back in the saddle

Been a couple of weeks off, much needed here. Sorry about the long absence....

Couple of big gigs coming up- the first Forfar Blues and Bridie festival is December 4, and I'm alternating sets with Gerry Jablonski at the Caledonian Pub and the Plough. Gerry's one of my favorite guitar players, so it should be fun, and talk about contrasting styles? And any time you get to launch a new blues festival is very cool as well.

From there, watch out for a solo set in December at Satchmo's in Dundee AND the mother of all double-header gigs at the Blue Lamp in Aberdeen on December 9th and Cafe Drumonds on November 30. More you-tube video to shoot at those two gigs as well.

Peace all, stay in touch!

Looking for horn players

And you thought I was kidding!

The band needs a horn section- Trumpet, Tenor Sax, Trombone or Bari Sax. Lot's of original material to be played, and I want to nufge the band in that Texas swing direction (and not towards a blues brothers tribute act)

last gig aftermath

Was that the best solo gig I've ever played? No, probably far from it actually. But it did confirm for me that there's something interesting and fun to changing over to an electric guitar-based set. My guitars sounded great, and I didn't feel like I was fighting them the whole time on stage. I never seem to get that feeling from my acoustics, and as much as I love my old national it was (all whining aside) great to NOT have it there to serve as a crutch.

So, owing a very heavy debt to Little Jimmy Reed for the rack-harp lessons, and some very insightful advice from Ray Bonneville I think this is the direction we're going to go for a while. Friday showed me what songs work and what ones clearly don't, and so we'll be leaving a bunch of material behind. But the good news is that I can get caught up on some of the songs I've written that don't work on a resonator guitar. It's all a balance. But I've always been a firm believer in going where the muse leads, and there's some interesting signs pointing in this direction.

Oh, and yeah, I'm really excited about how well my floor board worked as well. I got lots of help from Mac running the sound board who understood exactly what I wanted. But the electronics worked great and I'll keep it!

All I want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas is a horn section. Baritone Sax, Tenor, Alto and a Trumpet player.

Really, that's it. I don't even need a card.

My friend Anna turned me on to this guy- he's a pre-war blues and gospel guy that plays the zither. A novelty instrument? Historical oddity? No matter, the music is really unusual and great listening.

A new guitar or two...

Well, there are some new additions to the family here. After loosing an old friend to the airline baggage handlers, and realizing it was time to part with a couple of other guitars that hadn't seen a gig in a bit it was time to indulge. Expect to see this at the Lemon Tree in November-

The one in the case is an ES-125T, it's a thin-bodied ES-125 jazz box with a big old P-90 pickup on it. It's a great guitar for the swampy solo stuff I've been playing in standard tunings. All the old Jimmy Reed sounds great on it as well.

So, why the change? Fair question, I suppose. Here's the logic- I'd like to change over to a set of guitars I can use for a solo gig where my electric lap steel seems less radical. It always seems to fit poorly with an acoustic national and a regular acoustic guitar. So, we'll translate the slide material to the my old silvertone and the straight guitar parts to the 125T, amplify everything andthen the lap steel fits better. It's a great change in other ways too- opens up some rhythmic techniques on these guitars that don't come out or simply don't work on an acoustic guitar.

I suppose the national will still get around. I know I don't ever want to risk travelling with it again.

Off to practice and write. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Memphis in the meantime...

OK, I'm back. What a great trip.

Ended up spending two days in Memphis lasty weekend. Got there Friday night and stayed in the Days Inn Graceland across 'Elvis Presley Blvd' from the Graceland mansion. the hotel was great- a guitar shaped swimming pool and Elvis movies nonstop on 4 channels in the hotel. Getting there late at night there was only one thing to do- head out for Bar-b-que.

Turns out A-R Barbeque was right down the road and was some of the best I've had in a long time. I ate myself silly. Beans and coleslaw, and a big brisket sandwich. Ahhh. Heaven.

In the morning some friends and I hopped aboard a tour bus and went through the mansion. It was smaller than I expected, but right on the money- great shag carpeting on the roof, exactly like I imagined Elvis would decorate his place.

Then, off to lunch and more barbeque.

In the afternoon I did the tours of Sun Studios and the Stax Museum of Soul. Inspiring to be there, both places. Absolutely magical.

That night we hit Beale Street. Not what I expected at all. Early in the night it was nothing but Stevie Ray cover bands playing the same set list over and over. I finally sat on the street in front of Big Gary, who played all the old Jimmy Reed stuff. Covers, but still good and not 'Pride and Joy' and 'Cold Shot'. Later on it was off to hear this kick-ass rockabilly band, who's name I've lost. The beer was good, what can I say.

No matter, it's great to be home and ready to play again. Check in sometime soon at a gig, lots of other stories to tell!

barbeque at my place!

Amazing things happend when you have a welder for a friend!

My buddy Dave sent me an email a while back of a picture he'd found on the web of a great BBQ accessory, one of those pictures that was making it's way around the internet. Man, I had to find a set of these to add some comic relief to my backdoor cooking. My cooking is funny enough by itself, but it does need a little help...

So, to make a long story short, it turns out he's not just a welder he's an artist too, and made me these to amuse the kids and annoy my wife. Thanks Dave! Because now I have the most popular gas grill in town

Off to Graceland too!

Oh, expect a travel-log over the next few weeks, because we're going to Memphis and Nashville! I'll try and post pictures along the way....

Been kinda quiet here lately...

Long time, no writing. My apologies, it's been a little busy.

We've been working on the new songs for our next record, and had a great rehearsal last week. I think we've got a string start on seven or eight new songs. The feel of these is pretty close to that Glenn Highway Blues-vibe, real rootsy. Except this time it's nice to have a second guitar player to bat ideas around with, makes the foundation a little sounder.

More in a bit!

Gearing up for the next record

Well, I'm going into the studio to do a little recording in November. That can only mean one thing- time to write a bunch of songs. So, here we go again. But what about the big concept for the record?

So far the tunes are an odd mix of redneck alt-country and country blues. With apologies to Eric the Social Worker, lots of these songs are in open tunings. My goal is to jam the CD up with lots of short songs- about the length of 'Richer than a Sheik' from the previous record. Short and to the point, thats the ticket.

Oh, I've got a few songs already done, too. We'l need to see how well they fit with the new stuff.

Here's the catch- getting the instruments to the studio. It's not really safe for them to fly, and I think I've proven that lately. So, how to get them there? I'm working on that..

But, we're committed. The studio is booked, and so are the players. Point of no return, my favorite place!

Blues for My Brother Update

For those of you that don't know, Blues for My Brother is an annual benefit for a homeless shelter in Anchorage that I coordinate. As you might imagine, Alaska is a tough place to be homeless, and every year musicians from around the world get together to raise money for the shelter, and raise awareness of homeless issues in our communities.

We're really lucky that Brittish blues piano legend Bob Hall has agreed to play the benefit this year. I've had the good fortune to play with Bob at a couple of festivals, including a long session together at the Dundee Blues Bonanza. He's an amazing player and a real genleman. It's going to be a great show.

I'll try and get to town the weekend before the show to coordinate the last minute details (like getting my amp repaired, save me some time KB, ok?) and get some hang-time with y'all. I'll be dragging Bob down to Portage and Homer for some sightseeing.

Lots to work on, but we'll be recording the show this year AND making copies of last years recording available.

