Blues Cafe show carries on founder’s legacy

Derek Williams, son of the recently deceased Orono restaurateur Frank Williams, is carrying on his father’s legacy by keeping the music coming at the Blues Cafe.

The elder Williams’ death in late March was a great loss, not just because he was such a well-known figure in the Orono community, but also because the Blues Cafe had so rapidly become a hub for live local bands, despite having been open for less than a year. One thing both father and son had wanted all along was to start bringing in touring acts – it’s just that money for such a thing is not so easy to come by.

The Blues Cafe will take another step closer to realizing that dream, when Saturday night the venue hosts Bluespalooza: A Special Tribute to Frank Williams, featuring Belmondo, Eric Green’s One Man Band, the 100 Club, Dygm, Souder n’ Williams and the Bay State.

“We’re going to take some of the money we make at the event, and then match it with funds from the restaurant if we bring in enough,” said Williams. “We want to have some money to have some bigger shows for the summer, maybe some traditional blues from a regional artist.”

The lineup for Saturday highlights some of the area’s best bands, both established and up-and-coming, and features blues, funk, indie rock and folk.

“It’s unique because these are all local musicians who are doing this to help the Cafe and to help Orono bring in other musicians,” said Williams. “It’s musicians helping musicians.”

Area musical gadabout Myke Billings, who helped organize the event with local artist Chez Cherry, echoed those statements.

“We wanted to bring in a bunch of different types of music, and bring in some money for the cafe,” said Billings, who performs as a solo artist and with his new jazz-funk band, Dygm. “It’s also great because it’s really a tribute to Frank, who was such a music fan and who put so much into the Blues Cafe.”

Belmondo and the Bay State both share the same viola player – the tall, solemn, captivating Evan James – and also share the fact that they both have an energetic, talented young singer-songwriter in the band (Jon Bailey for the former, Tom Tash for the latter). But the approach the bands take to their music is very different. Belmondo echoes the melancholic tunefulness of Death Cab for Cutie or Sufjan Stevens, while the Bay State takes a more brash approach, with the rapid-fire drumming of Drew Hooke adding extra energy to Tash’s upbeat songs.

For blues fans, Trent Souder and Lauren Williams play old-fashioned acoustic blues, with Williams’ powerful voice and harmonica complimented by Souder’s guitar skills. Eric Green manages to play the drums, the guitar, and either sing or play the harmonica at the same time in his tried-and-true swampy Delta blues sound.

Chez Cherry is a theatrical and interior designer by day, and a gravel-voiced singer and guitarist by night. He’s generally accompanied by Dugen guitarist Shawn Labelle in the duo known as the 100 Club, playing classic songs by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Randy Newman.

Rounding out the night is Dygm (pronounced “die-em”, as in a “paradigm”), Billings’ latest lineup of stellar area funk and jazz musicians. Drummer Aris Pina and bass player Zack Redman, as well as sometimes-member sax player/electronic manipulator Les Rhoda, bring smooth, technically precise funk-rock.

Both Williams and Billings hope nights like this will become a bit of a tradition – and Williams feels that no matter how old you are or what kind of music you like, the Blues Cafe has something to offer.

“[The Blues Cafe] is a very comfortable place to be. It

doesn’t matter what kind of crowd we have,” said Williams. “We have college night music on Tuesdays and Thursday, blues on Fridays and jazz on Saturdays, and we’ve never had a broken pint glass or even an argument. It’s very relaxed, and it’s good for people of all ages and tastes. We want to keep that going.”

Bluespalooza: A Special Tribute to Frank Williams starts at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29. There is a minimum $5 cover donation, and the show is 18+ until 10 p.m., and which point it will be 21+. For information, call 866-4061. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangor

dailynews.net.