Mic Test

 Man...I sort of thought that I was staying more current with my post entries, but reality strikes when I open up Blogger and spy the last entry dated back in August.  Might be because I have little to say. My Twitter and Facebooks entries suffer the same malaise. Pretty sure my last Twitter tweet admitted that I've seem to have devoted much more time honing my harmonica chops than my writing chops since the pandemic started. And I've promoted more gig dates than anything related to my written output. So be it.

I've tried to live more in the moment during 'stay home' periods. Just enjoy whatever it may be that I'm doing at any given time than fretting about what I need to do next or tomorrow or next week.

ANYWAY...I wrapped up the last post by mentioning that the Hohner Harp Blaster HB52 microphone that I had ordered for Father's Day was so back ordered that I cancelled it. Well, when family began bugging me in October to give a clue for a birthday present, I said to just buy me a gift certificate to Rockin Ron's Music and I'd take it from there. They did and I did by reordering the Hohner mic after getting my good friend (and outstanding musician) Sonny Boy Terry's opinion, which was thumbs up.

I've spent a bit of time with the mic since obtaining it mid-October, giving it a run through with my various amps. I won't repeat the details about the mic that can be pulled up on various retail sites, such as Rockin Ron's. It is true that the mic is very well built and is reasonably priced and that a particular mic cord with a locking xlr connection is needed. 

I received the mic a day before we were booked for a private party and the amp that I planned on taking way the Lone Wolf Harp Train 10. I debated between it and the amp configuration with the Windy City chassis and Weber Sig 10 I mentioned previously. I discounted the Fender Princeton Reverb as being a bit to loud for the backyard gig. I figured the Windy City amp would work fine, but I didn't want to go with an unknown entity at this particular gig, so I decide to taste test the HT 10 with the mic first, which was the day of the gig. The amp did not power up. At all. Puzzled me, because I had used it recently at a gig. Glad I checked it out or I would have showed up with a dead in the water amplifier. I didn't have time to trouble shoot the problem, so I plugged in the Windy City. I mentioned in my last post that my Astatic mic with the 151 crystal element won the tone battle over my other mics with this amp. I swapped the Astatic back and forth with the Hohner mic and the HB52 held its own. I tend to baby my crystal elements due to their fragility and felt the HB52 would be a better choice for playing in an outdoor environment.

The Windy City kicked butt at the gig. After setting up, I actually wondered if the 5 watt amp/8" speaker configuration would be loud enough. It had volume to spare and the tone really impressed me. I ran both the Lone Wolf delay and reverb pedals to fatten things up a bit. The HT 10 turned out to have a defective power cord and since it is not a hard wired connection, the fix was simple. Now, I'll  run into the problem of which amp to take next time out. Not a bad problem to face, though.

I've played two gigs with the Princeton recently at 4 Star Concert Hall and Home Sweet Farm Biergarten and debated whether to use the HB52 mic or not, but the amp just seems to like the Shure bullet with the controlled reluctance element a tad better. I do really like the HB52. Harmonicas fit up against the flat faced profile of the mic nicely and the shell is smaller than my Astatic or Shure bullet shells, which makes cupping easy. I've matched it up with the Astatic crystal, the controlled reluctance, controlled magnetic and a ceramic and it hangs in with the vintage stuff.

On the writing side of life, Fahrenheit Press has reprinted the second book in my Crime Fighting Bluesmen series. The Devil's Blues hit the market again and hopefully it'll find new readers that missed it the first time around. Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden are back trying to corral the evil entities bent on bringing Christianity to its knees.

Back in May, I decided to buy a small amp chassis that would give me the tone I wanted at a low volume. I have a Kalamazoo and Lone Wolf Harp Train 10 that I have used at a couple of gigs we do and have to turn them down to the point that their tone drops out to a dull level. I've used my Lone Wolf Reverb, LW Delay and LW Harp Octave pedals to recover some of that. It not an optimal solution, but I've made it work with the LW Harp Train.

So, this leads me back to my previous post about David Barrett's website where he reviewed a lot of small amps. One of the small amps that impressed him (along with Gary Smith) was the Windy City Plus from Sonic Pipe Amplifiers. I listened to the review video/audio clips more than a few times and listened to his take on the merits of the amp. It all sounded exactly what I was looking for, but I was conflicted about buying another amp. And, I wasn't sure whether it would work in the way that I wanted.

I visited the Sonic Pipe website. The company has some amazing stuff going on which is outside the box. Check 'em out.  They listed the Windy City Plus with the 10" speaker and the Windy City with the 8" speaker as sold out, but....the chassis that sets within those amps was available and was what I had in mind. I figured that it would make a great Father's Day gift and since the wife agreed, I ordered it. I reckoned that I could knock out some kind of enclosure for it.

They admit up front that the amps begin life in China and it give them a platform for experimenting with the tone stack and capacitors and such. That seems to be pretty common with quite a few small amps on the market. My Lone Wolf Harp Train 10 is part and parcel Chinese.  I suppose that I could have ordered some such base amp from over there and swapped out components to my satisfaction, but it would have taken more brain power and labor than I was willing to spare.

The next day I received an e-mail from the owner, Tom Fleissner, stating that the pandemic situation had affected their supply chain and he wouldn't be able to fill my order and he refunded my credit card. I wasn't devastated by the news. It's not like I had to have another amp. BUT, then the wife said "what now?" for a Father's Day gift. Well....I didn't really need another microphone either, but my curiosity had been stirred up in regards to the new Hohner harp mic. I got the okay for that and placed an order with the Rockin' Ron, the best source for all things harmonica. Website stated that it was back ordered for couple of weeks and wouldn't make it by FD, but that was of little matter.

About a week later, Ron called and said the back order was likely closer to mid-July and wanted to know if I wanted to stick it out. I did. Then, the next day, Tom Fleissner e-mailed and said he had the material to build the chassis and did I still want one and that he would ship for free. So...I told him carry on. Just had to tell the wife that, "Oh, by the way..."

The chassis made it to my house. My son, who was visiting, and I unpacked it and installed the tubes, but it really didn't fire up properly. I e-mailed Tom and he said send it back and he'd check it out. I did. He did. I got it back in fine shape and went to work. While I waited for the return trip, I slapped together a crude enclosure for its new home out of materials that I had on hand. I had an old Sears 5watt amplifier that I worked over and never really had much going for it, other than it would send 110 volts of electricity through the body if something shorted out. I had stuck a Weber Sig 8 alnico speaker in it when I had hopes for it. I had already removed the chassis and it made a reasonable, light weight extension speaker cab, and it was perfect for the Windy City chassis.

I wasn't going to stick a picture on here since it is a rather crude thang right now, but I figured it would break up this long winded post somewhat with a visual.

So, here it is warts and all. The picture makes the speaker cab appear way larger than it is. The amp came with a 5881wxt and Ruby 6v6 gtstr for power tubes, a 6z4 rectifier tube (which is kind of a Chinese 6x4), and a 6sj7 preamp tube. Being able to swap from a 6l6 type tube to a 6v6 makes for a useable tonal option. The swap can add/subtract the amount of grit, grind or crunch one wants in a given situation. A bias switch to go between the two can also be switched wrong to provide a mismatch for additional tonal choices. The bright switch throws down some mo' mojo with which to experiment. And, experiment I did.

The amp is sorta like a Champ 5c1, which also used the 6sj7 preamp tube. That tube has a lot to do with classic tone of the amp. We're talking early 50's. So, if you're familiar with that Champ's tone, then you would be close...but the other little options make it more that a one trick pony. It's also comparable to the lower wattage Mascos, circuit wise.