What do we need? We always need Silent Auction items- copies of CD's, T-shirts and other stuff like that are always welcome. If you're in a band, own a club or simply want to help by donating something, thanks! Just send me an email at info@sonhenry.com and I'll get you all the details.

Got my guitars back....

Took over a week, but I got what's left of my guitars back. My lap steel got pretty beatup, and my resonator guitar was crushed- a solid brass guitar and it's smashed. Normally I'd carry these on to the plane, but the last trip everything went into the baggage hold, covered in fragile stickers.

I'm all for fighting terrorists, but if you read the news you'll see what effect this is having on musicians all over the globe, from the Russian symphony to little guys like me. Photographers, and other artists that need to travel by air to practice their craft.

If the end result of all this is that artists can no longer travel because they can't get the tools of their trade safely to their destination then I think the terrorists have won.

(Before you send me telling me to get a grip, let me remind you that 9/11 impacted people I knew, people I know and people I care about)

Live, from Estonia

Some pictures taken by my friend Andres Roots and his wife Siret. I think they tell most of the story. What you can't see is what a great time it was, and how waem and friendly everyone was.

The travel was a disaster. I've got a guitar still in Helsinki, and another one somewhere in Heathrow. They may or may not be on their way home in a truck or on a plane- no one seems to know.

At the same time, well, I had a chance to hang with some great people. If you have the chance, google the band Bullfrog Brown, and see what you think- authentic acoustic blues from the wilds of Estonia.

Ok, the pictures.....

Estonia or bust

Hey gang- on my way to Tallinn for Augustibluus. Sitting in Heathrow right now waiting for my flight in the wake of yesterday's massive terrorist scare and arrests.

So far everything is running on time and seems quite. The airport is pretty deserted, about 25% of the people I'd expect- normally I never get a seat here to wait for the plane, but today I could sleep comfortably on a couple of different benches. So, I think everything will be ok, and if I make it tonight along with my guitars then everything will be really good.

And if I miss my flight I'm going to hop the high-speed ferry from Helsinki!

So, with a little luck this time tomorrow we'll be tuning up for a set of country blues, and dragging Andres Roots (among other) up to play.

See y'all tomorrow.

Goodbye Susan, and thanks..

Four-time Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher passed away from cancer this week. It's a sad day.

As a kid, she was one of my hero's- turning her back on an easy life-style and taking on the hardest race in the world, winning four times. But she was also a great role model for people everywhere, like my daughter, because she was in incredible woman that never quit. There just don't seem to be role models like her around anymore, and so the loss of a person like her is a huge loss for all of us.

Thanks Susan, sorry to see you go...

Where did the videos go?

I took the videos down, seems like they didn't fit inside the blogger shell,but you can still access them through youtube here:

She's my home
Voodoo Chile

If you're just now reading this and wondering what I'm talking about, we recorded some video at the Stirling Tollbooth in July and published two songs on www.youtube.com. Check it out and lt me know what you think!

Next Stop, Augustibluus (Estonia)

with a quick warm-up at the Globe in Aberdeen along the way on August 3rd.

Just got my tickets sorted out with the Augustibluus organizers and I've mentally started the packing process. The immediate problem is what to do about a guitar for this trip because American Airlines smashed my national case to bits.

And, just a reminder, I'm doing a solo performance AND a lap steel workshop. The last workshop I did at the Dundee Blues Bonanza was one of my favorite parts of that festival and really well received, so I'm looking forward to this one too.

See some of you there, perhaps! If you're reading the blog from Estonia, be sure and introduce yourself...

This just in, from the Herald

As a post-script to our last gig in Stirling, the Herald had this to say:

One of the most exciting new arrivals on the British scene since the 1960s blues boom

And out we go for manufacturing. I've been agonizing about the whole jewel case vs. card wallet packaging. I think we'll go for real jewel cases, even though I like the wallets better- seems like more folks prefer the jewel case because they're easier to find, and look better.

Doesn't really change the quality of the music, though.

Once this one is out the door I get back to work on the solo CD, try and have it ready for the shelter benefit in November.

My 10-string tuning

I got asked about this several times, here's how that guitar is tuned from low to high (string number followed by scale degree, from low to high):

10: (1)
09: (3)
08: (5)
07: (6)
06: (7)
05: (1)
04: (3)
03: (5)
02: (7)
01: (1)

I'll post notes when I can find the shaarp-symbol on my keyboard...

Bonanza Thanks!

I've heard that there was some negative feedback about the way the bonanza had run. so, I'm on my soapbox now....

To Bob Telford, Hennie, Kat and the rest of the organizing committee, you did an excellent job- thanks so much for all you did for my band and for Lisa Monroe, to make us feel so welcome (again, in fact). It's always an honor to be with you all in Dundee, and I know all the hard work that goes into this every year. It's a thankless job, and it's amazing how you handle a weekend of crisis management with such style.

And to Leon and the gang at Stachmoe's, everyone at the Marquee Club, and all my friends that packed into tight spaces to listen to us play, without you all this wouldn'tbe any fun- you're really the heart of why this is such a great event!

See everyone next year!

Dundee Retrospective

Phew. It was a great Blues Bonanza. From what I hear it was the best yet.

Early on, I had a chance to hangt out with Little Jimmy Reed, Bob hall, Bottleneck John and the guys iin the band. Great to catch up with everyone, most of them I haven't seen in a year or so. Excellent guys all the way around.

We had a great gig on Friday night at the Marquee club, following Little Jimmy Reed's awesome set. Although it was really, really hot in the club (I think the heat may have been on) the band managed to soldier through a 90 minute set of our original material and then Lisa Monroe's Texas blues. To those of you that were expecting a lot of lap steel that night, well, I apologize- it was a stratocaster kind of night!

Had to be up way too early to get to Dexter's for the workshops. Learned all about 1st position harmonica playing from Little Jimmy Reed who can really nail the 'Jimmy Reed' tone and style. Robin did a bit of piano and the we did a 20-30 minute session on Lap Steel, with the help of Dino and John. Lesson learned- always do a lap steel workshop with a bass player and a drummer.

Really didn't get too much of a chance to hang out, because it was off to eat and then move gear into the basement of Satchmoe's for an acoustic set. Dino helped me set up all the gear, including a recording rig that captured the entire set in digital splendor. Not sure what I'll do with it, but the recording is pretty good. Needs a little clean-up, but it's pretty good.

Then 6 flights of stairs later (3 up and 3 down) we had the PA loaded and we were back at Satchmoes setting up for an electric gig. What a packed house thanks all of you that jammed yourselves in there! It was an intense 2 hours, and 2 sets later (and a pretty fair version of Voodoo Chile) we were all done. Exhausted, but done. Off to a curry house.

And that's where it ended. Dehydration, exhaustion and the flu put me flat on my back, and out for the remainder of the festival. From what I hear Lazy Poker did an excellent job filling in for us as Blue Lisa's backing band at the yard. Man, I hated missing that gig, but what can you do- it's the first gig I've cancelled in 15 (yes, fifteen) years.

So, back to work, next stop the Stirling Tollbooth! See you Friday,July 14th.

Long Way Home: Son Henry Live at the 4th Avenue Theater

Y'all know I've been working on a live record since November of last year, tweaking the mixes and such. Well gang, everything is all together and the CD is going out for replication!

