Pinkie Rideau & Blind Resistance

Morning Wood Blues and The Vagrants played at Coopers Saloon last night. Morning Wood Blues from Sacramento is a exceptional blues band. Pinkie the lead singer can sing the blues and the band can jam. A lot of their songs are originals and they are a new band so we'll be seeing more of them. I really enjoyed this band and want to see them again.
The Vagrants from Melbourne, Australia are a rocken blues band. Renate, the lead singer, she has a great voice and can sing up a storm. Their music is awesome and they are on tour that will take them across the USA, Canada then to Europe. I had a wonderful time with this band, they are fun to talk to and listen to their Australian accents. I hope they come back this way again.
Festival John


- Festival John

I love a blues jam and Sacramento has one of the best venues for musicians in Northern California. The Stoney Inn (1320 Del Paso Blvd.) sponsors a Wednesday night blues jam hosted by Greg Gartrell and the Bluenatics, with Don Gates and Richard "the Wolf" Henson. Their blues jam has been running strong for five years now. Greg tries to run his jam as fair as possible, everyone is welcome, so come out and sit in. I rarely miss a Wednesday these days. You just never know who might show up and what magic may occur because of it. Last week we were entertained by Derrick Washington, Sax, Rick Van Gelden, Guitar, Jonny Lopez, Guitar, Bobby Ray Wright, Guitar, Steve Knobles, Bass Guitar, John Woods, and Henry on congas, just to name a few. We had John and Pinkie from the Morningwood Blues Band, David Zieher and Jimbo Callaghan from the Spotted Dog Rockin' Blues Revue, Dave Baldwin, host of the Monday open mike at the Fox and Goose , Greg Saunders from Wheatland on drums, Danny Sadler on everything, John Newby on drums, Stevenson Profit on his screaming guitar, Alan Hunter on drums, Dave Segal on guitar, Ready Eddie from Thunder Valley on drums, Peter Jacobs on guitar, Chris Erby from the Blues Express on bass, and the vivacious Carrie Lee sang her signature tune, Crossroads for us. Even Boze Brannon and Chris Ferrer were sighted. Da joint was rockin' way past midnight. Apologies to all for misspelled names. It also happened to be Pinkie's Birthday. If you have not heard of "Pinkie" do yourself a favor and listen to Lost In The Shuffle, her latest CD and a preface to the Morningwood Blues Band. When she sang with Marshall Wilkerson, they brought the house down! If you like to play, sing, listen or dance, do yourself a favor and come on out. I even got to sing!

- Deborah Gregory Sacramento Blues Society Newsletter

For the November edition of our Sunday Blues Jam & Goodtimes, the Sierra Blues Society is happy to announce that Morning Wood Blues will be the host band. We'll be invading Cooper's located at 235 Commercial Street in Nevada City on November 18th, starting at 1 PM and going till about 6 PM. This time of the year up in the Sierra Foothills is absolutely gorgeous! What a better way to spend an afternoon listen to some of the best blues around? We were doing our monthly jam down at the Torch Club back in July, when this little lady signed up on the jam list and sat there patiently. We had no pre-warning about this bundle of dynamite! When called up, Pinkie proceeded to shred up the stage! We knew right then and there that this gal needed to host one of our jam! Initially started as a jam band in February of '06, Morning Wood Blues drew from a vast number of members that can rise to any occasion. Born in San Francisco, front Lady Ms. Pinkie Varner has Cajun roots with a flair that lights-up the stage. Often compared with Janis Joplin, I don't want to be the next Janis - I want to be the first Pinkie , says Ms. Varner. On bass guitar: "The Dude" Marzariez is an enigma of a vocalist/bass player. Like a character out of Pulp Fiction, he lives on the edge with one foot in this world and the other in the next. Marz is an absolutely ferocious bass player and captivating vocalist. After a brief hiatus from play the guitar professionally, Ron Cook has returned to right where he left off. Raised in the Bay Area and influenced by all that talent sure raises the bar! Guitar: duties are also handled by Cody Jackson. Michael D. Marsh on drums has a resume that is a story in of itself! From Mark May & The Agitators, Kenny Wayne Shepard to local bands such as The Hucklebucks and The Buzztones, this Shreveport, Louisiana native can hold his own with any outfit. If you have a blues band, come on down and we'll work get ya up right after the host band opens up the extravaganza! We do limit the number of bands as a unit to three so that we have enough room for all the great musicians that participate in our jams, so come early and get signed up. But please help us out by make as much use of the host band's equipment (no complete kit changes). As always, individual artists are encouraged to come out for the jam. The jams are really becoming a seasoned adventure and the level of playing is reaching a new level every month! So grab your axe and head down to the Cooper's Saloon, 235 Commercial St., Nevada City, CA on Sunday, November 18th. As always, admission to the jams are FREE! But donations are gratefully accepted. We'll kick-off the event at 1 PM and it'll last till 6 PM, so come and show your support for blues music in the foothills. For further information call the Cooper's 530/265-0116, or contact the Sierra Blues Society at 530/268-9166 or visit our website at www.sierrabluessociety.org. See Ya'll There!


