facebook.com/kevinselfe

It’s been quite a few years now since Kevin Selfe packed his grip and headed to the Northwest. Since his arrival in Portland, Ore., he has built himself a very nice career playing blues guitar.

Selfe, who used to do the occasional blues-rock weather report for the old TimesCast, kept the band name The Tornadoes when he headed Northwest. And now, Kevin Selfe and The Tornadoes are up for seven Cascade Blues Association awards in that city. Selfe notes that if his band wins the association’s “Muddy” for best traditional blues act, it would be three consecutive wins in that category — enough to put his act into the CBA’s Hall of Fame.

But the band — rounded out by drummer Jimi Bott and bassist Allen Markel — is also nominated for best contemporary blues act. The Tornadoes have all the bases covered. All three are nominated for awards on their respective axes, and the band is up for the performance of the year award, too.

With other nominees that include Curtis Salgado (the inspiration for John Belushi’s look in “The Blues Brothers”) and Too Slim & The Taildraggers, Selfe and his band are in fine company.

Congrats to the band. Maybe Selfe will roll back to Roanoke for a gig sometime.