Lizard Letter

Nate’s News, Notes, and Nonsense Greetings Lizards Well apparently winter has decided to give us some warmer weather this year. I will admit that I’m not terribly happy about it though. Not very good for the remote start business and I actually enjoy the snow. It seems however that we can count on some

sort of bad weather whenever there is a cheerleading competition to drive to. Emma and Eva’s United Cheer squads have had a good season so far and we are looking forward to finishing strong as national competitions are in the near future. We have a new local venue that is embracing the love of the blues. Shades of Blue has opened up recently. It is located in the former Dodger Tap. Eric

Hovey made the inaugural show a success putting on his signature top notch performance. Please visit and Help Keep the Blues alive so you don’t have to drive. Coming up next on the local scene is one of our favorites, Randy McAllister joining us at Olde Boston’s on February 24th before he opens up for Montgomery Gentry at The Surf Saturday night. The barefoot drummer is sure to put on an outstanding show. Get there early as I’m sure seats will fill up fast. Heading into March we have another special treat. Ronnie Shellist, A renowned harp player and instructor will be holding a Harmonica workshop prior to taking the stage March 10th at our Spring show. The workshop starts at 2:30 for all skill levels. He will then be opening up for The Lionel Young Band. Anyone who saw LYB at Olde Boston’s will tell you this is a NOT TO MISS show. Amazing talent to say the least. Quite possibly the most talented group of musicians to take the stage for LCBS. Make plans to be blown away. I’m nearing the end of my run as president of LCBS and have had a blast serving you. Voting for new officers will be held at our regular meeting on the 16th. Stop by and cast your vote. See ya Soon-Nate

OFFICERS President, Nate Gibson

Vice President, Sean

Minikis

Secretary, Connie Jo Wilson

Treasurer, P.J. Rodenborn

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Sponsors, Tim O’Leary

Jams, Steve Curry

Newsletter, Carolyn

Crowley

Volunteer Svcs, Ruth

Larson &Cindy Angstrom

Historian, Katie Coleman

Photographers, Bill Kurtz &

Ryan Paschke

CORPORATE SPONSORS

Access Audio &

Accessories

Bemrich Electric

Bianchi Heating and Cooling

Bill Woehl Construction

Budweiser

Buford’s Steakhouse & BBQ

Crave Tattoo

Cricket’s Restaurant &

Lounge

CS Bank

Curt Bacon Auto Body

Déjà vu Off Main

Double M Signs

Eagles Landing

8th Note Music

Faiferlick Storage

FD Pool and Spa

Fort Dodge Ford/Toyota

Laufersweiler-Sievers

Funeral Home

Lefti’s Bar & Grill

McColley Nicola Therapy

Svcs

Mid-Iowa Dental Arts

Mineral City Mill & Grill

Olde Boston Restaurant &

Pub

Permanent Collection

Tattoo & Body Piercing

Pingel Tire and Auto

Rides Bar and Grill

Sports Page Bar and Grill

Stumps Snow & Mow

The Brothers Sells

Three Eagles Radio

Town & Country Insurance

First State Bank

Woodruff Construction

February 2012 Volume 14 Issue 1

Check out our new and improved website!! At lizardcreekblues.org

Page 2

February

Joe & Vicki Price Byron’s - Pomeroy, Ia.

Saturday 2/11/12

Randy McAllister

Olde Boston’s - Ft. Dodge, Ia

Friday 2/24/12

Robby Vee

Byron’s – Pomeroy, Ia.

Sunday 2/26/12

March

Johnny Rawls

Byron’s - Pomeroy, Ia.

Sunday 3/04/12

*Ronny Shellist Harmonica Workshop

@ 2:30 pm

Starlite Village-Ft. Dodge, Ia.

Saturday 3/10/12

Lionel Young Band

Starlite Village - Ft. Dodge, Ia.

Saturday 3/10/12

Buckwheat Zydeco

Sioux City Comm. Theater

Friday 3/16/12

Harper

Byron’s- Pomeroy, Ia.

Sunday 3/18/12

Trampled Under Foot

The Gas Lamp - Des Moines, Ia.

Saturday 3/24/12

*Cost for workshop is $30

Contact Pat Kolar @ 507-402-1341

Next meeting Thursday February 16th, 2012 7:00 pm The Eagles Landing 1018 1st Avenue North 2nd Floor Fort Dodge, Iowa ************************************** LCBS meetings are held the 3

rd Thursday of each

month. All members are welcome and encouraged

to attend

LCBS is currently collecting canned goods for

donations to the Lord’s Cupboard at each meeting.