Last year we recorded the entire 'Blues for my Brother' show in Anchorage on November 11th at the 4th Avenue Theater. Mike Buzzinski captured the whole thing on a 24 track recorder for us, and the rough mixes were great. So, we've taken my entire set AND added some great songs from Lisa Monroe's and Ottomatic Slim's sets too. All in all it's over an hour of live material, exactly as it came down, including all the bad jokes, exploding amplifiers and stage comments too.

I think you'll like it. We'll have them back from manufacturing by the Globe gig in August. Not sure if we'll call it a CD release party, but it will be a party all the same!

Oh, the track listing:

1. Let the Good TImes Roll
2. Bad Boy
3. Long Way Home
4. Bring it on home to me
5. Messing with the kid
6. Hip shake
7. You were wrong
8. Help me
9. Beautician Blues

See you in Dundee this weekend!

Lap Steel workshop, Saturday morning at Dexter's

Just a quick heads-up for everyone!

I'm going to give a short lap-steel workshop at the Dundee Blues Bonanza this weekend. It will be Saturday Morning, July 1 at Dexter's. The times of the workshops are posted here:

http://www.dundeebluesbonanza.com

I'm not sure when mine is exactly during the suite of workshops. But it's really worth it to be there (I know I will) because Little Jimmy Reed is doing a workshop as well. Even if you're not a player, it might just be interesting to hear how this stuff works.

For my part, I'll show you how to get started playing lap style without any special equipment.

Ray Bonneville gig, blue lamp on Saturday...

Thanks to all of you that made it to the blue lamp on Saturday for the Ray Bonneville show, and thanks to Chris Simmonds for taking the risk and putting the show on. I knew it'd be a great show, and glad so many of you felt the same.

Ray played an awesome pair of sets. I don't normally get so excited about modern players, truthfully- you guys know my tastes run to the older pre-hendrix catalogue and all that scratchy old vinyl. But there's something powerful about the minimalism of his music- a guitar, a harmonica, a pair of feet and a great voice.

If you haven't checked out his music, look here:

http://www.raybonneville.com

And see what you think.

It's the simplicity, the directness of the songs and the complete lack of pretense that I like here. Mellow guy with some honest things to sing about. Not many of them around.

Web Site Overhaul

Just finished a minor overaul to my web site. I added some new images and stuff, so be sure and check it out! CLICK HERE

Acoustic CD

Well, I'm finally finishing my acoustic blues cd. I've gone back to the beginning, and I'm re-recording everything. So far I'm really hapy with the performances and the sounds- which is really saying something because my national is really hard to capture.

So far, I've got great takes of:

Hole in my soul
Deeper and Deeper
Long way home
Tom Rushen's blues

Tonight I'm recording guitar and lap steel parts for:

Sattelite
Luke's Blackcloud blues
Alone
Nuca Mas, Corazon
Water Rising
Love in Vain
One red rose

I'll keep you posted on the progress here, but so far it's going really well and really quickly. I'm shooting to have this CD available this fall, so I'm working hard and fast on this one!

The Blues and Beyond Club, Cupar

We had the good fortune to perform at the BLues and Beyond Club in Cupar on Friday evening. It was an easy 2-hour road trip from Aberdeen, and nice to get out of town to play for an audience of blues lovers.

Charlie Milne, Brian Poole and the rest of the gang are spear=heading the drive to keep blues alive in the Cupar area, and they do a great job. The club is held monthly at Watts Bar in downtown Cupar, a nice room that looks to seat around 100-150 comfortably. When we arrived they were busy hanging posters to add a real blues vibe to the house.

I started the evening off with a solo set that was well-received. 'Hole in my Soul' and 'Deeper and Deeper', two original songs, are really fast becoming favorites of mine to perform. I've also added a couple of Charlie Patton songs to the set as well. And, after several gigs wrestling with the sounds of my acoustic, the lap-steel acoustic guitar really seems to be settling in as well. All in all I really enjoyed that part of the night.

OK, from there it was off the to the 'lectric part of the night. Kicking off with 'Big Town Playboy', a nice lazy shuffle in E, the dance floor was packed. We thought we'd be playing a listening set at first, but it wasn't to be- dancing was the event of the night. No problem there, we easily slid into funky stuff, shuffles and some old Texas and Chicago blues. Lot's of originals as well. All in all the guys did great, and this line-up seems to get better, dramatically better, with every gig. By the time we reach Dundee we'll be razor sharp.

Thanks again to Charlie, Brian, Vivien and everyone else that made that show happen and for making us feel so welcome! Hope we see all of you again soon!

LIve Pictures from Drummonds

Should we do a soundclick site?

Just curious-

Dave has been recording our lives shows, and the recordings are pretty good for ones made with a couple of mics in a live room. So, we're wondering, if we set up a soundclick page and put songs on there as we find stuff we like, how many of our friends would go there and download them?

Email me at info@sonhenry.com and let me know what you think!

Live at Cafe Drummonds

First gig in almost 14 months at Cafe Drummonds here in Aberdeen! Good to be back, it's a great room! Oh, we'll be back there AGAIN on the the first of June- that's next Thursday!

Glenn Highway Blues Review

From this month's Southwest Blues-

-------------------

Alaska is the last real American wilderness. Vast and widely unpopulated, nature calls the shots here, and those weak of spirit cry “Uncle” early and high tail it back to whatever white bread civilization they came from.

Not surprising then that Alaskan Son Henry’s release “Glenn Highway Blues” is as wild and untamed as the state it was conceived in. This is blues from the gut – unvarnished and unpretentious. All nine tracks are penned with ink culled from Son’s sweat and tears. The rhythm section (John Clark on drums and Joel Lockman on bass) is tight and economical on each track – driving the beat and yet snuggly in the pocket every time.

This builds the perfect base for Son to do his “thang” – big, bold electric and slide guitar playing, some rustic harmonica flavorings and, of course, the lap steel playing that is quickly defining the man as a force to be reckoned with. Son’s vocal style is earthy and relaxed, the perfect vehicle to deliver his tales of love both won and lost.

As with the very best of all blues, the songs deal with every day life, love and relationships. Damn this man for writing “Second Glance”. Its desperation and resignation hit me so hard every time I hear it that funny watery stuff comes to my eyes. It scares me when someone details the longings of my soul before I’ve even defined them myself. Son is good at that – VERY good. “Heartache In My House” is another outstanding cut. The beat is down home groove. The message is the reality that sometimes home is not quite the cozy castle it should be.

Temporarily relocated to Aberdeen, Scotland, Son initially put “Glenn Highway Blues” out as an independent release It has recently been re-released and distributed from new blues and roots music label Front Porch Records (www.frontporchrecords.co.uk), unleashing Henry on the unsuspecting United Kingdom, who have responded by making him their new favorite adopted son.

They better enjoy him while they can. His suitcase is always packed and ready to head off to the next adventure. We can only hope he continues to document his life with the same flair as he has here.

Get Ready! Lisa Monroe is coming to town...

Lisa Monroe is coming to Scotland, she'll be at the Dundee Blues Bonanza backed by my band. It'll be a great show! Time/day TBA, check this space for details when I get them.

You'll love her show. For those of you with my new CD, that's Lisa singing 2 of the songs. She's gonna rock the house for sure!

Blues in Britain review

If you've got the magazine this month, it was an interesting review, and we appreciate the column space. Some of the bits we liked the best:

They are a tight little unit that clearly know their shit

Life with 2 guitars

Why go to two guitars?

