News Archive July 2010

Tommy Thayer To Be Inducted In the 2010 Oregon Music Hall Of Fame, And Reunite With Black And Blue For The Induction Ceremony
From: The Oregonian
by Ryan White
Posted: July 15, 2010

I suppose it wouldn't be hard to find a drum roll somewhere in this digital expanse, but don't you just hate false drama?

The fine folks behind the Oregon Music Hall of Fame got together at Jimmy Mak's last night to announce this year's class. Here's what they said:

The Oregon Music Hall of Fame

Artists

Black 'N Blue: In the late 70's, a glam metal band appeared in Portland called Movie Star. The band included guitarist Tommy Thayer, vocalist Jamie St. James, drummer Pete Holmes, bassist Patrick Young and guitarist Jeff Warner. That band became Black 'N Blue, releasing their 1984 debut album on Geffen with the hit single "Hold On To 18". The band recorded three more albums for Geffen, with two produced by Gene Simmons of KISS. The band broke up in 1989, reuniting in 1997 and again in 2007. The band is currently reunited without Tommy, who replaced Ace Frehley in KISS in 2002.

Kevin Burke: Kevin Burke is regarded as the finest Irish fiddler in the world. His career has spanned 5 decades, starting with his first recordings in the 60's with a band called Glenside. He has played with the Irish legend Christy Moore and spent a large portion of the 70's in the Bothy Band, which is highly regarded as one of the finest traditional Celtic music bands ever. Kevin and one of his musical collaborators, Michael O'Domhnaill, ended up in Portland, Oregon and made several albums together. Kevin has since recorded eight releases with the band Patrick Street, three with Open House, three Celtic Fiddle Festival recordings as well as several new releases with Cal Scott.

Tim Hardin: Tim Hardin was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1941 and began his musical career in Greenwich Village playing folk and blues music. In 1966 he recorded his first album for Verve Forecast. Over his short life, he recorded eight additional studio albums, a live album and an album of demos. Two of his songs have gone down in music history as classics; "Reason To Believe", which was covered by Rod Stewart, and "If I Were A Carpenter", a top 10 hit for Bobby Darrin that was covered by over 100 artists. Tim played at the legendary Woodstock festival with a band that included both Glen Moore and Ralph Tower (both would go on to form the band "Oregon"). In 1980, Tim Hardin died of a heroin overdose at the age of 39. He was buried at Twin Oaks Cemetery in Turner, Oregon.

Linda Hornbuckle: Linda Hornbuckle began singing in her father's church at age six. Her immersion in gospel later blossomed into other styles of music including soul, funk and blues. Her talents have led to her being invited to tour and record with the likes of Dan Reed, Quarterflash and Nu Shooz, among others. She was lead vocalist for Body + Soul and the No Delay Band, as well as launching her own solo career which produced two critically acclaimed solo albums. She recently released a duo album with Janice Scroggins. Linda has been a recipient of Muddy Awards for best female vocalist.

Rebecca Kilgore: Rebecca Kilgore is a jazz vocalist extraordinaire with over 30 recordings to her credit, including multiple recordings with Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy� winner David Frishberg. She's been a frequent guest on NPR's Fresh Air and has appeared on Prairie Home Companion. She has performed at almost all the major jazz clubs in the country. Rebecca is also a musicologist and has hosted a series on jazz on public radio. As Michael Feinstein stated, "Rebecca is simply one of the best interpreters of the great American songbook."

Side Players

Denny Bixby: Denny Bixby developed his chops in Portland and played with the Terry Robb Trio in the 80's, also touring with jazz keyboardist Jeff Lorber. In the late 80's, Denny moved to Nashville, performing with Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Gail Davies, Buddy Miller and the legendary Chet Atkins. He was also a member of Great Plains, who released several albums and had four singles hit the country charts. In recent years, Denny has been performing with Rodney Crowell as well as recording solo material. He has moved back to Portland and can be seen playing with many of his old friends from the 70's and 80's.

Peter Dammann: Peter Dammann is a former Chicago native who came to visit Portland for a while and never left. His guitar skills and love of blues music landed him the job of lead guitarist in the Paul deLay Band. It also landed him the talent booking position for the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival. He's a multi- Muddy Award winner, both with Paul deLay and in the best blues guitarist category. Peter was also the guitarist for the No Delay Band, has been a guest player with too many artists to mention, and is currently the guitarist for DK4.

Industry

Andy Gilbert: Andy Gilbert graduated with degrees in music and business and took a job with Headwater, a talent agency. After six months, he decided to open his own agency, Pacific Talent. For the past 35 years he has helped Oregon artists get live gigs, with Pacific Talent becoming the largest talent-booking agency in the state. He has produced numerous festivals, conventions and corporate events in Oregon. He has worked with Nu Shooz, the Crazy 8s, Quarterflash, Tom Grant and Pink Martini, to name a few. He is always eager to find new, talented artists and help them get their careers going.

Mike Quinn: Mike Quinn has been in the concert promotion business since his days of booking shows while in college at the University of Oregon. In 1983 he and business partner Chris Monlux formed Monqui Presents. They operated most of their shows out of the Pine Street Theater (later changed to La Luna), and made it a point to have local artists opening on all their bills. Today Monqui is one of the largest independent promoters in the country. Mike has managed a number of artists over the years, including the Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he opened the Doug Fir Lounge, one of Portland's premier music venues, and continues to champion local musical talent.

Les Sarnoff: Les Sarnoff moved to Portland in the early 70's to be an actor. However, his love of music led him to become a DJ for KGON in 1974. In 1977 he moved over to KINK. Minus a couple of years in the 80's, Les continued to work at KINK until he passed away due to cancer in 2009. To many, Les was KINK Radio, with his friendly voice being the beginning and bright point of their day. In person, Les was the same friendly person you heard on the air. Les was involved with many musical events in the community and did whatever he could to promote the musical arts.

Artist Of The Year

OMHOF has added an additional award category this year. The category is Artist of the Year, and this year's recipient is Pink Martini. Formed in 1994 by Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini has since gone on to international acclaim. They have toured around the world and released four albums and a DVD on their self-owned record label.

This year's master of ceremonies will be the ever-colorful Tony Starlight. Two of this year's event performers were also announced: Shock, who were inducted into OMHOF in 2008, and one of this year's inductees, Black 'N Blue. Black 'N Blue will re-form the classic lineup of Tommy Thayer, Jamie St. James, Pete Holmes, Patrick Young and Jeff Warner.

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 16 through Tickets West outlets, including Fred Meyer and Music Millennium. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. VIP tickets, which include reserved seating, after-induction party and poster, are $90 in advance.