On February 19, 2012, Monti had a heart attack, requiring 3 stents to be inserted into his right coronary artery. He was in ICU for two days, with one additional day in a regular hospital room. His medications will cost about $420.00 per month and he has accrued medical, hospital, and ambulance bills that are in serious excess of his ability to pay. He is unsure of when he will have the ability to perform again at 100% capacity. Doctor says he cannot sing for at least 2 months. Donate generously now to assist Big Monti through his time of need.

Monti’s breakout band, The Blubinos (pronounced blue-bye-nose), were a dominant force in the Northwest music scene from 1987 to 1992 and shared concert stages with some of the biggest names in the business, including John Lee Hooker, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy. In 1991 The Blubinos won Portland Music Association’s award for “Outstanding Blues Act”. In 1993 Monti signed on with Munich Records in Holland and promptly moved his headquarters to Amsterdam. Over the next six years Monti recorded five albums and toured extensively in Europe, developing a huge fan base.

When Monti gets compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan or Johnny Winter he just says “thank you”. The fact is, the big
man has his own style. “I’m a blues guitar player in a band that plays rock n’ roll,” is how Monti explains it. He doesn’t so much as straddle the line between the genres as bend it, ignore it, or race back and forth across it until both sides go up in flames. The blues of Big Monti comes straight from the heart, cuts through your soul and is as real as it gets. (More about Monti http://www.montiamundson.com )

ALSO! SEE THE EVENTS PAGE of this website for Monti Amundson April 22nd Fundraising Show information

Sean Croghan Relief Fund DONATE BUTTON for EMAIL

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HNYV8J3AHBP6A

SEAN CROGHAN BIO 2012

Sean Croghan was born and raised in the Portland area. He was brought up in a creative family and started acting at a young age. Through theater he and his family met Dan Demiankow (aka, Danny D., Danny Dungeon), who started Sean on guitar.

Through his late teens and early twenties Croghan haunted the Portland punk clubs, learning from the local bands until he had the nerve to start his own. In 1988 he and Scott Fox started Crackerbash, a local powerhouse, with the inclusion of Ted Miller a few years later the band took off; releasing several singles, a full length album and an E.P. The band toured throughout the Western region did two national tours as well as European tour with Girl Trouble. 

1994 brought the end of Crackerbash but, almost right away Croghan was playing with Ape Grave, a band made up of Carl Anala, David Parks and Gerry Ostrem, a sax heavy, RandB, punk rock monster. Adding Stephan Spyrit, Larry Yes and Jay Martin to the band only added to the bands reputation for some show stopping music.

Croghan wanted to push his song writing chops and with the encouragement of Joanna Bolme and Elliott Smith, Croghan started the band Jr. High with Bolme, Janet Weiss and Dan Hawthorne. Where Crackerbash had been like a tornado, Jr. High was less frantic and more concise. They toured with Jawbreaker and Fluf, recording a single an album. After personal changes the band toured the west coast and the east coast opening for Elliott Smith.

Croghan released his solo effort “From Burnt Orange to Midnight Blue” in 2000 receiving reviews comparing it to the work of Elvis Costello and Otis Redding.

For a few years Sean spent his time in assisting other musicians and taking a back seat. He helped to create CD Babys (an online musicians retail sight) customer service department. After years in the business his knowledge helped countless others navigate the stormy seas of trying to be a working musician. Although he was quiet he was not dormant playing in “Note/Notas” and “Rapids” as well as many one off projects and solo shows.

After the death of his friend Elliott Smith and his father, Eugene Croghan, Sean directed his energy toward visual arts. He has hung several shows through Portland as well as being featured in the Guardian (the British online paper).

2011 has proven to be a busy year for Croghan. In addition to continuing art projects he has started a new band, The Needful Longings with local musicians Jim Talstra and Chris Slusharenko and new comer Mark Raymond. He also has re teamed up with Scott Fox to sing for the Pynnacles; a band featuring 3/5 of Satans Pilgrims(Fox, Dave Busaker, John Cox) as well as the talents of Thom Sullivan and Tamar Burke.

