hi folks, and welcome to 2004......!!
For those of you who have been following along from 2003, welcome back......you might be wondering, what exactly HAPPENED in memphis anyway?! well, if you're wondering that you probably already know that i was chosen by the fine folks at the Boston Blues Society to represent boston in the 'international' blues challenge in memphis tennessee on jan. 28th.......the 'competition' was divided in to two parts, bands and solo/duo people. for the solo duo thing, there were four clubs which had appx. 7 players in each club. from those 28 people, two from each club, or 8 would make the final, and then a winner would be chosen. i think the best thing i can say about the whole thing was it definitely was not what i expected, and the conditions were a little 'odd' at best. i did the best i could, and thought that i played well enough to make the finals, no disrespect to the other performers in my round. the judges thought differently. oddly enough, we were actually mailed our scorecards......there were FOUR judges but i only got TWO of my scorecards back. the others were 'lost'. i won't name names or anything, but i do need to put this in here, because i think it's kind of silly, and i just need to get it out of my system. we were judged in five categories, and two of them were 'originality' and 'talent'. one judge gave me FOUR out of a possible TEN in BOTH of those categories. now, you can say what you want about me, and you can hate the music i play, but i think you sort of have to give me at least a LITTLE bit of credit for playing lapstyle guitar, don't you?! i mean, you can say i'm dreadful, but i think you sort of have to admit i'm at least 'original', right? well, apparently this guy didn't think so.......and i will leave the 'talent' category out of it. :-)
That was rugged way to start off the year. i had been aiming for that show for quite a few months, so it definitely was a letdown. after a few days though, i had to just laugh about it, and keep on going. i have a lot of fun shows coming up in the next few months, which i'm looking forward to, and i'm also thinking about doing some more recording , which will hopefully result in a new cd in the next few months. speaking of cd's, i did a dobro track on lisa bastoni's new cd 'your first sweetheart', which came out in march of 2004. it's a good cd, and i'm glad to be on it. i have recorded on a number of cd's, but it often seems i either end up on the cutting room floor, or better yet, i don't get copies of the cd's, no matter how much i ask, and if i don't get a copy of it, i won't put it on my website(you people know who you are) so....having said all that, lisa is a good egg and you should check out her cd and shows(www.lisabastoni.com).......we have been on a few of the fun Twisted Rico bills together at the abbey and the kirkland, along with naomi sommers and local jack and the usual suspects....
Idid get a chance to do a couple of cool things in memphis though, including going to sun studios, where howlin wolf, and carl perkins and jerry lee lewis recorded.......oh yeah, elvis recorded there too. :-) it is a pretty tiny place and the tour is pretty quick, but it was still pretty cool to be in that little room where so much great music was made, and for someone like me who likes all that kind of esoterica, it was pretty fucking fun.............and always remember, sam phillips himself always said that the best artist he ever recorded was howlin wolf, not the pelvis. but i'm not here to bash on the pelvis......because believe it or not, that's somewhere else i went: graceland!! woo hooo....now THAT was a trip....we went during the 'slow' season, apparently, so i can only imagine what it's like during the 'peak' months when there's a million people there......it is a pretty incredible place on a number of levels, but the main thing i will say about it is, that it's much SMALLER than i would have thought( the house isn't that big, you probably have some rich friend somewhere who has a bigger house) and in the end, it made me feel sad, and to have a lot more compassion than i used to for elvis. it's pretty easy to make fun of him and all, but if you actually go there, and see where he was living, it's a little different....i think the fact that you can see the road from the house, and vice versa, i mean, it's only a couple hundred yards from the street, if that, and i can just sort of see him up there, late at night, looking out the window at the road and the cars going by.....i don't know, there's something really sad about it....how he was a prisoner of his own fame and all.......of course i couldn't feel THAT bad since there are FOUR DIFFERENT gift shops there with everything from elvis underwear for men, women and children to 44 dollar cellphone covers with elvis on them........last but not least, and on the other end of the universe, we also got to go to the civil rights museum where martin luther king was shot......definitely a place you should go to if you are anywhere near memphis......it's heavy, but in a good way, and it definitely helped me to put everything that happened in the blues challenge thing in to perspective......of course, it's an honest program and i have to say that it was also pretty weird to see they had SHOT GLASSES in the gift shop there, but.......i guess that's the way it is.........so, in the end, i was incredibly grateful to go and to be able to represent boston at the blues challenge. i also want to take a second to thank jennifer smith, paul and mary mena and mark gillard of the boston blues society, all of whom really helped me out in terms of getting there, being there and surviving. i'm really grateful for all of you, and i thank you a lot for all of your help. i also would like to thank anyone who came to the benefit show at johnny d's to help me get down there, or just offered your support in anyway. believe me, i'm really sorry i didn't represent you better and win the whole thing, but a lot of it was out of my control....in the end, i'm really grateful i went, and i learned a lot......
so, now it's on to another season of playing in the street and anywhere else they will let me.....the weather is warming up, so hopefully it will get nice enough SOON for me to be out in the street again....(i already have my permit)so, until next time, thanks for reading, and i hope to see you soon.....be nice to eachother.....
