2001, it was a very good year......

somehow, i have managed to fly under the radar and to keep myself off of the music television that the kids watch. which is odd, because you'd think they'd want someone like me on there, representing, right next to britney and the boy bands......with my dobro.......

probably THIS actual photo would be a good one for them to use....doncha think?

well, since that doesn't seem to be happening, i play on the street a lot, or in the subway in the winter when it's too cold to be all the way outside.....

the place i play most often is called 'harvard square' in cambridge massachusetts......there are lots of people who play in and around the area, but THE MAN who documents the scene and watches over us all is the great UNCLESCAM,

he does his puppet show there, which is what KRS-One used to call 'EDUTAINMENT', and makes sure everyone is behaving, well, maybe not, but he tries.......you should go to his website http://www.unclescam.org and check out the many photo galleries he has up of all of the street performers. it's a great resource. there's TONS there, so if you want to see more flattering photos of me, there are some there. well, they aren't that much more flattering, but there are great photos of the eight foot bride, the angel, dave johnston, and more..........blue is a great guy and he really works hard to make sure that we are all talking to eachother and taking care of eachother. if he weren't around, harvard square wouldn't be the same......so really, he is the REAL 'icon', not me or anyone else who's photo was in that photo exhibit recently about 'harvard square icons'....but we won't get in to that, since it's a touchy subject to some. :-) so, to make a long story interesting, blue is the man, and he's your unclescam, and if you can't get out to see his show, go to his WEBSITE....

we get asked a lot of questions, so i'll try to answer some of them here........1. YES, you should give us money. especially if you ask for directions. :) 2. yes, we talk about you when you leave, but only if you are mean to us, or if you ask us a lot of questions while we're trying to perform and then don't put even a penny in the hat.....(i especially love it when people come up to me in the subway AS i'm attempting to SING and say 'hey when did the last train come by?') 3. YES, you DO need a permit. people come around and check. the permits are available through the cambridge arts council. they cost about forty bucks. sometimes, it seems like EVERYONE has one........4. i have NO idea why tourists want to have their picture taken with me.......especially when i am looking like this:

but for some reason, it happens.....and it happens a LOT......more often than not, it seems to be entire asian families, who will proudly stand around me and have someone take their picture. this really cracks me up, because as i'm smiling for the photo, i'm imagining them having their friends over when they get home, and pointing to the picture on the mantlepiece and saying 'look, we got our picture taken with this big white boy who was playing a steel guitar in the middle of the sidewalk!". or something. and it just makes me laugh my ass off that i somehow am the representative for 'amerika', which if you know me, is very very funny, but even if you don't, you can look at me and see that i'm not really so great of a representation of what's 'american'......:-)

5. we like it when you give us money, but not food. food feels weird. some of us NEED the money, others don't, but if we DO need the money, we can use it to actually buy the food, ourselves, which just feels a little better all the way around.....usually, when people buy me food, it's a sandwhich of some sort, and it usually has mayonaise in it, and i usually leave it laying in the sun next to my feet and....well, you can do the math....

6. it's bad form to let your dog or pet 'sniff' us......i mean, i know i'm on the sidewalk, but i'm not a firehydrant.

7. i've got a lot of stories, and maybe someday i'll make a little page full of them, like the day the caravan came, or the day we saw the shemale, or the time a woman stopped me mid song to interrogate me and then said "oh, never mind, i thought you were someone else".....but for now, you'll just have to use your imagination and maybe we'll see you out there some day.....

i can't guarantee when i'll be there, or which 'spot' i'll get when i am there, but for the most part, i try to play on the weekends when the weather is nice. or approximately april to november. which means i'll be there saturday and or sunday from about noon till i get tired. sometimes, that's three or four o'clock. other times, it's seven or eight o'clock.

if i am out, i try to play in 'the spot', which is between bertrucci's and the discovery store. if someone else is there, i will try to play in front of the gap, or up by the magazine stands/the MBTA elevator, or between the brattle florist and the toystore, across from HMV........every little once in awhile, i'll mosey over to the little park on the corner of Jfk street, near peetes coffeshop......in essence, you might have to hunt around a bit, but doing a loop from the magazine stands around to HMV and back is a good bet.......or just listening for the sound of the steel guitar, because if you hear that, it's me.........

playing in the square is a lot of fun, and there are lots of great musicians there....i especially love playing with david johnston,

who is a great bluesman and a great guy to boot.......he's got a cd out on cdbaby, which you might want to check out.......just click here to see.... we have an awful lot of fun together, usually making up things we've never played before and trying to figure out what key we're in......

here's some great late season pics that blue took of us in october of 2002

click here for some more memories about the 2002 season.......

RETURN (i wonder who i'm looking at so bitterly.........:-)....this was early april and it was windy.....thank goodness they didn't use this for the photo exhibit.....