The next few goals include releasing new material in both bands, the addition of paintings to the upcoming production of Orphans and hopefully hitting the road for some touring.

Friday April 6th, 2012
Dharma Bums, The Needful Longings, Ugly Flowers and DJ HWY 7
Dante’s – 350 West Burnside St. Portland, OR 97209 (503) 226-6630
$10.00 in advance cascadetickets.com $13.00 day of show
Doors 8 pm Show 9 pm

Friday April 6th, Portland, Or – The Jeremy Wilson Foundation (JWF) proudly presents a night of high energy rock’n’roll featuring a cast of Portland native sons including Dharma Bums, The Needful Longings, Ugly Flowers and DJ HWY 7. The concert’s proceeds will help relieve longtime Portland musician Sean Croghan (Crackerbash, Jr. High, The Needful Longings) of expensive medical bills he accumulated from an emergency hospital stay late last year, and The JWF Musician’s Healthcare Fund, which assists musicians in times of medical crisis.

It promises to be a special night of music uniting old (and new) friends together, not only for a worthy cause, but also as a true testament of what the spirit of the Portland music and arts culture is all about. The relationship that has manifested over the years between the collective members of Dharma Bums and The Needful Longings can easily be described as a close-knit “family.”

Inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame last November, the members of Dharma Bums grew up
together in the Willamette Valley playing in bands since their very early teens. They found regional
fame around the valley, partially because they could play hundreds of songs at concert level from such
young ages. In 1986, when the Dharma Bums moved to Portland from the Silverton area, they played
many of their earliest Portland gigs with Sean Croghan’s first band Crackerbash. It was during this
exciting time that both bands honed their sonic crafts and garnered stellar reputations as ferocious
live and touring acts. For several years together, before most of the members were even of legal age,
the Bums and Crackerbash played area clubs such as The Pine Street Theater, The Long Goodbye,
Blue Gallery, and the legendary Satyricon. Croghan and Dharma Bums bassist, Jim Talstra, originally
conceived of a Wipers Tribute “flip 45” single to be released as a dual effort between both Crackerbash
and the Bums. This project quickly blossomed into a compilation vinyl 45 box set tribute to Greg Sage
& The Wipers, including tracks from Poison Idea, Hole, and Nirvana. The release of this box set and the
expanded CD that followed helped put then powerhouse indie Portland label T/K Records on the map; a
label that launched the biggest Portland acts of the 90s.

In all aspects of life, these guys have been brothers for one another onstage and off as they came of
age. From helping each other move apartments to painting and creating art on front porches to playing
on each other’s records over the years, these guys became lifelong buddies and collaborators. Heck,
Sean Croghan even appeared as “The Face”, on the front cover of the Dharma Bums third album,
Welcome, back in 1993. Twenty years later the members of these bands still play with the same vitality
and emotion that sparked their mutual admiration back in the day. From the 2010 triumphant reunion
shows of the Dharma Bums’ foursome to Sean’s latest and greatest group, The Needful Longings, these
dedicated musicians are making the best music of their careers as they continue to collaborate on each

other’s projects and adventures. For instance, Dharma Bums’ bassist Jim Talstra plays for The Needful
Longings, whose guitar player, Chris Slusarenko, also plays in Boston Spaceships with Bum’s drummer,
John Moen (now in the grammy nominated Decemberists) and singer Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices).
Guitarist, Eric Lovre of the Bums produced records for both John Moen as well as Talstra’s bands,
Perhapst and Minus 5. Lovre, Moen, and Talstra all appear on Dharma Bum’s frontman, Jeremy Wilson’s
upcoming solo album, Empty Through Empty Space—and the list goes on. As this close-knit circle has
done in the past, they will reunite once again to raise revenue for The Jeremy Wilson Foundation to
assist their fellow musicians in times of emergency.

