Just throwing together a random stew of what's simmering on the burners around here.
May 18--The Devil's Blues book signing @ The Twig Book Shop 11am-1pm, 306 Pearl Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas
June 1--The Devil's Blues book signing @ Hasting Book Store 1-3pm, 735 Villa Maria, Bryan, Texas
June 7--Rob Moorman & Company @ Mobius Coffeehouse, w/me on harmonica, Brenham, Texas
July 23--The Devil's Blues book siging @ Murder By The Book 6:30-9pm, 2342 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas
Have to mention that it's about time that Rick Estrin was presented the award for best harmonica player at the Blues Music Awards. I've been listening to One Wrong Turn for awhile now and haven't written a review yet. Hell, just get it. Then, you can agree or disagree with me when I ooh and ahh when I get around to writing my opinion.
I returned to the Rob Moorman stage with the Kalamazoo amp last week. They agreed that it sounded stupendous and worked well in the mix this time out. The little booger has a great tone. I blew through a Shure bullet with a CR41 element in it and my Dan Echo delay modified for harp. Pretty sweet.
By the way, I sent the bullet to Greg Heumann at Blowsmeaway Mics. He stuck a Switchcraft screwon connector in it to make it work like a champ once more. Also bought one of his volume controls. Highly recommended.
I've been working on my third book featuring those crime fighting bluesmen Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden. Working title is Howling Mountain Blues and follows them to Belize for a blues festival where they run across a blues fanatic who operates a business he calls Abductions Are Us. I'm somewhere about halfway through with the first draft. Life has been getting in the way and slowing the process down a bit. I'll get her done, though. 'Nuff for now.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Eddie C. Campbell
I previously posted just how much Eddie C. Campbell means to me a couple of times. The first time I ever stepped on a stage and played amplified harmonica was with a stupendous ChiTown blues band that Eddie C brought to Texas back in the day. He graciously invited me up to sit in that night without having a clue as to whether I could play a blues lick or not. A few years ago I took my wife and son to eat lunch at Buddy Guy's Legends during a visit to Chicago. Lurrie Bell and Matthew Skoller were doing an acoustic set and the only other person in the club was Eddie C, who remembered the gig fifteen or so years ago. He invited Lurrie and Matthew over to meet me during their break and told me that he was Lurrie's Godfather. Best lunch break I ever had.
A few months ago Eddie C had a stroke in Germany and is finally making it back to Chicago. He's slowly recovering, but the medical bills have added up substantially. Bob Corritore sent this out in his recent newsletter, so I thought that I'd pass it along.
A few months ago Eddie C had a stroke in Germany and is finally making it back to Chicago. He's slowly recovering, but the medical bills have added up substantially. Bob Corritore sent this out in his recent newsletter, so I thought that I'd pass it along.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Out of the Comfort Zone
Just trying to get the groove back here. I'm not going to offer up a bunch of lame excuses at to why I've been neglecting the ol' blog, just going to jump in and write a post. Many of my posts on Back In The Day have had to do with my journey with the harmonica. Posted lots of thing about how I got to where I got to with the instrument and the tales relating. This one will be relative to that.
Somewhere about a year ago, a fellow named Rob Moorman contacted me and said that he had a coffee house gig and asked if I'd be willing to add my harmonica to a couple of bluesy tunes during the evening. "I could do that," I told him. I met up with him and fellow guitarist, Raymond Lynch the night before for a little run through.
One tune was a Randy Newman song called "Guilty", by way of Bonnie Raitt, which was indeed bluesy enough and the other was the pretty much a 12 bar groove by Cookie and the Cupcakes' "I've Got You On My Mind". He felt that I could hang with "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" at the end of the show, also.
Now, Rob used to be on the road as a professional musician back in the day. He ramrodded an outfit known as The Silver City Saddle Tramps in Austin during the Cosmic Cowboy wave. His group caught that wave and surfed it throughout the region fairly successfully. At some point, he found Jesus, quit the biz, returned to his hometown, found a traditional occupation, and raised a family of kids (most of whom I taught in high school). This gig would be his first such one in about thirty years or so.
For you gear guys (or gals), I decided to plug straight into the p.a. with my Astatic crystal mic running through a Lone Wolf Harp Break pedal and a modified for harp Dan Electro Echo pedal. The Harp Break adds a bit of distortion to the mix and the Dan Echo, a little slap back echo. He asked if I could play along with his opening number, John Denver's "Country Roads". Said I'd give it a whirl. What I stuck in there seemed to work well enough and I attempted to step from the stage.
