Het verhaal-The Story
Zoals veel mensen hebben wij ook een pagina op MySpace. Door de vele vriendschappen die je hier maakt ontmoet je ook mensen die net als wij fan zijn van Ian Siegal. Op deze manier hebben we ook "Dennis Dudley" leren kennen. Hij is bekend als de "Blues Boss"in de Seattle Blues Music scene.. Dennis Dudley heeft Ian naar Amerika gehaald (the Pacific NW) in de zomer van 2006 voor een groot aantal optredens en daar een dagboek met foto,s van bijgehouden.
We like to thank "Mark Riley" who introduced us to "Dennis Dudley" the Blues Boss. Many thanks to Dennis for sharing his story and photo,s with the Dutch IanSiegal website.
I have been asked if I would be interested in sharing some information and photos on Ian Siegal's visit to the Pacific NW in the Summer of 2006.
Here is the story .
My name is Dennis Dudley and I go by the nickname 'Blues Boss' here in the Greater Seattle Blues music scene. I was introduced to Ian Siegal's music by a fellow Englishman (Tim Aves of the Rockin' Armadillos) who sent me a 'From the Hip' jam session CD that included 4 songs by Ian.
I immediately became a fan and contacted his record label about the potential of Ian coming to the Pacific NW. Through his U.S. Booking Agent, who had gotten him into the Waterfront Blues Festival (Portland, Oregon), I helped secure additional gigs in the Seattle-Tacoma area.
Originally Ian was bringing his own band, but with 3-4 weeks to go that fell apart and I was asked to provide a back-up band for Ian.
I secured the Mark Riley Trio, gave them copies of 'Meat & Potatoes' to get ready for Ian. Prior to coming to Seattle Ian did one gig at Lake Tahoe, Nevada and another gig in San Francisco (Boom Boom Room).
He flew into Seattle on a Monday and I picked him up at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
At that point we had never met, I recognized Ian from the cover photo on 'Meat & Potatoes'. As you know, Ian likes to use a resonator for his 'one-man' performances and I had arranged to get him the use of one while he was here.
After introductions at the airport we drove 30 miles south of Seattle to Tacoma, Washington to pick up a 1932 National from a good friend of mine, Rod Cook.
Rod and his band were performing at the Swiss Tavern (a popular blues joint). I introduced Ian to Rod and his band and we stayed for their performance. Rod graciously asked Ian to join them on the second set and the, as we say here in the U.S., 'tore the house down'.
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (1)
On the was back to Seattle that night he told me that Rod was as good a guitarist as anyone he'd ever been on stage with, and he wanted 'Toast' as his back-up. I told him that the Mark Riley Trio were just a 'hair' under Toast and he said 'That will be great'.
Tuesday - I arranged for a musician friend (Jeff Hayes - also a Captain in the Seattle Fire Department) to give Ian a tour of Seattle. That tour included a visit to a Seattle Fire Boat (which Ian enjoyed completely), a trip on a Washington State Ferry and a salmon dinner @ Jeff's house that evening (Rod Cook and I attended the dinner).
Wednesday - I had arranged for the use of some warehouse space at where I work (Bardahl Mfg. Corp. - You may be familiar with the name BARDAHL - we have several automotive products distributed in Europe). That evening I introduced Ian to the Mark Riley Trio (Mark Riley on guitar, Howard Hooper on bass and Marty Vadalabene on drums). They got the equipment thing sorted out (Ian borrowed equipment from Mark, including a custom made Tele he used on all the gigs). The rehearsed for just over a hour (at which point Ian said: 'You guys know what you are doing, let's go have a beer....' Here are some photos from the rehearsal.
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (2)
At this point we were ready to take off the next morning for the first gig...... More of the Ian Siegal Saga in the Pacific NW... On Thursday morning we began the first of 6 gigs in 6 days by driving 7 hours south to the central part of the State of Oregon to a town called Bend and a venue called the Domino Room. Unfortunately we drew a small crowd because Dr. John was in town the same night, but the crowd was enthusiastic and they bought CDs, so Ian was happy. The crowd could NOT believe that it was the first time Ian & the Mark Riley Trio had performed live. Here are some photos from the Domino Room...
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (3)
Friday - The next morning we got up early to drive the 7 hours back to Seattle for two nights @ Highway 99 (Friday & Saturday). The key gig of course was Waterfront, and the band had 4 nights prior to Waterfront to get as sharp as possible. After the first set on Saturday night @ Highway 99 Ian turned to the band and said: 'We do that @ Waterfront and we'll kick *ss...' Here are some photos from Friday and Saturday nights @ Highway 99.
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (4)
At this point it was three gigs down and 3 gigs to go.... Sunday - We had a gig @ a club called Jazzbones in Tacoma, WA. It was the last gig before the big day @ Waterfront. The band was really clicking at this point. Here are some photos from Jazzbones...
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (5)
Monday WATERFRONT BLUES FESTIVAL- Portland, Oregon. The second largest Blues Festival in North America. 30,000 spectators a day for 5 days in 2006. Ian had two sets @ the Waterfront Blues Festival. Early in the day he had a 45 minute solo gig on the A&E Stage (the smallest of the three stages @ Waterfront - more intimate).... Here are some photos from the A&E performance - those from other photographers are ok to use on the Dutch IanSiegal website. Ian was a huge hit on the A&E stage. This performance ran from 11:45am til 12:30pm or so....
MONDAY AFTERNOON - Ian's big opportunity was the afternoon performance on the Credit Union Stage @ Waterfront in front of 20,000 people. The band had a one hour set. Ian was spectacular and the band matched him. I was busy on the stage, so I didn't get all the good shots, so I am including photos from two other photographers (Tom Hunnewell and Deb Rock). Here are photos from the big performance...
See photos=>Ian Siegal in the USA (6)
Ian's Credit Union stage performance was from 3:30pm til 4:30pm. After the performance Ian roamed the festival meeting and greeting fans and other blues performers. That evening the US Booking Agent got Ian and I on the nightly 'Blues Cruise' on the Willamette River right next to the festival sight. The featured performer on the cruise was Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers with Reba Russell. Here are some shots of Ian with Jimmy Thackery, Reba Russell and on Stage with Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers to close out the cruise that night...once again, he was outstanding...
I'm still working on getting "Ian Siegal" back over here to the Pacific NW again.....they loved him!
www.myspace.com/bluesboss
Dennis Dudley "The BluesBoss"
Dear Dennis, Thanks again for sharing your wonderful story!
info@IanSiegal.nl
Nederlandse fanWebsite:webmaster@IanSiegal.nl