The Juke brings life to Troutdale’s Brass Rail
By Steve Rodin
photo by Steve Rodin
We all know what a juke box is: a classic machine with bright, bubbling lights that plays a variety of great music.
Every Wednesday and Friday evening, a group of east county musicians gather and do basically the same thing at The Brass Rail Tavern, located at 108 E. Historic Columbia River Highway in downtown Troutdale.
Group founders drummer Gary 'STX' Deal and Skibo Demon, a harmonica and percussion wizard, are the cornerstones of The Juke. The group has a number of members performing at some or all of their gigs.
Weekly, they host a jam on Wednesdays and perform a regular gig every other Friday at The Brass Rail. On Sundays they host another jam at The Eagles Club in downtown Gresham on the corner of Roberts and Second.
The Juke features a slew of capable musicians including Jimmy Thompson, Doc Brown, Joel Turner, Jack Savage and brothers Albert and Johnny Pomar, all of whom are quite capable of playing tasty leads, as well as solid bass.
Richard Falkner always joins them on saxophone. Vocals are spread around to many of these great players with Deal handling them about half the time.
Some of these musicians are involved with other groups. Thompson has been a regular on Sunday nights at the Gin Sun at 207th and N.E. Sandy and now at The Pink Feather on Division St. Johnny Pomar is the bass player for The Hurricanes, playing with Ron Ruedi weekly at Lydia's on Burnside in Rockwood.
Demon has roots in the Chicago Blues scene before moving to east county a few years back. Brown is a college-educated musician who has jammed with a lot of the local greats for years.
The Juke play a variety of blues and classic top-40 hits from the '50s through the '80s. They encourage other musicians to join them Wednesdays at The Brass Rail and Sundays at The Eagles (just ring the bell and tell them you're a musical guest) for their jam sessions.
The session at The Brass Rail started about two years ago, when Demon decided to try and bring some life to historic downtown Troutdale's oldest bar. He had been patronizing the local bar and felt that music would bring life to the area. He discussed it with Jean Dilworth, who has owned the Brass Rail for about 28 years, and they decided to try it. Two years later, the jam and the Friday gig are still going strong.
A true tavern with beer and wine as its libations, The Brass Rail has long served what Dilworth proclaims is the best broasted chicken and jojos in the east county area. The menu also features breaded shrimp, chicken strips and fish and chips. There is a large appetizer selection which features chicken wings, burritos, grilled smokies, jalapeno poppers, deep dish pizza, a variety of dogs, jojos and a baked "Tatie."
A pool table, Oregon Lottery, video poker machines and two televisions for sports provide a variety of other activities for the locals.
The Brass Rail is easy to find. Just head east on I-84 to the Troutdale exit. Go past the truck stops to 257th. Turn right, past the Columbia River Factory Stores to the light at Historic Columbia River Hwy. Hang a left and about three blocks down on your right is The Brass Rail.
Make the venture on a Wednesday or Friday and catch The Juke at Troutdale's finest bar, The Brass Rail. Don't forget you can catch 'The Juke' hosting another jam at The Gresham Eagles club on Sundays.