I plugged in the 6v6 first and it spat out a classic harp tone. Nice, crunchy distortion which was far from being harsh. The bias switch mismatch added a bit more crunch, which was not necessary. I found the bright switch very useful when swapping to a mic that needed a bit more treble, like the Astatic shell with the Greg Heumann element that is bassier. The amp didn't see a mic that it didn't like. I do believe, though, that he imputs are set up to favor crystal/ceramic mics. The two examples I have just seemed to have a fuller tone to them. My Shure Bullet with a controlled reluctance element has been my go to mic for a long time because it sounds a bit better with my amps, but the JT30 crystal edges it out with the Windy City.

The 5881 gave the amp a little less distortion and a little more low end tone. The amp's not going to do clean, but this power tube does mellow the distortion somewhat if that's your cup of tea. The mismatch bias did bring more crunch, but not as much as the 6v6. I find all this very intriguing, especially when you get the amp out in a live situation. All rooms and stages are so variable when it comes to trying replicate the tone you want. I doubt that I would show up with a tube swap in mind, but flipping switches certainly can get more satisfaction going.

The Windy City amplifiers started life at Sonic Pipes with a Weber Sig 8" 8ohm speaker, but they also  offered it with an Eminence for a choice...or whatever the customer wanted. The Windy City Plus contains a 10" speaker choice. As I mentioned, the repurposed Sears amp cab has the Sig 8 and the speaker sounds perfect for this amp. The amp gives up the tone I'm looking for, so I'm not about to head off on a 'what if' speaker hunt. I did plug the chassis into my Harp Train 10 speaker (Weber Sig 10 Ceramic) and my Kalamazoo's Jensen 10" ceramic. Not a whole lot of tonal differences, just a touch louder...and as I said at the beginning of this post, I wasn't searching for louder, but an amp that achieved a decent low volume. The Windy City's does the do in that regards.

And I've spent a couple of taste test sessions comparing the Harp Train 10 and the Kalamazoo with the Windy City. First, I set the HT 10 up the way I have to when playing at a low volume gig. The tone is gutted at that volume. To compensate, I stick the aforementioned pedals in front of it and it does okay. I set up without pedals and sat Windy City an a comparable volume (used a sound meter to match them up). The HT10 just sounded dull and lifeless, but the WC had the tonal spark I was looking for at that volume. I started with the 6v6 tube and thought it would be the one that work the best, but found the 5881 a better choice, with the matched bias. Surprised me really.

Tonally, the Kalamazoo comes really close to the WC. At a more cranked volume, they sound very close, but I give the edge to the WC. Once the Zoo's volume is dropped do the low the volume I need, then the tone flattens. and drops out.  So, I had all three going back forth and sideways. Swapping mics, different harp keys, etc...The Windy City just can do low volume without the tone crapping out much better. I broke out my 68 Custom Princeton Reverb just to make sure I wasn't missing something, but knew where it like to be played best...but I had a blast blasting away, because I did crank them all up. At some point the Windy City doesn't get louder, just distorts more. That's fine with me, because that will not be its job.

Oh, and the Hohner mic? Ron e-mail me to say that it looked like the end of August before Hohner honored his orders. So, I bowed out at that news. Someday, I might grab it check it out. But for now, I've got to blow some more Windy City--'Nuff for Now.

Rolling On

This is sorta kinda a continuation of my thought threads from yesterday, so I'm just rolling on. I was going to pull up the post and simply edit and add, but I do have enough swirling around the brain to just do the do again today.

I failed to mention that a few friends from my school days in Brazoria came into town expressly to watch our band play at the Brewery last Friday. My brother and his wife played host while we tried our best to entertain them. It made for a very special night for me. Word is that they'll return at some point down the road.

Let me add a link to David Barrett's marvelous website here. Lots of folks just aren't going to fork over the $17 a month for harmonica related stuff and search out similar free online offers. I balked at doing it for a long time until I decided that I wanted to see his reviews of the numerous small amplifiers and stayed a couple of months. And that's the deal. One can pay out for a year or month to month and cancel anytime. As I said in yesterday's post, I'm back to wandering around the site and finding plenty of value as I go, such as the aforementioned tube rolling vids on the Princeton. That in itself was worth a month's fee.

Barrett interviews a slew of harmonica pros and those are super. Since I re-signed up on the site to glean a bit more info to polish my tongue blocking a bit more, I went through the vid interviews just clicking on each player's responses to Barrett's question on tongue blocking and some on their preferred equipment. What I'm saying is that I haven't viewed each interview in their entirety, so I'm looking forward to watching them. At the time, I just wanted to hear what master blasters like Gary Primich, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, Gary Smith, etc...had to say about TBing the harmonica.

Now, and I mentioned somewhere in the history of this blog, that I curl my tongue (or UBlock) to get a single hole. Just the way I found it easier. For many years, I really thought I was an odd duck out of water, because I knew of no one else that did such. Everyone puckered or tongue blocked. UNTIL I bought an instructional video from Norton Buffalo who played harp for Steve Miller. Right off the bat he mentioned that he curled his tongue. Anyway, I felt validated. Soon, from online discussion groups such as Harp-L, I found others mentioning they did the same thing. We were rare, but there and maybe even Little Walter did a bit of it.

CUTTING to the chase as to why I'm rehashing all this is the Barrett interviews. One of my favorite present day harmonica players is John Nemeth. Immaculate vocals and his harp tone is wonderful and he said he strictly UBlocks his notes, of course except for playing octaves (which of course, takes tongue blocking to get the split notes). Said it was the way he learned and has never seen a reason to do otherwise and ain't gonna try and change now. Epiphany for me. From there, another one of my favorites, Mark Ford, said he did the same thing and can even manage slapped notes with the embouchure. Steve Guyger even said that he's trying it out, because he was told by a reliable source that Little Walter did employ the method from time to time. SO I was surprised and felt additionally validated and not quite so hell bent to perfect tongue blocking.

BACK to discussing Shoji Naito. I first became aware of Shoji during a trip to Chicago (it's documented in the archives here) and he was playing guitar with harp man Morry Sochat and the Special 20s at the seafood restaurant. They were fabulous, by the way. I later learned that he was also a great harmonica player and I had heard good things about the backing tracks he offered on his website for us harp players. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I did download a few of those and they are wonderful. Anyway, he has been putting out a few videos on youtube during the pandemic stay at home time period and I caught quite  few of those. He plays both tasty guitar and harmonica. His tribute to Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater, who he played with for fourteen or so years until Eddy passed in 2014, caught my eye and then my ears after I downloaded it.

Westmont to Chicago is a solid unadulterated Chi-town blues release with guest performances by several musicians well known on the Chicago blues scene. Not going to get into an extensive review (mentioned that I've moved away from doing so), but this recording is certainly notable for some of Eddy Clearwater's last recordings and reveal a veteran bluesman that hasn't lost a step, vocally or on guitar. Shoji shines on slide guitar on Ogden Avenue and lays down some tuneful harp on a few cuts, his best while conjuring the memory of James Cotton on Like The Creeper. Great release honoring one of Chicago's great bluesmen. If you lack yourself some of The Chief's stuff, go grab something from his catalogue. Anyway--'Nuff For Now.

Back In The Saddle

Might as well start off with how sweet it was to play a gig once more. Rob Moorman and Company jumped back into action at the Brazos Valley Brewery here in Brenham to a very responsive and appreciative crowd. Very apparent that people are more than ready to get out of the house and support the live music scene again. The venue limited the tables available and customers to a table and had employees wiping down chairs and table tops. Hand sanitizer sat by the entrance. Lots of people sat at picnic tables just outside the entrance. Very, very few people wore masks. Just the absolute joy of playing our music again overcame any trepidation I felt at the beginning of the night. If the virus doesn't sneak up on me, we'll do it again at one of our frequently played venues, Home Sweet Farm, this coming Friday (June 12). And, by the way, our bass player, Andy Chiles' and his wife Sandy's band Tailgate Poets with Charlie Kelm on guitar will at the Brewery on Sunday.