It is no question that the “family” would come together now when Sean Croghan needs some
assistance. A stint in the emergency room last September was no small setback for the hard working
Sean when he passed a kidney stone and found himself uninsured due to a recent job change. But
Croghan’s situation is, unfortunately, not unique. Like millions of people throughout the United States,
even some of the biggest names in music are hit hard by medical emergency, which can quickly turn
into financial disaster. Jeremy Wilson’s struggle from his own stressful medical condition prompted
him to form The JWF Musician’s Healthcare Fund to benefit the well-being of the entire Northwest
music community. The Jeremy Wilson Foundation is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit that recognizes that many
musicians do not have individual access to healthcare and functions as a resource center whose revenue
funds musicians like Sean Croghan in their time of medical crisis. Those who wish to contribute to JWF
Musician’s Healthcare Fund and support the well-being of area musicians are encouraged to donate
online at www.thejwf.org. Donors can also contribute directly to Sean Croghan’s Relief Fund at http://
thejwf.org/donate Donations are 100% tax deductible.

The Jeremy Wilson Foundation Presents – Friday April 6th 2012 – Dharma Bums, The Needful Longings,
Ugly Flowers, DJ HWY7 @ Dantes – 350 West Burnside St. Portland, OR 97209 (503) 226-6630 $10.00 in
advance http://www.cascadetickets.com/ $13.00 day of show Doors 8 pm Show 9 pm

MORE ABOUT THE JEREMY WILSON FOUNDATION

There is an absence of relief organizations which assist uninsured and under-insured musicians who, as
members of the creative class, are at high risk of serious financial harm in times of medical crisis.

The mission of The Jeremy Wilson Foundation (JWF) is to support uninsured and underinsured musicians
and their families in times of medical crisis. Sixteen months since its inception, The JWF has generated
$52.000.00, and granted $20,000 in assistance in 2011 alone. The JWF has started JWF Studio and
Learning Center’s program, Blue Room Music Lessons, which provides secure jobs for music educators
while granting access to affordable, discounted or free music lessons to children of low-income families.
In its ninth month of operation, Blue Room’s educators have taught over 90 students. The JWF’s
November 2011 fundraising concert, The Next Waltz, rallied over 60 area musicians and 20 volunteers
for a sold out recreation of The Band’s The Last Waltz, held at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland,
Oregon. The JWF’s survey results have provided valuable insight for the Local 99 Musician’s Union, the Health
Association of Austin Musicians (HAMM), and at hearings regarding the cost of insurance for small
business owners in the Oregon State Senate.

Musicians are twice as likely as the general public to be uninsured. They are considered self-employed
and do not receive employee benefits from the record companies they serve. The artists individually
absorb 100% of the costs (from paying the doorman to releasing the album), while the record

companies receive up to 90% of revenues. Although demand for music is increasing, the advent of
the 360° record deal has drastically decreased the artist’s profits through the label’s appropriation of
each and every revenue stream. Due to a lack of fundamental financial security, stability, and business
structure, many artists simply cannot afford basic health insurance.

The JWF, in its second year, is trying to build and expand its non-profit 501 (c)3 organization dedicated
to assisting uninsured and under-insured musicians and their families. It is developing multiple streams
of revenue to subsidize a musician’s medical crisis fund. JWF is developing programs to provide
incentives and financial fitness education specific to this unique industry to help individuals proactively
establish and maintain adequate health care coverage. By developing and implementing a new music
licensing model the JWF empowers the artist’s own enterprise and contributes to the well-being of
other musicians. They are trying to provide an essential safety-net and proactive training to vital
members of the creative economy, and by doing so hope to enrich and sustain our community’s cultural
identity.

The Foundation’s namesake, musician Jeremy Wilson (The Dharma Bums, Pilot) formed the foundation
because of his personal experiences since being diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition
called Wolf-Parkinson-White. He has learned, by what Wilson calls “his education by fire,” all about the
need for adequate health care for our community of musicians. And because of the great outpouring of
goodwill he experienced from those that have helped him through his own trial these last many years,
he wants to pay forward the same goodwill to others.

With the help of an incredible cast of friends, well-wishers, music fans, industry professionals and
others, Wilson has formed this Foundation. Let’s raise the quality of life for all by helping those that
make the sound tracks of our lives be healthy and happy!

Musician, actor and voice artist Finn Mac Ginty comes from Coole in county Westmeath. After moving from Japan, Finn and his wife, Tamara, lived in Seattle from the late 1980s until 2007, when he moved back to Ireland. While in the Northwest, he played with many local musicians, and in the bands The Suffering Gaels and Setanta.

