The Ponderosa Stomp Music History Conference will take place October 3rd - 4th at the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans at 701 Convention Center Blvd.

The conference will feature musicians, historians and musicologists tackling all kinds of music history topics.

Admission to the Conference is $20 per day, per person. This small fee gets you the whole day’s line-up of panels, discussion, lunch, and admission to the record show!

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Thursday, October 3rd 2013

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

The Unknown Field Worker: Hudson Marquez and Terry Pattison 
Moderator: Dr. Ira "Ike" Padnos

Painter Hudson Marquez has long been known as the creator of the world famous art installation the Cadillac Ranch, but his obsession with New Orleans musicians stretches back to his early teenage years hanging out in Bourbon Street strip clubs during the thoroughfare's twilight period of the early '60s. His rediscovery of Professor Longhair brought the New Orleans piano genius out of retirement, according him the revered status he so richly deserved. Meanwhile, longtime New Orleans record collector and blues enthusiast Terry Pattison refers back to those very same years thusly: "Back then, I thought Professor Longhair was some sort of mythological figurehead." But it wasn't long before Pattison would be rediscovering swamp blues men like Silas Hogan, and writing liner notes for some of the earliest New Orleans R&B reissues. Moderator Bunny Matthews, who's cut from the same irascible cloth as his panelists, completes this not-to-be-missed trio of native New Orleans originality. 

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lost New Orleans Soul Men: Charles Brimmer and Richard Caiton
Moderator: Matt Sakakeeny

Mid '60s soul singers Charles Brimmer and Richard Caiton have recorded with some of the legends of New Orleans R&B, Wardell Quezergue, Dave Bartholomew and Senator Jones, to name a few. Yet both Brimmer and Caiton had a musical approach that took in influences from well outside of the Bayou State. As a result, they've often been overlooked in the New Orleans lexicon. They will discuss the music scenes of the ’60s and ’70s, their brushes with fame, and their experiences waxing tracks for obscure labels such as Hep’Me, ABS and Up-Tight, as well as the famed GNP Crescendo and Malaco. Moderator Matt Sakakeeny serves on the Tulane University music faculty and is a contributor to the American Routes radio show.

1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Heroes of the Ponderosa Stomp (film)

Joe Lauro’s annual performance compilation will showcase vintage performance clips from Stomp artists, their legendary peers, and the icons that inspired them. Lauro is a documentarian, musician, 78 rpm collector, and president of the Historic Films archive.

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Total Destruction of Your Mind: Swamp Dogg Explains the Synthetic World
Moderator: Michael Shelley

Raunchy, satirical, political, and profane, Swamp Dogg is one of the great cult figures of 20th century American music. Despite landmark careers sidelines like penning the Johnny Paycheck hit "She's All I Got" and producing the great Irma Thomas LP Take A Look, the Dogg's brand of gritty, graphic country soul is what fascinates the most. Album after album will tell you: there's no one even remotely like him. Swamp Dogg shares the methods of his madness with Michael Shelley, a New York singer-songwriter (“Goodbye Cheater”) and WFMU DJ.

4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Signing with Swamp Dogg

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

The Girls Go Uptown: Maxine Brown and Chris Clark
Moderator: Lauren Onkey

Soul and R&B powerhouse Maxine Brown first hit with the classics “All in My Mind” and “Funny” and later with the Goffin-King-penned “Oh No, Not My Baby” for New York's Wand Records, where she partnered with Chuck Jackson. A favorite of Northern Soul fans for songs such as "Do Right Baby Do Right and "Love's Gone Bad," Chris Clark blazed a trail at Motown as a 6-foot, blue-eyed platinum blonde vocalist nicknamed “The White Negress.”  The singers reminisce about their careers with Vice President of Education and Public Programs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Dr. Lauren Onkey.

