For nearly three decades Powder Blues has been Canada’s favorite blues band. Their
music incorporates elements of Swing, Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues
into their unique and instantly identifiable sound. This broad approach has resulted
in an appeal whose demographic is so wide that it is not unusual to find people
from seven to seventy swaying side by side at a Powder Blues concert. Throughout
the years they have toured ceaselessly throughout Canada, the United States and
overseas, spreading the joy of a music that makes people smile and dance.
Fads come and go, as in the current resurgence of Swing, Juke and Jive music, but
Powder Blues is no follower of trends. When they first burst upon the recording
scene in late 1979, with their self-financed and self-produced debut album, ‘Uncut’,
after nearly two years of wood shedding and honing their unique blend of sounds
in Vancouver’s then flourishing nightclub scene, the established recording industry
label giants shrugged their effort off as ‘not commercial’. The band was told there
was ‘no market for the blues’.
Undiscouraged, the band pressed the album at their own expense and proceeded to
sell it off stage and deliver it to radio stations. When the switchboards at the
stations lit up with calls asking ‘who’s that?’ other stations followed suit. After
selling nearly 30,000 copies in a matter of weeks, the major record labels came
calling and entered a bidding war for the band’s services and the right to distribute
this ‘non-commercial’ product nationally. RCA won the contract and to date that
album has gone on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Band highlights include
winning Canada’s most prestigious National Music Award, the Juno, in 1981, headlining
and recording a live album at the world famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland
in 1983, being presented with the W.C. Handy Award in Memphis, Tennessee in 1986
and touring the Soviet Union and being released on Melodya Records in 1990. They
have appeared in concert with such legendary names as Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker,
B.B. King, James Brown, Albert Collins, James Cotton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Who,
ZZ Top, the Doobie Brothers, Edgar Winter and Tower of Power.
The Powder Blues latest CD titled ‘blues + jazz = BLAZZ!’ on Blue Wave Records which
was released in 2004. The band continues to tour regularly and has never played
less than 40 shows and sometimes as many as 300 shows in each of the 28 years they
have been performing.
Leader, Tom Lavin has written many of the band’s best-known songs, including ‘Doin’
It Right’ [‘On the Wrong Side of Town’] and ‘Boppin With the Blues’. Originally
born in Chicago, Illinois where he learned his craft by watching and working with
both cover bands and many of the local ‘blues legends’, Tom moved to Vancouver in
the late sixties to study filmmaking. By night he made his living working as a musician
in the thriving downtown nightclub scene. This eventually lead to his career as
a studio musician and subsequently, to his role as record producer and studio owner.
Tom has been singing and playing guitar for a living for over 35 years. He has been
presented with a number of awards including B.C. Music Industry Association awards
for ‘Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter and Producer of the Year’, a Canadian Music Industry
Association Juno award for ‘Best New Band’ and the American W.C. Handy award for
‘Best Foreign Blues Band’. He has over a dozen ‘Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum’
record awards for playing in, writing for or producing such bands as Powder Blues,
Prism, April Wine, Long John Baldry, Amos Garrett, Susan Jacks, The Good Brothers
and P.J. Jackson.
He has produced albums for many international labels including RCA, WEA, Capitol,
Columbia, EMI, BMG, Polygram, Peerless and Stony Plain Records and has produced
albums or written songs for such notables as Long John Baldry, Amos Garrett and
Lowell Fulson. His four story, 20,000 square foot recording complex, Blue Wave Studios
has not only produced Gold Records for Powder Blues and numerous other artists,
it has recorded sound for film, TV and radio including themes, scores and jingles
for countless movies, TV shows and products.
Founding member, Willie MacCalder, was born in Victoria and raised in Edmonton where
he developed his craft by playing in a number of teen bands, until, in the mid sixties,
he found great success with his own band, ‘Willie and the Walkers’. They signed
with Capitol Records and enjoyed a number of pop hits on rock radio, touring extensively
through out the U.S. and Canada. He and Tom met in Vancouver in the mid seventies
where they discovered their mutual love of the blues. Willie’s trademark piano stylings
have won him a number of ‘music poll awards’ and contribute greatly to the Powder
Blues instantly identifiable sound. Currently, he has a solo album as well, entitled
‘Broken Down Piano’ on Jay-El Records.
Bassist, Bill Runge, born in Edmonton, joined the band in 1981. He has appeared
on many Powder Blues albums playing baritone, tenor and alto saxophones and on some
cuts, the electric bass. This gifted multi-instrumentalist has also written, arranged
and performed with his own jazz ensemble, winning the coveted ‘Alcan National Jazz
Award’. An exceptional recording musician and composer, he has played, written and
arranged sessions for countless commercials, movie and television scores and albums
over the past two decades. He has also served on the governing board of directors
of the Vancouver Musicians Union Local 145.
Jerry Cook, tenor saxophone, was born at Kent, England and raised in Sydney, B.C.
on Vancouver Island. He immersed himself in the Jazz Studies programs at both Grant
McEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta and Capilano College in North Vancouver. He
has performed with a number of well-known blues and jazz acts including Guitar Shorty,
Pinetop Perkins, Frankie Lee and Big Joe Duskin. His work with Crash, an original
Jazz/Funk group, included a CD release on the Maximum label and headlining a number
of jazz festivals. In addition, he has recorded over 20 albums with blues, jazz,
funk, pop, rock and R&B artists. When the opportunity arose to hire a tenor sax,
Jerry auditioned at a gig and Tom asked him to join the band the same night. He
has been an indispensable member ever since.
Bill Clark, trumpet, was born and raised in Surrey, B.C. and joined the Powder Blues
in 1985, touring with the band at a pace of over 200 shows per year. A ‘first call’
session man, he has also lead jazz ensembles that have toured both across Canada
and the U.S. and in Europe. For a number of years previous to his involvement with
the band, he traveled the world as a well-known musician and bandleader for a number
of popular cruise ship lines. At present, when not performing with he Powder Blues,
he teaches music and band in the secondary school system.
Daryl Bennett, the tall man behind the Powder Blues driving beat has worked as a
professional drummer for more than 20 years. In addition to the Powder Blues he
has performed live and recorded with many notable artists including David Foster,
Celine Dione, Andrae Crouch, Bryan Adams, Kenny Logins, Kenny Rogers, Boz Scaggs,
and Ray Charles. In 1990, he began composing for film and TV and over the next 14
years wrote music for over 30 film and TV projects including: First Wave, Outer
Limits as well as Beggars and Choosers and Voyage of the Unicorn, an effort which
garnered him a 2002 Gemini nomination – the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy. When
not on the road with the band, he continues to be a much sought after recording
session drummer.
Noteable Entertainment & Events is a Vancouver based
booking agency, party rental, entertainment services and
event production company. If you are interested in booking Powder Blues please
contact us.