2015 Inductees
ARTISTS
HEATMISER: Heatmiser began in Portland in 1992 at a time when the Northwest was a hotbed for alternative rock. The band consisted of Elliott Smith, Neil Gust, Tony Lash and Sam Coomes. Over their short 4 years of existence, they recorded 3 albums, “Dead Air”, “Cop and Speeder” and “Mic City Sons”, all receiving good press and bringing them a growing fan base. Elliott and Neil were the principle songwriters, both having contrasting styles of writing with Elliott on the dark side and Neil on the pop side. Just as the band was about to signed by Virgin Records, the band disbanded. Each of the 4 members continued on to other musical projects, with Elliott Smith going on to a successful solo career and a Grammy award for his song in the movie “Goodwill Hunting.”
JERRY JOSEPH: Singer/songwriter, guitarist Jerry Joseph formed the band Little Women in 1982. The band was a cross between Burning Spear and the Grateful Dead with the band looking more like the New York Dolls. The band’s live shows were legendary and between that and several self-released albums, Little Women’s fan base grew across the country. Since then, Jerry has released 6 solo albums, 9 albums as Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormans, 3 with the Stockholm Syndrome which include members of Gov’t Mule and Widespread Panic as well as a number of other recordings and collaborations. Widespread Panic has covered 7 of his songs and even co-wrote a song with Woody Harrelson for the movie “The Earth Will Swallow You.”
NEO BOYS: The Neo-Boys are considered Portland’s first all female rock band. They were also at the forefront of the Portland Punk Movement during their 5-year span of 1978 to 1983. Their songs included politically charged and feminist lyrics. The original lineup consisted of Kim Kincaid (vocals), K.T. Kincaid (bass), Jennifer Lobianco (guitar) and Pat Baum (drums). Carol Steinel replaced Jennifer in 1979 and Meg Hentges replaced Carol in 1980. The band released 2 EPs, one self-titled in 1980 and “Crumbling Myths” in 1982. K Records released a 2 LP collection titled “Sooner or Later” in 2013, including both EPs, demos and live recordings. This was accompanied with a special Neo Boys curated concert at the Crystal Ballroom as a benefit for the Rock N Roll Camp For Girls.
BILL RHOADES: Bill Rhoades has been playing blues harmonica since high school in Eugene. Often regarded as the Godfather of the Oregon Blues scene, beginning playing blues in the Rhythm Kings, which turned into the Party Kings. After the Party Kings, Bill fronted Blues Deluxe and had a short stint in the Switchmasters before reviving the Party Kings. Bill released two albums as Bill Rhoades and the Party Kings. He also had a duo album with Alan Hager. Bill has received 20 Muddy awards from the Cascade Blues Association including their Lifetime Achievement Award. He also had blues radio shows for 35 years receiving an “Award For Excellence” for his work on radio. His “Blues Harmonica Summit” concerts just celebrated their 20th year of featuring some of the great harmonica players in the country
ELLEN WHYTE: Known as one of the premier blues vocalists in the Northwest, Ellen has the ability for singing soul, jazz, rock, funk and even the bluegrass. Ellen has fronted bands for over 30 years. She has received 8 Muddy Awards from the Cascade Blues Association over the years including 3 for recordings; “Different Point Of Blue” (1996) “Standing At The Sunrise” (2002) and “Four Way Stop” (2009); 4 for Best Contemporary Blues Band (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) and 1 for Best Female Vocalist (2000). In 2002 the Cascade Blues Association inducted the Ellen Whyte Band into the Muddy Hall of Fame. Ellen is also active with her “Bring Blues To The School” program over the past few years and was involved in a series of concert series for those in assisted living.
SIDE PLAYERS
DAVE CAPTEIN: With over 35 years of working as a music professional, Dave Captein is one of the most in-demand bass players in Oregon, both for live performances and in the studio. Besides playing with many of Oregon’s local artist such as Nu Shooz, Mel Brown, Rebecca Kilgore and Tom Grant, Dave has appeared with many national jazz legends. These have included Mose Allison, Joey DeFrancesco, Tal Farlow, Jack Sheldon, Red Holloway, Steve Allen and so many more. He has numerous local recording and has appeared on national recordings by Tom Grant and three-time Grammy nominee Jessica Williams. Dave has probably played with more jazz musicians than any other player in town.
BRIAN FOXWORTH: Brian Foxworth has been playing music since he was 5 years old. Being known for his ability to step right in and bring the beat and feeling at a moments notice, Brian is known as a go to drummer in town. He is also a talented vocalist, songwriter and arranger. He’s played with many Oregon artists in many genres of music including rock, gospel, soul, jazz and blues. He is currently the drummer of award winning artist Curtis Salgado but can be seen playing drums and singing in the Roseland Hunters and What’s Your Pleasure, a tribute band to OMHOF Inductee, Pleasure, when he is off the road. At this year’s Waterfront Blues Festival, Brian was the most active musician at the festival, being called in to play with different local and national artists each day of the festival.
INDUSTRY PEOPLE
MARC BAKER: While attending Oregon State University, Marc transformed the campus radio station KBVR-FM into one of the most talked about college radio stations in the country, both as music director and station manager, and host of his show “London Calling.” He also started Alternative Productions, which promoted the first ever Quarterflash show. While at OSU he took the Crazy 8s under his wing as their manager. Marc’s love for music earned him an internship with Warner Brothers Records but as manager of the 8s, he created a market for the band all across the country and an appearance on Star Search. He hosted KBOO-FM radio show “Church of NW Music” for 13 years and featured recordings and live performances by many upcoming artists and future hall of famers including Everclear, Pink Martini, John Fahey, Kelly Joe Phelps, Chris Newman and Richmond Fontaine. He served on the Oregon Music Hall of Fame board from 2006 to 2015.
JOHN CHASSAING: There are very few musicians in the Portland area that at one time or another didn’t cross paths with John Chassaing. At age 12, John got the music bug and took up drums. At age 18 he became the delivery person for Day Music and later moved to sales and again to store manager. At 29, in 1978, he opened Showcase Music.
Beside musical instruments, Showcase was the first in town to specialize in pro-audio and recording equipment. They also started a rental division for instruments and sound. In 2014, John retired and sold the business after close to 50 years, 37 of those years as Showcase Music. During this time, John helped many up and coming musicians who have become household names in Portland, with some going on to national and international fame.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
STORM LARGE: The 2014 Artist of the Year award goes to Storm Large. Storm moved to Portland in 2002 and her popularity has grown with each of her musical adventures including being a contestant on “Rock Star” and in recent years becoming the co-lead singer of Pink Martini. In 2014 Storm was busy touring the country both solo and with Pink Martini. She was on Pink Martini’s “Dream A Little Dream” album, which was released in March and also released her latest solo album “Le Bonheur” which came out in on October.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
THE DELINES: The 2014 Album of the year goes to the Delines for their debut album “Colfax.” The Delines became a side project for Willy Vlautin of the OMHOF Inducted band Richmond Fontaine. He created the band around vocalist Amy Boone, who had been a back-up singer recently for Richmond Fontaine. The band also includes Richmond Fontaine drummer Sean Oldman, Jenny Conlee from the Decemberists on keyboards and Tucker Jackson on pedal steel. The bands sound lies somewhere in the Americana sound. Vlautin’s songwriting is very literary and captures the lives of working class people. The album received critics’ praise both locally, nationally as well as in Europe.