Note: February Jam will be rescheduled at a later

date. Back at it on March 15th

. Thanks to all for

supporting The Eagles Landing and the third

Thursday Jams. Have a Happy Valentine’s Day

--Kyle Ver Steeg

Lizard Creek Blues Meeting

01/19/12

Meeting was called to order by Nate at 7:05

No reading of the minutes due to changes in the

newsletter

PJ provided the treasurers report. Membership count –

single 61, family 27, corporate 6, honorary 2.

Nate will be in contact with the Central Iowa Blues to

offer endorsement for the Blues Challenge to be held

end of January and round in April. Finals will be held in

May.

Suggestions for circulation of posters prior to events via

mail and email to our members outside of the Fort

Dodge area. If members will be traveling they can also

pick this up in advance to distribute.

Nominations were held for the following

President – Bob Woods

Vice President – Kyle Ver Steeg and Nate Gibson

Secretary – Sherlyn McMahon and Connie Jo Wilson

Treasurer – Karen Woods

… Minutes Continued on Page 4

The Eagles Landing

1018 First Avenue North

Fort Dodge, IA

1/3 lb. Burger and Fries

Only $3.00!!

Page 3

LCBS Recent Member Renewals

Mark and Ruth Babbit------Family

Sonya and Buddy Claypool-Family

Thank You FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

Remember to check your renewal due date The date on the address portion of your newsletter

shows when your membership is due. The last page

of every newsletter contains a membership form for

your convenience.

Howlelluja Vol. 1 Stutterin’ Jimmy and the Goosebumps have just released

their first CD!! If you haven’t heard of them before, this is a local band from Indianola, Iowa. They play a mix of blues, folk and alternative rock. Band members are

"Stutterin' Jimmy" Enos, Dirk Newton, Jacob "County"

Berhow, Dusty Ennis "D-Blood", Beth Spaniel, Erik Brown, and Darren Mathews.

The album as a whole has a bluesy/country feel to it, but replace the overwhelming twang with an over driven slide guitar and a wailing trumpet that finds a common ground and manages to blend together beautifully while accenting and swirling around Jimmy's haunting and grit-filled vocals in such a way that it never takes away from them, instead,

allowing them to remain the focal point and adhesive element of every single song

…Continued on page 5

“At Last” singer

Etta James dies at 73

“At last, my love has come along. My lonely

days are over. My life is like a song." Her voice

has been described as dusky, earthy, anguished,

and sultry.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan.

25, 1938, Etta James died on Friday morning

January 20th

, 2012 in Riverside, Calif. She was

73.

She is most often

referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and

that is how she made her name in the 1950s

with records like “Good Rockin’ Daddy.” She

is in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and

the Blues Hall of Fame.

Ms. James did things her own way. In an era

when female talent was often shunted to one

side, the singer maintained her independence

and carved out an identity which remains

seductive to this day.

In 1960 Ms. James was signed by Chess

Records, the Chicago label that was home to

Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and other leading

lights of black music. She quickly had a string

of hits, including “All I Could Do Was Cry,”

“Trust in Me” and “At Last,” which established

her as Chess’s first major female star.

For all her accomplishments, Ms. James had

an up-and-down career, partly because of

changing audience tastes but largely because of

drug problems. She candidly described her

struggles with addiction and her many trips to

rehab in her autobiography, “Rage to Survive,”

written with David Ritz (1995).

“A lot of people think the blues is depressing,”

she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but

that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m

singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t

stand to listen to the blues; they’ve got to be

phonies.”

Above left to right: Scott Bennert, bass; Matt O’Ree; Eric Safka, keyboards; Byron Stuart; John Hummel, drums; Bill Fowler; Douglas Ruiz Right: Matt O’Ree

Matt O’Ree band at Byron’s on Sunday January 29th, 2012 Photos courtesy of Roger Feldhans

“I still like to play the blues more than anything else.” Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac

Matt O’Ree blends blues/rock with

style. His home is New Jersey, so he’s

come a long way to play here in the

Midwest. Matt has opened for such

bands as Kansas, Buddy Guy, Leslie

West and Mountain, The Outlaws,

Govt Mule, and Robin Trower. See

www.mattoree.com for more.

Don’t Miss The House of Blues Radio

Hour Every Saturday Morning from

9 to 10 on 105.9 FM The Eagle

LCBS Meeting 01/19/12 continued…….

Nominations will still be open the beginning or our next meeting

before the final vote. No absentee votes are allowed you must

attend the meeting.

Upcoming show will be held at Starlite featuring Lionel Young

March 10.

Sara will be ordering new merchandise to be sold in March.

We now are on Facebook and our website has been updated.