Well, the big difference for me is that I can stop playing and really sing. It's hard to focus on two things at once and some of my songs really require concentration to hit the runs or hit and maintain high pitches. So guitar #2 covers that main parts of the song so everything stays sounding full. That's just whats in it for me.

On another level, when you get two guitar players schooled in old Muddy Waters, there's a great deal of counter point and dissonance going on. You can't fake that with a single guitar. A guitar and a keyboard can get you close. Two guitars are magic.

Also, there are musical parts that can only be played with one guitar player in standard tuning and another in say, open G. The chords sound different because of the intervals involved.

Oh, playing lap-steel in a trio is fine. But having a second guitar player there opens up more keys for me where the chord voicings aren't as full or are a little odd. So, blues in F#minor or B minor on a steel guitar is totally cool with a second player. AND, I get to play harp too. AND, I think having a second guitar player makes you work harder too.

OK, so it's all about me from the sounds of it. Well, the music is different in a good way, that's really what's important.

Don't be shy....

I got an email from an old friend that I knew way back in Alaska (we'll call him Joe). Joe decided to hit the email link that's found in a couple of places here and shoot me an update on where he was. It was great to hear from him, I had an old email address and it looks like he's changed over to gmail, so I'd lost him.

My point?

Letters from home. Comments about the last gig. Complaints about the loud shirt I was wearing. Suggestions for a place to play or a song to cover. Whatever it is, don't be shy about getting it off your chest....

Blue Lamp, April 30 (Sunday afternoon)

Just in case you didn't get my mass-mailing today. We're taking over the Blue Lamp in Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon for a great day of blues- electric and acoustic. Here's the schedule:

2 pm: doors open
3 pm: solo, acoustic country blues
4 pm: band takes over for two sets.

It's all very complicated, but I'll play a set of acoustic slide guitar based country blues, and probably break out the acoustic lap steel as well. From there we're playng two band sets and making our first real gig as a 4-piece band.

Don't let that last bit slip by un-noticed. We've added a second guitar player to the band after a year of working as a trio. It's great for all of us, opens up some material that we can't play as a trio- covers and originals. Lets me play some harp too.

Another great CD

Just a thought, for those that aren't plugged into Kelly Joe Phelps. I discovered him years ago as a slide player- he's probably the best acoustic lap player around. He stopped playing slide at all a couple of years ago, focusing on his fingerpicking style instead.

The live CD he recorded, 'Tap the red cane whirlwind' is a monster disk, some original songs and a couple of traditional blues from Skip James and the Reverend Gary Davis. Next to the original, I think his version of Hard Time Killing Floor is probably the best around. Cardboard box of batteries is my favorite song on the disk, though.

I'd totally forgotten about this disk- I had it loaded up on my MP3 player and haven't listened to it for a long time. But on my way back home I was sleeping on a long flight and using my earphones as a cheap line of defense against a terminally talkative person sitting in the middle seat. Hard Time Killing Floor woke me up out of a deep sleep in mid flight, and the CD kept me awake until the last note. I won't tell you what CD it was to put me back to sleep.

Ironically enoough, the person next to me had been carrying on a one-way conversation for about 6 hours. Odd how people can do that, no?

Princess Irene

I've been playing that old Leadbelly song "Goodnight Irene" for years. Interestingly enough, it turns out my grandparents (all 4 of them) came to the U.S. at different times on a ship named the Princess Irene. I found this out from the Ellis Island Web Site, which now has all the immigration records on-line. It's a pretty powerful thing to see that someone was brave enough to leave everything behind at the ripe old age of nineteen. Man, I wasn't good for anything at that age, to think they had the presence of mind to make a decision of that magnitude is intimidating.

It's not blues, but on a beautiful Easter Sunday morning it seems appropriate. Hope you all, no matter how you chose to celebrate or what you believe, find a small corner of peace today.

Blues Central, Anchorage on Monday

It was a treat to play with some old friends Monday night at Blues Central in Anchorage. John Clark, Joel Lockman and I held court for an hour or so, playing songs off the new CD. Those guys are top-shelf, and played butts off. It was great. From there, we dragged up Patti Greene, Alison King, Bob Parsons, Special Ed Christenson, Todd Glazer to play. Gary Lamar and Texas Jimmy left guitars at home, too bad! But a good time was had by all.

Odd, but really nice to be back home playing a Blues Central too. Shelby did a great job with the live sound, room was great!

Oh, and the life-saver of the gig? KB! Thanks for the amp KB!

Reunion with Friends, blues style

Back in Anchorage, can't wait to play Monday Night!

Details and photos, for now I'm changing strings and getting re-acquainted with my old national...

I'm all for Airport Security....

But let's stop picking on guitar players, ok?

I'm posting, which means I made it from Aberdeen to Alaska. It took over 37 hours of travel time what with:

1. The computers being down in Aberdeen and my flight out being an hour late.
2. Missing my flight to San Francisco out of Paris by 5 minutes (see above)
3. Going from Paris to Atlanta, and sitting on the runway for an extra hour waiting for 35 other passengers to get there.
4. An extra hop from Atlanta to San Francisco
5. Going as far as Seattle on Thursday and sleeping in the Seattle Airport
6. Arrive in Anchorage on Friday 16 hours late.

All of that isn't really surprising these days, you travel and you get delayed and re-routed. No big deal.

What I noticed is that EVERY time I had to go through a security check I got flagged for a 'random' search. EVERY time. Once in Aberdeen, 3 times in Paris, twice in Atlanta, Twice in San Francisco and once in Seattle. Random. In Paris they even went so far as to take my guitar apart. I was well-dressed and polite until the screwdriver came out and my guitar was turned into pieces while they were closing the door of my flight.

Some interesting observations:

1. Everyone with a guitar got the same treatment.
2. People with Baby Strollers were also subject to random searches.
3. Skanky people slid on by.

I am in complete support of airport security. After all, my baby brother is an Airline Pilot. But I can't help but wonder if we've now instituted profiling against guitar players and young mothers. Odd combination, no?

Sorry, that's my rant for the day.

Back into the swing of posting

Sorry, gang, haven't been posting much lately. It's been a busy time here, but theres some interesting changes coming. First, we're adding an extra player to the band. Specific details later so I don't spoil the surprise, but I want to bring another cat on board to play guitar so I can play more harp and pedal steel. Also, most of my original songs really need a second guitar player to fill them out. If all goes well, our first gig as a 4 piece will be in late April at the Blue Lamp on a Sunday afternoon.

In other news I'm picking up the live CD master next week, so it'll be off to be manufactured when I get back.

Fnally, Lisa Monroe will be here in July, and I'm working to set up a few gigs with her. She's a great singer in the Lou-Ann Barton school. Stay tuned for more details.

See some of you in a day or so, the rest I hope to cross paths with at a gig real soon!

Blues Central, Anchorage Alaska on Monday!

See some of you in Alaska next week! 24 hours in the air and then it's time for a CD Release party. Details:

Blues Central
Anchorage, AK
8pm

We're quitting by 3am so I can get to the airport to come home!

Hookum Hotshots

I had a chance to sit in a smoke-free pub on Sunday afternoon and listen to the Hookum Hotshots play everything from country blues to gypsy jazz. I'd last seen Jim Murray up in Orkney last year for the blues festival where he was playing solo. This was the first time I had ever seen the duo, and what a great pair they are. I'm hard-pressed to tell you what I liked best, but I think it was either Jim's lap acoustic playing or their version of "France Blues".

