Archie Parrott and his orchestra played for many dances up and down the Willamette Valley and often traveled with many instruments. In the photo to the right, they are playing in a musical bandstand built of lattice work with a stylish decorative backdrop in Eugene’s Willamette Park in 1936. (Oct 17, 1936 RG article) Archie (standing) […]
Featured Bands & Musicians
Bill Rhoades and The Party Kings
Active Years: 1975 – 1985 in Eugene, Oregon Genre: Blues The band was originally formed in the mid-70’s in Eugene, Oregon as Bill Rhoades Blues Band then later became the Party Kings. Bill moved to Portland in the mid-80’s and continued the band in a different configuration. The Party Kings played a mixture of Blues music styles […]
Caliente
Eugene’s premiere Salsa band! Active Years: 1987 – 2007 “The 11-piece group has gone through many phases since its formation in 1987 by band leader and lead singer Fernell Lopez and former Lane Community College music students Enrique Rios, Alejandro Gonzalez and David Bender. They began as a Latin-jazz combination band, but around 1993, pianist […]
Leon Smith and the Basics
Leon Smith and the Basics (1960-1966) Genre: Rockabilly Base Location: Eugene, Oregon Best known for the top 40’s hit song, “Little 40 Ford”. The song, written by Wayne Marshall, was recorded in early 1959 in a Eugene basement studio with an earlier version of the band, The Orbit Rockers. It was released on a local […]
Jackdaw
Genre: Folk Active Years: Early 1970’s Home Base: Eugene, Oregon Members: Wayne Drury – lead guitar, vocals Rob Anderson – lead guitar, vocals Randall Crawford – bass, banjo, vocals Comments From the Band: We worked together in the Eugene area in coffeehouses and misc. venues; mostly playing the brilliant songs Wayne wrote (see Wayne Drury […]
Uncle Charlie’s Boogie Band
Active Years: 1972-? Base Location: Eugene, Oregon Genre: Originals and Classic Rock The band incorporated guitar, bass, drums, synthesizer, sax, and flute and Gary’s strong vocals and Barry’s Flute/Sax combo allowed them to pull off tunes by popular artists of the day that other bands could not pull off. They covered tunes by Jethro Tull, […]
Dominions
The Dominions (1964-1967) Genre: Garage rock/punk band Members: Gene Garrett (guitar, lead vocals) Ron Gordon (bass) Frank Nachtman (lead guitar) also played with Small Crowd, and H.B. and The Checkmates Ken Paxton (organ, vocals) also played with Small Crowd John Peters (saxophone) Larry Rodman (drums) Ron Techel (guitar, vocals) The Dominions were formed in 1964 when I […]
Harold Bradford Trio
Harold Bradford Trio (1973-1974) Genre: Blues, Rock Base Location: Eugene, Oregon Members: Harold Bradford – Piano Harry Lassegard – Drums – also played in the Searchin’ Soul blues band (Passed 1979) Keith Doug Skelton – Bass – also played in the Searchin’ Soul Blues Band and Palace Meat Market Celeste Rauchert – Vocals Reid Smeltzer – […]