Blues at Centrum

Centrum's Facebook Page

Whether you are a workshop participant, performance attendee, donor, volunteer, resident, or interested observer, we hope you will take a moment to visit our new Facebook page.

Facebook allows each of you to connect with us and extend your experience at Centrum. Upload your photos and videos. Talk about your past or upcoming workshops, review performances and readings. In large measure, 'our' page is 'your' page.

So take a look, and let us know what you think. We're exploring whether or not to create specific social networking sites for each of our major program areas. What do you think? (Now you have your first discussion topic on Facebook.)

The case to build on the Centrum “Experience”

ex·pe·ri·ence [ik-speer-ee-uhns]

The observing, encountering, or undergoing of things generally as they occur in the course of time: to learn from experience; the range of human experience.

When I started to think about what my first posting would be about it didn’t take long.  The fact is, that I count the days to the next Country Blues workshop (if you are wondering, as of today, March 20th, there are 128 days to go). As the event draws nearer, the excitement builds, almost to giggly schoolgirl proportions.  When the event is over, a sense of mourning comes over me as I drive out of the gates of Fort Worden to head back to Seattle and “life as we know it”.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a good life and I love my family more than words can say, but that’s just how it is. 

But why, I mean it’s just a workshop right?  Great question and I’m glad you asked.

In short, NO, it isn’t “just a workshop”.  Without a doubt, in the majority of cases, the workshop sessions are an incredible way to learn the music from the masters right up close and personal.  Not only that, but there are the porch jams, the impromptu jams, the nightly shows and the “just hanging out with the faculty” moments be it at the Jook, the Commons or elsewhere on the Fort, and to crown it all off, there's the blues festival at the end of the week.  But the real reason why this is no ordinary workshop is the quality, diversity and mutual respect of the other students, many of whom are from across the globe.  You really get to know people especially if you are lodging in the “noisy” dorm (like, I mean really) and spend long nights jamming, chilling out on the porch, trading/debating riffs, licks and entire songs or just chewing the fat about nothing in particular.  As a student of the workshop I learn as much outside the classroom as within it.  The overall “experience” is one of total immersion in the blues and for me that translates to total relaxation. 

However, the workshop is only 1 week out of 52 and while there are many ways to prolong the experience (do a web search on “blues forums” and “blues guitar workshops” and you’ll see what I mean) it is all pretty much disconnected from Centrum.

So, to kick things off, I’d like to see faculty, students, alumni, educators, and promoters (and others I have inadvertently missed) start to blog here so that we can create a virtual connection to keep the Centrum spirit alive for the other 51 weeks of the year.

C'mon - what do you say?

My name is Son Jack Jr. and I am a “Centrum experience” junkie. I’m not ashamed of it, but I could use some help.

Welcome Son Jack, Jr. to the Blues Site

I hope you'll join me in welcoming Son Jack, Jr. to the Centrum Blues site. He will be adding his wit and wisdom to the site periodically, and we look forward to his contributions.

Son Jack Jr. is a Seattle-based blues guitarist/singer/songwriter who has attended workshops at the Port Townsend Country Blues Festival for the past 7 years, and just released his 2nd album titled “When The Devil Calls”. He performs throughout WA State and has been nominated in four categories for the 2008 WA Blues Society “Best of the Blues” awards for Best Traditional Blues act; Best Solo/Duo act; Best Acoustic Guitar and Best Songwriter. 

He is a contributing writer to the WA Blues Society “Bluesletter”, and is active on the Blind Man’s Blues Forum. He is a former board member of Pacific Northwest Blues in the Schools and is on the advisory team for the WA Blues Society Education committee.  In February this year, he was a judge in the Solo/Duo act category at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

Son Jack Jr. will be performing in the clubs at this year’s Port Townsend Country Blues Festival in August.

He can be reached at sonjackjr@sonjackjr.com.

Wanda Jackson Leads 'Roots of Rock' Workshop

Rock & Roll was the first form of truly American music that broke down racial barriers, crossed cultures and caused America’s youth to rise up out of their segregated seating sections at concerts and dance in aisles together - at a time when integration was illegal.

Our good friend Daryl Davis, in addition to being on Blues faculty this year, also happens to be the musical director for Chuck Berry, and is passionate about using music to bring people together.

To get to the chase: Daryl has put together an awesome gathering at Centrum right after the Blues festival, August 3-6, 2008. It's called Roots of Rock, and it's going to be a rumblin' celebration of old-school Rock & Roll and Rockabilly.

We're honored to have the great Wanda Jackson as our special guest for the gathering. A native of Oklahoma, Wanda's talents were discovered by another great entertainer from the southwest, Hank Thompson. In her early years, Wanda worked with another young entertainer that was just getting started by the name of Elvis Presley. Elvis encouraged Wanda to try her hand at Rock & Roll. She did in 1956, and became America's first female rock & roll singer.

[Video of Wanda Jackson]

One of her many nicknames is "The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice." After playing the video above, you can see why.

Visit our Roots of Rock page to learn more and to register (participants will be able to play in a band with Wanda!).

WANTED: Bloggers

When we redesigned this site last year, we had a vision that at some point, we could invite community members to post/write for the site, sharing their passion with other members of the Centrum community.

That time is NOW!

If you are passionate about blues, and would like to share your knowledge and a sense of discovery with others, we want YOU. Please contact Keven Elliff at keven at centrum dot org for more information.

Jump Blues and Swing

For those of you blues hounds who are into jump blues and swing, we salute you.

But more than that, we want to you jam.

To help with that, we're offering a special weekend in May just for you. We've invited Mike Dowling, Paul Anastasio, Jennifer Scott, and Rene Worst to conduct a Swing Intensive, May 8-11, 2008.

The world of swing is a big one, but with this intensive long weekend the focus will be on "vintage swing", classics from the 30's and 40's that will include jump blues, and western swing, instrumentals as well as vocals. Morning sessions will be devoted to technique, while afternoons will include a faculty-led band lab that will demonstrate how to "put it all together."

Please visit the Swing Intensive page on our Fiddle Tunes site to learn more and to register--space is very limited in this special weekend. Hope to see you there!

For those of you blues hounds who are into jump blues and swing, we salute you.

But more than that, we want to you jam.

To help with that, we're offering a special weekend in May just for you. We've invited Mike Dowling, Paul Anastasio, Jennifer Scott, and Rene Worst to conduct a Swing Intensive, May 8-11, 2008.

The world of swing is a big one, but with this intensive long weekend the focus will be on "vintage swing", classics from the 30's and 40's that will include jump blues, and western swing, instrumentals as well as vocals. Morning sessions will be devoted to technique, while afternoons will include a faculty-led band lab that will demonstrate how to "put it all together."

Please visit the Swing Intensive page on our Fiddle Tunes site to learn more and to register--space is very limited in this special weekend. Hope to see you there!

John Cephas and Phil Wiggins

[The music of John Cephas and Phil Wiggins]