We christened the Brewery's new Tap Room, where they keep something like 15 or 20 of their brews on tap behind the bar. The room seems to be about 40 feet long (maybe) and 20 feet wide and a 15 foot or higher ceiling. We sat up at one end with a rolling glass door at our back and another one stage right. I assume they'll open those up during nicer weather than the 90+ degrees hitting us. Such a situation could pose a problem acoustically, but I think the sound was surprisingly good. Rob's Bose p.a. system has yet to meet a room it can't whip. The same for Jason Moorman's guitar rig. He can adjust it to slay any situation and Andy Chiles has a new bass rig that is absolutely killer, weighs less than my Princeton and has a righteous thump. We kicked butt, if I do say so myself.

For my harp buddies: I took a chance and took my 68 Custom Princeton Reverb, hoping I could turn it up to a decent tonal volume. It was perfect for the room. I made some tube swaps that seemed to give the amp a creamier tone and a little more sag. Nothing wrong with my set up before, just a bit smoother. Not that anyone but me notices.

I might have mentioned before that I bought the amp a couple of years ago based on David Barrett's review of it on his website. I paid the subscription price just to read his review of small amps, which was worth the money for the couple of months that I decided to utilize it. The tons of information that one of the most knowledgeable harp instructors lays down is amazing. Anyway, after getting the amp I swapped tubes around quite a bit and settled on some of his review suggestions. The one that bothered me was swapping a 5u4 rectifier for the 5ar4 rectifier that the amp came with, given the 5u4 draws more current and could be detrimental to the transformer. I did try it, but it seem to gut the tone, so I kept the 5ar4 in. I settled on a 12at7 in the V1 preamp position and left everything else stock. Played many a gig with this setup. The amp seemed to really bloom once the speaker broke in, which seem to take longer than I expected.

NOW...back to David Barrett. I spent a couple of months combing through his website back then and then decided to cancel. THEN...during this quarantine period, I decided to polish my tongue blocking skills a bit more and no one teaches it better than Barrett, so I resubscribed and began delving a little deeper into what was available. Gary Smith, who taught Barrett a thing or two early on about tongue blocking and has tone to die for, is one of the contributors. I clicked on his contributions, which are extensive, and noticed several vid links regarding tube swapping. Clicking on a link revealed that they were using the 68 Custom Princeton Reverb on which to experiment with rectifiers, preamp, and power tubes. At the end, a 5u4 rectifier, a 12au7 in the phase inverter slot and a 5751 in V1 impressed them the most.

As I mentioned earlier, I was not impressed with the 5u4 rectifier and actually bought a Weber Copper Cap version to keep current draw in line to try out. Still didn't like it until I tried the combo Gary and David used mentioned above. Suddenly, the amp tone that they were illustrating, with a bit more sag and slightly smoother sound, came through in my amp. My thinking is that it all lies in the phase inverter tube being swapped from 12ax7 to 12au7 allowed the different rectifier to perform better than before and without the gutless tone I heard prior. I do not know how lowering that tube did that trick, but I do like the sound. I'd tried a 5751 in V1 before that seemed to gainy for me and I think the phase inverter swap is key to that tube working sweeter also. THAT said, I can see where going back with the 5ar7 in a louder band environment might be necessary. That's not us, though. Next gig will be outdoors, and I'll see how well the current setup will work.

Alright. I have more on my mind. I've said enough. I'll get back to Shoji Naito's Westmount to Chicago cd next time. Maybe. In the mean time, maybe I'll see you at Home Sweet Farm on Friday. 'Nuff for Now.

Meanwhile...

Still haven't been motivated enough to generate much in the way of writing. The Muse sort of left the barn, so I'm just kind of using the old blog here just to get some sort of juices going. I mentioned that last time out and have not progressed very well on that count. Not that I expect much in the way of anyone showing some sort of interest in the direction my brain flows.

Oh, let's see. This Corona Pandemic thing has been hanging us up for a coupla months now. Governor Abbott of our great state of Texas has been declaring what can and cannot reopen and what we should or should not do. Restaurants, barber shops, nail salons have all been open a couple of weeks with capacity restrictions. Pretty sure he's upping those limits on Monday May 18th and also allowing gyms and such to join the businesses allowed to open, of course with restrictions. Don't know if he's ready to open the bar business yet, so I'm still not sure when it'll be possible to get back to gigging and listening to live music. Might weird times.

Been doing a lot of homesteading at the wife's direction. My daughter came out on Mother's Day with a load of dirt. Yeah, dirt for Mother's Day. They know what the other wants. So son-in-law, daughter and grandkids spread dirt around the place. The plus was getting to see the three grandkids (at some point we'll get to see the two in New Orleans). This week the wife and I planted a ton of caladium bulbs that'll brighten things up down the road. We put up four quarts of  pickles yesterday and have plans for more later this next week. Rain last night and earlier in the week helped matters along those lines.

I was invited to a picking circle last week by Jill Evans. Been knowing Jill for a long time. She's a premier Spoons musician and can tap out a rhythm to most any genre of music. She began hosting the circle a bit before the virus reared its contagious head at a place here called Pioneer, which is part church, part bbq joint, part bar and was in the business category allowed to re-open the first round. As much as I'm itching to get back at it, I wasn't quite ready to dip my toes back into the fray just yet. Soon, though, soon.

We were booked to play Nathan's BBQ on May 29th before it all hit the fan. They shut down for a couple of weeks, but are back to doing take-out meals with plans to open the dining room soon. Maybe they'll resume live music by then and maybe they'll resume with Rob Moorman and Company providing the tunes. If we still have to wear masks, I'm going have be really creative making that work with a harmonica in my mouth.

Might as well reveal what I've been up to musically since the last blog post and add to the excitement on display here. Lots of blues. I'm still breaking out the old harp to keep the old chops sharp. Old seems to be a dominant adjective these days. Ran through about 25 Jimmy Reed tunes yesterday and I've been listening to Darrell Nulisch's The Bigtone Sessions Vol. 1. Nulisch has always been one of my favorite vocalist, especially when he jumps onto Old School blues and sings it with such deep conviction that rivals the originals. He's also a fantastic harp player, but doesn't stick it in his mouth often enough for a harp nerd like me, but when he does do the do it's tasty and toneful, even if it's acoustic and not the greasy amplified stuff I prefer. I put him, Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson and John Nemeth in the same bag as far as unparalleled singers.  They all swing from soul blues/rhythm and blues to down in the alley straight to the heart blues. The latter is my cup of tea and Nulisch doesn't disappoint on this outing. The production here comes from Big Jon Atkinson's Bigtone Records and has been released by Charlie Lange's Bluebeat Music Label. Big Jon's a throw back to the old style of recording analog live to tape and his tasty guitar work reflects the way things were. Atkinson has been one of those 'go to' musicians in the studio, his own and others recently much in the same vein as Kid Andersen has been at Greaseland. Big Jon can nail a great harp tone of his own to the wall. Of course I've mentioned Charlie Lange's Blue Beat Music website and THE bestest place to find any blues recording one could possibly need.

