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- Written by: T. Watts
The envelope, please.
And the winner is Bernie Butcher of the Tallman Hotel/Blue Wing Saloon and Café.
With Butcher’s second annual Blue Wing Blues Festival, Big Blues have hit Upper Lake one more time. As the legendary star of Wednesday night’s opening show, Charlie Musselwhite, would say, “I ain’t lyin’.”
First things first. Even the opening act on Wednesday night are stars. The great Kathi McDonald with Rich Kirch and David Hayes sport resumes that boast tenure with some of the greatest names in music.
At the tender age of 19 McDonald became the first white woman to be an Ikette. In a post show interview McDonald spoke highly of both Ike and Tina Turner. She actually lived with the Turners and was a witness to the many talents of them both.
McDonald has also worked with Big Brother and The Holding Company, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, The Rolling Stones and many others. She has appeared on more than 150 albums. Her own first solo project, “Insane Asylum,” is a collector’s item.
Guitar man Rich Kirch was born in Chicago and learned that style of blues first hand. He became a member of the Jimmy Dawkins Band which secured him a regular spot on the Chicago Blues scene. He has played in Musselwhite’s band and spent 13 years with John Lee Hooker. Visit Kirch at his Web site, www.richkirch.com. 'Nuff said..
David Hayes has played bass for Terry and The Pirates, Van Morrison, Southside Johnny and The Ashbury Jukes, Jesse Colin Young and many others. For more information on his music visit www.davidhayesmusic.com.
McDonald, Kirch and Hayes played a dynamic set of tunes to open the show, covering the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Peter Frampton, Muddy Waters, Freddie King and others. McDonald’s three-and-a-half-octave voice was in fine form and the band’s set was very explosive. They set the stage for local favorites Twice As Good.
Father and son team Rich and Paul Stewart notched up the energy immediately upon taking the stage. They opened their set with their theme song, “2XG,” and followed it with T-Bone Walker’s “T-Bone Shuffle.” Paul lost his porkpie hat while cavorting through the crowd but didn’t miss a lick. The band, featuring Bruce Hodge on drums and Chris Hoke on bass, burned through “Bad Case Of Love,” “Don’t Treat Me Right,” “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Going To Mississippi” and “Shame, Shame, Shame,” among others.
The legendary Charlie Musselwhite joined Twice As Good onstage for the last hour of their set.
Musselwhite, Mississippi born and blues bred, has recorded more than 25 albums and is an elder statesman of the genre. He introduced the crowd to a form of Brazilian blues that he learned on a recent trip there.
The stage marriage of Twice As Good and Musselwhite is seemingly one cast in Blues Heaven. The dance floor was frantic with Lake County dancers and one observer was heard to declare, “Hell, Musselwhite oughta just take Twice As Good on the road with him.”
Sounds like a plan to me.
T. Watts writes on arts and culture for Lake County News, and hosts his own music program on KPFZ 88.1 FM. He's covering the blues festival this week in Upper Lake.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
At the end of the day Wednesday the US Geological Survey's gage height in feet placed Clear Lake's depth at 3.20 feet above Zero Rumsey, the lake's natural low water level, which is 1318.256 feet above mean sea level, according to the Lake County Department of Water Resources.
Wednesday's level for the 63-square-mile lake surpassed that of the same date last year, when it measured 2.78 feet above Rumsey. The 3.20 foot measurement Wednesday also is slightly above the lake's annual average height of about 3.00 feet above Rumsey, recorded between 1979 and 2006.
The Solano Decree, first handed down in 1978 and modified in 1995, determines how much water Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District – which owns the water rights to Clear Lake – can take out of the lake based on water levels on May 1, Water Resources reported.
If the lake is full – or 7.56 feet Rumsey – on May 1 Yolo Flood can take its full allotment, according to Water Resources. If the lake is below 3.22 feet Rumsey, no water can be taken.
Water Resources reported that on May 1 the lake was at 6.67 feet Rumsey, following 8,352 acre feet of water being removed from the lake in April, which reduced the lake's level by 0.09 feet Rumsey.
The slightly better water levels this year meant that Yolo Flood was able to take 119,960 acre feet – 80 percent of their annual allocation – out of the lake for irrigation this year, Water Resources reported.
An acre foot of water is 326,000 gallons – the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of land with one foot of water, according to Water Resources.
That means that, this year, Yolo Flood took more than 39 billion gallons of water from Clear Lake. Had the lake been full, they could have taken an allocation of nearly 49 billion gallons.
In 2007, the May 1 measurement was 5.82 feet Rumsey, which meant Yolo Flood only received a 57-percent allocation, which was just over 85,000 acre feet – or nearly 28 billion gallons of water, as Lake County News has reported.
Due to surface evaporation, Clear Lake's levels can drop anywhere from 3 to 6.5 feet in a summer, according to Water Resources.
Lake levels had started off very strong earlier this year thanks to early season rains and runoff from snow in the mountains, with Clear Lake hitting its fullest point – 7.11 feet Rumsey – on March 21, as opposed to its highest level for 2007, 6.13 feet Rumsey.
The area's creeks are running at below average, according to the US Geological Survey. While Kelsey Creek and Cache Creek at Lower Lake show lower-than-normal gage heights and less water discharge, both Putah Creek near Guenoc and Cache Creek near Hough Springs recorded zero discharge.
Although the lake's depth isn't record-breaking, it's in a better position than some other lakes and reservoirs in Northern California.
Indian Valley Reservoir, also owned by Yolo Flood in Lake County, had 37,296 acre feet of storage on Wednesday, down more than 69,000 acre feet from this time last year, according to Yolo Flood measurements.
Late last month, the state Department of Water Resources reported that levels were dropping in Lake Oroville to the point where the agency was going to have to use extensions for the lake's boat launch ramps, which were on dry ground.
That lake is at 49 percent of average for this time of year and is only 62 feet above its historical low point, reached in September of 1977, the state Department of Water Resources reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT – A Lakeport man on Tuesday found himself trapped under a tractor, but quick action by medics saved him from serious injury.
Willis Knight, 67, was operating a medium-sized gas-powered trenching tractor on his property on Hendricks shortly before noon Tuesday.
Knight was working on a slope when the tractor overturned and pinned him to the ground.
His wife, Barbara, called 911 and within five minutes medics arrived, including one engine and a medic unit from Lakeport Fire Protection District, along with several off-duty responders. A REACH helicopter arrived at about 12:14 p.m.
Rescuers uprighted the tractor and, instead of taking Knight by REACH, Lakeport Fire medics determined that Knight's injuries were not life-threatening and recommended he be transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Late Tuesday afternoon Lake County News spoke with Barbara Knight, who indicated that her husband had been treated at Sutter Lakeside Hospital and also had undergone an intensive MRI and external physical examinations.
The results showed no internal damages but did reveal moderate to severe bruising on several areas of his body as well as moderate cuts and scratches.
Knight was treated and released and was recovering in his home by 6 p.m., according to his wife.
She said her husband is “a very lucky man.”
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
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