2003 got off to a slow start.......it was cold. and wet. and wet and cold. i think it rained almost every weekend in late march and thru april......so i only made it out once in april......but it is starting to warm now, and i've been out the past couple of weeks. it is good to be back. but here's some sad news:

i'm very sorry to report that perri the hobo passed away march 22nd, 2003..... he was a dedicated street performer and tried to spread some love in our world, and we'll miss him very much. remember him in your prayers. link here to blue's pages and link to obituary

on saturday may 10th i was playing up by the T elevator. this guy started asking me a lot of questions...you know the type. they stop you right in the middle of a song and start asking you all sorts of questions about your instrument and stuff.......so as he's talking to me, he has his child up on his shoulders. a little girl, probably 3 or 4 years old. i also notice that he's holding a FIFTY dollar bill in his hand. i think , wow, this is my big chance. if i make a fifty dollar tip, i can retire. i'll be a street legend. i'll just pack up my shit and run down and tell all my friends i made this fifty dollar tip! i couldn't believe it, it was going to be great......the guy had an accent, i think he may have been french, and was asking me if i'd just played a some leadbelly. i hadn't, but i lied and said yes, because i wanted that fifty dollar bill. so the guy stands there and interviews me for a while more and then just LEAVES. not only does he not give me the fifty bucks, he doesn't even give me ONE dollar. not even a quarter. nothing. what is up with THAT? who walks around with a fifty dollar bill in their hands...?? too good. oh well......so, that was pretty funny......i'll keep ya posted as the summer continues....hope to see you out there.......

been getting out more now.....weather is getting better. this week's funny story involves the T elevator again. i was playing there, i think it was saturday, 5/31, and this 'older' fellow came up and stopped me in the middle of a song. he said 'where's the battery'. ?? i was confused(still am) he said 'where's the battery??" ....i thought he was talking about my instrument or something, so i said, 'in my amp?' and he said 'NO, in the CAR"!!! and pointed to the advertisement behind me. it was an ad painted on the elevator for a car, and he apparently thought i worked for nissan or something, and new where the battery was in the car......so i said, 'gee, i don't know' and then he said 'well then what the HELL are you sitting there for??!" and walked away angrily. ok. a friend took some pictures that weekend, but unfortunately we didn't get any of the battery man.

and here's another.....

please note, this is NOT the battery man. it is another fellow. perhaps you can think of a good caption for this photo?

if so, email me and we'll put it up.....

all of the very cool black and white photos on this page and on the live cd cover were taken by: mary melodee mena. thanks mary....you rock.

It's actually starting to warm up now....i didn't think that was going to happen. more peoples out....more kids......little kids rule. they love the dobro. it's amazing. adults, not so much. they can ignore the you know what out of me, but little kids, they will stop every time......even if there parents do NOT stop, they will watch me the whole way by, their eyes will just be glued to the dobro the whole time....it's really cool. psychotics love the dobro too, but that's for another time. here's a link to some shots that blue took of me the second week of june. yes, it's JUNE and i have my winter hat on. there are a few more of these here.....this was the sunday morning before i was going to record.....the same sunday morning i got flashed. go figure. and here's a little sampling of some fine photos that got taken for the live album cover, which will be out soon...

july was a pretty strange month, weather wise.....i feel like the whole summer was....it was "monsoonish".....it seems like a lot of weekends were HUMID and overcast, and it would just rip out and POUR for a while, and then clear up.....sort of back and forth with a lot of rain.....not very kind to street performers.......which actually turned out ok for me....i ended up having a LOT of indoor shows.

FOUR in july(a record) and when all is said and done, i will probably end up playing more than 25 shows this year(2003) which is also a record.......i am not sure how to explain that, but i'm very very grateful and it's been going well........

in JANUARY of 2004 i will be heading to MEMPHIS to represent boston in the INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE there.....that should be a real trip, literally and figuratively......

i am really looking forward to it, and trying to work on some new material to play there, as well as just brushing up on my stuff and trying to do some writing for another cd.......

as always, i am very grateful that you took the time to read this and to listen and check in and keep up with the music i am making.....take good care of yourselves, go slow, and tell your friends that you love them.....until next time, i'll see you out there.~ll

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