"No, don't go anywhere. You should be able to add something to Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings"," he said. So I did that one also. At that point he would let me leave.
Keep in mind. When the music strays from blues, I get away from my comfort zone. We strayed way away from that zone. We played music by Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Dave Loggins, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, The Beatles, and even Herman Hermits, with a handful of originals thrown into the mix. To say that I was lost and remained so most of the night would be an under statement. I flew by the seat of my pants and just hung on throughout most the proceedings, and dearly hoped that I wasn't screwing his songs and wonderful voice up too much.
I really thought that I'd exceeded my limitations and was relieved that he and Raymond thought that I'd done just fine. I also felt that "Okay, I made it through a trial by fire, and that that was that." I figured that he learned his lesson and wouldn't ask me to do that again. The next night he sent me a Facebook message asking me if a date suited me for the next gig. "What?" I replied. "You want me to do that again?" "Well, heck yeah, I do. Can you make it or not?" That was a year ago, and the Rob Moorman and Company trio has been doing it once a month since then. We'll be back in action at Mobius Coffeehouse this Friday. I thought that somewhere along the line that I'd hear, "Thanks, but we won't really be needing you any longer", but that hasn't happened.
I still feel way out of my element (the other two guys are outstanding musicians) and I'm still way more comfortable with the blues. It does keep me on my toes, especially when he takes a request from the audience or brings something new to the stage. That happens frequently, but it's all been quite fun.
P.S. on gear--I have experimented from time to time with different stage gear scenarios. One night I brought in my Kalamazoo amp (which is a great blues harp amp), and even though it is low wattage, it prove to be a bit loud for the room, so we turned it down and miked it through the p.a. Turning it down robbed it's tone, so I went back to plugging into the p.a. I've stuck with the Harp Break and Dan Echo, but I've used different mics. I used my Shure 545 stick mic a couple of times, but I missed the volume control that's built into my Astatic. The last gig I tried out my Shure Bullet with a controlled reluctance element that mic whiz Greg Heumann stuck a volume control into, and it worked really well. I think it's more compatible than the Astatic with the straight into p.a. arrangement. Hard to say, since I only do this with the trio once a month, and sometimes Raymond totes in a different p.a. head.
'Nuff for now. Excuse me while I go practice "Three Little Birds".
Somewhere about a year ago, a fellow named Rob Moorman contacted me and said that he had a coffee house gig and asked if I'd be willing to add my harmonica to a couple of bluesy tunes during the evening. "I could do that," I told him. I met up with him and fellow guitarist, Raymond Lynch the night before for a little run through.
One tune was a Randy Newman song called "Guilty", by way of Bonnie Raitt, which was indeed bluesy enough and the other was the pretty much a 12 bar groove by Cookie and the Cupcakes' "I've Got You On My Mind". He felt that I could hang with "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" at the end of the show, also.
Now, Rob used to be on the road as a professional musician back in the day. He ramrodded an outfit known as The Silver City Saddle Tramps in Austin during the Cosmic Cowboy wave. His group caught that wave and surfed it throughout the region fairly successfully. At some point, he found Jesus, quit the biz, returned to his hometown, found a traditional occupation, and raised a family of kids (most of whom I taught in high school). This gig would be his first such one in about thirty years or so.
For you gear guys (or gals), I decided to plug straight into the p.a. with my Astatic crystal mic running through a Lone Wolf Harp Break pedal and a modified for harp Dan Electro Echo pedal. The Harp Break adds a bit of distortion to the mix and the Dan Echo, a little slap back echo. He asked if I could play along with his opening number, John Denver's "Country Roads". Said I'd give it a whirl. What I stuck in there seemed to work well enough and I attempted to step from the stage.
"No, don't go anywhere. You should be able to add something to Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings"," he said. So I did that one also. At that point he would let me leave.
Keep in mind. When the music strays from blues, I get away from my comfort zone. We strayed way away from that zone. We played music by Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Dave Loggins, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, The Beatles, and even Herman Hermits, with a handful of originals thrown into the mix. To say that I was lost and remained so most of the night would be an under statement. I flew by the seat of my pants and just hung on throughout most the proceedings, and dearly hoped that I wasn't screwing his songs and wonderful voice up too much.
I really thought that I'd exceeded my limitations and was relieved that he and Raymond thought that I'd done just fine. I also felt that "Okay, I made it through a trial by fire, and that that was that." I figured that he learned his lesson and wouldn't ask me to do that again. The next night he sent me a Facebook message asking me if a date suited me for the next gig. "What?" I replied. "You want me to do that again?" "Well, heck yeah, I do. Can you make it or not?" That was a year ago, and the Rob Moorman and Company trio has been doing it once a month since then. We'll be back in action at Mobius Coffeehouse this Friday. I thought that somewhere along the line that I'd hear, "Thanks, but we won't really be needing you any longer", but that hasn't happened.