On December 18th of last year, Finn suffered a fall at his new home in Cloughjordan, county Tipperary, resulting in a severe brain injury. After a couple of weeks at Beaumont hospital in Dublin, where he underwent surgeries and was treated for his injury, Finn is now being cared for at the hospital in Tullamore. He has not regained consciousness since the accident.

In an effort to provide support as well as financial assistance for Finn and Tamara, a benefit concert is
being held at the Tractor Tavern on Sunday January 29th starting at 5.00 PM. Music will be provided
by local musicians and friends of Finn’s including Leo MacNamara and Aurora Burd, Ray Carney (The
RayBone Experience), and Paul Mooney and Laura Ploudre.

The Jeremy Wilson Foundation 501(c)3 non-profit – www.thejwf.org – an organization based in Portland
Oregon that assists uninsured and under-insured musicians and their families in times of medical crisis is
accepting on-line donations for Finn and Tamera at http://thejwf.org/donate

Finn Mac Ginty Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/events/307983879243633/?ref=nf

PayPal – DONATE BUTTON

PayPal – email Donate Button

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QV4VNK5ZS4CPY

Preview of The Next Waltz – KINK.FM
http://www.kink.fm/11/21/11/Preview-of-The-Next-Waltz/landing_bing_schedule.html?blockID=568068&feedID=8834

Jeremy Wilson and The NEXT Waltz – KINK.FM Live Video of Preview in The Bing Lounge
http://www.kink.fm/11/20/11/Jeremy-Wilson-and-The-NEXT-Waltz/landing_music_discovery.html?blockID=543730&feedID=9769

Tonight in Music: The Next Waltz, Ancient Heat, & Wale – Portland Mercury
http://endhits.portlandmercury.com/endhits/archives/2011/11/26/tonight-in-music-the-next-waltz-ancient-heat-and-wale

Headout: Waltz No. 02
The Next Waltz finds Portlanders re-creating The Band’s last gig. – Willamette Week
http://wweek.com/portland/article-18223-headout_waltz_no_02.html

The Next Waltz Preview – Dry Your Eyes – Live Video at Music Millenium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-mMPPKfQ1w&feature=related

Take a Load Off – The Portland Tribune
http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=132208675514347600

This Thanksgiving weekend, more than three dozen of Portland’s finest musicians will join together at the historic Alberta Rose Theatre to celebrate one of the most legendary rock concerts of all time: The Last Waltz, the 1976 farewell concert by “The Band”, which featured such superstar guests as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Eric Clapton, and was made into Martin Scorcese’s famous “rockumentary” of the same name. The tribute concert, dubbed The Next Waltz, takes place Saturday, November 26 — 35 years and a day after the original event. The event will benefit worthy causes The Jeremy Wilson Foundation, which helps fund and secure health care for Northwest musicians — an often underserved group when it comes to medical coverage — and, appropriate to the holiday season, the Oregon Food Bank.

Tickets are $17.00 in advance and $20.00 day of show. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Oregon Food Bank. Minors are admitted if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Doors open at 7 PM; the show begins at 8 PM. Advance tickets can be purchased online at AlbertaRoseTheatre.com, by phone at (503) 764-4131, or in person at the Alberta Rose Theatre box office, 3000 NE Alberta Street.

Performers at The Next Waltz include Eric Earley, leader of the internationally acclaimed, Portland-based Blitzen Trapper, performing Bob Dylan’s songs in the evening’s climactic set; celebrated singer-songwriter and performance artist Holcombe Waller, singing Neil Young’s classic “Helpless”; local favorites the Parson Red Heads, recreating the Staples Singers’ thrilling harmonies on The Band’s “The Weight”; and 2011 Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee Jeremy Wilson, formerly of the Dharma Bums, whose own struggle with illness inspired him to create his eponymous Foundation in 2010. Also appearing are Casey Neill, Little Sue, Joe McMurrian, and many others. Three different house bands and a horn section will support the featured performers. (See attached full roster for details.)

