Thursday's opening concert of the Orillia Spring Blues Festival will be a very special night for local blues musician Wayne Buttery. Not only will he and his band, The Groove Project, be the opening act for legendary blues artist and Grammy Award winner James Cotton. But this gig will also be the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Cotton and Buttery kick off the 9th annual Orillia Spring Blues Festival, which runs from April 29 to May 2. Juno Award winners Morgan Davis, Fathead and Jack DeKeyzer, along with other top blues acts, including Loco Zydeco and Ronnie Douglas, will be playing at venues throughout Orillia during the weekend. As a teenager in the 1960s Buttery was playing in the Toronto Showband. On a rare Saturday night off, he and a buddy happened to be strolling by the Colonial Tavern on Yonge Street. What they heard from the street changed Buttery's life. "We heard this incredible music coming through the doors," remembers Buttery. "We had to go in and check it out." On the stage of the Colonial were Cotton, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, all three of whom went on to become blues legends. The band was working their magic with true blues rhythm and rich, piercing harmonica action. Buttery had played in a rhythm and blues band and followed the music of Ronnie Hawkins and David Clayton Thomas and the Shays (later Blood, Sweat and Tears). "I thought I knew what blues music was up to that point," said Buttery. "I was proud to be in an R&B band that played some blues. But this - this was true blues." Buttery and his buddy stood in awe at the front of the stage, and marvelled as Cotton waled away on his harp (harmonica) through

the night, "bending" notes like Buttery had never heard before. "This was my introduction to true blues," says Buttery. "and from that time on I couldn't get enough of this music." He sponged up the sounds of other blues greats like Muddy Waters, BB King and Willie Dixon. Unfortunately, there was little money in playing the blues in the '60s, so he continued to play in a '50s tribute act to make a living. He played blues for the love of the music. In the late '70s, Buttery even tried his hand at what he called a real job. He wasn't having fun so he went back to being a musician, starting up a successful big band, playing corporate functions and opening for the likes of Wilson Pickett and Tina Turner. Living in the growing city was wearing him down, and about 10 years ago he moved up the highway to settle at Orr Lake, near Elmvale. He put together The Groove Project and still does corporate bookings, festivals and concerts, as well as solo acts at smaller clubs. "The work up here may not pay as well as the big city, but gigs are more plentiful," he admits. Buttery and The Groove Project have cut a pair of CDs, the latest of which 'Live at Twisters' was recently recognized internationally with a Real Blues Award. His opening for James Cotton on Thursday will bring everything full circle. "I've seen Cotton many times, but I've never had the honor of working with him," says Buttery. "This is the gig of a lifetime. And I'm going to drink every drop." Tickets for Thursday's show are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. For more information and a full schedule of Blues Festival acts and venues, call 329-2333 or check out www.orilliaspringblues.com

The Orillia Packet & Times THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2001 John Swartz

Wayne Buttery and the Groove Project are embarking on a cruise aboard the Georgian Queen on Sunday. The boat leaves the Penetanguishene town dock at 8:00 p.m. Unlike previous Blues Cruises, this one is special because the band has just received delivery of their CD "WAITING"-the long awaited first collection of work from one of the best blues bands in all Simcoe County. Wayne has long done all the vocal work for the band . It seems that getting basest Charlie Hinkel up to the microphone coincided with him writing songs for this disc. This is a good addition to the flavour of the band, as many have heard lately. Charlie sings three of the tunes, which he also wrote, and shares the duties on the title track. Dennis King goes bi-polar singing and drumming one of the three cover tunes on the disc, "The Dangerous Kind". Somehow , I've missed hearing Dennis sing at any of the bands gigs and didn't know that he had it in him. Of course one of the most distinctive aspects of the band is the keyboard playing of Bob Federer, who has the knack of imitating a Hammond Organ with-out the benefit of having one under his fingers.

The other six tunes are written and sung by Wayne. How could you mistake Wayne's vocal qualities and guitar playing that lend themselves so well to the blues? In hierarchy of blues singers in these parts, Wayne doesn't look up to anyone. You can hear contributions from Ronnie Douglas and Mike Roberts on guitar, Steve Thomas on harp, Simon Wallis on saxes and Paul Robillard on trumpet as guest artists. The band put together a very polished album, one that deserves to be in your collection. The Ms Georgian Queen cruise costs 15 bucks (call 705 549-7795 to order), bring another 20 for the disc. - John Swartz