I still feel way out of my element (the other two guys are outstanding musicians) and I'm still way more comfortable with the blues. It does keep me on my toes, especially when he takes a request from the audience or brings something new to the stage. That happens frequently, but it's all been quite fun.
P.S. on gear--I have experimented from time to time with different stage gear scenarios. One night I brought in my Kalamazoo amp (which is a great blues harp amp), and even though it is low wattage, it prove to be a bit loud for the room, so we turned it down and miked it through the p.a. Turning it down robbed it's tone, so I went back to plugging into the p.a. I've stuck with the Harp Break and Dan Echo, but I've used different mics. I used my Shure 545 stick mic a couple of times, but I missed the volume control that's built into my Astatic. The last gig I tried out my Shure Bullet with a controlled reluctance element that mic whiz Greg Heumann stuck a volume control into, and it worked really well. I think it's more compatible than the Astatic with the straight into p.a. arrangement. Hard to say, since I only do this with the trio once a month, and sometimes Raymond totes in a different p.a. head.
'Nuff for now. Excuse me while I go practice "Three Little Birds".
Friday, March 1, 2013
Read An eBook Week
My publisher is offering 40% off all eBooks they publish for the national Read An eBook week from March 3-9. Details are at this link: Barking Rain Press.
Monday, February 11, 2013
THE DEVIL'S BLUES is LIVE
Those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden are officially back in action in The Devil's Blues which popped up on Amazon this weekend. The book is the second in my series featuring these two blues harp musicians. Once again, they lay their Marine Bands down long enough to rid the world of a bit more of the evil that finds a way to cross their paths. This time out they are trying to clear the name of a good friend accused of blowing up the congregation of his church and end up in the sights of a wicked paramilitary group aimed at bringing Christianity to its knees.
The Devil's Blues is available in paperback at Amazon and will roll out on Barnes and Noble and a dozen other sites over the next couple of months. It'll also be offered in all the possible eBook formats. The publisher, Barking Rain Press, has eBooks available now, and they also offer a FREE PDF preview of the first four chapters.
Once I receive a stash of books, then I'll sell signed copies from here. There will be a "buy now" button in the sidebar, similar to what exists for the predecessor, River Bottom Blues. I dang sure appreciate those of you who ordered that one and will dang sure appreciate being able to fulfill orders for the new adventure. Anyone who still needs a signed copy of River Bottom Blues, it is certainly still available and provides a significant amount of background on the protagonists, but The Devil's Blues stands alone as a story quite well. If Mitty and Pete are your kind of guys, then help me get the word out.
I'll supply updates as the book reaches more retailers. In the meantime, I'll get another round of CD reviews up and rolling here on the blog. Thanks so much for tuning in...and stay tuned. 'Nuff for now.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Dave Nevling-Sweet Bijou
If you pick it up, just skip down to the final track, Sancho, and see that I ain't fibbing. He romps through a Latin tinged instrumental and gets everything he wants out of each hole that crosses his lips and tongue. He immaculately intones deep bends, double stops, flutter tongues, octaves and runs up and down the diatonic. I don't know if he'd call himself a perfectionist or not, but if so, then he's achieved that goal. Then go back a few tracks to Drink You Away for a taste of what he pulls out acoustically. To me, what separates the great players from the also rans is an acoustic tone that proves they don't have to rely on amplification to achieve a fabulous tone. Any weakness in intonation will be revealed with just harp to mouth. This track proves that Nevling has no weaknesses when it comes to pulling notes out of our humble diatonic.
Of course, I'm darned sure not saying that the other tracks aren't just as worthy; they are in spades. Nevling is certainly the proverbial triple threat. He writes great songs (these are all originals), plays the hell out his harp and sings his butt off. I'm quite sure that apprenticing with Gulf Coast legend, Bert Wills, was quite instrumental in helping him get his vocal chops together sufficiently enough to strike out with his own band. He vocals are fine through out, but if you're still skipping around, cue up Night Into Day. It's a marvelous ballad with a vintage vibe that he just slays vocally. I was going to compare it to a classic that it reminded me of, but as I sat down to write, that memory faded away. Actually, I hate doing those comparisons anyway, so forget about it.