Getting carried away here, but who cares? No one's reading this any longer anyway. Once I found Nulisch's disc, Big Boy Boogie California Sessions Vol 1 on the Blue Beat site, a CD by Peter Nande caught my eye. It was recorded back in 2006 at Nathan James' House and produced along with James Harman. Those names alone are enough to peak my interest. I had heard some of Nande's harp work in the past, but had never listened to an album by him. I've heard enough cats from overseas play the blues the way it's supposed to be played (according to my taste), but it always surprises me how well Scandinavians like Peter Nande get it done with blues harp and vocals. He's definitely the triple threat musical athlete having written or co-written a thirteen song disc of solid blues while blowing the reeds out of his harmonica and singing with authority. Nande is a professed James Harman fan guy and the humor in his lyrics and vocal inflection reflect such. Harman's name on the production made me curious enough to add it to the Nulisch order. His acoustic harp tunes outweigh his amped ones, but his tone on both are stellar...and he didn't check with me for my preference, so I'll let it go. And it doesn't hurt that one of my favorite all time guitar slingers, Junior Watson, plays on a few of the cuts, not that I don't love Nathan James excellent fret work along with Ronni Busack-Boysen. Harman does throw down vocals on a co-written Kiss Me Now. Good stuff all the way around on this release and I'll check out this fellow more down the road.

I have been working more on tongue blocking better (harp stuff for any harp people, who for whatever reason are still reading) just to add to my tonal palette. I mainly U-Block (curled tongue method) because that's how I learned, but have alway TBd to achieve octave notes and do a bit of tongue slapping. Ordered some new backing jam tracks for Shoji Naito's website and worked out on them. He's offering them free now, but I couldn't help but donate to a musician who has lost gigging money. They are excellent practice tracks. I also grabbed a copy of his tribute to Eddie 'The Chief' Clearwater called Westmont to Chicago. I speak about it at some point. 'Nuff for Now.

Stay At Home Blues

Might as well document some of this stay at home Covid-19 scenario stuff for historical posterity, or whatever, but also just to get the writing juices back to flowing. It's not like I don't have time on my hands to get my ass in gear and get creative with new stories or push my harmonica tone and lick vocabulary to deeper levels. Motivation has moved like molasses lately.

I did break out my harps yesterday and tried my hand at keeping up with some of what a cat named Andrew Alli is spitting out on his Hard Workin' Man cd from Eller Soul Records. I wasn't familiar with this young black bluesman before reading a bit about him in an online interview...I think from Blues Blast, but maybe not. Intrigued me enough to seek out his stuff. Seems that a few young black musicians (pardon me for not using African American or such, but no disrespect meant) are pursuing the path of the blues in recent years, which does my old heart good. Alli follows the traditional road paved by Big and Little Walter, both Sonny Boy Williamsons, George Harmonica Smith, etc...as a blues harp student should. He's got it. Good harp tone, lick selection, variable technique employment. Nine out of twelve tunes are well written originals and stay close to the Chi-town Blues vest. Alli's vocals chops aren't far removed from Little Walter's or John Lee Williamson's in the tenor range. Anyway--spent the better part of an hour getting some licks in with the young man just to keep my chops up until I can gig with the band again.

I have a couple of more blues cds on the way. Sort of did a little binge buying last week. It's not like I don't have a thousand recordings stacked around the house, just felt a need for something new. I'll report back on those.

Speaking of the band. The last gig that Rob Moorman and Company played was on March 10 at the Brazos Valley Brewery here in Brenham. They are getting serious about providing live music and have a tap room being completed for entertainment. Until then, we set up amongst the beer vats and machinery. I used the Princeton Reverb, which I was able to crank a bit more than usual and the tone rocked. The crowd was great. Cajun Cowgirl's food truck had the crawfish boiling and it was just a shame it all had to come to a screeching halt. It was pretty close to the last gig anyone played due to bars being forced to close down the following Friday. We had two more gigs scheduled for March and three for the month of April. Just hoping our venues can out survive the virus hiatus. So totally unreal and none of us knows what the post-virus scenario will look like.

And...I'm hoping this little ditty I'm writing today breaks the log jam and loosens things for some kind of flow for the ideas that are bouncing around. I have been reading some FB advice from one of my favorite authors, Joe Lansdale. I sure feel that we are kindred souls that think alike as far as the method to our madness. He just gets it and gets after it and I need to follow suit. He definitely is a motivator. Another is Gabino Iglesias. I'm such a slacker right now and I actually fear that Gabino will show up at my house any day now and whip my ass for not writing like I should.

And along those lines. Fahrenheit Press saved River Bottom Blues from oblivion and reprinted it a couple of weeks ago. They gave it a great round of publicity...then the pandemic panic crap hit the fan. We'll see. They'll put out The Devil's Blues and Howling Mountain Blues on a staggered schedule. My newest manuscript, The Removal, also sits in their house. Anyway--'Nuff for Now.

Author Speaking Gig Coming Up

I'll be headed to Houston in a couple of hours to speak at Mystery Writers of America Houston chapter's monthly luncheon. I feel totally honored by the invitation that came from chapter president, Kay Kendall. We met on an author panel at Left Coast Crime in Vancouver last year and had a wonderful time discussing rural settings in crime novels. I so appreciate Kay for extending the invitation to share my story. Looking forward to meeting some fine authors from Houston.

On another note, I got my website address straightened out once more. Took some finagling, but it is once again www.rickybushbooks.com It's basically just a one page thing that puts out relative information about my books and myself.

Time to Gig

Getting primed up for my gig with Rob Moorman and Company tonight at 6:30 at The Whitehorse Tavern in Burton, Texas. It's a lovely old country type beer joint, that also serves up country style food (for lunch for the most part). It's run by an ex-student of mine, who eventually became my boss as an assistant principal. Allison Crowson is a heckuva musician herself; superb vocalist, piano player and accordion squeezer. We always enjoy the place.

We'll wrap up our Labor Day tour at Home Sweet Farm in Brenham at 4pm. We love the venue and Brad Stufflebean and his wife Jenny have brought in some stupendous musical talent since they opened their doors. Always a good time.

On the subject of talent, The 4Star Concert venue, which has been open a little over a year, brings in some of the best regional talent around. Spent last Saturday night, after our Home Sweet Farm gig, being blown away by guitarist Van Wilks. Back in the day, when I attended college in San Marcos in the early 70's, Wilks would blow into town and blow everyone away. Forty years down the road, his chops have done nothing but become more stupendous.

For anyone who still pulls up my blog for some reason, I'll use my Harp Train 10 amp at the tavern. It's a lower volume gig, so the amp needs to kept a the lowest volume setting, which tends to rob its tone. To compensate, I run through my Lone Wolf delay, Lone Wolf reverb, and Lone Wolf octave pedal. It gives back what the low volume takes away.

I always use my Fender Custom Princeton Reverb at Home Sweet Farm (no pedals) for a bit more volume. It matches up perfect to the venue. I blow through both amps with a vintage Shure green bullet (actually it's more of a Robin's egg blue) w/controlled reluctance element, which is my favorite mic. 'Nuff for now.

The Crime Fighting Bluesmen Are Orphans

My crime fighting bluesmen series of crime novels are officially out of print due to my publisher closing up shop. I doubt anyone reading this also read some of my 'woe is me' blog stories about my knack for choosing publishers who chose to go out of business shortly after getting the manuscript for my first novel accepted, so I won't go into great detail. Just that it happened twice in the past and this one makes three. So, I went from being an author with four published novels, down to one. River Bottom Blues, The Devil's Blues and Howling Mountain Blues became orphans overnight and just when I put the finishing touches on my WiP (work in progress). 

The good news is that Fahrenheit Press, publisher of The Oaxacan Kid, has my latest submission and they have an interest in the orphans. Whether they get re-published or not remains to be seen, but I have high hopes that they see the light of day once again. I actually opened up my blog today to remove the links of those books to Amazon and realized I failed on my goal to enter blog posts more frequently. 