The Orillia Packet & Times APRIL 27, 2000 P&T Photo/Joeelle Kovach In The Groove    Wayne Buttery & the Groove Project, an Elmvale band, launched the Fifth Annual Orillia Spring Blues Festival at Brewery Bay on Wednesday evening. This festival officially kicks off tonight, with a total of twenty five bands performing at fourteen venues in Orillia. The event runs until Sunday evening. Orillia Ready To Sing The Blues    Tonight is opening night of the 5th annual Orillia Spring Blues Festival. A few pointer should come in handy if you want to take part and couldn't tell the difference between a Blind Mellon and a Blind Lemon. To begin with, neither of them are in this years festival.    First timers who have never been out to see a live blues band are in for a surprise. For example, I myself have never bought a blues album, or CD. It's not that i don't like the blues, I just never turn it on at home. Seeing a blues band is an entirely different experience over listening at home and it's hard to refuse a night out to see one. On that count, it really doesn't matter where you decide to head out to, you'll likely witness a moving and unique performance. If the menu is more important in your decision, I'm not going to argue the point- at least this week.    Tonight there are only two choices on the schedule. Wayne Buttery & the Groove Project are playing at the 2nd Last Call. Wayne and company have been hosting the Thursday night blues jam for almost two years now at the 2nd Last Call. This time around however, they have added to their lineup. Simon Wallis, baritone sax and trumpet player Chris Howells are both veterans of the great Canadian band, Lighthouse will be supplementing the sound some are already familiar with coming from Bob Federer's keyboard, Charlie Hinkel's and Dennis Kings excellent drumming. Phill Papa, of the Spoons and who has also giged with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, will be playing tenor sax. There will also be a few surprise guest along the way. Wayne and his quartet are at Brewery Bay on Friday night, while Wayne dose a solo at the Travelodge on Saturday night. The festival closing will be hosed by Wayne and his rhythm section on Sunday afternoon at the 2nd Last Call with an open jam.    Paul James has been playing all week at Casino Rama and will be for the rest of the week. Paul is a veteran of the blues and darn near a Canadian icon. Taking in both performances may just be the ticket. On Friday things get more complex with twelve gigs on the schedule. It will be your only opportunity to catch Justin Bunn and the Ice Warm Cocktail Blues Review at the Travelodge. Justin is just a sixteen year old teenager from Trenton, Ontario, but he is already attracting attention. He has already been making professional appearances and is slated to appear at other Blues Festivals this year. Justin was runner-up at the Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Competition held in West Springfield, Virginia in 1999.    Fathead, currently in the hottest band on the Canadian blues scene is at MacCabe's on both Friday and Saturday. They won a pile of awards last year on the strength of their live performances and Juno Award winning CD, Blues Weather. They have a new disc titled, Where's Your Head At? Last year, McCabe's was absolutely packed for this band, so be prepared.    Lance Anderson has two gigs on Friday. He'll be going solo for dinner at Brewery Bay before hooking up with his band (guitarist, Richard Lewis of the Canadian Aces, Lost Vegas, Mike Sloski on drums and everybody's bass player, Dennis Pendrith) at Webbers, Lance, a Juno Award winning producer, is one of Orillia's best kept secrets. He'll be back at Brewery Bay for the evening slot on Saturday.    Ronnie Douglas was nominated for a bunch of awards last year. not only dose he cover some of the best blues tunes, but I'll bet you couldn't tell which of the one's he wrote him-self - they are so good, you'll swear you've herd them before. Ronnie is at the 2nd Last Call tonight. On Saturday he'll be backing the jam at HarpFest, and giging at Webbers.    And now for something completely different - a smoke-free gig. Haze and blues go together, but Jake Thomas and the Fundamentals are going to change that when they play the new lounge at the curling rink at Tudhope Park. Jake has a new female singer that he's raving about, and that fabulous Hammond B3 player he had two years ago is back in the band. They will be at the 2nd Last Call on Saturday evening.    Cosmo's loves harp players. Sonny Fournier will be returning Friday night. He will also be at the curling rink with his band, The living Blues on Saturday.    Newcomer, Michael Branton, is at Finnegan's Walk. The one man band Curlie Bridges, is at the Kewadin both Friday and Saturday and Night Howl is at the New Longshot.   The big event on Saturday is HarpFest at Georgian College. This is a workshop for harp players with three of the best, Carlos del Junco, Michael Pickett and Fathead's Al Lerman showing how it's done. I understand that this is a sold out event just might have some tickets that have been freed up. Call 329-3129 at Georgian College to check availability.    Carlos will be playing at brewery Bay right after his turn at HarpFest and will be performing at Cosmo's in the evening. He always has great sidemen on hand too.    The first lady of the blues, Shelaugh Hart will be at Finnegan's Walk Saturday night. She has just released a CD that you will want to own. Most of the tunes on it are jazz standards, but that doesn't matter,. Anything she sings is great.    Burgundy Rose, known for doing a variety of stuff including rock, country and oldies, can pump out the blues. If you check out some of the tunes on their CD, you'll see what I mean. They'll be at Kelsey's.    Brand new to the festival, the Bearcats, are from Owen Sound. At six players, this is a big band by blues standards. They'll be at the New Longshot. Mike Branton will be at the Ossawippi.    Those colourful Casino Rama shuttle busses will be running two routes. The crossover point is at Brewery Bay. I'd suggest taking one and sampling as many places as you can. You'll get to check out more bands, parking won't be a problem and you won't risk running into a RIDE program.    Don't forget the jam at the 2nd Last Call on Sunday to close the festival. This has been one of the best components of the festival since it was added three years ago. -John Swartz