 

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Friday, October 4th 2013

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter: Oral History with Charlie Gracie
Moderator: Deke Dickerson

Hailed as a “brilliant” guitarist by Beatle George Harrison, Philadelphia rock ‘n’ pioneer Charlie Gracie had a No. 1 smash with "Butterfly" on the Cameo label after cutting trailblazing sides for Cadillac and 20th Century. Gracie recalls his appearances on legendary television shows American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show as well as his towering influence on future British Invasion stars, with fellow guitar hero Deke Dickerson.

12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Down on Central Avenu: Kent "Boogaloo" Harris and Eddie Daniels
Moderator: Jake Austen

Central Avenue has been hailed as “the 52nd Street of Los Angeles.” Its golden age is recalled by music pioneers Kent “Boogaloo” Harris and Eddie Daniels, both of whom had storied histories at Los Angeles's Crest Records. Adopting the splendid moniker Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew, Harris waxed the fittingly hip “Clothesline” in 1956, which was quickly reborn as “Shopping for Clothes” when the Coasters got hold of it. Meanwhile, the great Bo Diddley hit with Harris's “Cops and Robbers” in 1957. He's written, produced and recorded for countless labels since then. Watts-born Eddie Daniels, like his buddies Glen Campbell and Eddie Cochran, was all over the place at Crest, lending his distinctive piano to Eugene Church's smash hit "Pretty Girls Everywhere," penning songs with and for other artists, and recording as one half of the successful duo Jewel and Eddie, who hit big with "Opportunity" and "The Birds and the Beess." But he may be best known for the scorching batch of rockers he cut for the Ebb and Starla labels -- including a white hot rendition of Professor Longhair's "Go To The Mardi Gras" -- which rank amongst the finest in the rockabilly canon. Jake Austen, the publisher of Chicago's esteemed Roctober magazine and author of the book Flying Saucers Rock 'n' Roll, presides.

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Let's Dance: Oral Hostory with Chris Montez
Moderator:  Cyril Jordan

Growing up in California under the spell of Ritchie Valens and Chan Romero, Chris Montez's organ-driven sound added a new dimension to chicano rock 'n' roll, paving the way for groups like Thee Midniters, ? and the Mysterians and the Sir Douglas Quintet, to say nothing of latter-day practitioners Los Lobos. His 1962 Monogram single “Let’s Dance” hit No. 4 on the national Billboard charts, followed up by the equally infectious “Some Kinda Fun.” His seamless Monogram discography is rife with doo-wop styled ballads as well, such as the great "All You Had to do was Tell Me.” He continued his success in the latter '60s with a stream of Herb Alpert produced hits for A&M Records. And the ultimate feather in his cap? The Beatles opened for him on three UK dates in the early ‘60s. Artist, guitarist, and founding member of the Flamin’ Groovies Cyril Jordan conducts the interview.

2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Local author Ben Sandmel signing Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans

2:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

Riot on the Sunset Strip
Members of the Standells and the Sloths with Ty Wagner
Moderator: Jason Hanley

Proto-punk garage rocker Ty Wagner is joined by members of the Standells (“Dirty Water,” "Try It," "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White") and the Sloths (“Makin’ Love”) to discuss how their angry, primitive sounds sprang forth from the Sunset Strip during the mid ‘60s and, in stark contrast to the folkie flower-power psychedelia of the day, helped spawn the punk and new wave scenes of the '70s and the urgent, underground rock 'n' roll of today. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum education director Jason Hanley will lead the discussion.

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Tales of Strychnine, Psycho and The Witch
Members of The Sonics
Moderator:  Michael Hurtt

Hailing from Tacoma Washington, The Sonics burst onto the American garage rock scene in the early 1960s. The Sonics quickly forged a unique and unprecedentedly savage sound which has been a major influence on punk, garage, and rock bands such as The Cramps, The White Stripes, Nirvana, The Fall and Bruce Springsteen. The Sonics will perform in New Orleans for the first time at the 2013 Ponderosa Stomp Concert and will be interviewed at the Music History Conference by musician and writer Michael Hurtt.

5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

Signing with The Sonics