Portland Blues Musical to Premiere at Fertile Ground

Moe DuPree's going to jail, right after this last gig. But as he wails his tunes one final time, three sultry singers crash the party looking for a piece of the musical action and, perhaps, him. Moe's blues legacy, future happiness, and two years' hard-earned sobriety hang in the balance as he struggles to find the one woman - just this one - he can trust.

The new musical is based on the amazing songs of Portland blues legend Paul deLay, with a script by Oregon Book Award finalist Wayne Harrel, and features a stage-full of Oregon blues all-stars: LaRhonda Steele, Lisa Mann, Saeeda Wright, Ben Rice, Dave Fleschner, Hank Shreve, and Carlton Jackson.

Just This One is presented January 27-28, 2018, during the annual Fertile Ground Festival of New Work, and with a generous grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

Playwright Harrel has been developing the show since 2010, with the full support of deLay's family and band. In January of 2017, he presented a sold-out concert performance of the show's songs at the Alberta Rose Theatre with the above cast and international blues singer Sugaray Rayford in the lead roll of Moe DuPree. This same group then presented the songs on the Mainstage at the July Waterfront Blues Festival, with Andy Stokes singing lead. Now the key role will be assayed by Oregon native Ben Rice, a frequent performer at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis and latest winner of the Cascade Blues Association's (CBA) Traditional Blues Act award.

Joining Rice onstage are three powerhouse singers: LaRhonda Steele, the CBA's 2017 Female Vocalist of the Year; Lisa Mann, a multi-CBA and IBC award-winning performer; Saeeda Wright, featured soloist at the Oregon Symphony's Gospel Christmas concert and a touring singer with Prince. Blues pianist Dave Fleschner leads the band, which includes CBA Hall-of-Fame drummer Carlton Jackson and CBA-winning multi-instrumentalist - and harmonica virtuoso - Hank Shreve.

All of these artists are thrilled to revive the music and legacy of Portland's legendary Paul deLay, a man they all knew and dearly miss.

Paul deLay (1952-2007) was born and raised in Milwaukie, Oregon. He was a tremendous musician of unfocused potential until a 1990 drug bust changed his life - for good. Thanks to a renewed focus, his harmonica, vocal, and songwriting prowess soared to national and international acclaim, despite serving time at Sheridan Penitentiary or, as Paul said, "My 41-month federally funded artist's retreat."

deLay was a founding member of Portland's renowned blues scene and his songs are treasured for their poignantly humorous lyrics and jazzed-up, cliché-free melodies. Jerry Portnoy, harmonica player for Eric Clapton, says, "His songwriting is phenomenal - absolutely some of the best stuff I ever heard." And Rick Estrin of Little Charlie and the Nightcats says, "If the world were a hipper place, Paul deLay would've been a superstar."

Portland playwright Wayne Harrel agrees. The two-time Oregon Book Award nominee is a longtime fan of deLay's music and admires its lyrical transparency. The loneliness, the substance abuse, the joy of true love - deLay lays it all out with a wink and a tear. His song "If She Is" tells the story of a guy wrestling with an invitation from his troublesome ex:

It's like she's Lucy holding the football and I'm like poor ol' Charlie Brown.

Not hard to figure out what's goin' down.

"When I first heard that lyric," says Harrel, "the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I thought, 'This is a show!'" Now, he's woven deLay's best songs into a single night's performance that captures the breadth of Paul's amazing journey, through the fictional story of one Moe DuPree.

Just This One will be presented three times only during the 2018 Fertile Ground Festival.

Additional information available at fertilegroundpdx.org, JustThisOne.com, and pauldelay.com.

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