How cool is it to hear your one of your songs played on the in-flight Blues channel while flying from Australia to America?! (Thank-you Bill Wax, host and programmer at XM Sirius ‘Bluesville’!) It’s the first of July and I am headed back to the US for more Summer…
After interminable hours of travel, I found myself singing - ‘Chicago! Chicago! It’s a helluva town!’- as I watched a game of gridiron football at the O’Hare ‘Hooters’ Sports Bar. Yes, sometimes the quick change of cultures can be confusing!
Picking up a rental car in Chicago, I drove to the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa. What a great festival! Although I was only there for a day, I managed to catch ‘Saffire – the Uppity Blues Women’ (currently on their farewell tour) before doing my guitar workshop. The enthusiastic crowd gave me a wonderful reception for my solo acoustic set and I got to hang out and see 94-year old birthday boy ‘Honey Boy’ Edwards and, later, the sassy antics of ‘Sugar Pie’ DeSanto.
Late that night when I got back to the accomodation, a helpful festival volunteer warned me that my floor of the ‘The Lodge’ was haunted (!). I didn’t believe it - well, not until the alarm clock – which I definitely did not set! – woke me at 5am. The weird thing was I really needed to be up then, as my second crazy tour day required me to drive the hire car back to Chicago, get on a plane and fly to Portland, Oregon, and be on stage at the Waterfront Blues Festival by 9pm PDX time. These travel plans were made with a healthy lack of respect for American geography and time zones. Miraculously, all went well and after the festival, I even went off to my favourite local haunt - ‘Duff’s Garage’ - to jam with BMA- nominated band ‘The Insomniacs’ until the wee hours.
The 2003 Waterfront Blues Festival was my first visit to the Pacific Northwest –and I loved it so much, that when I got the chance, I moved to Portland! The final day of festivities was all I could fit into my schedule this year, but that included a great electric set with my mates Dave Kahl (bass), Jimi Bott (drums – who also plays on the new ‘Blues Woman’ album), Dover Weinberg (keys) and special guest Terry Hanck blowing some old-school sax. Caught up with lots of friends – check out some photos here – and was part of the traditional ‘final night’ all-star jam at the Marriott Hotel along with Lloyd Jones, Magic Slim’s band, Dave Gonzales (Ex-Paladin’s) new outfit The Stone River Boys, Too-Slim and the Taildraggers….whew! We had a ball!
Squashed into a lounge room, with heaving dancers packed tight round the band, Jim Flynn’s legendary ‘house parties’ are a real Portland experience…sweaty, funky and too much fun! I was thrilled to be invited back to play ‘In the House’, which was my final Portland engagement before heading off to West Virginia for the Augusta Heritage Center ‘Blues Week’.
‘Blues Week’ has a legion of regular fans as well as newcomers. It features a week of various instrument classes, jams, concerts and events, with enthusiastic participants and, usually, very little sleep! This year I taught finger-style guitar classes in the mornings and ‘Songwriting in the Blues Tradition’ later in the day. Both went really well – thank you to all my students! It’s very exciting to see people exploring all facets of the Blues... I learned a lot too; my growing class inspired me to write guitar tablature for a few of my original tunes. Some quick coaching from fellow-instructor Stan Hirsch and I made the attempt - there’s a first time for everything...
Sadly, I missed the final student concert on Friday, as I was whisked away on my next adventure…in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. Some years ago I met US bluegrass band ‘The Hickory Project’. In fact, they played at Lil’ Fi (songwriter of ‘Celebrate the Curves’ fame) and Dirk’s QLD country wedding and later stayed with me & The Preacher down in Melbourne, Aust. Bassist Steve Belcher, accompanied by his lovely partner Adrienne, drove all the way down to West Virginia to pick me up and drive me back to Wellsboro, PA. Check out a map to see the distance and you’ll know how nice and hospitable these folks are! Steve and fellow ‘Hickory Project’ member Anthony Hannigan (a shreddin’ bluegrass mandolin player) grabbed a drummer and backed me for a show just across into New York state, at a venue called ‘The Barn’.
‘The Barn at Hillspring’ is a unique venue, with old fashioned hospitality from host John Donne and family, and a great crowd. People came out of nowhere - some brought their campervans to park and sleep in a nearby field - and there was really gooood BBQ. John’s father-in-law, Norm, aka the BBQ chef, also took me on a four-wheeler ride around Hillspring Farm. We got chased by a large herd of cows as we careered down the hill to the sound-check – fantastic! Check out the pix here.