So, those readers who planned to grab one or more of the first three books, but never got around to it will be out of luck until a reprint happens. In the mean time, The Oaxacan Kid is still alive and well and available at Amazon (link is in sidebar of blog) and Fahrenheit Press. BTW, they are running a buy two/get a third one free thought the month of August 2019--just in case you see something else you like their.

Long Time Coming

Been over a year since I last posted. No excuses. None. I plan on getting things going again beginning with this post. Gonna spit out this and that revolving around both my writing and musical activities. Sort of just updating what's happening with me and around me as things pop into my head. I'll plan to keep posts short and sweet. Once upon a time blogs were 'the thing' but it seems that Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram platforms have eclipsed this format and those social media formats slap updates out short, sharp and to the point.

I begin with mentioning that I lost my website domain due to my credit card going out of date. I update my payment, but somehow that fell through the cracks. Didn't know it was gone until a fellow author told me when he pulled it up that all he saw was some random Vietnamese writing. I was told after three months that the domain may be available again. I typed in rickybushbooks and it looked like I was back in business because my website re-appeared. Then I saw that the URL read-http://rickybushbookscom.coffeecup.com Made no sense, but I haven't researched into the why and what. So since it is my website I leave things be for now.

On the book writing end of things I'm 55,000 words into my latest novel. This one has been pretty much similar to rolling a big rock up a hill. It'll roll back down and I'll roll it up again. There is a light at the end of the gopher tunnel. My first three books were published my Barking Rain Press and the last one by Fahrenheit Press. They've both done well by me. The latter focuses on crime stories.

I've mentioned playing harmonica with Rob Moorman and Company. He's kept us darned busy with booking around the town of Brenham which has several more great venues available than when I started playing with him eight years ago. We are a lot better now and Rob's made me a better harp player. We draw well enough that venues re-book us. I'll mention more in future posts. I don't think I mentioned that I bought a 68 Custom Princeton Reverb amp for gigs that need a bit more volume. I'll discuss it at some point.

I did mention before that I'm more or less done with reviewing recordings. I loved writing those, but it just takes too much time to do it right. I will let readers know about new blues that I've purchased, which is quite a few since I last mentioned such.

I'll wrap up by saying that I took my daughter and her best friend to see ZZ Top courtesy of a fantastic brother-n-law's third row tickets at the Cynthia Mitchell Pavilion. Cheap Trick and Bad Company opened and the show was stupendous. Tonight I'm taking my wife to listen to David Lee Holt at the 4 Star Concert venue here. He's Joe Ely's guitar player and slings strings with Tommy Shannon's Blues Band. Back in the day, he joined Shannon, Chris Layton, Malford Milligan and David Grissom in forming the critically acclaimed Storyville. Speedy Sparks, of Doug Sahm's band, will join him on bass. Should be a helluva show.--'Nuff for Now.

Steve Krase is Just Waitin'

Steve Krase is not stranger to this blog. He's a good friend, a great singer/song writer, blues harp musician and record producer. I've reviewed several of his releases and a few from his record label, Connor Ray Music. He's got new one coming up and this is the official release info from Mark Pucci Media.

HOUSTON, TX – World-class harmonica player Steve Krase expands his blues music into new territory on his fourth CD, Just Waitin’, coming June 15 on Connor Ray Music. Produced by Rock Romano (who also played bass and sang backing vocals), Just Waitin’ features Steve Krase (vocals and harmonica), backed by a solid cast of additional notables, including David Carter (guitars and backing vocals); Tamara Williams (drums, percussion and backing vocals); James Gilmer (percussion); Brian Jack (accordion); Mike Vee (rubboard); and Kenan Ozdemir (lead guitar). 

Steve Krase will celebrate the new album with a special CD pre-release show at Houston’s famed Big Easy Club on Friday, May 18th (5731 Kirby Dr., Houston), where he’ll be joined by several special guests including the legendary singer Trudy Lynn, plus James Gilmer on percussion and Brian Jack on accordion. “I’m so pleased to be showcasing our new CD at one of the finest Blues Clubs in the world, Houston's Big Easy,” says Krase. “This is a new band, a new sound, and I'm excited to roll it out.”

Just Waitin’ spends much time within the blues world, with songs from Howlin’ Wolf and Big Walter Price, among others; but also traverses beyond that into roots and Americana styles, with a song on the new disc from Hank Williams (“Settin’ the Woods on Fire”) and even a Zydeco –flavored take on the theme from the “Beverly Hillbillies” TV show (“The Ballad of Jed Clampett”).

In the liner notes for Just Waitin’, Krase sends a big shout out to all the musicians, production personnel and fans for their work and support. “Thanks to all the great musicians that I am lucky enough to have in my corner,” he says, “especially to my band: David Carter, Tamara Williams and most notably to Rock Romano, who pulled triple duty as bassist, producer and sound engineer on this recording, in addition to penning three of the songs. Special thanks also to Trudy Lynn, who continues to amaze me with her talent and from whom I continue to learn. Very special thanks to the clubs that continue to support live music and KPFT Houston radio for all of their support  Finally, I want to thank all of the people that contributed money to assist the Houston Blues musicians in need after Hurricane Harvey.”

Said producer/bassist Rock Romano about the recording sessions: “Steve really delivered on this CD; great song selections delivered with dynamic heart-felt vocals along with his unique and powerful harmonica style.” And special guest James Gilmer, longtime percussionist for Lyle Lovett, added, “I love this project! It’s like Magic Dick and Peter Wolf meet Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter!”

Just Waitin’ Track Listing

1)  Settin' the Woods on Fire  

2)  I Don't Mind     

3)  Just Waitin' on My Brand New Baby

4)  Irene Irene    

5)  The Ballad of Jed Clampett  

6)  All in the Mood  

7)  Dirty Dirty  

8)  Blame It All On Love 

9)  Nobody Loves Me 

10) My Baby Walked Off  

Hi-res photo by June Juarez: http://www.markpuccimedia.com/Steve-Krase-Hi-Res-JPG.jpg

www.stevekrase.com                   www.connorraymusic.com

Mark Wenner's Blues Warriors

Here's the official press release from Mark Pucci Media for one of my all time, old time favorite blues harp players. I have an LP of Mark's self-titled debut that finds itself on rotation frequently. Glad to see he's back with a focus on the blues. 

WASHINGTON, DC – Mark Wenner, founder and leader of beloved roots band The Nighthawks, announces a June 15 date for the self-titled debut CD of Mark Wenner’s Blues Warriors on EllerSoul Records. Joining Wenner (vocals, harmonica) in the band are fellow Nighthawks mate Mark Stutso (drums, vocals), as well as Clarence “The Bluesman” Turner (guitar, vocals), Zach Sweeney (guitar) and Steve Wolf (upright bass). 

Produced by Wenner and recorded earlier this year, Mark Wenner’s Blues Warriors showcases the tight-knit band’s foray into many facets of the blues, embracing influences from Chicago, New Orleans and Mississippi. The disc’s 12 tracks include two instrumentals, where the band gets to strut its collective stuff on the Paul Williams chestnut, “The Hucklebuck,” as well as the original, “Just Like Jimmy,” an homage to the legendary Jimmy Reed. Just like most of the Nighthawks albums of recent vintage, Wenner tosses in another salute to Elvis Presley with a blues-ified version of his classic, “Teddy Bear.”

“This band is actually a blues band,” says Wenner, addressing comparisons to the ‘Hawks. “The Nighthawks are a blues and roots-rock band. This band, with upright bass, is more authentic, old school and swinging. It’s closer to the Cash Box Kings than J. Geils; a whole different animal.”

The Blues Warriors have been active for several years and playing shows in and around the Washington, DC, area. They’re set to play two DC-area festivals in June: Takoma Park Jazz Fest and Silver Spring Blues Fest. The band will also open for The Nighthawks at the Ramshead on May 13 and will play for the Baltimore Blues Society picnic on Labor Day weekend. 

