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Our new t-shirts, designed by well known artist Earl Newman ( he has designed many posters for the Monterey Jazz Festival) will be on sale at the concert, along with other items with a peaceful message

Second Saturdays at Sunnyside Up

October 11 - A Concert By and For the Homeless.

Second Saturdays at SunnySide Up, 116 NW Third St., 6-8 p.m., features the The Riverfront Blues Show. A $5.00 donation is suggested.

The October event will support the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center -
Serving the needs of Corvallis’ homeless citizens

Mayor Charlie Tomlinson will introduce the event

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The Riverfront Blues Show consists of five talented, enthusiastic musicians, three of whom are homeless men living in Corvallis and two are volunteers and friends of the Corvallis Drop-in Center. All performers share a first hand understanding of how very important this facility is. They promise to play their hearts out for your generous donations.

You may have seen and heard some of these guys at the Corvallis Riverfront Park and other public spaces around the downtown area, singing, playing their guitars and mouth harp for passersby and loving every minute of it. Their musical styles reflect a variety of influences, mostly folk, rock, and blues.

RJ Baynum and Ellie VanDevelder will perform the first set. RJ started “blowing harp” (known to many as the harmonica) in Alabama at the age of ten and he’s been at it ever since. After moving to Memphis, Tennessee - one of the country’s great blues centers - RJ’s musical adventures really took off. He played along the famous Beale Street, with such notables as Howling Wolf Jr., Richard Johnston, the Memphis Blues Mafia, and the Eric Hughes Band, among others. When asked about his unusual musical talent, RJ says: “I don’t have to think about it – it’s head to mouth playing. It’s getting in the groove and I just go with it. I like playing with musicians I can groove with.”

Ten year old musician Ellie VanDevelder is the daughter of Paul and Brenda VanDevelder. Ellie isn’t homeless but got to know the musicians by hanging out with her father during his volunteer shifts at the shelter. It wasn’t long before she had a gaggle of buddies there. RJ is one of several musicians who inspired and taught Ellie to play guitar. They spent many hours jamming together in the kitchen. When asked to describe Ellie, RJ’s response was emphatic: “Ellie’s cool.” She now writes her own music! As to being homeless, Ellie says, “People think, you’re different than us, you’re not the same. But all of them are like second dads to me, we’re like family.” Earlier this year, Ellie made a 9-minute film about her homeless friends. The film was shown at da Vinci Days, of which Ellie’s mom is executive director. If you missed it then, you can see the film on concert night, just before the performances begin.

Second set musicians have their own groove going. Mike Imperio on rhythm guitar and vocals, DJ Rodriguez will be on lead guitar and vocals, and Vernon Huffman on drums. Both Imperio and Rodriguez played the soundtrack for a recent documentary on homelessness.

Mike Imperio got his musical start in 1973 playing the gospel groove. By the 80s he was living in California, where his music took a stylistic turn towards country rock. Imperio is a past member of Colt 45, a band that once opened for Charlie Daniels. Other accomplishments include a radio and TV commercial he helped make for the Steinbeck Treatment Center in California, which is still being heard to this day. Imperio has played plenty of street “gigs” and in many bars in both Portland and Corvallis. Although he’s been homeless for seven years, his situation is changing and he expects to have a home soon.

DJ was out of town for this interview but his friend Ellie helped us out with a short bio: “DJ’s music is very, very complicated. It’s like an accelerated car machine, so much packed into it to make one song. It’s awesome!” Ellie says DJ calls his fingers “spider fingers” because they move so fast. She says her friends were astounded when they heard her music mentor play.

Vernon Huffman is a classically trained drummer but can groove in just about any style. Vernon met the Riverfront musicians at the Drop-in Center where he volunteers his skills, helping with bicycle repair and maintenance.

The Corvallis Drop-in Center is in need of funds. The facility currently provides lunches, friendship, bicycle maintenance and repair, as well as help with a variety of challenges facing the homeless. For more information about the Drop-in Center or the proposed cold weather shelter, you can call Aleita Hass-Holcombe at 740-3235.

Second Saturdays is sponsored by Corvallis Alternatives to War, Chapter 132 of Veterans for Peace, and the Troubadour Music Center. Alternatives to War arose after the September 11, 2001, airplane attacks in New York and Washington when the U.S. response was to bomb a country, Afghanistan, rather than to seek justice. One of the projects that the local peace group developed is this series of concerts which features local musicians and raises money for causes that benefit peace and international understanding. A donation of $5.00 is requested.