*****update......man, i haven't played
on the street very much at all.......! i have had a LOT of indoor
gigs, and i haven't been able to get out there with any consistency
at all. it's an odd feeling......because in 2003, when i started
trying to get more gigs, my goal was: to get more gigs!! but now
that that is happening, it brings a lot of other stuff with it,
mainly, not enough time in the day to do a lot of things....still,
i'm very very grateful to be in this position, to actually have
to be turning gigs DOWN! man, that blows my mind. i sure NEVER
thought i would EVEr be in a position to turn stuff down.......it
is a trip, that's for sure.....
i did a lot of shows in may and june.....too many.......and i
wound up losing my voice for a couple of weeks....which was pretty
scary. it was probably a relief to a lot of people, but to me,
it was scary.....luckily, it came back........travelled down to
long island to do the blues festival there july 17th, and that
was a lot of fun......followed that up with the lowell folk festival
which was also a trip.....and, of course, i launched the first
dobro class at club passim on july 13th!!! it has been really
great, and i can't even tell you how much fun i am having trying
to teach a captive audience about the joys of dobro!!
that class ran for six weeks......
we then started another class on sept. 21st, which has also been a blast......
***another
great thing that happened this summer, was on august 25th, i got
to see David Honeyboy Edwards at club
Passim!!! it was unreal......i'm sure if you've read this
far you probably already know who mr. edwards is, but if you don't,
he is one of the last of the great delta bluesmen that's still
alive.......he was born in 1915, and at 89 years old is still
touring...and still kicking ass. he wrote a book called 'the world
don't owe me nothing' and there is also a film about him, which
is available here at http://www.honeyboyfilm.com/,
which is definitely worth checking out ......honeyboy grew up
in the mississippi delta and got to play with charley patton,
son house, muddy waters and most of the other delta blues giants
we know of......he travelled with robert johnson and was with
him the day he died.........he moved to chicago and played on
maxwell street......he has been all over the world, with just
his voice and acoustic guitar.......and he's seen some stuff......it
really is amazing. and he is still out there, playing and singing.
so, needless to say, i was pretty excited about getting to see
him live, especially in a tiny room like passim, where i was about
8 feet away from him, and you could hear a pin drop.....sadly,
there weren't a lot of people there, but in a way, that doesn't
suprise me.....i think bob margolin was there, but i digress.
i got there early, but not TOO early, and my friend theresa condito
who was working said that she hoped i brought a dobro, because
honeyboy hadn't arrived yet, and they were nervous about him maybe
not showing up........they hadn't heard a word from him, until
about 9 minutes before he was scheduled to start playing. he walked
in calmly, went straight to the stage, took out his guitar and
started tuning it. as soon as he sat down, i started crying. i'm
that way.
i couldn't believe that this man who was there for all of this
amazing blues history, and so involved in all of this music that
i love so much and means so much to me was right there in front
of me, a few feet away, and i didn't even pay twenty bucks for
it.......it was almost too good to be true.
he sat there calmly while they introduced him, like he was waiting
for the bus. he seemed to be completely unselfconscious. it was
like he wasn't even there, but in a good way. sort of like the
way a tree is there, and it doesn't need to yell at you "hey,
LOOK AT ME, i'm a TREE"....which is an incredibly rare thing
among performers these days if you know what i'm saying, and if
you don't, you can just turn on your tv right now and wait three
seconds for that apple computer commercial to come on so that
fucking bono and 'the edge' can scream at you that their new 'ablum'
is ready for your consumption.....oops. got off track again. anyways,
to continue on, honeyboy played for about 45 minutes, took a little
break, played some more, and then told some stories and stuff.
it was one of the best shows i've ever seen in my life. in the
first set, he did some incredible stuff, and i couldn't believe
how aggressively and passionately he played his guitar....i mean,
it was all out, like every note counted, and that he meant all
of it.....like it should be. like he might never get to play again.
he was totally in the moment, and a thousand percent there....it
really was awesome, and i was really grateful to be there.....it
was like going to college for blues.....and the way you should
be when you get on a stage....i learned a lot, i can tell you
that.
