Show Review: Shirley Nanette and Friends at Billy Webb Elks Lodge

Surely you're aware of Shirley Nanette.

No?

Shirley is a vocalist, one of the rare species to be native to Portland. She usually sings jazz (Mount Hood Festival of Jazz, Jimmy Mak's) but has been a guest vocalist with the Oregon Symphony on occasion since 1981. She was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Oregon Art Beat ran a segment about her a couple of years ago.

Why haven't you heard of her then?

As it turns out, she doesn't record much: just Never Coming Back from 1973 (listen to my favorite track—"Sometimes"), See You Later in 1992, and Starting Here, Starting Now from 2008. You could very well miss her completely unless you frequent the Billy Webb Elks Lodge on Sunday nights.

Which is exactly what I did this Sunday evening!

After years passing by the intriguing building, three years ago I went inside the Billy Webb Elks Lodge on a historical tour of North Portland. (Did you know? Portland's most happening jazz club of the 1940s-1950s was just across the street!) Inside, the recently restored Elks Lodge looked gorgeous, and I vowed to one day check out the bar that was open to the public.

A few weeks ago, I discovered Shirley on the intertubes and navigated to her website, where I saw that "Shirley Nanette and Friends" plays regularly at the Billy Webb Elks Lodge.

When I needed to organize a happy hour celebration, a cunning plan was conceived!

Shirley and her friends perform in the ballroom, across the foyer from the lodge bar (where a great time can be had if you're a little early for the show). The ballroom is spacious and sports a hardwood dance floor, a modest stage and satellite bar. Onstage, an elk head serves as benevolent overlord.

Sunday, Shirley introduced the evening by noting "this is where friends meet and greet each other." On this night, Shirley's "friends" included Dan Gaynor on piano, Bill Athens on double bass, and Tim Rap on drums. Rich Arnold joined Shirley onstage for a quick-tempoed duet about halfway through the second set. But Shirley's friends also pack the audience—the ballroom held 50 people, most of whom were specifically there to see Shirley perform.

And what a nice woman! After the first set, she made her way around the room talking to every single person in the audience. Whether they were there for the first time (like me) or were old friends, they were personally greeted and conversed with.

As a performer, Shirley is a crowd-pleaser as well. Her voice is glassy smooth, she's a pleasure to listen to and watch, her warmth emanates from the stage, and she highly encourages audience participation. In addition to an audience sing-along, she sang a few song requests, including a dynamite "How Glad I Am," followed in short order by Etta James' signature piece, "At Last." She closed out her second set with "Ain't Misbehavin'," jovially trying on a variety of character voices including jazz icons Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.

Perhaps best of all, there is no cover charge to see Shirley and the band! If you go though, make sure to buy a drink or two. Check the schedule on Shirley Nanette's website and plan on a great evening when you head out to see her.

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History Pub: Oregon's Country Music Heritage

If you're like many Portlanders, you claim an affinity for all music genres but country, and maybe metal. Yeah, me too. However, I am a serious history nut, and one of my favorite events each month is History Pub—a monthly informal lecture co-sponsored by Oregon Historical Society, the Holy Names Heritage Center, and McMenamins. Usually it's held at Kennedy School in NE Portland, but each August they put something bigger together, and temporarily move the event to the Baghdad on SE Hawthorne.

This month the topic was Oregon's country music heritage. Does Oregon have a country music heritage? I wondered. We must—and the Baghdad is a lot easier for me to get to than Kennedy School, so I made my way down to learn all about it on August 28th.

Peter Blecha of the Experience Music Project opened the evening with a short presentation (with many photos!) introducing a brief chronology of country-like music in the region. Roughly, bands were established as far back as the 1800s in logging camps, eventually morphing into old timey groups. One particular series of photos profiled one of these groups: Laam's Happy Hayseeds. Over the years they eventually dropped the "Laam's" from their name, but managed to stay together and even recorded a couple of records—one of the first string bands to do so.

As western-themed movies and television shows rose in popularity, so too did country music. The Portland area boasted several country music clubs by the early 1950s, and a notable country radio station in Vancouver. As it turns out, Willie Nelson was a DJ at KVAN early in his career. The station was operated by music promoter Pat Mason, who later went on to work on a tour with Elvis—before he was big. An ex-lumberjack named Buzz Martin released two albums in the late 1960s that resonated with country fans and loggers alike. Then in the 1970s, college kids discovered bluegrass, and bands like the Sawtooth Mountain Boys and Puddle City were en vogue.

After Blecha's rundown of country music in the northwest, Beth Harrington moderated a panel discussion. Harrington is an independent filmmaker, currently wrapping up a documentary about the Carter-Cash family that has given her close access to people integral to country music history. Joining her as panelists were Bobby Gibson (guitar), Ray "Skipper" Montee (steel guitar), and Arty Lange (songwriter). All the panelists were involved in the country music scene in the 1950s—almost all of them had worked for Heck Harper, and spent the next half hour sharing stories and laughs with the audience.

Instead of winding down, the panel then transitioned over to their instruments and began an hour or so of musical nostalgia. Beginning with the fiddle tune that opened the Heck Harper Show, the band played old-time country songs and told jokes. In one visual gag, a band member donned a prop on his head that made him look like Willie Nelson, and launched into an impersonation. A pretty spot-on one at that.

Despite my former statement of not seeing myself as a country fan, there were plenty of songs the band played that I knew and loved. Songs by Hank Williams (who came to Portland for the first time in the 1940s, looking for shipyard work), Bill Monroe, and of course Johnny Cash. Ray Montee did his best "Steel Guitar Rag" and the band had everyone clapping during "Orange Blossom Special."As I sat, I realized maybe I hadn't realized I am maybe a bigger fan of older country than I originally thought. After all, one of my favorite musicians is known for his country-fried rock, and my inner raging feminist is in love with Loretta Lynn. (But please, I still can't handle that pop-country crap.)

As we neared the third hour of History Pub, Larry Wilder and the Stumptown Stars took the stage. After two songs the veterans started joining them, and the result was a country music mega-band that seemed to work together effortlessly, as if this wasn't the first time they had shared a stage. Sadly, there were banjo jokes ("What do you call throwing a banjo into a dumpster? Perfect pitch!") but I got a couple of glorious, glorious banjo songs before Wilder decided nobody could hear him.

If there is ever another music-related History Pub, I highly recommend you attend. You may find yourself smarter, more self-aware, and more cultured by the end of the evening!

Editor's note: Beth Harrington is a friend of the blog and supporter of the "Patron Haint" project.  Look for an interview with her as "The Winding Stream" gets a little closer to completion.

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