Motion to adjourn by CJ and Bill. Motion carried and adjourned

7:30

Respectfully submitted

CJ, secretary

Secretary note: i know i have been nominated again but been at

this for several years and have had a blast. It is time for new

blood so my nomination was for Sherlyn. She would do an

awesome job.

Greetings Members,

I’m pleased to tell you that I’ve recently been awarded the honor of publishing the LCBS newsletter. Please be patient with me as I work out the glitches and I will do my best to make it an interesting and informative read. Thanks to Gena for all your help getting me started.

If I’ve missed any new members or if you need a new card and haven’t received one, or if you’ve heard some great new music or some great old music and want to pass it on, please let me know 515-573-2796-leave a message and I’ll get back to you.

The date on the address portion of your newsletter is your membership due date and there is a membership form on the back page for your convenience. See you soon! Carolyn ♫

R Robert Feuer is a contributing writer at BluesWax And BluesRevue Page 5

The 33rd

Blues Music Award

nominations were announced last week and

TAB BENOIT and his album “MEDICINE”,

along with Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Sugar

Ray & The Bluetones, lead the way with four

nods apiece and winners will be announced at

the May 10 ceremony in Memphis…… 1. Entertainer of the Year

2. Album of the Year

3. Best Contemporary Male Artist

4. Best Contemporary Blues Album

Ruthie Foster With her latest release Let It Burn The traditional blues purist may not find what he’s looking for here, but fans of gospel and sweet

rhythm and blues should be overjoyed. Many of the tracks give churchy feeling, but that of a church where

the doors are open to everyone. “Welcome Home,” a la Mavis Staples, Foster wants to “trust in my

heart” and “keep tryin’ to find my way home.” David Crosby’s anthemic “Long Time Gone,” again with the Blind

Boys, addresses our apocalyptic political climate, urging us to “speak out against the madness,” but saving us by saying “the darkest hour

is just before the dawn.” Here, as elsewhere, interesting arrangements provide classics with

fresh outlooks. “Ring of Fire,” another example, has an arrangement so different that even Johnny Cash might not recognize it. Foster relaxes here, making this the most peaceful number on the album. Grounded in temporal love lost are an outstanding version of Robbie Robertson’s “It Makes No Difference,” and a duet with William Bell, a reprise of his 1961 release “You Don’t Miss the Water,” which, though

well done, doesn’t equal the original. Let It Burn cannot be overlooked

……………..Howlelluja Vol. 1 continued . Although the vocals are the centerpiece of

the songs, there is no shortage of musical

ambition in this band. My favorite song on the

album, "Oh, Captain," showcases that drive

and their willingness to experiment, with the

drumbeat for the song actually having been

played with a fist on a door and foot stomps

on the staircase. The trumpet and Rhodes

piano also get a chance to really shine in this

song as well. Although there is often a darker

tone to the songs on this album, the band

relentlessly and unapologetically takes aim at

uplifting the soul of the listener by revealing

gut-wrenching tales of overcoming physical

and emotional agony that will incite your

deepest desire to persevere any and all

obstacles that may come your way in life. I

look forward to hearing future releases from

the band and, according to Jimmy they plan on

starting the recording process all over again on

Howllelujah Vol. 2 within the next couple of

months. We will be streaming Howllelujah

Vol. 1 in its entirety right up until the actual

release date.

If you like the songs you hear on this album, I

would definitely suggest seeing them live. The

next show that they will be playing is on

March 3rd in Ames, Iowa at DG's

Taphouse with Bright Giant. Show starts at

9 p.m. You can stay posted on future events

and releases from the band at

reverbnation.com/thegoosebumps.

Review courtesy of Joshua Putney

Lizard Creek Blues Society P.O. Box 952

Fort Dodge, IA 50501 www.lizardcreekblues.org

Mission Statement *To preserve, cultivate, and support the blues in Central Iowa on all levels and multiple venues.

*To provide a newsletter of current blues news and events for members.

*To increase awareness of and appreciation for the blues through society sanctioned educational efforts.

*To provide a network of association for area blues lovers.

Name_______________________________________________________________________ Company Name (If Corporate) _________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________ City, State, and Zip__________________________________________________________ Phone_______________________________________________________________________ Email_______________________________________________________________________ Website______________________________________________________________________

The date on the address portion of your newsletter is when your membership is due

o Renewal o New Member o $25 Single o $40 Family o $100 Corporate o $100/Year or more Contributing

Make payable to: Lizard Creek Blues Society C/o P.J. Rodenborn P.O. Box 952 Fort Dodge, IA 50501

Lizard Creek Blues Society Membership Application