NW 17th will be grooving First Thursday October 6 with local Slabtown artists performing at the Slabtown Block Party. Recording artist, songwriter and performer LuluBeatz and her crew will perform original hip hop songs with DJ Oso Fresh to get the party rocking. The Brothers Jam will keep the party going until the sun goes down with their rootsy rock and deep rhythmic grooves. Both acts are rooted right in Slabtown.
The Slabtown Block Party will run from 5 - 9 PM Thursday, October 6 and 17th street will be closed between Overton and Northrup. Food booths featuring local Slabtown restaurants as well as delicious selections from Mt. Hood Meadows culinary team will make for a unique and tasty dining experience. There is also a beer and wine fest to celebrate 1st Thursday Slabtown style.
Organizer Charmaine Guillory says more than a dozen local Slabtown businesses will be featured at the Block Party, saying, “We’ve partnered with a host of businesses in the area to help promote Slabtown as an integral part of Portland culture. Our aim is to re-familiarize people with the Slabtown area and remind them that this entire neighborhood teeming with life. We want those who live and work in Slabtown to know about these unique businesses in their neighborhood.” Guillory is the manager at Altitude Fashion Boutique on 17th and Northrup.
Businesses at the Slabtown Block Party:
Brews and Food at the Slabtown Block Party
Popular local brewers Backwoods, Double Mountain and Laurelwood will serve up a mini brew fest and food will be sold or sampled from Boke Bowl, the Food Front Grill, Vintner's Cellar and Mt. Hood Meadows.
Entertainment at the Slabtown Block Party
Lulu Beatz
Recording artist, songwriter, performer, producer, and dancer, LuluBeatz, also know as Luciana Maria, has been singing as long as her family can remember. Born into an Italian American family, in Bend, Oregon, she was raised in the lively Italian culture.
Entering her freshman year of high school, Luciana started to create her own beats along the lines of pop, hip hop, R&B, and dance. That summer of 2014 she created and wrote her first debut single ‘BabyBoy’. She recorded ‘BabyBoy’ with OC Recording Studios in Orange County, California.
With this eye-opening experience, she learned the software creating all of her own music as the producer, singer, and songwriter.
Fast forward to current day, she has released over 10 original singles and four music videos that she wrote, produced, and co-edited. In addition she has been a featured artist, and has co-written several songs for other upcoming artist.
Now 17, and affectionally known as “Lulubeatz”, she is evolving her career as a recording artist and performer. She is on iTunes, Tidal, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube. She is self produced, self published and works out of Portland, Oregon in her home studio. Currently she’s booked for her summer concert series that she has built from the ground up with award winning hip hop dancers and her team.
The Brothers Jam
Blending rootsy rock and deep rhythmic grooves, the Brothers Jam takes their audience on a sonic journey every time they hit the stage. Drawing from a songbook that originates with their love of the Grateful Dead in their heyday in the 70’s and 80’s, to a broad palette that now spans Talking Heads, Phish, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Allman Brothers, Joe Henry, Bob Dylan… The Brothers Jam is an American Band with a plan: to entertain audiences and wring beauty from any song that crosses their path.
The Brothers are six individuals who have found common ground in the creation of music that thrives on the deep connections that come from over 20 years of collectively surrendering to the song. They have an unbridled energy, and they seek to never play any song the same way twice. They are the epitome of what a jam band must be to deliver. And deliver they have been doing for over twenty years, and will do so the next time you see them.
Anchored by brothers Jamey and David Hampton, musical messengers together since their teens in the 70’s, this then is the Brothers Jam: Beauty, fire, passion, freedom, soul.
DJ OSO Fresh
Born in Portland Oregon DJ OSO Fresh soon discovered that music was unified people, regardless of race, color or gender. When his family moved to Northern California, in his early teenage years, OSO was exposed to the Powermixers on stations like KMEL and KSOL. He paid close attention to the smooth blends from song to song, never missing a beat. After acquiring a DJ Mixer for his 14th birthday, OSO refurbished two old Technics turntables and started mixing on a few 12” singles his uncle had left him before going to the service. By the age of 19 he was selling music, later to become manager of a music store. While selling music OSO moved into music production releasing a few local singles with his group Deuce Deep and an EP with the Hip Hop collective US titled “In us we trust”.
Upon returning to Portland OSO landed a job at a local recording studio, recording local R&B and hip hop acts. OSO broke new ground in the Portland market by being one of the few Mix Show DJs to ever become an “on-air” personality and simultaneously play as a DJ at the hottest clubs in Portland. Opening for acts like Ne-yo, Dave Chappelle, Pussy Cat Dolls, Pauly D, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Shaggy. Now you know where it started and that same passion and desire is what motivates him to move crowds today.