Double thumbs up for these two. If you've got a chance don't be silly and stay home. Plus, the pubs are smoke-free too! Yipee!

New website is up!

Hey gang, there's a new website up: http://www.sonhenry.com

Nice to see some bright colours for a change!

The Paddock last night

Big fun at the Paddock in Portlethen last night. Great crowd, nice room and great beer. And close to home for me too, how good is that?

It's always fun to walk into a room for the first time and know people are scratching their heads, wondering exactly what they are in for. By the end of the evening the make-shift dance floor was packed with screaming happy people diggng the blues. So, what can I say, we're looking forward to going back.

Thanks Doc for setting that gig up! See you next time...

Italy in July, France in November

Hey- I've got a couple of short tours planned this summer and fall. I've got a few open dates in July while I'll be in Italy, some open dates in France (or near-by) in November. If by chance you're reading this and have an idea or a contact, please email me at info@sonhenry.com!

I'll post the tour schedule in the next couple of weeks once all the ink is dry...

For our next trick....

I've got all the final mixes for the NEXT cd, a live release that was recorded at the Homless Shelter benefit last November. It's a great colletion of live tracks featuring some really great players (people like Melissa Bledsoe-Fischer and Stu Schulman), some familiar faces (lke John Clark and Joel Lockman) and a couple of special guests (like Lisa Monroe and Otto Lenz).

I think by the time the artwork is done and we're back from mastering and duplication it shouldbe ready to go in June. We'll be having a release party at the Dundee Blues Bonanza. So mark your calendars for that first weekend in July so you can join us for the fun.

OK, back to work on the artwork....

Driving test on Sunday.....

Well, ok, the only blues content here is that taking the drivingt test is really giving me the blues.

I take my road test on Sunday morning, there's a song in here somewhere I'm sure. I've been living in the car practicing for the test. So far I've passed all the theory tests, and I've only been driving for 30 years, so really- what's the big deal? It's easy, everything is backwards, the references and signs are in different places and it takes a huge amount of concentration to keep track of all the information that streams at you when you drive.

Anchorage CD Release Party details

Man, I can't wait!

Monday, April 3rd I'll be at Blues Central in Anchorage for a CD release party. Liz Dahl has graciously allowed us to bring the band in for one night only to celebrate the release of our new disk. It's the one and only one gig in Alaska for a long time. We'll start at 8 and go till late. Send me an email if you can make it and would like to sit in!

It's especially cool because John Clark, my long time drummer and best friend, is getting married that weekend. Bob Parsons is playing the music and yours truly is performing the ceremony. John's future wife is a wonderful woman, and is kind enough to let me borrow him for a few hours to play music. So all the stars have aligned for this one, how could anyone have an excuse to stay home? If you can get there we really hope to see you, so we can catch up!

Peace all. Life is good.

It's raining in Aberdeen

It's raining in Aberdeen
Don't the streets look cold and gray?
It's raining in Aberdeen
Don't the streets look cold and gray?
Hope it rains hard enough
to wash the snow away.

Early in the morning here, and a lonely bird was tapping on my bedroom window, like he was asking to get out of the rain. But I've read enough Edgar Allen Poe to understand that you just don't let black birds in at night. So, rather than listen to his cold, wet song I'm awake and hiding in this room with my guitar and a web connection. If I get an email from someone named Lenore I'm going to get real freaked out......

A little snow and some beer and it's like being in Talkeetna!

Wow! Take about 12 inches of heavy snowfall, bad road conditions, good beer and a room ful of great people that can walk to a pub and you've got the makings of a great party. It was, by about midnight, just like those late-night gigs at the Fairview Inn in little Talkeetna (as a reference for my Alaskan readers).

Otherwise, it was a party- Granite City Style!

We played the bulk of the show straight. Lots of groving blues, some shuffles and a bunch of stuff from the new CD. And then something clicked around midnight. Might have been that completely over the top version of "I want you to love me", with extra funk and greese. Or "Cross Cut Saw", but the room just exploded with dancers on the tables. It was too bad we had to quit at 1 a.m., we were good to go for a couple hours more. Especially with an energetic room like that. Shoot, I'd play all night for folks having that good a time. Hope you all made it home safely!

The puzzled looks on the bar tenders was worth it all, I don't think they see unbridled mayhem like that very often.

Next gig is the Paddock in Portlethen. Hope to see some of you there, because we're moving the party

Globe gig is still on

As far as I know. I'll be there at least, and if you can make it safely I hope to see you there too!

Saturday I'm going to find a big hill and go sledding though...

Early feedback on the new CD

Eric Scott wrote us a great review for the new CD, andd he's posted it on the Blues Matters Reviews site. You can read it by click here




Thanks Eric! Glad you liked the disk!

But it was stilla good gig

Really, one bad apple and all.

On the positive side, we had a chance to play with local harp legend Spider McKenzie- who rocked. So really, thanks all of you that emailed support notes I appreciate it. But it was a minor blemish on an otherwise perfect night. And these things go with the territory.

Some time, over a beer, ask me about the night I stopped someone violent in their tracks with my guitar, climbing on stage to do wrong. Now that's a story....

What is it about some people?

I don't normally rant. Today is an exception.

We played at a new club tonight, first time there. It's a bit of a watering hole for people moving on to bigger clubs later in the evening, mostly University-age people. Kids, basically. Tonight there was a group of people celebrating someone's 21st birthday, and normally we do all the right stuff- play the birthday song, buy them a drink. The whole bit. Tonight, the birthday boy had a friend that's a singer and he wanted himto sing. His friend didn't want to sing, but the birthday boy armed with the righteous indignation of too much alcohol insisted that he was going to sing.

I said no. I don't let anyone sing through my microphone, and I don't let strangers sit in with the band if there's no one I trust to vouch for them. Too much risk. The end.

The birthday boy's girlfriend insisted. It's his birthday after all. Before long she was cussing, spitting and carrying on, thinking that she could brow beat me into agreeing. A loud and extremely unpleasant situation all the way around.

I still said no. Sorry, there's just no way.

CD Release after-math

Man, a great time was had by all last night! First off, a big thanks to Chris Simmonds for organizing the gig and for all he doesto suport live music in Aberdeen. He's the unsung hero in all of this!

Now, it was great to see all of you, it seemed like it's been a long time since we were last at the Blue Lamp. Thanks to Dave Amos, Mario, Eric Scott, Doogie, Anna, Sandy Mathers, Bill Moodie, Iain, and everyone else that I'm missing in my sleep-depriveds state for being there to support us and the new CD.

If you missed it last night, you missed a great party. They loved the CD and most everyone walked away with a copy AND a copy of my old 'Live' CD that we gave away as a thank you.

Next stop is Hogs Head on Saturday, and then the Globe on Friday next week. In the meantime, I have to pass my drivers test.....

Be well! See you soon. We're back in action in a big way not that all the back-office work is finished. Phew.

Waitings over......

They're here. Phew.

They look good, sound good. We're ready to go. Gotta hit the mail in the morning!

I hate waiting

So tonight is the CD release party, and my CD's are a day late in arriving. They're on a courier truck right now and are suposed to be delivered in the next hour. And so here I sit, waiting for the truck.

