Blues festival rolls into Sisters this weekend

On Thursday, folks in Sisters will see stage structures start to go up on the Village Green and at Sisters Art Works on Adams Avenue. The work crews will largely be made up of teenagers working through Heart of Oregon YouthBuild.

They'll be setting the stage for two days of blues music in the inaugural Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival, Friday and Saturday, August 3 and 4. Organizers Jennifer and Joe Rambo have set out to make their festival a unique offering for Sisters. There won't be any tents - at the Village Green, the whole park will be the venue. The event will contribute to YouthBuild and to Sisters Habitat for Humanity, as a way of supporting education in the building trades and workforce housing in Sisters.

And, the Rambos note, in order for "all festival attendees to experience the entire lineup, we're excited to announce that the majority of artists will play both days."

They'll want to experience the entire lineup, because it's a powerhouse one.

The festival headliner is the legendary band Los Lobos - which stepped up when the iconic bluesman John Mayall canceled his August and September dates due to illness.

Los Lobos sets the tone for the eclectic nature of the music that will fill Sisters through the weekend.

More than three decades have passed since Los Lobos released their debut album, "Just Another Band from East L.A." Of course, they swiftly proved to be anything but a "just another" anything.

As the band's biography notes: "Los Lobos were already East L.A. neighborhood legends, Sunset Strip regulars and a Grammy Award-winning band (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance) by the time they recorded their major label debut 'How Will The Wolf Survive?' in 1984.

Although the album's name and title song were inspired by a National Geographic article about real-life wolves in the wild, the band - David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin - saw parallels with their struggle to gain mainstream rock success while maintaining their Mexican roots.

Perez, the band's drummer, once called their powerhouse mix of rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music the soundtrack of the barrio.

"Three decades, two more Grammys, a worldwide smash single ('La Bamba') and thousands of rollicking performances across the globe later, Los Lobos is surviving quite well - and still jamming with the same raw intensity as they had when they began in that garage in 1973."

Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene - respected by the old guard, revered by the young guns, and adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night. After five decades in the game, Trout is a talismanic figure and the glue that bonds the blues community together, at a time when the wider world has never been so divided.

"I'm 66 years old," says Trout, "but I feel like I'm in the best years of my life right now. I feel better than I have in years physically. I have more energy. I have a whole different appreciation of being alive, of the world, of my family, of my career. I want life to be exciting and celebratory. I want to dig in. I want to grab life by the balls and not let go, y'know...?"

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers has established a strong following in Sisters and Central Oregon with shows over the past several years at The Belfry.

Like many, many young aspiring artists, Tommy Castro fell under the spell of blues-rockers Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal and Mike Bloomfield. As he got older, he discovered the bedrock blues of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, and the deep-rooted soul singers like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, and James Brown.

Together, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers - bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson, and drummer Bowen Brown - are a lean, mean lineup who deliver soul-shaking, muscular music. On record and on stage, their road-hardened, seemingly telepathic musicianship brings an unmatched passion to Castro's blue-eyed California soul and hard-rocking, good-time songs.

Castro has won four Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award, the highest award a blues performer can receive.

With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive, and roaring, Shemekia Copeland's wide-open vision of contemporary blues, roots, and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. She's earned eight Blues Music Awards, a host of Living Blues Awards (including the prestigious 2010 Blues Artist of The Year), and more accolades from fans, critics, and fellow musicians.

She's sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton, and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait.

Santana says, "She's incandescent...a diamond."

Nikki Hill is Jenn Rambo's personal "buzz" artist.

"She's very high-energy,"

Rambo told The Nugget. "It's nice to see a strong female in the lead role in her band - and she's the star. And she's young, and adorable, and very talented."

Just a couple years ago, Nikki Hill was a bartender with an affinity for punk and a deep love for classic R&B. At her husband (and now guitar-player) Matt Hill's behest, she stepped out from behind the bar and onto the stage. The response has been ecstatic, stunning audiences with their muscular sound, Matt's volcanic leads, and Nikki's inimitable charisma.

