The Highway 99 Blues Club, Seattle’s top blues and r&b venue for many years, is closing up for good—New Year’s Eve will be the last night for music in the fabled room there on the Seattle waterfront.

The music business is full of comings and goings, but this is tough news. When a music venue shuts its doors, that’s a bad thing. When a blues venue closes up shop, that’s a really bad thing—blues clubs are an endangered species. When one of the best blues venues on the West Coast packs it in, well, that’s a genuine tragedy.

When the Highway 99 opened, I was pretty much out of the music scene. I hadn’t had a band in years, and the unsolicited calls from other musicians and from venues to get out and play had become few and far between. I had other, more important priorities during that time, but I was creatively frustrated and really feeling the urge to make a comeback. But I wanted to resurface with a genuinely great blues band, made up of younger players I had never worked with before, that delivered an entertaining, tight show and played original material. That seemed like a very tall order, but that’s when the Highway 99 showed me the way.

In May of 2006 the Highway 99 hosted a medical-expenses benefit for Curtis Salgado. Lots of great players, most of whom I had known for years, showed up to play and show their support. When I got up to do a couple of numbers, two young guitarists who I only vaguely knew, Eric Daw and Steve Yonck, were set up behind me. As we started playing, I found myself listening to them—how they quickly found complimentary parts, how great they were playing, and how they each had different but totally legitimate blues guitar sounds.

A week later I had built a band around Eric and Steve—the first incarnation of the Mighty Titans of Tone. We pulled the band together by playing a regular weeknight gig at the Highway 99 for a couple of months, and then the club gave us the opportunity to headline on the weekends. We established ourselves at the Highway 99 and even recorded a live album there.

Five years later, I realized another major bucket-list goal of mine—being in a topflight country and western band. The phenomenal singer and guitarist Lisa Theo had come to me with an offer I couldn't refuse—to join her in a band that she was putting together that would pay tribute to the great male/female country music duet singing tradition. We branded ourselves the Titans of Twang. Once again I approached the Highway 99, and they got behind us. We did our first gigs there and then were off to the races for a very successful two-year run.

For the past several years the Highway 99 has let me host my Big Blue Revue shows there two or three times a year. These have featured the Mighty Titans of Tone, the Emerald City horns, and a parade of world-class guest artists, and they have been some of the most fun shows that I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve also had the thrill to have been invited to share the Highway 99 stage with a slew of great artists, including Magic Dick, Lee Oskar, Bob Corritore, and Rockin’ Johnny Burgin.

But what made the Highway 99 Blues Club a truly rare venue were its co-owners, Ed Maloney and Steve Sarkowsky, and their team. These guys genuinely love roots music, and they have worked their asses off to make the Highway 99 Blues Club at top national venue. They are known throughout the worldwide community of musicians for their passion, their professionalism, their integrity, their commitment to treating musicians as artists, their great employees, and for being a lot of fun to hang with. There is no way of telling how many lucky people have had their lives changed thanks to the Highway 99 Blues Club, but I can tell you that I am one of them.

Thank you for everything, Ed and Steve. Love you guys. If I can ever be of help to you, just ask. Hope to get the chance to work with you again down the road.

Really looking forward to being part of some great shows in July.

On Wednesday, July 4th, between 8 and 10 pm, I'll be joining fellow harp players Bill Rhoades, Hank Shreve, and Mike Moothart for Bill's annual Harmonica Blow-Off at the fantastic Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland. (Check out Hank's set with his big band at 1 pm the same day.)

On Sunday, July 22, at 12:30 pm, I'll be part of "Riding With The King," a tribute to B.B. King, at the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival. I haven't played Winthrop in a few years and am excited about being back this year. This tribute also features fellow front men Mark DuFresne and John Hogkin, a truly killer band including Tim Sherman channeling B.B. like no on else, David Hudson and GHuy Quintino, and a great horn section.

The following Saturday, July 28th, I'll be joining my legendary band the Mighty Titans of Tone--Brady Daniel Kish, Tim Sherman, Bob Knetzger, and David Hudson--at the great Jazz in the Valley festival in Ellensburg, Washington. We're adding the phenomenal guitarist Al Kaatz for this show. The Mighty Titans and I will be playing an hour-long set at 3 pm in the Rotary Pavilion, and a longer show that same evening (8 pm-11 pm).

Hope to see you at one of these great showcases in July. Support live music this summer!