Man, I hate waiting.

McQueen's Review on BluesMatters Site...

Hey- there's a review of the solo show I played at McQueen's Music Room in Blairgowrie on the BluesMatters web site. You can find it here or read on below...



Thanks Sandy for posting it! Looking forward to going back to McQueen's...

CD Release Party, February 24, Blue Lamp!

Well, it's right around the corner. We'll be officially releasing my next CD on Friday, February 24th at the Blue Lamp in Aberdeen. The show that night will be a mix of acoustic and electric blues, songs frm the new CD and some old favorites. And, just like always, we'll go late. Bring your dancing shoes!

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be sending copies of the CD to various on-line retailers as well, so if you can't make the release party you can get a copy by mail.

Need a review copy? Drop me an email!

Next round of press kits going out...

If you're reading this and by some chance you also book music at a nightclub anywhere in Europe, send me an email at info@sonhenry.com so I can get you a kit! We'll be all over this summer, and might be able to set something up in your area pretty easily.

Or if you want to send me an email for any other reason, well that'll be fine too.

McQueen's last night

Any time you make new friends and play music, that's a great gig. That was last night. Roads were a little icy, but not the reception. All the way out to Blairgowrie to McQueen's, a small room with a great PA and solid acoustics. Imagine a room that people drive for an hour to sit and listen to acoustic blues. Damn, I'd a thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Next time I'm getting there earlier and playing more.....


More:


Sandy McCurdy sent me this picture from Wednesday night. Hope he doesn't mind my sharing it with y'all. I'll be back at McQueen's on September 20th, and I can't wait to go!

CD Cover art

Well, here's the cover art for the new CD. Kinda looks like me, no? Actually, I've been using this picture on my profile, as an avatar on a forum or three.

CD is the first of several. I spent the day working through the mixes for the Brother Francis Shelter recording and it's killer. I'm really happy with the guitar tones too- KB, thanks for the amp if you're reading this! Overall the performances are great, real even. And the music is unreal. So, we've got the 4th and final disk in the hopper. This'll be the year of CD release parties!

Big Robert Tyler, International Blues Challenge

Wow, my friend Big Robert Tyler made to to the finals of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Hopefully this is the start of something big for him!

New Disk to look for

Yet another CD to look for, Precious Bryant has a new disk out!

She's from Georgia, and a great old school Piedmont player with a great voice. Her guitar playing is just how I like it, it's a little rough around the edges, but the songs have a great groove. I've got two other of her CDs and have worn them both out, this one has come out just in time as far as I'm concerned. Damn, it's even available throughthe major online retailers.

McQueen's Music Room this week!

Off to a new room this week, on Wednesday I'll be playing a solo gig at McQueen's Music Room in Blairgowrie. It'll be 2 sets of acoustic blues, some lap steel- a pretty typical high-energy acoustic blues night.

Some new songs to watch out for, some Charley Patton, a Barbeque Bob Hicks song or two, and a bunch of original stuff too. If you're going, I won't spoilthe surprise. I am really happy with some of the new songs that I've written, they recorded well and they're fun to play live too.

So, hope to see you there! Stay tuned for more dates in the UK, the States and elsewhere...

Dexter's last night (or why I love Dundee)

Man, any time you can crank out a few solo tunes on an old electric guitar and have people calling out requests for songs from your last CD? That's heaven.

So, all in all a great gig and I stayed out much too late last night. We were supposed to quit at 10, but went much longer- how can you quit when you've got a room full of people dancing and having fun? It's like yer dad walking in on your birthday party and turning the music off!

But, for the first time last night in Scotland I dragged my pedal steel along and played a half-dozen tunes through the night. I think the guys in the band understand now that it's a big sound like a Hammond Organ.

Thanks to all of you that were there, and to Bob Telford for sitting in on the keys. Great night! Now all I need to do is catch up on my sleep...

Off to manufacturing!

Here's the track listing:

Granite City Shuffle
Richer than a Shiek
Teardrops on my pillow
Heartache and Trouble
Well I love my baby
First thing smokin
Middle man blues
Going Back to Dallas
They say love

This is the magic disk we've been calling the 'retro' record while we worked on it, it's got a real old Chicago feel with a bit of an edge. I'm so glad my good friends Otto Lenz and Blue Lisa were able to be on it, they really made the record complete. Otto's harp playing sounds like he's channeling the ghost of Little Walter. And Lisa? Man, she's all Texas attitude and twang, so perfect for this record.

At the rate this is going, it'll in-hand for the release party at the Blue Lamp on the 24th of February. Phew, with the volcano it was getting a little close there.

Oh the label, by the way

is a new label called Front Porch Records.

Cd release delayed by a volcano?

No, for real, here's the photo for proof.

That really cool retro-sounding CD I recorded with Otto Lenz and Blue Lisa, John Clark and Joel Lockman was in the final stages of being mixed in Anchorage. The FINAL stages,minor tweaks only that need to get finished or it'll bug me forever. It's going to take a little longer than we'd thought because there's a volcano erupting close by.

Ok, sure you say. But really, it's Mt. Augustine about 200 miles up-wind from Anchorage and while the lava flow will go straight into the water it's the air-borne volcanic glass that'll get you. It eats up motors, causes severe respiratory problems and is probably the worst possible thing for a recording studio. So, we either need to run with things the way they are, or we need to wait to get mixes done right. I think I'd rather wait.

Another great Steel Guitar CD

Hey all, here's another really fine CD with some Sacred Steel from the masters of the genre. You can check it out at Amazon and listen to the sound clips. It's got all my favorite players like the Campbell Brothers, Calvin Cooke, and even a tune by Robert Randolph. You don't need a religious preference to enjoy the music, it'll sweep you along with the emotional quality of the performances. Man, I think I'd skip a meal to have the scratch to buy this one

Augustine Blues

Mt. Augustine, one of the first volcanos in the Aleutian Chain erupted yesterday, probably the first of several leading to a big one. No big deal if you live in Seattle, but the ash cloud could hit Anchorage (where my house is) and Homer. More of an inconenience than anthing else, unless you're a motor.

Good to be home

even if my suitcases are still travelling.....

International Collective

So, one of the results of this trip is I've started organizing an international collective of musicians that can collaborate on some blues-base world music. I'm a huge fan of tangos, cumbias and just about everything else from Central and South America. Plus, I've met a bunch of really fantastic musicians while I've been here- percussionists, guitarists, bassists. Turns out that most of us have ability to record music directly to the computer in a format that the rest of us understand. So, I've got some song sketches that I've done in the last couple of weeks that I'm gooing to cleanup and start sending them to these guys to add parts. I'm not sure what the result will be, but with some excellent players and the power of the internet it will at least be fun.

Show's over, coming home...

Next Stop, Paris. Can't wait to get home.

Some needed down-time...

Man, I love getting a break to to nothing but hang out with my kids and play the guitar. Take in the sunset for a change. Write songs. Oh, play gigs and drink some wine afterwards with some interesting people.

While I´ve had some down-time I´ve finally had a chance to really work with the tuning that my friend Larry Allen turned me on to last year, it´s a cool E-based tuning for a lap-steel that uses a 6th note on the 4th string, which means I can play full-on minor chords with a straight bar. Opens up some really interesting tunes for that guitar. Of course, if you´re used to playing in C6th then this is no big deal. But C6th isn´t really a very bluesy sounding tuning and this one is.

