Curtis Salgado at Columbia Gorge Hotel July 19

Curtis Salgado is an award-winning vocalist/songwriter/harmonica player. He sings and plays with soulful authority, never giving less than 100 percent and playing each and every show like it’s the most important gig of his career.

Born February 4, 1954 in Everett, Washington, Salgado grew up in Eugene. As a hungry-to-learn teenager, his musical abilities grew by leaps and bounds. He played his first professional gigs when he was 16, and by 18 he was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene.

Salgado has been coined the “Original Blues Brother” because in 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming “Animal House.”

During downtime from filming, Belushi caught an amazing Salgado performance. Afterwards the two got to talking and a friendship grew. Salgado played old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B and Belushi soon developed his idea for “The Blues Brothers,” first as a skit on Saturday Night Live and then as a major motion picture and a best-selling record album and concert tour.

The album, “Briefcase Full of Blues,” is dedicated to Curtis Salgado, and, as a nod to Salgado, Cab Calloway’s character in the film is named Curtis.

Do not miss your only chance to see this Soul Blues King in the Gorge this summer.

If you want more information about the concert, please call the Columbia Gorge Hotel at 800-345-1921 or email events@columbiagorge

hotel.com.