- Thom Myers & Sierra Blues Society

The weather was holding out brilliantly as we sailed down 99 toward Hollywood in the rental car. My friend and sometimes-client, Pinkie Varner, was letting me indulge myself in some Country music, while we chowed down on cheesy-crunchy dollar tacos. She had scored an audition for 'America's Got Talent' and we'd been running around since Monday to raise the dough to get down to Los Angeles in time for Sunday's 9am deadline. It all started Monday afternoon. I got a call from Pinkie and she was out of breath, trying to explain the situation and that she needed to raise the cash to fly down to Los Angeles. Every hour that passed, the tickets went up in price. Flying wasn't going to be an option. We would have to drive. We also realized we would have to try to do something every night of the week to raise the cash and so, she rang up her 'guys' the Morning Wood Bluesmen and we put our heads together.

Tuesday afternoon was a quick spot on KVMR with Thom Myers. Tuesday night, Pinkie and Ron Cook did a little "Morning Wood Blues Duo" revisited at the True Love Coffeehouse. Wednesday, it was on to Louie's Blues Jam where Steve Foster graciously made room for 'a little fundraising' and that put us at the half-way mark. A busy Friday night at the Silver Dollar Saloon in Marysville topped it off and with a donation for the cost of the rental car, we were on our way and left Saturday afternoon. While we were in the car, enjoying the cheesycrunchy dollar tacos, Pinkie's pink cell phone rings....she's calm, and she's saying.. "Who? Oh, yes. Thank you. Actually, we can be there tonight. We'll be in the area. I'll call you back." It was the agent for BB King's Blues Club. They wanted to know if The Morning Wood Blues were interested in doing an audition on a Monday night for twenty five minutes... (yes, that meant. we would be .driving down on a Monday, auditioning for 25 minutes and driving back that same night) If all went well, BB's was prepared to offer MWB a regular spot. I'd barely digested that bit of news when the phone (pink, of course) lights up again. This time, it's Saxophonist, Jerry Martini (founding member of Sly and the Family Stone) and he's talking about coming down to see the show at BB's… but Pinkie has little time to talk to him because someone is clicking over on the other line. Oh gee, it's Charlie Brechtel. He's just calling to see how the drive is going. I gaze over at my old Nokia…..it might ring with that spot in the Pistola Blues Festival I applied for…. But alas, it just stares back at me…"searching for network…" I'm starting to wonder if I should buy a pink cell phone when we arrive in downtown L.A. and go over to BB King's to meet with the Manager. It's been a long day but we're on the books and ready to come back down in two weeks for twenty five minutes. Pinkie calls up the band of brave Bluesmen and they are ALL on board-of course. They're a crazy, hard-driving bunch and they're going to give it a shot. Sunday morning comes quickly and it's a long process to get from 9am to 3:30, when Pinkie finally is lined up in the audition room with a few other female singers. She's up first, something we weren't hoping for. She does the National Anthem and NAILS IT! The other contestants are looking at her…and they are applauding!! The producers do a short interview asking Pinkie what she'd do if she won, etc...and half an hour later, we're back in the car (which seems to have transformed into some kind of booking hotbed). There isn't much traffic on I-5 tonight. The sun is setting in a beautiful color (you guessed it, PINK!) and as if it read my mind, her phone is buzzing........It's Johnny B. Goode. He met Pinkie in Memphis and he's just off a gig with John Hammond in Italy! He opened with Hammond for none other than Honeyboy Edwards. Pinkie is on the phone chatting... I hear, yes. Okay, that would be wonderful. Thank you. She hangs up. Johnny wants to come to the Tumbleweed Jam. An hour later, we stop for the ol' seventh day stretch and I'd just popped in my favorite Buddy Guy CD. I glance at my phone... "no network available". I'd no sooner put the old girl back in my pocket… the pink alien gadget lights up yet again! This time though, it's Pinkie's husband….. just calling to say "I love ya', honey". I guess it is true. 'It's Always Somethin.'


- Mary Franklin Sacramento Blues Society Newsletter

The Very Superstitious Friday the 13th Party with Pinkie Varner & The Morning Wood Blues Band at The Chief Crazy Horse was great. This band from Sacramento got everyone shaking & moving on the dance floor. Pinkie, the lead singer has an awesome voice and sang on most of the songs. Robbie "Shredder" Allen - Lead guitar and showman put on a stellar show picking the guitar with his teeth at times and behind his head at other times while all the time playing the Hell out of it. "The Dude" Marz Ariez wailed on the bass and kept up the bottom end. I and everyone else there had a great time. The Chief Crazy Horse just keeps getting better all the time.
Festival John


- Fesival John