More cross-country adventures with ‘The Hickory Project’ – and the exciting pilgrimage to New York City in the next episode….
After interminable hours of travel, I found myself singing - ‘Chicago! Chicago! It’s a helluva town!’- as I watched a game of gridiron football at the O’Hare ‘Hooters’ Sports Bar. Yes, sometimes the quick change of cultures can be confusing!
Picking up a rental car in Chicago, I drove to the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa. What a great festival! Although I was only there for a day, I managed to catch ‘Saffire – the Uppity Blues Women’ (currently on their farewell tour) before doing my guitar workshop. The enthusiastic crowd gave me a wonderful reception for my solo acoustic set and I got to hang out and see 94-year old birthday boy ‘Honey Boy’ Edwards and, later, the sassy antics of ‘Sugar Pie’ DeSanto.
Late that night when I got back to the accomodation, a helpful festival volunteer warned me that my floor of the ‘The Lodge’ was haunted (!). I didn’t believe it - well, not until the alarm clock – which I definitely did not set! – woke me at 5am. The weird thing was I really needed to be up then, as my second crazy tour day required me to drive the hire car back to Chicago, get on a plane and fly to Portland, Oregon, and be on stage at the Waterfront Blues Festival by 9pm PDX time. These travel plans were made with a healthy lack of respect for American geography and time zones. Miraculously, all went well and after the festival, I even went off to my favourite local haunt - ‘Duff’s Garage’ - to jam with BMA- nominated band ‘The Insomniacs’ until the wee hours.
The 2003 Waterfront Blues Festival was my first visit to the Pacific Northwest –and I loved it so much, that when I got the chance, I moved to Portland! The final day of festivities was all I could fit into my schedule this year, but that included a great electric set with my mates Dave Kahl (bass), Jimi Bott (drums – who also plays on the new ‘Blues Woman’ album), Dover Weinberg (keys) and special guest Terry Hanck blowing some old-school sax. Caught up with lots of friends – check out some photos here – and was part of the traditional ‘final night’ all-star jam at the Marriott Hotel along with Lloyd Jones, Magic Slim’s band, Dave Gonzales (Ex-Paladin’s) new outfit The Stone River Boys, Too-Slim and the Taildraggers….whew! We had a ball!
Squashed into a lounge room, with heaving dancers packed tight round the band, Jim Flynn’s legendary ‘house parties’ are a real Portland experience…sweaty, funky and too much fun! I was thrilled to be invited back to play ‘In the House’, which was my final Portland engagement before heading off to West Virginia for the Augusta Heritage Center ‘Blues Week’.
‘Blues Week’ has a legion of regular fans as well as newcomers. It features a week of various instrument classes, jams, concerts and events, with enthusiastic participants and, usually, very little sleep! This year I taught finger-style guitar classes in the mornings and ‘Songwriting in the Blues Tradition’ later in the day. Both went really well – thank you to all my students! It’s very exciting to see people exploring all facets of the Blues... I learned a lot too; my growing class inspired me to write guitar tablature for a few of my original tunes. Some quick coaching from fellow-instructor Stan Hirsch and I made the attempt - there’s a first time for everything...
Sadly, I missed the final student concert on Friday, as I was whisked away on my next adventure…in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. Some years ago I met US bluegrass band ‘The Hickory Project’. In fact, they played at Lil’ Fi (songwriter of ‘Celebrate the Curves’ fame) and Dirk’s QLD country wedding and later stayed with me & The Preacher down in Melbourne, Aust. Bassist Steve Belcher, accompanied by his lovely partner Adrienne, drove all the way down to West Virginia to pick me up and drive me back to Wellsboro, PA. Check out a map to see the distance and you’ll know how nice and hospitable these folks are! Steve and fellow ‘Hickory Project’ member Anthony Hannigan (a shreddin’ bluegrass mandolin player) grabbed a drummer and backed me for a show just across into New York state, at a venue called ‘The Barn’.
‘The Barn at Hillspring’ is a unique venue, with old fashioned hospitality from host John Donne and family, and a great crowd. People came out of nowhere - some brought their campervans to park and sleep in a nearby field - and there was really gooood BBQ. John’s father-in-law, Norm, aka the BBQ chef, also took me on a four-wheeler ride around Hillspring Farm. We got chased by a large herd of cows as we careered down the hill to the sound-check – fantastic! Check out the pix here.
More cross-country adventures with ‘The Hickory Project’ – and the exciting pilgrimage to New York City in the next episode….