So, some surprises coming, some of which you´ll hear on the new CD. I *love* this tuning. My poor band.....

UK Top 30

All in all a cool day. According to Chris Simmonds at the Scots Blues News, our gig at the Blue Lamp was in the top 30 shows he saw last year, and so was our Glenn Highway Blues CD! Thanks Chris!

A Holiday wish

To all my friends, readers, supporters and family that have made my life so rich in blessings this year-

May you all have a happy and safe holiday full of joy and friendship, a warm and dry place to celebrate surrounded by those that love you. And may the air around you be filled with music.

Peace in the new year....

Those new CD's

Hey Gang!

I just got an e-mail from Buzz at the studio, and the mixes for the CD's are almost done. I've got a couple of things to listen to, and then we'll be ready to go to duplication. So, in early 2006 (probably our gig at the Globe in Aberdeen in March) we'll have a release party for these CD's

Red Lights and Folding Chairs (With Otto Lenz and Blue Lisa)- 9 killer old Chicago Blues tunes, all original.

Live at the 4th Avenue Theater. It was, um, recorded live this year. As a bonus you get some classic older material as well.

Thrift Store Sorcerer: The return of the original Son Henry Band, plus some solo tunes like 'Hole in my Soul'.

if that wasn't enough, I've been writing and playing like a mad-man these days, and I'm working my way throgh a whole new collection of acoustic tunes played lap-style. I'm hoping to have enough new material that I can make this the focus of my acoustic shows from now on, and have a CD to support it as well. The working title is King of the Tides, named after what will be the title track that's dedicated to my father. You'll understand the reference when you hear the song. This record is as much folk as it is blues.

So, stay tuned for details....

A new pack of Rubbers!

I still can't get used to this. My wife gave my four year old a package of things to take to school. He looked inside and screamed with delight, "Wow, thanks Mom, a brand new pack of rubbers!"

I practically fell to the floor laughing, now let me explain:

My little kids are going to a Scottish school, and they're learning all kinds of new words for things. They don't call them erasers here, they call them 'rubbers'. I'm not sure what the slang is for a condom. I'm sure he'll tell me some day....

More about Dexters

Well, you know I used to run a BLUES jam. I must be an addict. Last night at Dexters we had one hell of a blues jam that went an hour longer than we expected. But, first things first.

Wolftrain was the first band I saw, and they were as good as always, in spite of their bass players problems with a new set of strings. Horns were wailing, and Iver's guitar tone was excellent. From there it was Papa Mojo, playing that relaxed country blues that they do so well. Great music to relax to. Spectacular players too.

So, yeah, then it was my turn. We could have played a trio set, but we had Mel from Lazy Poker there to play drums, so we ended up with Robin Johnston from Wolftrain on key's and both Sandy Mathers and Bill Moodie on harps. Two hours of blues, straight up. We even had requests for odd stuff like 'Death Letter' and 'Walking Blues'. All good fun with some great players and good friends. Oh, the curry shop under the bar is nothing short of amazing too.

Oh, it was also good to see so many familiar faces too- Hennie and Cat, Alfie, for example. If you missed it you sure missed a fun one!

Dexter's Tonight!

Not sure how much the word has gotten out, but there's a big blues party at Dexter's in Dundee this afternoon and evening. It's a fund-raiser for the Musicians of New Orleans. Music starts around 2, runs till late. I've got a solo spot in the late afternoon and I'll have the band on around 9.

The sound and food is excellent, the beer is good and the music will be hot- Papa Mojo, Wolftrain and a bunch of others. I'll write y'all a review when I get home. In the meantime, I've got to get to work re-stringing my lap steel.

Saw Kelly Joe Phelps tonight

at the lemon tree from about 10 feet away. Damn, he's good, oh my lord.

I was more than a little dissapointed that he didn't play any slide at all- I'd heard through the grapevine that he was playing again. But, no. Fingerstyle only. Still, he's a monster player and that's his choice to make.

We did here a bunch of new tunes that are part of the new record he's supposed to do in February. It was good, as were the old standards he played- Capman_Bootman, Sally Ruby, bunches of other stuff.

So, I got my slide fix today by listening to 'Lead me on', his original release. Still stands up.

Oh, the club was about 3/4 full....

What a great weekend!

Man, I had such a great weekend- Friday at the Lemon Tree and Saturday at the Blue Lamp. Just think, an acoustic and an electric gig in one weekend, with time to play in the snow left over. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Thanks to those of you that made it to BOTH gigs! That'd be Sandy, Big Chris, Dave Amos, Dom and Gemma and a bunch of others. And, of course, all the good folks that made Saturday such a great time. If you missed it, the second set at the lamipe ran around 2 hours of crazy lap steel with Bill Moody, Mike Oxley and Billy Allardyce sitting in for good measure. I think we played 4 encores before I lost count, and those of you were there heard some songs that came from the ether and probably won't be heard again- like 'Voodoo Chile' on the lap steel? Crazy, I mean, who knows where this stuff comes from. I'm not complaining, although you might hear complaints from the band periodically....

Next weekend is the big jam at Dexters in Dundee from 2-10pm. We'll be there to wave the flag and wail. See you there!

The new CD

Damn! I'm listening to the rough mixes of the new cd, and it's just killing me that I can't listen to it on the big speakers. I'm stuck listening to the mixes on a cheesy pair of headphones tied to my computer. It's a long story about why my CD player won't play CDR's, but the mixes are great and I'm wishing I could be jumping around the room while I listen to this. Arggggh!

Here's the final track list:

Granite City Shuffle
Richer than a Shiek
Going back to Dallas
First thing smoking
Heartache and trouble
Love my baby
Teardrops on my Pillow
Middle man (pass me the bottle)
They Say love

47 minutes, not a wasted second and totally old school. All my life I've wanted to record something that sounds like a cross between those old Guitar Slim records and my old Camaro (that always sounded like it was about to detonate whenever you turned the ignition key). This is it, gang. Miracles of modern science, clean living and Buzz's studio engineering.

I'm blessed with having John Clark (drums) and Joel Lockman (string bass) on this, but I've also got my 2 other best friends on this as well. Otto Lenz blows some amazing harp and Blue Lisa Monroe sings her tail off. It's a great band, and a really energetic CD. Wow.

So, tomorrow I'm going to get a new CD player so I can listen to this on the big speakers. Oh, now I need a title for this. I'm thinking "Streecorner Poetry" or "Granite City Shuffle". Email me and let me know what you think. Or come up with a good name and I'll give you a copy AND credit you.....

Time to get back to work!

Benefit is over, and it's time to get back to the job at hand- playing the guitar!

I'll be at 2 of my favorite places this weekend. On Friday over lunch I'll be at the Lemon Tree, playing solo delta blues and lots of songs from the new CD(s). I'll also be recordng again for later release. On Saturday night I'll have the band at the Blue Lamp. There is a small cover charge, but it'll be worth it! Everyone in the band is primed to play, and we've got a special guest or two.

While I'm on the subject of the new CD(s), there really are more than one coming out. While I was in Anchorage we recorded seven songs for the new Son Henry CD that's tentatively titled 'Sidewalk Prophet'. It'll have some solo tunes on it as well and it sounds killer. We also recorded eleven songs for a west-coast style record (think Hollywood Fats or Junior Watson) with Harp-monster Otto Lenz and Blue Lisa. On top of that we got enough live audio at the 4th Avenue Theater for a CD to suppor the shelter. Once that's done I'll release our whole set too. Four, count them, four CD's in one week. I'm still getting caught up on my sleep, but it was all worth it!