Wenner explains how the band’s personnel and recording came about. “About 20 years ago, The Nighthawks played a concert in The Netherlands to kick off a pub-crawl style festival, and I saw a listing for Clarence "The Bluesman" Turner FROM WASHINGTON, DC! I thought I was on top of the DC blues scene, yet I didn't know this young man, so I made a point of catching his set. Clarence knew all the guitar tricks and put on a hell of a show. What really impressed me was how DEEP his blues were. I waited to meet him, and he turned out to be a nice guy and a real gentleman. Although he came up playing bass in the Go Go scene, he had grown up in a house full of blues, both recorded and live. He went on he became quite visible in the thriving Washington blues world and a favorite of the DC Blues Society. He was the obvious choice for a collaborator in a traditional blues band.

“One of the primary factors in such a band had to be upright bass, as opposed to the electric. Steve Wolf, who subbed in the Nighthawks for several tours in the ‘80s, had become a world- class upright player with experience in jazz as well time with the Washington wonder of many styles, Danny Gatton.

“Nighthawks drummer Mark Stutso was also recruited to form a swinging, shuffling rhythm section. To match Clarence, we looked at the young guns playing blues guitar. Zach Sweeney, who I had played with when he was too young to come to the blues jams without his parents, had returned to the area after some serious road experience with Wayne Hancock, was back  and playing blues, rockabilly and honky tonk all over town. We got him. 

“Squeezing gigs in between Nighthawks tours and everyone's busy schedules, we developed a swinging old school sound that demanded to be recorded. We found a sympathetic ear at Ambient Studio in Laurel, MD with Ray Tilkins, and had a lot of fun making this disc. I think the joy shows through in the tracks.”

The songs (with comments from Mark Wenner):

1) “Diamonds at Your Feet”- Clarence comes out swinging on a not-overly-covered Muddy Waters tune that features Little Walter-style chromatic harp.

2) “Teddy Bear” - Although the concept was pretty pure blues, I just couldn't help taking an unlikely piece from one of my favorite blues singers and giving it the Warriors' feel.

3) “Rock a While” - Not a well-known Joe Turner piece, Clarence says his parents played this one over and over in their house.

4) “Checkin' Up on My Baby” - Sonny Boy or Jr. Wells? We opted for Junior's version, bringing us into the early ‘60s when Buddy Guy was using James Brown grooves in the Chicago Blues guitar sound.

5) “Just to Be with You” - Clarence gets low down with more Muddy.

6) “King Bee” - Slim Harpo's tune was one of the first blues melodies I learned in the ‘60s and one of the first blues albums I bought. I got to play with Slim and Lightnin' Slim in New York shortly before they both passed.

7) “It’s My Own Fault” - Although Mark Stutso has sung this song in many bands, including Jimmy Thackery's, Tab Benoit's and Jason Ricci's, this is the first studio capture of his magnificent take on the B.B. King classic.

8) “Hello Josephine” - This version of Fats Domino's tune is based on the Terry Garland arrangement I played on. Chuck Berry meets Fats. I'm using the 12-hole Sonny Boy style big Marine Band. Blues Police Beware: There is a little Hillbilly in harmony. 

9) “Trust My Baby” - Unrehearsed one take of a harmonica show-off Sonny Boy Williamson piece.

10) “The Hucklebuck” Zach and Steve get to a chance to really strut their stuff. 

11) “Just Like Jimmy” - An “original” one take, on the spot, creation in honor of my first harmonica hero, Jimmy Reed.

12) “Dust My Broom” - Clarence's favorite “get hot” tune, less guitar and more harmonica driven than the usual and it just plain rocks. 

Photo:  http://www.markpuccimedia.com/Mark-Wenners-Blues-Warriors-by-Linda-Parker.jpg

www.ellersoulrecords.com

This press release is courtesy of Mark Pucci Media.

Something New and The White Roach

I think I've mentioned before that I've stepped away from writing reviews in regards to blues releases. Just couldn't keep up with the number of cds that folks began sending me. I got really behind when my blog went wonky on me and just don't do it any longer. I don't buy recordings like I once did, but I do grab something every once in a blue moon. Since we've had a couple of those during the past year I thought that I share the few new blues that are in my hands now. Not reviews as such, just some passing thoughts.

First off, I have to mention a fantastic little record shop on Magazine Street called The White Roach. My daughter lives a few blocks away and my son-in-law turned me onto the place. The gal who runs the place has a great stock of vinyl, some rare and some new, including blues and lots of stuff from the Fat Possum catalog. I have a great deal of what she has, but always walk out with something. The last trip this last fall, I walked in and she was spinning a Magic Sam record. This woman knows the way to my soul.

Anyway--I spotted a double album entitled 4GDB. Sounded like a rap album or something. Closer inspection told me it featured some of the best danged blues guitarist in the state of Texas. I'm very familiar with Alan Haynes, Bert Wills, and Derek O'Brien. Not so much with John Inmon, until I researched the fact that he was a founding member of Jerry Jeff Walker's Lost Gonzo Band and had played with everybody who's anybody in Texas. Wills is a Gulf Coast treasure from the Galveston area and Haynes has been tearing it up for years for in every blues bar in the state. Of course, any blues fan worth his salt knows about O'Brien's stint as guitarist in Antone's house band from the git go, and they are bound to have blues albums featuring his tasty blues guitar.

I grabbed it, and when I paid The White Roach lady asked me whether I was familiar with Bert Wills. Told her yes indeed, had a few of his recordings. She said that she once did his online promotion for awhile, which I thought was quite cool. Sooo....

4GDB--A wonderful album full of those marvelous guitarist slinging and stinging the blues. Some acoustic, some rarely covered covers and a few originals. All four guitarists bring something to the table and the menu prime blues. Don't know how easy it'll be to get ahold of this, but it'll be worth the search. The White Roach solved that one for me.

Sonny Landreth Recorded Live In Lafayette--While at The White Roach, I spotted Sonny Landreth's new one. I'd seen him play a show a few years ago and the slide guitar wizard blew me away. I picked it up, put it back, picked it up and put it back. Kinda regretted not picking it up. My wife and daughter went shopping later and asked if I needed anything. Jokingly told them that if they passed by The White Roach, picked up Sonny Landreth's album. They did it. And didn't put it back.

It showcases just what a master slide guitarist Sonny Landreth is. The double album features and acoustic set, chock full of blues with some zydeco and Louisiana swamp music thrown down. The second disc features his electric set. Some more blues and some of the other worldly slide that only Landreth can conjure up. Mojo hand gone wild. Fantastic release and it's been nominated for a well deserved Grammy. So, you can find this one.

Johnny Nicholas and Friends Too Many Bad Habits--My wife went over to The Bugle Boy in LaGrange to see Johnny play awhile back. I've mentioned that great listening room here before. I've been a fan of Johnny's since he recorded with Big Walter Horton for Blind Pig way back in the day, and I told him so. He released Too Many Bad Habits at around the same time in the late '70s and it sort of disappeared. He told me that he had gained possession of what Blind Pig had in their vaults and that a slew of unreleased stuff he did with Walter was among the masters and to keep my eyes out for his planned remastered release. My ears perked up at unreleased Big Walter. He was woefully under recorded. So, when Too Many Bad Habits hit the market I had to, you know, get it in my hands. The first disc is a straight up re-issue of the original disc with lots of fine picking by Johnny and friends, including Asleep At The Wheel's front man, Ray Benson and the legendary Johnny Shines. Johnny played a number of years with Benson's band. Big Walter is featured on a number of cuts bouncing his fat harp tone off Shine's lead guitar.

