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The Landmark • Yachats
A most musical monster
By Niki Price
OREGON COAST TODAY
[Posted June 25, 2008]
There’s a great, tuneful beast lumbering towards Yachats. Sometimes it walks in a 4/4 blues rhythm, straightforward, 12 bars at a time. Then its gait will switch to a thumping zydeco waltz, or perhaps a loping alt-country swing. The creature is the biggest, baddest thing Yachats has seen in a long time, but nobody’s scared.
In fact, music lovers are welcoming the Landmark Lounge’s “July Music Monster” with open arms. They’re heralding the arrival of blues from New Orleans, bluegrass from Colorado, psychedelic rock from New York City and alternative country from Eugene, Ore.
The schedule begins on Thursday, July 3, with a visit from the soulful Eugene bluesman J.C. Rico. The Landmark is offering two bands on Independence Day, surf rock purveyors called The Surfonics at 1 p.m. and the nationally-known masters of the jump-blues, The Insomniacs, accompanying the fireworks at 9:30 p.m. On Saturday, July 5, it’ll be rock and blues from Papaw’s Blue Jelly Band, and on Sunday, hypno-gypsy-jazz from Taarka. And that’s just the first weekend of the month.
The schedule continues with some of the finest in Oregon bands, like The Streamliners and Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes, as well as touring acts like Todd Wolfe and a local favorite, Rockin’ Jake. In all, there are 16 bands coming to the Landmark Lounge in July, the biggest monthly total that owner Bruce Olson has booked since he first revived the bar’s live music tradition six years ago.
“The local bands have formed the base of our schedule, but they got so good (patrons) got used to a high level of quality. That’s what’s led us out of state,” Bruce said. “Our local bands are great and we couldn’t do it without them. These national acts are icing on the cake.”
One of those dollops of frosting is Rockin’ Jake, who has earned the title of “best blues harp” in New Orleans five times. Jake honed his sound, South Louisiana gumbo mixed up with a little Mem Shannon, Little Freddie King and Marva Wright, on Bourbon Street. After Hurricane Katrina packed his bags, Jake started playing gigs around the country, landing at the Landmark in 2006. He stayed in the apartment Bruce and Marilyn Olson keep, just for musicians, above their adjoining Landmark Restaurant.
Jake liked it so much that he stayed three extra days.
“I have a personal connection to Louisiana music, because I really love it. But Rockin’ Jake is really the key to the Louisiana connection at the Landmark,” Bruce said. “After he played here one time, he went back and told everyone this was the greatest place to play in the world. And all of a sudden I started getting these calls from agents and musicians.”
“I think it’s great. It’s more than just the music in the club, it’s a nice blast of a totally different culture, that we don’t often get on the Oregon Coast.”
Jake’s endorsement was responsible for the arrival of Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe, who’ll be pumping the accordions and thrashing the washboards on July 9, and Henry Turner Jr. & Flavor, who’ll be dishing out the funk, reggae and swamp style blues on July 26.
It won’t be all Gulf Coast music at the Landmark in July, however. On July 11, the bluegrass folk string trio Wildwood Holler will grace the lounge’s stage, while on July 25, the musical mockers and alt-country purveyors called Saltlick will return to Yachats. At the end of the month, fans of what Olson calls “straight slashing Chicago blues, Muddy Waters grown up,” will get to hear guitar master Eddie Turner. “The Devil Boy,” winner of a WC Handy Blues Music Award in 2006, will be playing July 27.
But it’s not just the great view, the food next door and the vacation village atmosphere that draws big-name acts to this small club. It’s the demonstrative, appreciative crowd, a stew of full-time Yachats residents, overnighters from Eugene and travelers from around the world, Bruce said.
“The music business has become increasingly sterile in the last five years, with the demise of CDs and radio stations playing different kinds of music. Musicians are facing club crowds that are very distant, gigs set up by record companies and packaged tours,” Bruce said. “The club scene has kind of slid away, but not at the Landmark. It’s more like a club in New Orleans or New York City than anything in Portland or San Francisco. The musicians feel at home here.”
The Landmark Restaurant, 111 Hwy. 101 in Yachats, is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Landmark Lounge opens daily at 11:30 a.m., with a kitchen that offers a late night menu until 1:15 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. To learn more, call the restaurant, 541-547-3215, or the lounge, 541-547-5459.
TideTables is an advertiser-sponsored feature of the Oregon Coast Today.
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Music Monster
Live music at the Landmark Lounge in Yachats
July 2008
Thursday, July 3
J. C. Rico & Zulu Dragon,
9 p.m.
Eugene mainstay brings in the
tender soul of the blues
Friday, July 4
The Surfonics, 1 p.m.
In the spirit of the Ventures,
a vacation among the waves
The Insomniacs, 9:30 p.m.
(Cover charge, $5)
Jump blues from an award-winning
Portland band
Saturday, July 5
Papaw’s Blue Jelly Band, 9 p.m.
Rock and blues in the Mississippi style,
from Corvallis
Sunday, July 6
Taarka, 9 p.m.
Hypno gypsy jazz heading for the
cosmic side, with the Tillers
Wednesday, July 9
Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe,
9 p.m.
Zydeco innovations from the
Arcadian tradition
Thursday, July 10
Wolfe, 9 p.m.
From New York City, psychedelic rock
and blues from former lead guitar player
for Sheryl Crow’s touring band
Friday, July 11
Wildwood Holler! 9 p.m.
Bluegrass from Colorado, traditional
and original
Saturday, July 12
The Streamliners, 9 p.m.
Blues, jump blues and swing from jazzy
Portland outfit
Sunday, July 13
Rockin’ Jake, 9 p.m.
Five-time winner of best blues harp
in New Orleans
Thursday, July 17
Stevie B., 9 p.m.
Singer and songwriter who gives voice
to nature and the spirit of shamanic
visioning and healing
Friday, July 18
Summit Underground, 9 p.m.
Mike Riley brings in the blues from
up the mountains
Saturday, July 19
Kevin Selfe & the Tornadoes, 9 p.m.
High-energy blues from Muddy
award nominee
Friday, July 25
Saltlick, 9 p.m.
Alt-country from a face only
a mother could love
Saturday, July 26
Henry Turner Jr. & Flavor, 9 p.m.
From Baton Rouge, funk, reggae and
blues in the swamp style
Sunday, July 27
Eddie Turner, 9 p.m.
Blues master from Denver – they call him “Devil Boy”
For details, call 541-547-5459. |
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