The Paul deLay Band

The Annual Paul deLay Scholarship Benefit Concert Series

We would like to thank the following for their generous support of this Memorial Concert Series:

Peggy Passarell
ImpactAds.net
Aladdin Theater
Belmont Station
Candlelight Café & Bar
Cascade Bar & Grill
Cascade Blues Association
Echo Audio
Garrison's Fine Wines
Music Millennium
Oregon Music News
Original Halibut's
The Heathman Hotel
New Seasons Market
Portland Powder Coating
Trail's End Saloon
Integrity Computer Services
Northwestmall

"REMEMBER ME" 2010

The 3rd Annual Paul deLay
Scholarship Benefit Concert

Sunday
April 25, 2010

6 to 10 pm (doors open at 5:30pm)

Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland OR
503.233.1994
www.aladdin-theater.com

Tickets for this event are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Those under 21 and accompanied by an adult are welcome to attend. Advance tickets are available via the phone number and web site address above.

All proceeds go toward the Paul deLay scholarship program at the Ethos Music Center in NE Portland.

Paul deLay wrote the haunting lament "Remember Me," after his mother and the mothers of three band members passed away in a two-year period in the late 1990's. It was released on the "Paul deLay Band's Heavy Rotation CD (Evidence Music) in 2001. Paul passed away on March 7, 2007 at the age of 55. Click HERE for the complete story.

4/22/10 Important Update

Charlie Musselwhite and his Band, grounded in Norway this week by the Icelandic Volcano, won't be home in time to make it to the deLay Memorial concert at the Aladdin theatre on Sunday, April 25. So we've invited bluesman/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Watermelon Slim up from Clarksdale MS to fill in. It also happens to be Slim's birthday on Sunday, so this is going to be a heck of a party!

Slim will be joining an allstar cast that includes Curtis Salgado, Linda Hornbuckle, Lloyd Jones, Jim Mesi, Tahoe Jackson, DK Stewart, Jimi Bott, Ty Curtis, Boston harmonica ace Nick David, Alan Hager and former members of the Paul deLay Band.

Watermelon Slim

"Singing with a hard-weathered grace and punching out rough harp chords to deliver the only message that matters to him: the blues can rise out of the pulverized soil of bare existence." - Nashville Scene

"...one of the best contemporary blues albums in years. These songs pulse with a gospel-like joy and intensity." - All Music Guide

After being nominated Best New Artist at the 2005 WC Handy Awards, Watermelon Slim & the Workers were nominated for a near record six Blues Music Association Nominations the following year, including Band of the Year and Album of the Year.

Born in Boston, Mass., and raised in North Carolina, Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans has taken his blues all over the US (including a stint in the '80s in Eugene OR), Europe, and Southeast Asia. During a career spanning over 30 yrs, Watermelon Slim has played with the late Henry "Sunflower" Vestine of Canned Heat, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, the late John Lee Hooker, and in France with Champion Jack Dupree.

In December 2006 Watermelon Slim garnered six 2007 Blues Music Award nominations for Artist, Entertainer, Album, Band, Song, and Traditional Album of the Year. Only the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray have ever landed six. His self-titled release was ranked #1 in MOJO Magazine's 2006 Top 10 Blues CDs, won the 2006 Independent Music Award for Blues Album of the Year, hit #1 on the Living Blues Radio Chart, debuted at #13 on the Billboard Blues Radio Chart ahead of both Robert Cray and North Mississippi Allstars, and won the Blues Critic Award for 2006 Album of the Year.

Watermelon Slim - Audio: Black Water

Black Water - William Homans (Watermelon Slim) - CD: The Wheel Man, 2007
Black Water (right click for download)

Watermelon Slim - Video: "Smokestack Lightning"

Click HERE to visit Watermelon Slim's web site.

All proceeds from the “Remember Me” Concert will go toward the scholarship that has been established in Paul’s name at Ethos Music Center, a nonprofit dedicated to music education for youth in underserved communities. Contributions can be made at any time at www.ethos.org or sending a donation to Ethos Music Center, 10 N. Killingsworth Street, Portland, OR 97217.

The Ethos Music Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to music education for youth in under-served communities. Contributions may be made at any time by going to www.ethos.org or sending a donation to Ethos Music Center, 10 N. Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97217.

Charles Lewis founded Ethos Music Center in 1998 in response to budget cuts that severely limited arts education in Oregon's largest public school district. Located in Northeast Portland, the organization's name comes from the ancient Greek "Doctrine of Ethos," which held that music can change your thoughts, moods and actions. Ethos believes every child should have the opportunity to make music.

The Photo Gallery has been updated with photos from previous Paul deLay Benefit Concerts. Click HERE to check out the great photos...