On being informed of the Sisters Rhythm & Blues Festival lineup, one music fan exclaimed: "Cedric Burnside?! That guy is blues royalty and a freaky-good drummer to boot."

The Cedric Burnside Project keeps Mississippi Hill Country Blues alive by honoring the past while blazing a path toward the future. The grandson of legendary R.L. Burnside and son of drummer Calvin Jackson, Cedric Burnside has developed a relentless, highly rhythmic charged style that takes the blues to another level.

This four-time winner of the prestigious Blues Music Award's Drummer of the Year ('10-'14) is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in the world and has begun to make a name for himself as a traditional blues guitarist as well. In 2006, he was featured in Craig Brewer's film Black Snake Moan, playing drums next to Samuel L. Jackson.

Curtis Salgado is a major figure on the Central Oregon music scene, making regular appearances at local festivals. Salgado started out in Eugene's bar scene with his band The Nighthawks. He quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Spann, and Magic Sam.

Once Salgado joined forces with his friend Robert Cray and began playing together as The Robert Cray Band, he found himself sharing stages with many of his heroes, including Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, Albert Collins, and Bonnie Raitt. He's also toured with Santana.

Castro Coleman, AKA Mr. Sipp, "The Mississippi Blues Child," spent 22 years in the gospel music business as a recording artist and producer. Recognized for his amazing vocals, songwriting ability, musicianship, ability to produce records, and entertain fans with an upbeat, outlandish show all make Mr. Sipp "The Total Package."

With more than 125 recording credits to his name, Mr. Sipp has played on more than 50 national recordings with several Grammy-nominated projects.

Perhaps the newest outfit to grace the Sisters stage, Shanda and The Howlers are making waves playing on illustrious bills with The Blasters and Wanda Jackson, and performing at The Rhythm Collision Weekend (Riverside, CA) and the massive Viva Las Vegas rockabilly festival.

Hillstomp will roll down from Portland for the festival. This junkbox blues duo is noted for rummaging through the dumps and forgotten backwoods of American music, recycling traditional elements into a fresh and distinctive brand of do-it-yourself hill country blues stomp. The clanging and tumbling from assorted buckets, cans, and BBQ lids, paired with a rambunctious slide guitar creates a bit of North Mississippi trance blues, a bit of Appalachia, and a dash of punkabilly.

Hillstomp's unforgettable live performances tap into a magic that cannot be rehearsed, converting outlaws and traditionalists alike from skeptics into preachers.

Down North takes their music in a different direction entirely. Lead vocalist and dancer Anthony "Renegade" Briscoe proudly steals the spotlight with his ballet-trained dancing and emotional vocal-impact reminiscent of Prince. Bassist Brandon Storms blends slap/pop bass lines with deep synth and pitch-bent solos that parallel guitar leads. Psychedelic-jazz guitarist Nick Quiller dominates the fretboard with unbound imagination, shredding into another dimension, exploring the soundscape from high to low.

Finally, drummer Conrad Real's finesse and intensity, evocative of Chris Coleman or John Blackwell, serves as Down North's foundation, through impeccable groove and powerful chops.

David Jacobs-Strain has made Sisters a regular tour stop since his first performance here as a blues guitar phenom, dazzling the Sisters Folk Festival audience at the age of 14.

A song poet and fierce slide-guitar player, this Oregon native is known for his virtuosity and spirit of emotional abandon. His music speaks of open roads, longing hearts, and flashbacks of Oregon.

His live shows transition from humorous, subversive blues to delicate balladry, swinging back to swampy rock and roll. It's a range that ties Jacobs-Strain to his own generation and to guitar-slinger troubadours like Robert Johnson and Jackson Browne.

He's shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, Boz Scaggs (more than 60 shows), Etta James, The Doobie Brothers, George Thorogood, Robert Earle Keen, Todd Snider, Taj Mahal, Janis Ian, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Weir, T-Bone Burnett, Del McCoury, and many more.

For more information or to buy tickets visit sistersrhythmandbrews.com.