when the first set was over, he said in to his mic 'i'm just gonna
sit up here and wait, so if you wanna talk, come on up.' it was
the greatest!!! he didn't need to go 'backstage' or have his 'posse'
tell him how great he was or massage his toes, or kiss his pinky
ring. he just sat there and drank his water and talked to people.
it was amazing.
in the second set, he did a few songs, and then asked if people
had any questions or anything, so people would ask him stuff and
he just told stories about it. it was unreal....!! i could have
sat there for days......finally when he got tired, or just felt
like enough time had gone by, he said 'show's over' and just started
laughing. he sat up there and talked to people for a while longer,
signed people's cd's and stuff and then off he went......
i can't even tell you how grateful i am that i got to see that.........it's
a night i will never forget. it gives me a lot of hope and inspiration....i
only hope i can be a fraction of the person he is as i continue
to try and make the music i'm making, and i pray that i have the
courage and the strength to keep on going like he does, no matter
what is or isn't happening.....it really was inspiring.....and
in the end, it just gives you yet ONE MORE reason to become a
MEMBER at club
passim, http://www.clubpassim.com/membership/
, because they are the ONLY place around that is putting on great
music like this, and they really need your help to stay alive
and open, so that we can continue to keep this beautiful music
alive.......
NEXT THING.......back when i was losing my voice in may, i was also working on a new cd, which is now FINISHED and out and ready for your consumption.....it's called 'big heart', and people have been saying some really nice things about it, so once again, i'm grateful.....you can pick up copies at shows, or here at cd baby........ok, i guess that's it for now......until next time, much peace and love to you and yours ~ ll
i still haven't played in the street very much. i just haven't
had the time........so far this year, i've basically done a show
a week, and that's a lot to think about, with a day job and all.........i'm
very grateful, but it's been a lot of work......it is hard trying
to get better as a player too, to find the time to practice, and
work on my dobro with so many shows, but i'm doing what i can......
the other day i was in the square, just walking along, with
no instrument, and no hint of anything musical, and this guy walked
up and started saying 'number 9 number 9 number 9'.......which
was a tad freaky........so, if you have heard the rumor, it IS
true that i performed "Revolution #9" at club passim
during "Beatles Tribute Night". i couldn't have done
it without the help of my man josh kantor.
josh did the #9 part.
i attempted to do the rest.
you probably had to be there. it was a lot of fun, i can tell
you that. i think the audience was pretty evenly split between
thinking it was really cool and hating it intensely. so that's
a pretty good result, when you can get an even split like that.
:-)
some of you may know josh as lisa bastoni's bass player. others
may know him as the organist at fenway park. really.
but i am proud to call him my friend, because if it weren't for
friends like josh, i sure couldnt get up there and do what i do.
still, it was pretty scary to have someone recognize me weeks
later in the square and start saying #9#9 #9.
got some cool shows coming up this fall, and in to the winter,
namely, opening for harry
manx at capo's on oct. 26th, and john hammond on dec. 3rd
at the bull run in shirley ma.
a lot of you probably know john, but might not know harry. he
plays some great music, lapstyle!!!!.....he plays an instrument
that's like a cross between a dobro and a sitar and does some
really cool stuff..you can find out more at http://www.harrymanx.com/....so
hope you can come out to the show and check him out......kelly
joe phelps is also in town at
club passim on nov. 20th.......more great lapstyle music to
check out.....SEE??, it's NOt that weird!!! practically
everyone is doing it!!!
be good to eachother and i hope to see you at a show soon.,......ll
here's some more news......that
harry manx show got cancelled......was it due to the sox in the
world series.?? or the fact that Capo's went out of business!!?
we'll never know.....oh well, i was really looking forward to
that.......had a great time at the BLUES and Brews Festival again
this year Oct. 2nd in WESTFORD ma......got some pictures below,
taken by ol mary mena and bluesman bill
christy.....who plays some tasty blues guitar and has a website
here....http://hometown.aol.com/ccsplumislandman/page1.html
thanks to him, and to mary for sending these pictures along.....if
you have photos you've taken of me out and about, and would like
to see them here, go ahead and email em to me and i'll put them
up and even give you credit....here's some of what went on in
westford...
swallowing the mic stand........
the flag on the third green is just barely visible over my left index knuckle. not entirely sure what i'm doing with my right hand at all.
and wondering just exactly how i got here.....
as always, thanks to the photographers.....who managed once again
to capture that passionate look of perplexity on my face.....we
never did figure out what the "SITTING ROOM" sign meant.
sitting room only i guess.
till next time......