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Blues News
The Bi-Monthly Publication of the Blues Society of Tulsa
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Volume 5, Number 1 _ wwww.bluessocietyoftulsa.com November/December 2006
Blues Challenge Goes to the Dogs!
The Bluesdogs, Little Joe & Rob Mack are Headed to Beale Street
Story/Photos by Billy Austin
We knew it had to happen sooner or later, the annual Blues Challenge went to the dogs – literally – The Bluesdogs, a Tulsa area trio only playing their 2nd live performance!
Mark Dickenson on guitar/vocals, Bryan Wallace on bass/vocals (both from Broken Arrow) and drummer Kent Swepston (Glenpool) played an incredibly tight 20-minute set of burning blues/rock to win the contest in a squeaker. In total, only 9 points separated the top 4 bands. A total of 5 bands and 2 solo/duo entries participated in the contest held October 14 at Tulsa’s VFW Post 577.
Winning the solo/duo competition was the son-father combination of Little Joe & Rob Mack (McLerran). It will be their 2nd consecutive trip to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, set for Feb. 1-3, 2007. The duo planned to enter the Blues Society of Tulsa challenge last year, but missed the entry deadline. They ended up entering and winning a similar competition held by the Oklahoma Blues Society.
Dickenson and Wallace of the Bluesdogs played together in various rock and heavy metal bands back in the 1980s. About 10 years ago Dickenson says he began listening to the blues. Recently Dickenson met Swepston at a children’s birthday party. They got to talking and discovered a similar interest in music. He was so impressed with Swepston’s talent on drums, Dickenson knew they had to do something – which led to the Bluesdogs formation. BST member Bill Barrett heard them play their 1st gig and talked them into entering the Blues Challenge.
“We entered the challenge with no expectations,” Dickerson recalls. “We were just hoping to hang out with members of the Blues Society and maybe get a gig or two out of it I’m very honored and very excited about going to Memphis to represent the Blues Society of Tulsa. You can count on us working our tails off getting ready.”
Little Joe says, “Hopefully we’ll bring back the big prize (from Memphis).” Rob Mack adds, “I think Joey has gotten a lot more experience over this past year. He’s just a kid (23). With something as soulfully related as the blues, there is just no substitute for seasoning that comes with years of performing.”
- BLUES NEWS: The Bi-Monthly Publication of the Blues Society of Tulsa
• Despite just playing one-gig prior to the Blues Society of Tulsa's third annual Blues Challenge, the Blues Dogs won the band portion of the contest Saturday night at VFW Post 577.
Little Joe & Rob Mack won the duo portion.
Both acts nabbed coveted spots at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn., in February.
The Blues Dogs singer/bassist Bryan Wallace said the competition "was pretty fierce."
Now that the Dogs, which played cover tunes to win the local battle, has to fight for the top prize at the International Blues Challenge, Wallace said "it's an honor to be able to go down there and represent Tulsa."
As far as winning in Memphis goes, Wallace is optimistic..
"We actually feel good about it," he said. "I know that the competition down there is going to probably shoot through the roof, but we feel pretty confident... We're trying to stay humble, but we feel good about our chances going down there."
—Matt Gleason
- Tulsa World, Thursday, October 19, 2006
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
The Bluesdogs is a collaboration of 3 seasoned musicians brought together by chance. Three musicians whose varied individual experiences blend together to create a forceful, driving, blues sound.
Guitarist/Vocalist Mark Dickenson began playing at age 12 and by 15 he was gigging in the Tulsa area. At the ripe old age of 17 Mark was approached to join the ‘80’s metal band that Vocalist/Bassist Bryan Wallace was a part of. With the addition of Mark on lead guitar, this band began touring regionally, playing venues in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. During this time, the band opened for such acts as Pat Travers, and Kub Coda & Brownsville Station.
After going their separate ways, as musicians often do, Bryan found himself in Los Angeles, then in Dallas, where he played in various bands, while Mark pursued his musical opportunities in the Tulsa area. When Bryan returned to Tulsa, he and Mark reunited in several bands, trying to capture a blues sound that they both gravitated toward as they got older. These bands enjoyed varying degrees of success, but none quite found the groove the guys were looking for. Until a chance meeting at a birthday party ultimately led to the formation of The Bluesdogs.
The events that led to that chance meeting were put into motion 6 years ago when Drummer Kent Swepston moved to the Tulsa area.
A lifelong Kansan, Kent began playing drums in school in the 4th grade and got his first drumkit at 14. Primarily self-taught, he was more interested in playing a groove than in playing flashy licks.
Over the years, Kent played in several blues, rock and country bands in the Wichita and McPherson, Kansas, area. He had the most success in the blues bands, opening for Buddy Guy, Lucky Peterson, Kenny Neal, and the Chicago band Big Shoulders.
In 2000, Swepston moved to the Tulsa area and began looking for blues players. He played briefly with Calvin Youngblood but did not pursue gigging seriously until meeting Mark Dickenson at a child’s birthday party.
It was at this birthday party that the seeds for The Bluesdogs were sown. Through casual conversation over cake and ice cream, Mark and Kent discovered a common past in performing and a common interest in the Blues, but both had little faith that it would lead to anything……………..until they played together.
The rest, as they say, is history. With the addition of Bryan Wallace, The Bluesdogs came into being and, with their influences ranging from SRV to Led Zeppelin to ZZ Top to Pat Travers and Joe Bonamassa, they have an aggressive guitar based blues sound that is a consistent crowd pleaser.
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