The Next Waltz is the brainchild of Jeff Rosenberg, longtime Portland music journalist (Willamette Week), broadcaster (KBOO-FM) and performer, and is produced in partnership with the Alberta Rose Theatre.

The Jeremy Wilson Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping uninsured and underinsured NW area musicians and their families in times of medical crisis. The Foundation also aims to aid musicians and their families in obtaining day-to-day health care through education and referrals to assist them in acquiring adequate
healthcare and insurance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jeff Rosenberg, 503-230-0585 or sensofwndr@aol.com.

http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/portland/2011/11/relive-the-last-waltz-in-portland/

http://www.opb.org/artsandlife/calendar/detail/next-waltz/

http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2011/10/portland_musicians_to_recreate.html

http://www.musicmillennium.com/Event/39539

http://www.kink.fm/pages/wgo#/?i=2

http://jimsmusicnotes.blogspot.com/2011/11/two-benefit-events-you-should-know.html

Performers at the next Waltz

Zak Borden (Brazillionaires)
Jim Brunberg (LiveWire!, Mississippi Studios)
Emily Butler (Music Arcade)
Darrin Craig (Jackstraw)
Michael Dean Damron (I Can Lick Any SOB in the House)
Kris Deelane (SweetJuice)
The Don of Division Street
Eric Earley (Blitzen Trapper)
Adam East (Adam + Kris, Celilo)
Morgan Geer (Drunken Prayer)
Mir German (Miriams Well)
Dan Haley (Ed & The Boats)
Susan Harris (Flash Choir, Children’s Games)
Matthew Hayward-Macdonald (Circled by Hounds)
Miss Michael Jodell
Steve Kerin (Atomic Gumbo)
David Lipkind (Woodbrain, I Can Lick Any SOB in the House)
Little Sue
James Low
Joe McMurrian (Woodbrain)
Casey Neill
The Parson Red Heads
JR Pella (Black Angel, Fatman)
Jeff Rosenberg
Eric Schweiterman (Sugarcane, Ashbury Park)
Holcombe Waller
Jeremy Wilson (Dharma Bums)
Jesse Young (Brethren Thread)

House Bands:
Miriams Well [sic]
Berthaline
Lewi Longmire and the Crackers
and
The Paul Brainard Horns

Here’s the line-up: Casey Neill, Matt Cadenelli (The Don of Division Street), Michael Berly (Old Yellers), Miss Michael Jodell, Matt Brown, Marilee Hord, Lone Madrone, Ezra Holbrook, Alexandra Smith, Lara Michell, Mike Midlo (Pancake Breakfast), Mike Danner, Jeremy Wilson, Bill Leeds, Dan Coble (Counterfeit Cash)with Virginia Jones, Rebecca Rasmussen (Duover), Darka and Miri, Little Sue, Colleen Raney.

A MESSAGE FROM LITTLE SUE ABOUT THE SHOW

Hello!

Well, it seems like perfect timing, since Tom Waits is just releasing a new record, to have our Third Annual Tom Waits For No One Tribute and Benefit!

We have a great line-up this year, too; lots of lovely faces from the years past, and some new ones too! Tom Waits has such an incredible and lengthy catalogue of songs to choose from. Everyone does such a great job every year, and every year there are very surprising and interesting interpretations of these songs. It’s a pleasure and honor to put this show together.

This year the proceeds will go to the Jeremy Wilson Foundation.

We hope you can come to our show!

Thanks!
Love, Sue

Christina Weber, Photographer
Christina Weber is Portland-based, candid photographer with an instinct for artistic snapshots and freestyle portraits. Believing that everyone and everything has something to say, she embraces the task of capturing and conveying their stories with the depth and range of color and black & white film.

Donations to The Jeremy Wilson Foundation can be made online at www.thejwf.org.

(View on Kink.fm)

It’s been almost a year since Jeremy Wilson launched a charitable foundation aimed at assisting uninsured musicians who find themselves facing medical emergencies. And it’s been a really good year.

He overhauled his recording studio, launched Blue Room Music Lessons, started writing new music and, most important, had a third surgery that should finally fix the heart condition he’s dealt with for much of his life.

“I’ve been feeling great,” he said. (read more…)