Disc two is where the unreleased stuff appears with Shines and Walter, along with Boogie Woogie Read on piano, laying down the back in the alley blues as only the veterans could do. Walter sings on a few of the tracks, letting his harp do most of the talking. Nicolas' vocals drip blues blood all over this two disc set. Well worth the price of admission. Got this one and the following one through Blue Beat Music. If Charlie ain't got it, it can't be got.

Lester Butler featuring 13 Live @ Tamines 1997--Got this one because my wife kept bugging me about what I wanted for Christmas. Butler's live King King with his band The Red Devils has been one of my favorite live albums ever. His follow up featuring a new band lineup called 13 was a great one also. Then he died. That was it and very few examples of what he left behind surfaced, so when this one did, you know, I had to get it. It not exactly on the level of King King, which was wonderfully produced by Rick Ruben, but it's darned close. The dynamic harp playing rips and roars, along with Butler's tortured vocals and a  step is not lost with Alex Schulz in the guitar chair. There's too little Lester Butler out there, so this one with fill the bill until someone steps forward with something else.

Kim Wilson Blues and Boogie Vol. 1--Hell, it's Kim Wilson blowing and singing the blues. 'Nuff said. Another one of those 'what do you want for Christmas' thangs. This is Wilson getting back to his roots covering blues tunes he's been wanting to release for quite some time. He throws downs a few originals with a hand picked group of the best blues musicians on the West Coast. Might be the last recordings that we'll here from the stupendous keyboard man, Barrelhouse Chuck. This is my Kim Wilson. I've always loved The Fabulous Thunderbirds, but as of late, Wilson has been into his R&B and Soul bag, and, well, that just ain't my bag, but bring on the fat back blues harp sucking that Wilson mastered a long, long time ago and I'm in heaven. 'Nuff for now.

Harp Train 10 Update

Thought that while my blog seems to have straightened it's wonky posting problems I'd update my Lone Wolf Harp Train 10 amplifier experiences since a reader or two posted comments on the original post (search for Harp Train 10 for that one).

Last time out, I mentioned that I substituted the 12ax7 preamp tube for a 12ay7 to lower the gain just a bit and give the amp more headroom and be able to crank it a bit more. A blog reader asked about that swap and I'm repeating some of my answer. It came in especially useful at a frequent outdoor jam I participated in and at which the stage volume began to rise considerably each time out. The 12ay7 changed the tone somewhat, but not in a bad way and the HT10 held it's own. Eventually, I chained my Kalamazoo 1 into the mix using the Lone Wolf Terminator pedal for extra punch. I ran my Lone Wolf Reverb through one amp and my Lone Wolf Delay through the other. Eventually, a dude with an overkill sound system began setting up and miking up all the participants. My instructions were to lower the volume on my rig, so I used just the HT10 with the Balls knob and Loudness knob both just a notch above 3. That is what this post is all about.

I found that if I turned the HT10 Balls knob and Loudness knob below 3, the fine tone of the amp dropped out to dull. Not really a problem until I brought the amp to my regular gig at a small venue. My bandmates insisted that I needed to turn down below 3 and the tone was just not cutting it. I did stick my Lone Wolf Harp Break in front of the amp and recovered a decent tone--somewhat.

Listening to a FB clip by the fantastic Australian harp master, Ian Collard, solved my problem. In the clip (pretty sure it was a Little Walter number), he's practicing with his new lineup for his group, Collard Greens and Gravy. First thing I noticed is that he's blowing through his HT10 sitting on a shelf directly behind his head and getting a fabulous tone (of course, a lot of that is from Ian himself). I commented on the post asking whether or not he was playing a first generation HT10 and whether or not it was stock. He answered that it was stock (with the 12ax7 tube) and that he had the Balls knob and Loudness barely cracked. And that he had both his Lone Wolf Reverb and Delay pedals in line. So, if I had left things as was I would not have had the low volume tone loss. Once I swapped the 12ax7 back in, I discovered that, indeed, a nice tone could be achieved at low volume. And barely above 1 on both knobs proved to be perfect for the venue and a perfect blend with my bandmates. Of course, I had to stick my reverb and delay pedal in front just to emulate (or get somewhere close) to what I heard that Ian was putting out.

I've played with the same guys now at much larger venues and outdoors a couple of times. The key there has been that our lead guitarist knows how to mike us all up properly and I needn't push the amp above 3 on both knobs hear myself

Bottom line is that Randy Landry and company over at Lone Wolf knew what they wanted out of their amp. I'm just one of those guys that likes to tinker around with amps and things, but I'll likely keep the 12ax7 in place...until I don't. 'Nuff for now.

28th Annual Blues For Food Festival

It's that time of year again. A gathering of some of the most fabulous Houston blues musicians stinging it and slinging it for a marvelous cause--the 28th Annual Blues For Food drive. BOOYAH!

Please join us Sunday, November 12th at the Shakespeare Pub for the 28th Annual Blues For Food Festival and celebration featuring the largest collection of Houston blues artists on one stage of the year!
Featuring BERT WILLS AND CLINT BOYD - THE HIPWADERS FLYING CIRCUS - LARRY FULCHER – CAMPFIRE SOUL - JAMES WILHITE - ALISHA PATTILLO - SONNY BOY TERRY BAND - RICH DELGROSSO - JONN RICHARDSON - Raa-Raa Zydeco - JOHN McVEY - MILTON HOPKINS AND TEXAS JOHNNY BOY- EVELYN RUBIO - TANYA RICHARDSON - ANTHONY TERRY - WILLIAM HOLLIS - LARRY GARNER along with radio personality R. CHRISTIAN TUCKER as emcee! Topped off with Spare Time Murray's World Famous Blues Jam. Over 12 hours of non stop Texas blues!
A special hand crafted Keith Alan Courson Cigar Box Guitar honoring the late beloved Texas Johnny Brown with auctioned off with all proceeds going to the Houston Food Bank with a special focus on those who have been hurt from the Harvey flooding.
Blues for Food event on Sunday November 12th at the Shakespeare Pub. All proceeds benefit the Houston Food Bank.Brought to you by Keith Alan Guitars, The Hart Foundation, KPFT 90.1, The Houston Food Bank, The Houston Blues Society and The Shakespeare Pub. PLEASE SHARE! THIS IS A MUST ATTEND EVENT FOR ALL LOVERS OF GREAT BLUES!
We have also added an important new twist to our annual Blues For Food Drive. A representative from the Hart Fund will be on hand to do basic blood pressure testing etc for any musician who wants to get checked out. The Blues Foundation out of Memphis has in recent years established the HART fund (Handy Artists Relief Trust) for blues musicians and their families in financial need due to a broad range of health concerns. The fund provides for accost, chronic and preventive medical and dental care as well as funeral and burial expenses. Blues For Food organizers feel this is a a great way to increase awareness for blues musicians who may need assistance while also letting blues fans know where they can assist in helping blues musicians in need. For more information about the HART Fund visit www.blues.org/hart-fund/

Ain't No One Like Paul Oscher

Trekked over to The Bugle Boy in La Grange once again to witness a legend of the blues once again lay down some of that Old School, down in the alley, gut bucket blues that very few choose to do any longer. Paul Oscher plays nothin' but....and he'll tell you that that's only what he knows how to play. It's more that skin deep with Oscher. He's lived the life since taking up with Muddy Waters back in the late 60s and he's still got it going on. I'm not going to go through his bio and all that stuff because it can be read first hand on his revamped website here

I've been meaning to make if over to C-Boys in Austin, where Oscher conducts a happy hour blues blast every Thursday, since the last time he visited The Bugle Boy. Just thinking about hitting Austin traffic that time of day raises my blood pressure, which I don't need. The last time Oscher kicked butt at The Bugle Boy, he was doing his one man band thang. He did not disappoint then and he danged sure didn't disappoint this past Saturday night when he brought drummer Wes Starr and bass player Randy Glines with him for a trio gig. Wes Starr has played with EVERBODY in the state of Texas and is on countless blues recordings, so I will not attempt a list of such. I will say that he has been traveling around with Mark Hummel, Anson Funderburgh, and Little Charlie Baty with their Golden State Lone Star Revue. Anyway, Oscher brought the an 'A' list with him this time. Glines has been a go to bass dude around Austin for quite some time. His main gig for a long time was with the late, great Jimmy LaFave. Anyway, the gig cooked from the time this rhythm section sat down and banged out an introduction piece that brought Oscher to the stage.

