Chris Eger has been a leading force in Northwest Washington’s blues scene since 2007. Although he stays busy all year, The Chris Eger Band goes especially big in the summer. His fiery blues/rock style consistently brings out legions of fans eager to dance the blues away at outdoor venues such as the Beach Bar at Birch Bay or the Hotel Bellwether.
This year, Eger is also spearheading a special event. When the organizers of the Mount Baker Rhythm & Blues Festival found out they were not going to have access to their previous venue, and made the decision to bring that festival to an end, Eger and others sprang into action to organize a tribute to the festival as a way to give that community some closure and to pay homage to the organizers who made it happen for 25 years.
On Saturday, Aug. 5, on the vacant area next to the Beach Bar, The Chris Eger Band will be playing along with Hamilton Loomis, the Bobby Patterson Band, Midlife Crisis and the Alimony Horns, and Cory Vincent & The Electric Band. You can also expect lots of jams and collaborations. Tickets for the event are on sale now and blues lovers ought to mark their calendars and get tickets ASAP.
Eger’s band includes his dad, Randall Eger, on bass, along with Mark Clark on drums and Chance White on keys. For bigger gigs, they will frequently be joined by Pete Kirkman and Mike West on horns. In addition to the festival and bar gigs, they’ve got three big outdoor shows already booked for this summer — June 30 at Boulevard Park in Bellingham, July 7 at Seafarer’s Park in Anacortes and Aug. 24 at Mount Vernon’s Riverwalk Park.
As if all that wasn’t enough, ever since the height of the pandemic, Eger has been creating videos for a series called “One Take Weekly,” where he picks a cover, then records all the parts (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, etc.) in one take each. He’s up to 166 episodes so far, and you can check them all out on his YouTube channel.
When you put all that together, the picture you get is one heck of a dedicated entertainer. Blues fans around the Northwest are lucky to have Eger sharing his talents in so many ways.
We’ve had a couple interesting local releases on Bandcamp over the last few weeks. Iggy Poop put out a raw but fun recording of themselves playing The Blue Room. MEM//BRANE dropped an absolute rager of a demo for fans of furious crust punk and D-beat. On a quieter, more elegant note, I’ve been enjoying the EP by Light Shepard, recorded during a residency at the Lookout Arts Quarry, featuring an unusual instrumental blend of electronic, Americana and global sounds.
Live music listings
Tuesday, June 6
Archer: 7 p.m., The Piper’s Despair (Irish folk)
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam
Wednesday, June 7
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Open Mic/Jam
Boundary: 6 p.m., Aaron Guest on piano
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Katt’s Westside: 8 p.m., Martin T. Reed
Mount Baker Theatre: 7 p.m., Lucy Wainwright Roche
Rockfish: 6 p.m., Joan Penney (jazz)
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., Free Harmony
Wild Buffalo: 7:30 p.m., Bellingham Idol auditions
Thursday, June 8
Blue Room: 9 p.m., Hip-Hop Open Mic
Boundary: 5 p.m., Robert Sarazin Blake; 8 p.m., Jefferson Hamer, Tony Furtado
Brown Lantern: 8:30 p.m., Open Mic
Farmstrong: 6 p.m., Savanna Woods (singer-songwriter)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Moving Hats
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Bob Log III, GravelRoad, British Teeth (rock)
Thirsty Badger: 7 p.m., Open Mic
That’s What I Like: 6 p.m., J.P. Falcon and Friends (folk/rock)
Wild Buffalo: 9 p.m., Perfect By Tomorrow (rock/reggae), Savanna Woods
Friday, June 9
Aslan: 8 p.m., Tenderpile’s Smile Aisle (jazz)
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Chill Deville (classic rock)
Bertelsen Winery: 5:30 p.m., Jupiter’s Trail
Big Stick: 5 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Mike Spine and Barbara Luna
Blue Room: 8 p.m., Analog Brass
Boundary: 6 p.m., Lost at Last (country/rock/folk)
Brown Lantern: 9 p.m., Ebb, Slack & Flood (reggae/funk/rock)
Downtime: 7 p.m., J.P. Falcon Band
FireHouse: 6:30 p.m., Janette West (jazz)
Fireside: 7 p.m., Young Kidz (acoustic covers)
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., The Devillies (Irish folk)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Golden Shoals (old-time string band)
Make.Shift: 8 p.m., The Hobby, Zookraught, Creature Party, Cat Positive (rock/punk)
Mount Baker Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Postmodern Jukebox
Shakedown: Worldwide Levitation, Museum of Light, John Swanke (experimental/rock)
Skagit Cellars: 6 p.m., Jamie Reynolds
Skylark’s: 5 p.m., Jaeden Luke
Vault: 7 p.m., Chuck & Carr
Wild Buffalo: 9 p.m., MarchFourth Marching Band, Reb and the Good News
Saturday, June 10
Beach at Birch Bay: 3 p.m., Chris Eger Band (blues/rock)
Beach Store Cafe: 7 p.m., Free Harmony (classic rock/folk)
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Jack Parker
Conway Muse: 8 p.m., Stacy Jones Band (blues/rock)
Eagle Haven Winery: 6 p.m., Brittany Collins Band, Cascade Cody
Fireside 4 p.m., Singers’ Saturday
Gateway1890: 7 p.m., Odd Mood Jam Band
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Robin Elwood and Friends
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Chris Nunn (singer-songwriter)
Kulshan Trackside: 7 p.m., Goodtime Hustle, 8:30 p.m., Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method
Make.Shift: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 2 p.m., Folk Second Saturdays ft. Jean Rogers
Old Edison: 8 p.m., The Dimes
Pioneer Park (Ferndale): 5:30 p.m., Dial-up (alternative rock covers)
Rockfish: 7:30 p.m., Joe Cook Blues Band
Skylark’s: 5 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady
Station 49: 3 p.m., D’vas and Dudes (classic folk/rock/pop)
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., Penny Stinkers (acoustic covers)
Sunday, June 11
Beach at Birch Bay: 3 p.m., Replayzmentz (classic rock)
Gilkey Square (La Conner): 1 p.m., The HIP (funk/R&B)
Kulshan: 5 p.m., Cardova (funk/R&B)
Main Street: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Nancy’s Farm: 2 p.m., Beverly Hoback & Annette Janka (folk)
Old Edison: 5:30 p.m., Rod Cook and Toast
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Worry Surfer, No-Fi Soul Rebellion (rock)
Station 49: 2 p.m., Groove Doctors
Monday, June 12
Blue Room: 7 p.m., Double Booked (jazz)
FireHouse: 3:30 p.m., Les Harmonettes (jazz/cabaret)
Kulshan: 6 p.m., Steve Webb & The Great Mad Swirl
Tuesday, June 13
Archer: 7 p.m., The Piper’s Despair (Irish folk)
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Boundary: 3 p.m., Out of the Ashes, 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s Corner: 6:30 p.m., Old Time Fiddle Jam
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam
Before heading out to listen to live music, check with individual venues to make sure the event is still taking place as scheduled.
Jesse Stanton’s music column, The Beat Goes On, runs Tuesdays. Email: jsbhammusic@gmail.com or Twitter: @JSBhamMusic.