A Dave Nevling release is aways about flowing through a variety of moods and modes. Upside is a nasty little number, lyrically as well as tonewise, on which he produces an accordion sound from his harp; I suspect with help from the Lone Wolf Octave pedal that he sticks into this Meteor Mini Meat amplifier. Guitaris Tom Bryan dishes out a fine solo on the tune and plays pretty darned tastefully throughout.
On the title cut, Nevling nails down and absolutely rules the use of hitting octave runs on the swampy song and stays with that Louisiana vibe with a rocking rhythm on Vieux Carre (which I assume is about partying in New Orleans' French Quarter). Lenora reeks of an Otis Rush style (see, I did use a comparison after all) minor keyed blues on which he whips out his skill on the chromatic. He doesn't chime in with the big harp until the five minute mark of the seven minute tune, but he doesn't hold back once he does. Bryan helps get that slow mo groove going with some nice string bending, similar in style to...naw.
He rounds out Josiah, about an innocent man executed, by playing organ to help set the tone. Drummer, Joe Campise and bassman, Jeff Parmenter are instrumental in providing stomping rhythms to lend a bit of seriousness to the song. Nevling pulls some of his deepest, dark tones on this one.
Connie's Cafe and I Need Love are both jumping, rollicking numbers. The former jumps and jives with some rockabilly picking, standup bass playing off the drums, and more expertly delivered octaves, flutter tongued licks (which he's mastered) and note pulls from Nevling. The latter is just some good time rock and roll on which he and Bryan bounce notes off each other. Heck of a tight band that he's leading down the road.
If he's playing third position harp on the opening cut, She's All That, and I think he is, then I'd have to say that it's some of the best harmonica that I've heard using such. If it's not in third, then the playing is deep toned and deep fried and well played anyway.
That's about all I have to say, other than...just get it. I know CD Baby has it available. His previous releases can be found there, also. As a disclaimer, I guess I need to mention that, yes, Dave Nevling is a friend of mine, and that, yes, he offered me a copy. I sent him a copy of River Bottom Blues as a swap. I got the better deal. I know that he'll read my book only once, but I'll listen to Sweet Bijou numerous times.
Friday, January 18, 2013
THE DEVIL'S BLUES PLAYLIST
Just finished up the review of the galley proofs of The Devil's Blues in order to catch the last bits and pieces of any stray typos remaining. Thankfully, there were very few. This also means that publication of the second round of adventures of those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty and Pete, is soon to follow.
My Barking Rain Press editor, Ti Locke, came up with the idea to include a playlist of youtube vids of all the music that Mitty and Pete play or mention in the book. She tracked down these versions and they'll be clickable in the eBook format. Cool idea. Here's the playlist that can be checked out now. The numbers indicate the chapters in which the songs appear.
Ricky Bush has provided this chapter-by-chapter playlist to go along with reading The Devil's Blues. Just click on each song title to hear the song at YouTube.
Chapter
Title
Artist
2
She Moves Me
Muddy Waters
4
Early in the Morning ('bout the Break of Day)
Sonny Boy Williamson II
10
Bring it on Home
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Precious Lord Take My Hand
Thomas Dorsey with Mahalia Jackson
A Change is Gonna Come
Sam Cooke with Otis Redding
I Shall be Released
Bob Dylan
15
Off the Wall
Little Walter
Fields of Gold
Eva Cassidy
Born Under a Bad Sign
Albert King
Baby Please Don't Go
Big Joe Williams
21
Death Letter Blues
Eddie "Son" House
23
The Creeper
James Cotton
Roller Coaster
Little Walter
25
Walter's Boogie
Big Walter Horton
26
Santa’s Messin’ With The Kid
Eddie C. Campbell
Blue Christmas
Elvis Presley
Who's Been Talking
Howlin' Wolf
She Moves Me
Muddy Waters
29
Laundromat Blues
Albert King
31
The Creeper Returns
Little Sonny
38
Spirit in the Sky
Norman Greenbaum
Sympathy for the Devil
Rolling Stones
39
Rollin' & Tumblin'
Muddy Waters
40
Crosscut Saw Blues
Tommy McClennan
My Barking Rain Press editor, Ti Locke, came up with the idea to include a playlist of youtube vids of all the music that Mitty and Pete play or mention in the book. She tracked down these versions and they'll be clickable in the eBook format. Cool idea. Here's the playlist that can be checked out now. The numbers indicate the chapters in which the songs appear.
Playlist
Ricky Bush has provided this chapter-by-chapter playlist to go along with reading The Devil's Blues. Just click on each song title to hear the song at YouTube.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
