The Campbell Brothers
Waterfront Blues Festival
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Portland, OR.
July 3, 2005

Recorded from KBOO FM, a local all volunteer radio station. There is some inherent reception problems scattered throughout these recordings. The station is not very powerful and the team had some problems on the first day of the festival getting everything "plugged in". All in all some great music with a few tolerable "blurps".

FM > MD > HDD > CDWav (for splitting) > FLAC

No set lists or art. Hope you all enjoy the shows....twofthrs.


The Campbell Brothers

"Truly magnificent and moving...." - Real Blues

"...different from anything you've ever heard... essential listening for anyone interested in blues guitar." - Living Blues


The Campbell Brothers present a compelling, rich variety of material from the African-American Holiness-Pentecostal repertoire with a new twist: the growling, wailing, shouting, voice of the steel guitar. This tradition has only recently emerged from the House of God Keith Dominion Church, where for over 60 years it has been an integral part of worship and a vital, if little known, American tradition. As the music moves from sanctuary to concert hall — including the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Symphony Space — secular audiences are now able to appreciate a performance both devoted and rocking.

Pedal steel guitarist Chuck Campbell and his lap steel-playing brother Darick are two of the finest in this tradition. Chuck Campbell has been compared to both Jimi Hendrix and Django Reinhardt for his virtuosity and innovative style. By utilizing an idiosyncratic picking style and such modern effects as distortion and wah-wah, he uncannily mimics the human voice, and the moans and groans of gospel shouting. Early in his career, he developed a system of tuning and set-up for the pedal steel that is now emulated by a whole new generation of players. Chuck Campbell, who mentored the young Sacred Steel / jam band phenomon, Robert Randolph , has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as a great innovator and teacher in the tradition.

Rounding out the band, which has been playing together for nearly two decades, is a high-energy rhythm section featuring brother Phil Campbell on electric guitar and his son Carlton on drums, and Katie Jackson's classic, gutsy gospel vocals.