landmark and he'll do it again.

Paul this time will be playing with his band from Eugene, the Alliance.

giftedchildmusic.com/
paulhome

PAPAW'S BLUE JELLY BAND Rockin' blues from Corvallis veterans

This is a band that has been playing together for over a decade and it shows in the tightness of the covers and the quality of the originals. Jonathan Carroll is a New Yorker guitarist playing counter to David Bryant, who hails from Clarksdale, Miss. Somehow the mesh is no mess and out comes everything from Hendrix's "Little Wing" to Buddy Guy's "Heavy Love."

expectingrain.com

Port Angeles folk duo that can rock the house

Male-female duo Jason Mogi & Kim Trenerry present the best of a woodsy genre that make you want to just hunker down and listen. Then, without quite knowing why, you might feel the urge to leap up and dance around. The banjo, the guitar and the voices put you right by the front porch, lounging around on the grass and moving around over by that row of trees. Since last appearing the Landmark, Kim and Jason have toured for six months, worked on a soon to be released CD of new songs and spent some time contemplating the contemplative life.

deadwoodrevival.com

FRANKIE HERNANDEZ BAND

Latin, soul, funk and reggae from Ashland dance band

Hernandez was once a staple of the Austin, Texas, scene; he has played with Phish and Rod Stewart, and has done the deal as a sideman in Los Angeles. Now located in Ashland, Hernandez has put together a band that can play the Latin rhythm with that Santana feel. His recent appearances include main stage summer festival slots at the Oregon Country Fair, the High Sierra Music Festival, Earthdance, Kerrville Folk Festival, Falconridge Folk Festival, and Santa Monica Earth Day Festival.

frankie hernandez.com

Rock and roll from young singer/songwriter

Raines has traveled the West in pursuit of his art. He's a guy on the road who likes to sing about the road. We had him at the Landmark a couple of months ago as a solo, now he's back with his band, fresh from a summerof touring around Oregon, California and Idaho. He is from Colorado but left that state after a radio station in Alamosa banned his music from the airwaves because of its political content. (Subversive.) He has four records out on the Howlin' Dog label.

ashleyraines

Americana from the heart; from bluegrass to blues

The Rounder tradition stems from Peter Stamfel and the seminal '60s old-timey band, The Holy Modal Rounders. It was brought West and has strolled along over the years, living and breathing in live performances. Lynn Conover and Lowell John bring together the hills and the city - the essential blend that defined the Rounder approach.

wweek.com
sundazed

CHER & the B-SIDERS

Blues and rock from Portland veterans

Led by the vocals of Cher Pienicki, here is a group of veterans who have played the blues for about 150 years between them. That goes back a long way, but then so do the blues. Cher once sang with the L.A. Philharmonic choir and did a stint in Detroit at the feet of Esther Phillips. Gospel is sure to creep into any voice with this background, so watch for a night of high-energy sound.

B-siders.com

Classic rock covers and a few originals from red hot Eugene guitar band

The night last month when I-Chele and the Circle of Light lit up the Landmark, drawing cheers from the crowd, that red-hot guitar player on lead was Roger McConnell. His band is Two Leg Lucy, a three piece that lets Roger have a little more room than allowed within the friendly arms of the I-Chele big band. GayeLee had her turn for a cheer that night as well. She's back, too. And where would we all be without the band's inspiration (pictured right), our ancestor Lucy, dated between 3.6 million and 3 million years ago and belonging to the Australopithecus category.

Dance, dance, dance with Taska and her variety musical revue

Taska Barlow, we all agree, has the perfect act for the sacred rites of Halloween. March around the place in your costume and win a hundred bucks. It's going to be tough to top the wonderful stuff of the past, the game of Yachatzee, the Melting Tree from the Enchanted Forest, and who can forget the devolution of Robbie the Robot. Taska has a dance machine ready to roll for the dance, dance, dance. The Barlow background includes a stint on the Norwegian Cruise Lines and the Oasis Country Nightclub in Portland, so she knows how to work a crowd and how to make a crowd work. Not a night to be shy. Boo!