Well, I have burned, cut and bruised my precious guitar-picking fingers before. But now I’ve subjected them to a new and very painful indignity: stinging nettles. You’d think I would have realized that the word “stinging” is in their name for a reason. Maybe I thought they were “singing nettles” when I noticed them at [...]
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Willie “Big Eyes” Smith at Mississippi Studios
Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (L) and Steve Cheseborough at Mississippi Studios, Portland, April 30, 2009. Photo by Greg Johnson. I was the opening act for Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and his band April 30 at Mississippi Studios in Portland. Unfortunately it was also the night of the Portland Trail Blazers’ final playoff game, so many [...]
Going to see Attle
The Seattle episode of my ongoing CD-release party finally happened. And it was worth waiting for. It happened last night at Egan’s Ballard Jam House, an intimate club that often features jazz but turned out to be perfect for my blues and stories. We had a small turnout but huge fun. I played songs by [...]
The club that looks like my book
I headed down to Charleston, S.C., the first week of April, for a family reunion and a gig at Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ. This was my third appearance at Fiery Ron’s, and every time I play there it is a thing of wonder for me and owner Randy Abraham (and, hopefully, for the audience [...]
Mamlish Blues
“Mamlish” — now there is a strange word for you. It comes up in several blues, especially in Ed Bell’s “Mamlish Blues.” He announces at the beginning that he will “tell you just what they mean,” but maybe he is referring to the mamlish blues, not to the word mamlish. It seems to just be [...]
absinthe makes the heart grow fonder
Mississippi meets Louisiana when I play tomorrow (Sat. Jan. 31) at EaT, a cool new oyster-and-absinthe bar at 3808 N. Williams Ave. Music runs about 7:30-10 p.m. The restaurant got reviewed favorably in today’s Oregonian. Although I think the review didn’t pay enough attention to the absinthe — you choose among varieties from California, Oregon, [...]
Fetch It! Release tonight
Last-minute reminder: Release party for Fetch It!, my new CD, is 7-9:30 p.m. TONIGHT (Fri., Jan. 23) at Holman’s Bar & Grill, 15 SE 28th Ave (at Burnside, on SW corner), Portland. This takes place in the Barenaked Lounge while Brad Lee Brenner broadcasts his River City Juke Joint on KMHD, 89.1 FM, live in [...]
chicken soup!
I’m laid out with a bad cold. I even lost my voice during a gig two days ago. First time that ever happened to me. I kept trying to sing but certain notes just wouldn’t come out and the croaky voice didn’t sound like me. Scary. A friend says it’ll come back in a few [...]
Fetch It! CD about to be released
The new Steve Cheseborough CD, Fetch It!, is now in production and should be available right around Dec. 30. A CD -release party is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at Holman’s Bar and Grill (which as of January, like all bars and restaurants in Oregon, will be non-smoking), 15 SE 28th Ave (just south [...]
Was Blind Lemon Jefferson really blind?
Yes, he was really blind. (And his parents really named him “Lemon.”) Blind Boy Fuller was really blind too. And so were Blind Blake, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Mamie Forehand and all the other blues and gospel artists with “blind” in front of their names. It’s funny how often people ask me that question. I [...]
