The Porch Dogs are a group of local greats, Tim Williams (vocals, guitars); Steve Gerard (vocals, guitars); Bill Price (bass, bg vocals); Mike Woodford, percussion: and Kevin Belzner, drums. Together they perform a funky, fun mixture of swampy blues with healthy portions of West Coast Swing, cool offbeat covers, and straight-up blues, with a healthy dose of original tunes by Tim and Steve plus a tinge of East L.A. latino blues and r&b, reflecting Tim’s Southern California roots.

Formed around Tim’s 13 year residency hosting Saturday jams, they have also appeared at Jazz On The Lake (Sylvan Lake), Barbecue On The Bow, and more, projecting the tightness of a band who play with both musical precision and the looseness of fine musicians having a pile of fun. Tim was the 2014 winner (solo/duo and best guitar solo/duo) at The International Blues Challenge in Memphis, and is closing in on a six decade career as a musician, touring much of the world in the process.

Steve Gerard is the owner/engineer at Bette Jane Recording Studio and has recorded two CDs as leader of The National Debonairs. He produced the documentary series American Blues!, and is a veteran of the Denver and Jackson (Mississippi) blues scenes.

Kevin Belzner and Tim met working with the late Back Alley John, and have continued collaborating for more than twenty-five years. He also has worked with Tony D, Suzy Vinnick, and many others (most recently the L.A.- Houston cantina band Tremoloco.

Mike Woodford began playing with East Coast Icon, the late Dutch Mason, and went on to study drums with Uriel Jones (The Funk Brothers). His timbales, bongos, congas and more mesh with Kevin’s drums into a tasty gumbo of Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Latin American polyrhythms,underscoring the range of the music the band performs.

Bill Price is a member of the band of the late, much beloved Sonny Rhodes, and one of the first-call blues bassists in Calgary, both for live gigs and recording. His “just enough” approach to blues bass completes the foundation the band’s music is built on.

If B.B. King, Sam The Sham, and Los Lobos had a jam session, they’d sound a lot like The Porch Dogs.

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