Once seated, technical glitches arose around his wireless mic rig attached to his harmonica rack that sent a signal to his vintage Premier amplifier. The glitch being...no sound. His young roady valiantly attempted to get it going, to no avail. They tried a number of things that would not work, until someone in the audience said, 'Just plug into the second channel of your guitar amp'. Oscher was reluctant to blow harp into the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, not trusting it's tone for harp. He did it though and once again it proved to me that great harp tone lies not within the speakers of an amp, but within the body cage of the man. His fat, low down, greasy tone blasted out of an amp that I would consider a poor choice for amplified harmonica. There was no dialing in, just plug and play. He was quite perturbed that his reverb/delay rig wasn't operational either. Not to worry. His tone rocked. At intermission, he  was very apologetic for the tech issues and didn't feel the sound was optimal. I assured him, as a blues harp aficionado, that his tone was absolutely killer. I know of no harp rack players who can suck the blues out of a harp like Oscher can. At the last gig when I visited with him, Oscher pointed to his chest and said, 'This is where I get my tone' and that's where it came from last Saturday, because his equipment had let him down.

To say that Oscher can capture a room with his charisma and his tales of playing with the greatest bluesman whoever lived, is an understatement. BUT it is the playing of the blues that he learned from the great bluesmen around him that rocked the house. He played with the real deals and he is the real deal...ain't no pussy footin' around. When he slips his slide across his guitar strings and it sounds so eerily exact to Muddy's wail, when he blows Little Walter's stuff like Juke, or Jimmy Roger's That's Alright, or the myriad of his originals that seep ChiTown authenticity, well, the hair on back of your neck just may stand on end. I can't sit here and tell my readers exactly what he played, because I was in the moment each and every time a note hit the air, or his roughed edged (but unpretentious) vocals filled the room. When Oscher sings about having the blues, there is not doubt that he either does, has, or will have. Stages ooze and drip the blues that Oscher occupies and no one can avoid getting it on them.

I can't say enough about Glines and Starr (who, by the way, had never played with Oscher before). Even as a one man band, Oscher manages to fill a room, but these two guys followed him and chased him down when needed  and gave the stage a lot more wang dang doodle...all night long. The music mushroomed with their help. There certainly could have been a lot more patrons at The Bugle Boy. In my mind someone as legendary and has the stature of Paul Oscher should be a sellout event. There ain't too many folks left who do it like Paul. The right way.

Great show by a great bluesman and his sidekicks. 'Nuff for now.

Sweet Home Brenham

My little Texas town of Brenham has been re-inventing itself over the past few years. The downtown area has become more dynamic as a tourist destination. New restaurants have popped up and the live music scene has been hopping.

Venues such as Home Sweet Farm, Brazos Valley Brewery, Roux Street, Deer Road BBQ and 96 West are some of the newer kids on the block offering live music at least once a week. Down the road a piece in Burton, The Whitehorse and the Burton Roadhouse have it pumping. Mobius Cafe, Nathan's BBQ, Shooter's, and Little Mike's have been doing it for awhile. Local musicians such as Sam Murski, Neil Kulhanek, Robert Zientek, Allison Crowson, Rob Moorman, the Amelang Family, Lou Lou Barbour and the Kelms (Charlie, Pat and Peyton) have been stirring the live music pot for quite some time.

Of course, what gets me up and off the couch most often is when some blues gets played up in there. Home Sweet Farm Market has been a go to place for a dose of what I need to hear. They've been featuring a very eclectic lineup since opening a year or so ago, but they bring the blues to the stage very often. They not only feature local blues folks like Ben Laskoskie and Aaron Loesch, but have brought in some very talented Austin and Houston musicians. The downtown businesses plotted out a Sunday Funday for the first Sunday of every month full of music, food and fun. Home Sweet Farm's part in that scenario was Sunday Blues Day with Loesch, Austin's Coming Up Muddy and Houston's The Mighty Org. The Mighty Org has been a favorite of mine for a long time, so it made my day that he trekked in from the big city. His original tunes knocked me out and the man can sing.

The Might Org

I missed the band, Coming Up Muddy, but caught them this past Memorial Day. The band consists of Todd Roth playing acoustic guitar, slide, cigar box guitar, harmonica and vocals. Chel Rich accompanies him on drums and they kicked butt, playing a mix of originals and chestnuts from Son House to Muddy Waters with a rendition of Voodoo Child played on the cigar box. Todd knows his book of blues and plays a rack harmonica as good as anyone I've heard.

Coming Up Muddy

I've played Mobius Cafe with Rob Moorman and Company for a number of years, so they are near and dear to my heart. Long time restauranteur and bass player, Henry de la Garza has assumed ownership and is upping the music ante at the venue. He held down the bottom for us at the last gig and never let Moorman's eclectic set list throw him.

Deer Road BBQ has been a barrel of fun since local legend, Sam Murski started a Thursday night jam. Since it is just over the hill from me, I've joined in with my harp more than a time or two. Brickyard Kane featuring Mitch White and guitar wizard Brian Sherer and Sam began swapping out jam nights and those guys can cook. Some fantastic musicians have shown up over the past year.

Anyway--I've run out of steam, so 'Nuff for now.

The Oaxacan Kid Goes Live

The Oaxacan Kid hit the Amazon market this past Friday (4/21/17) in e-book format and the paperback version should pop up very soon. Go grab one or the other or both or borrow it from someone who does. I just want it in the hands of readers and I do believe that anyone reading this blog post will find it an enjoyable tale. Leave some feed back here or on Amazon and let me know whether it sucked or rocked or fell somewhere in between.

I have no idea if my crime fighting bluesmen series ran its course or not. It was not an easy decision to leave the adventures of Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden (my two blues harp blowing protagonists in River Bottom Blues, The Devil's Blues and Howling Mountain Blues) behind and move forward with a stand alone story. Those two characters have been a part of my life for some time now and I'm quite sure that they will re-emerge somewhere down the line. One of the reasons for the move was to attempt to attract an agent this time around and the word seems to be that it's very difficult to get an agent to bite on the fourth book in a series.

Querying the stand alone to agents proved as frustrating as my first attempt with my first book, so I decided just to go back to small press mode. I felt quite sure that my publisher, Barking Rain Press, would agree to a deal, but as I said in the last post, I felt a need to shake things up by submitting to pubs which aimed at the crime fiction market. I researched several such pubs and sent The Oaxacan Kid out on it's mission. Chris McVeigh, chief wrangler of Fahrenheit Press, jumped on the tale first and with enthusiasm, so I wasted no time hopping on board his train. He wasted no time getting my book on the market, so here we go. Sad thing is that two of the pubs I submitted to, and thought highly about, went belly-up. That's another reason I'm beholding to Mr. McVeigh for having faith in my work and making an offer. I been left hanging before when a press folded.

So...I am certainly excited to have a book back out there for my readers to enjoy. Mitty and Pete aren't riding along, but I do think that what Foster Cane gets himself is quite an adventure. Go ahead. Get it. 'Nuff said.