San Luis Obispo Blues Society Upcoming Events Saturday, October 27, 2001 The Lara Price Band with Blue Collar Way Saturday, December 1 Wild Child Butler Saturday, January 19, 2002 Vets Hall Show

Lara Price Band

When you listen to Lara Price, there is a little bit of Bessie Smith, a chunk of Susan Tedeschi, a generous helping of Aretha Franklin. She's a singer with a sultry stage presence and a voice that demands your attention-smoky, lonely, sexy, and powerful.

Lara was born in Vietnam, and was adopted and raised by an American family.  She first took piano lessons at the age of 6 with legendary 80's music innovator Howard Jones. Lara started singing and fronting bands at the age of 12 and went on to study operatic voice at Boise State University.  Lara burst onto the Bay Area blues scene in 1998, and since then she's blossomed into a show-stopping performer and talented bandleader.

The Lara Price Band includes a veteran team of Bay Area musicians: Stuart Horton on guitar, Steve Smith on bass, Dennis Dove on drums and backup vocals, Frank Ramos on saxophone, and Paul Dorr on keyboards.  They recently released their first studio CD, which has been receiving airtime on Blues stations throughout the West Coast.  The CD contains mostly blues classics (Born Under a Bad Sign, Hound Dog, Thrill is Gone, & I Just Wanna Make Love) that showcase the band's considerable musical talent while setting the stage for the Lara's powerful and emotional voice.  They have played at a variety of clubs and concerts in the Bay area, including this year's Monterey Blues Festival.

"At the end of the night, when I should be tired after giving the songs everything for three hours, I've got more energy than when I started", Lara says. "Singing to me is like a life force all it's own."
 

blue Collar Way

Singer and songwriter Bill Brader wrote a set of blues songs that he wanted to record.  He organized a collection of about 10 musicians to meet monthly to play his new songs at the Painted Sky recording studio in Cambria.  Under the direction of producer Steve Philip, this musical community played and developed these songs into the CD “Nightshift” (Rock Harbor Music).  It is a collection of blues for working people, so the “band” decided to call themselves “Blue Collar Way”.

After hearing the CD, the Blues Society asked them to play for us.  We are not sure how many of the musical collective will perform.  However, at a minimum, the band will include Steve Philip on bass and vocals, Alan Whitsett on harmonica and vocals, John Dittman on drums, and Al Olivera on guitar.
 

blues society news

After twenty years of operating the sound system for the Blues Society, Jack Bronner has decided to retire.  We are going to miss him and want to thank him for all of the years he has worked for the Society.  Starting this September, we welcome Bill Gaines as our new soundman.  Bill owns Bill Gaines Audio in SLO, which provides sound for a variety of events in the county including the Avila Beach Blues Festival and SLO's Concerts in the Plaza
 
 
 

Events Calendar for 2001
 
 

CATALOG OF SHOWS	LOCAL BLUES PERFORMERS	CD REVIEWS	OTHER
September 2001 July 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 September 2000 July 2000 May 2000 April 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 October 1999 1998 Shows	Big Daddy's Blues Band Black Cat Bone Croon Dogs HOODOO Blues Band Guy Budd Band Valerie Johnson Texicali Divas Karen Tyler	Ernie Hawkins Big Bill Morganfield Mitch Woods & Rocket 88s	2001 t-shirt