Vipertoons Productions
Upcoming Shows:
Saturday, February 18th at 7:00 pm at Cozmic (199 West 8th, Eugene)
The 1st Annual Eugene Winter Blues Festival
Presented by Eugene Weekly, Vipertoons Productions, and Campus Inn
A benefit for Food For Lane County
Lady Bianca
Bill Rhodes and The Party Kings (with Henry Cooper)
The Vipers
Walker T. Ryan
$20 advance tickets at CD World, House of Records, Museum of Unfine Art and Record Store. Advance online at www.cozmicpizza.com. $24 at the door.
Three-time Grammy nominee Lady Bianca headlines the 1st Annual Eugene Winter Blues Festival, a benefit for Food for Lane County presented by Vipertoons Productions, The Eugene Weekly, and Campus Inn at Cozmic on Saturday, February 18th. Also performing will be Bill Rhoades and The Party Kings with Henry Cooper, The Vipers, and Walker T. Ryan.Singer/pianist/songwriter Lady Bianca is rooted in the tradition of Gospel, Blues, and Rhythm and Blues with a voice that cuts straight to the soul of the listener. Her own material takes on life’s issues with insight and purpose. Lady Bianca has a style laced with humor and even a dash of country and western.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Lady Bianca moved to the Bay area at age four. She learned the Blues through listening and playing piano with her Father at a very young age. She received a four-year scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied music theory, composition, and received her operative vocal and piano training. Along with her partner and co-producer, Stanley Lippitt, Lady Bianca created the “Mighty Oakland Sound”. In 2009 the Bay Area Blues Society crowned her the “New Queen of the Blues”. Three of Lady Bianca’s first six CDs received Grammy nominations. “Servin Notice”, her seventh, was released by Magic-O Records in January 2012. When she isn’t touring or working the Bay Area circuit Lady Bianca teaches and works with young Blues artists.
Bill Rhoades, the “Godfather” of Northwest Blues, was a mainstay of the early Eugene blues scene, hosting KLCC’s “Blues Power for nine years and playing harmonica with The Party Kings. In the mid 1980’s he relocated to Portland where he continued The Party Kings, began hosting KBOO’s “Blues Monday” and cofounded the Cascade Blues Association. Multiple Muddy Awards winner Bill Rhoades plays “Good Rockin’ Down Home Blues”. Performing with Rhoades in The Party Kings will be Henry Cooper (guitar), Pete “The Beat” Berger (drums), and Nathan Waddell (bass).
For 20 years The Vipers have entertained fans in the Pacific Northwest and Europe. These veteran musicians mix an intoxicating brew of Chicago and Delta blues, funky R&B, and New Orleans rhythms that will bring you out of your seat and onto the dance floor. The Vipers is comprised of Jon Silvermoon (vocals, harmonica), Johnny “Guitar” Ward (guitar), Byron Case (vocals, guitar), Russ Whitlach (bass), and Rick Markstrom (vocals, drums).
A long-time Eugene blues icon, Walker T. Ryan’s finger picking and slide guitar playing, along with his vocals, delve deeply into the sounds of country/delta/piedmont blues. Ryan will make a rare local appearance at the inaugural Winter Blues Festival, saying, “Here at home, I’m not looking for work anymore. But I entertain interesting invitations, and when my good friend, Jon Silvermoon, calls and asks me to do an opening, solo, blues set, of reasonable length, for a great lineup at his Winter Blues Festival, I am there.”