Sinners Club continues classic rock,
blues, original, danceable musical mix

by Lucy Hammond

(Writer’s Note: I first met Dan Golden and the boys of The Sinners Club three years ago. It was a Thursday and, after a particularly frustrating night of rehearsal (not my current band), I needed to blow off some steam. So I jumped on the freeway and headed over to Mojo's in Vancouver. I'd never been there, but had heard good things about The Sinners Club; and that their jam was known as one of the friendliest in the area. It was a great night of jammers, and everything I had heard proved to be true. They were indeed extremely friendly and very gracious!)

Sinners Club
(Photo by Kurt "Swingcat" Johnson)

Those qualities, combined with talent and persistence, are likely some of the many reasons The Sinners Club is such a well-loved, popular band. For nearly 10 years, they've served up a danceable mix of classic rock, blues, ballads and their own original music; and of course, as their advertising says, "at least one country tune each night, guaranteed!"

Frontman, bassist, and lead vocalist Dan Golden is a 25-year veteran of the music industry. Known around town as "the Hofner bass guy," his collection of Hofner, Vox and Danelectro basses are one of his passions. He is also the head curator and founder of the Oregon Rock & Blues Research Library, thought to be one of the largest private collections in the state of memorabilia, books, magazines and recordings related to music. Read More

NW Women in Blues Christmas
Concert planned w/top artists

by Staff

The NW Women & Blues present their 11th Annual Christmas Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 16 and Thursday, Dec. 17.


www.sonnyhess.com

Enjoy the evening at the Chelsea Ballroom, located at 1510 S. E. 9th & Hawthorne. The doors open at 6 p.m.; dinner and silent auction are at 6:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 8 p.m.

Featured performers include: Wednesday night Sonny Hess; Lisa Mann; Janice Scroggins; LaRhonda Steele; Claudia Knauer; Nayibe Rojas; Kelly Pierce, Kimberly Hall and Megan James; Thursday night featuring Sonny Hess; Lisa Mann; Lady Kat; Rae Gordon; Ellen Whyte; Kelly Pierce; Leah Hinchliff; Mary Sue Tobin and Bonnie Lee Bluestone.

The beneficiary of this event is the Candlelighters, For Children With Cancer. Their mission is to be established as a leader in providing support, education, advocacy and hope to all children and their families impacted by childhood cancer in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Candlelighters For Children With Cancer is a network of caring people who have shared and continue to share a common experience of childhood cancer. The members of Candlelighters support individuals and families in time of need. www.4kidswithcancer.org.

Tickets are available at www.ticketworegon.com For more information call 503-319-1333 and see ad this issue.

In-home chef events
Entrepreneur premieres party w/Paolo Ruffi

by Ginger Caviness

Who doesn’t love a big red wine on a chilly autumn evening, especially paired with a new concept utilizing Oregon fresh ingredients with your very own “In-Home-Chef” hosted party?

Founder Jim Smith has developed MyChefParty.com in Lake Oswego and recently produced a live video to capture the essence of the culinary event. Guest chefs and invited guests participated with Chef Paolo Ruffino for each course. In less than two hours, the chef held everyone captive, not only by his cooking, but his personal family stories of growing up in Sardinia. He shared family traditions with style and grace. Bravo!

Master Chef Paolo Ruffi
(Photo by Kim Taylor)

Special guests included: Debra Butler; Eddie Coleman; Shannon Page; Mary Potts; Cary Ray, Videographer; Kim Taylor, Photographer; Bonnie Carter, Editor/publisher of Positively Entertainment and Dining; and excited pumpkin carvers!

The ambiance included the prime location on Lake Oswego at the home of Smith with a glistening harvest moon for additional sparkle and flair. “Lights, camera, action” the video production is now complete and can be seen on www.youtube.com/mychefparty. Read More

Boomers stars Karaoke

by Eric Tworivers

In downtown Vancouver, Wash., at 611 Main Street, folks are making a change in history. A decades-old landmark (The Gold Rush), updated its name and attitude, creating Boomers, a change management says reflects new focus on service and amenities for those often referred to as baby boomers.

Danny Chavez
(Photo by Eric Tworivers)

This writer visited Boomers a couple times of late; once last month to support friend Keith Laurent in his piano-man mode and again last week when assigned to write this article, actually about talented Karaoke king Danny Chavez.

Boomers is a restaurant / lounge located in one of Vancouver’s oldest buildings; and you feel the history upon entering. Bartender Shawn Cavanaugh was in very fine form, keeping the customers happy with generous libations and witty conversation. She’s a positive force at Boomers. The main room was packed with folks of all ages and they seemed to be having a collective great time.

The entertainment is centered around Danny Chavez, a long-time (10 years and counting) Karaoke jockey (KJ), with a history of satisfying would-be American Idol winners all night long, night-after-night and apparently loving every moment of it! Chavez keeps things moving along and has 1000s of songs available for folks to select. He has recently updated his computer system and it keeps very accurate track of the performers that have signed up to sing.

Chavez is a Karaoke staple in the area, rocking out at The Spare Room in Portland every Monday through Wednesday nights; and at the New Phoenix Casino for more than four years. He is very comfortable in his work and that makes those around him comfortable too.

Danny Chavez has a musical heritage; his dad, Poli Chavez, was very popular in the 60’s as leader of several salsa bands, and Danny has some of these recordings with him each night. It was this writer’s personal favorite part of the show when Danny played a couple of his dad’s songs and accompanied them with live saxophone! (He’s a very good sax player.) He welcomes musicians to bring an instrument and jam along with the Karaoke and it makes for a very cool show! Read More

At Mt. Hood Family entertainment Bowling Center
Lava Lounge provides state-of-the-art Karaoke system

by KT

The Mt. Hood Bowling and Family Entertainment area houses a little gem called the Lava Lounge. The lounge is a cozy, comfortable pocket accessible from inside the main arena.

KJ Long
(Photo by KT)

This night found KJ “Long” in charge of the CAVS Karaoke system. Long is a sharp guy who knows the computerized Karaoke system well. He has the songbooks ready for singers to hunt for an interesting tune; with the CAVS system, all you have to do is tell him the name of the song and he has it up on his computer screen. You can look over the list of all the various versions of your requested tune and tell him which one you want. Next thing you know, you have a mike in your hand and you can hear your song starting.

An essential part of the system is the capacity to display the list of singers’ names so you can see where you are in the rotation. KJ Long makes any adjustments needed, as he watches and listens to each singer with care. Long sings also, with a smooth and consistent delivery. This writer thought Long sounded a bit like “Bob Seger meets Aaron Neville,” but in a lighter vein. Read More