This N That

My Howling Mountain Blues manuscript has been signed, sealed and delivered to my publisher. Hopefully, it'll meet with approval and will see the light of day some time in 2014. My wife broke with tradition, took a peek at it, and put her editing eye to it before I sent it off this time. Helped a ton! She thinks it's the best of the three featuring my crime fighting bluesmen. I think I mentioned that I sent my blues harp men, Mitty and Pete, down to Belize to back up hotshot guitarist, Wyatt 'Earp' Ringold at a blues festival. Of course, blues and trouble always follow Mitty and Pete, so they got to deal with more that reeds going flat on their harmonicas. 

Just got my copy of Blues Music Magazine in the mail today. Their inaugural issue. Don't know if anyone here subscribes to blues magazines, but if you subscribed to Blues Revue, then you know that this has simply taken its place. I originally subscribed back when it was a newsprint mag. That was quite some time ago. At some point the Vizztone entertainment group and MojoWax had some kind of partnership deal, and part of that was the Blues Revue magazine. Not sure of the reasons for parting of company, but the magazine is now produce by MojoWax Media under the new name. Hope it survives the change.

I may have gone overboard with my blues subscription habits over the years. At one time I had accounts with Living Blues, Blues Revue, Blues Access, and American Harmonica Newsmagazine. The latter of the two are dead and gone, which I lament terribly because I wrote articles for both of those. Blues Access published my article on Sam Myers, which I was particularly proud of, having several long telephone conversations with him when he lived in Dallas. I can tell people that I wrote it, but there is not physical proof any longer; other than my copy of the magazine. I interviewed everyone from Gary Primich to Fingers Taylor to Sonny Boy Terry for the harp mag.

Now, back to the current copy of Blues Music Magazine. I haven't had a chance to read through it, but it's nice to see an article about Anson Funderburgh. I sat with both he and Sam at a club for a nice chat and sat up the initial interview contacts. Anson is about as down to earth as a person can get. Also, they profile Ruthie Foster in this issue. She's got to be one of the most fabulous singer/songwriters on the scene today. It takes me back to when she was just getting her career path going and the appearances that she made at the Navasota Blues Festival (the festival dedicated to Mance Lipscomb's memory). She never failed to whomp the crowd into submission with her stupendous vocals. She WAS the highlight for several years before the rest of the world caught on to her. 

Now, excuse me while I open the pages of my blues magazine and ponder what my next novel should be all about. 'Nuff for now.