So, stay tuned for the details about the CD release party....

On the day of the show

Friday, November 11th (Veteran's Day) was the big day, and the crew kicked into action in an effortless ease that makes me real proud ofthese folks. KB and the sound crew was hard at work at the Theater around 8 a.m. and Buzz and the rest of the gang from BBS Studios was on-site to get the recording equipment set up not long after that. KB is the reason the show sounded so good live, and Buzz is going to put an incredible recording in your hands.

What it all comes down to is this, the mood on the street as people flooded into the theater for the show- they know they've got a great time ahead, and it really shows on their faces:



This is our first year in the 4th Avenue Theater, and the acoustics are so much better than our old location, and the theater itself is so classy that it really was the perfect place to sage this years show. For those of you that can't get to Anchorage, here's a shot of the inside of the theater from the balcony that gives you a good idea of why I love this room so much....



It's a great room to sing in, by the way. And it's a little hard to tell from this photo, but the theater is at capacity, but with most everyone jammed down on the dance floor!

The Headliners

For more information about Blue Lisa Monroe and Otto "Ottomatic Slim" Lenz:

Here's a picture of Lisa in action, read her blog here



And, of course, on of Otto in the middle of a ferocious harp solo! More information about Otto can be found here

Melissa, Robert and Stu

Here's some people that performed at the benefit that you need to know more about!

Melissa Bledsoe Fisher is probably the best keyboard player I know. An unreal jazz pianist, she's also one of the best roots-blues players around. Schooled in the old masters like Otis Spann as much as she is rooted in jazz, she's simply a monster. Click here to get to her homepage.



Another person you need to know about is Big Robert T, a great vocalist that moved from Anchorage to Atlanta. I've known Robert for a few years now, and it's great to see his career taking off. Learn more by clicking here. Here's a picture of Big Robert in action...



Here's a wide shot of the band, the guitar player on the left side of the photo is probably my favorite guitar player on the planet- Stu Schulman. He's an absolute genius, a master of a half-dozen instruments including the Pedal Steel, Guitar and Hammond Organ. He's one hell of an interesting character as well.



If you're lucky enough to see them perform, jump at that chance!

Recording, phase 1

I landed in Anchorage with thirty new songs and a goal of playing and recording as many of them as I could. Where do you start? With a great rhythm section, of course. I dragged John Clark and Joel Lockman into BBS Studios on Wednesday night with an eye towards recording as many scratch tracks as I could. In about 4 hours we had perfected the basics for seven songs for the new Son Henry Band record. And then the jet lag kicked in- I'd been on my feet for over 48 hours at that point with minimal sleep and already played a gig that day, so I was pretty wiped.

Here's Joel on the standup bass learning one of the tunes:



Here's me, smiling at how fast these guys can learn material!



And John, of course, talking to Buzz about sme arcane bit of drum recording lore.



The amazing thing is that these guys had never heard these tunes before, we learned them on the spot and recorded them. I think they're good songs, but these guys added that unusual element that makes this a great record.

So, Thursday it was off to the studio to finish everything, mostly singing and recording the lap steel parts. It's a pretty sparse record all in all, but the space is well-used and the grooves are pretty tight. I think you'll like it! And that was just the start of the week!

Blues for my Brother Review

We got a great review in the Anchorage Press this week for Blues for My Brother! I'm flattered, but I also think that Stu, Otto, Lisa and Melissa deserved every word and then some.


Click Here to read the review!

I'll write a whole bunch this weekend as I catch my breath, and post some pictures too. For now let's just say it was good to be back in Anchorage with so many great people, have a chance to get caught up, and do something wonderful for people that need it that can only be done by a community.

The live recordings came out great, and are now in Mike Buzzinski's very capable hands to mix and master. We're going to find a corporate sponsor for the release and then make the disks available through a bnch of sources, again to benefit the shelter's programs.

Ok, right now some sleep- it took FOUR full days of travelling to get back home to Aberdeen because of flight delays. But there is a great deal to write about, in the meantime take a look at the review. Thanks to Scott Christensen, Monica Bradbury and the rest of the staff at the Anchorage Press, Amy Van Singel at the Anchorage Daily News, Gary Lamar and everyone else at Channel 2 for helping get the word out! We really did a great thing together this week, and I appreciate your help!

In Anchorage Recording!

Well, day one of the new CD was really productive, we played all the basic tracks for seven songs and the really sound good. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm going back to record the other guitar and harp parts and do some singing. We're including these songs for sure on the CD:

Voodoo Doll
Not your Satellite
Luke's Black Cloud Blues
Black Cat Blues
Killing Floor
The One I love
Walking Shoes

So, it's off to a good start. Hmmm, CD release party needs to be soon.

Hey, you should join my mailing list

I added a link to get on my mailing list over to the right. Why join the list? Well, if you're in the area I can tell you about gigs. I have several new CD's coming out very soon. AND, I'm going to start putting mp3's of live shows on the web and letting the folks on the mailing list know how to get at them. See? News and free stuff!

Please just tell me where you are on the planet, so I can be selective in what I send, ok?

Don't worry, though. My job is playing the guitar not spamming you with viagra adds or that silly Nigerian Chain-letter scam.

Have a think.....

My mother in law sent me this...

Ironic, no?

This week in the Anchorage Press

Well, the advance word is out in Alaska. Here's a quick write-up from the Anchorage Press and all you need to do is click here!.

It's great to be going back for a visit. Wish it was longer, but we'll make hay while the sun is shining. Hmmm, bad metaphor. We'll ski while the powder is fresh. Yeah, that's better.

I'm opening for Mem Shannon tomorrow

Yep, I'm opening for Mem Shannon and his band tomorrow night at the Blue Lamp. I'm on at 8:30 for a short set, and then I get to kick back with y'all and listen to Mem do his thing! What can I say, it's an honor to open for a cat like Mem Shannon, he's a great musician and songwriter. Tickets are cheap, so even though it's a Sunday it beats staying home and fighting with the kids and the dog!

I think these are my favorite records-

That one has audio clips recorded in a taxi, back when he was a cab driver. It's a great record. This one is also really good too:

Blues for my Brother benefi for the Brother Francis Homeless Shelter update

Well, the Brother Francis Shelter benefit is next week, and I'm getting everything organized from 9 timezones away. It's going to be a great show, and while I may be a little jet-lagged it's worth it for the chance to play music with old friends and support a worthy cause. Six months of planning comes down to this- here's the schedule.

The Schedule:

6:00 Doors open for the dinner crowd
6:15 Welcome, program announcements and thanks
6:30-7:00 Rick Brooks
7:00-7:30 Veronica C. Page band

- short break to allow dinner clean-up
and admission of the later crowd.

8:00-8:30 Melissa Bledsoe Fisher
8:30-9:00 Son Henry
9:00-9:30 Big Robert T
9:30-10:15 Blue Lisa, headliner from Dallas
10:15-11:15 Otto 'Ottomatic Slim' headliner from Boston
11:15 Raffle draw
11:30-12:00 Spin the bottle (the band, not the game)


It's going to be a great night, lots of dancing and laughter. A stage full of monster musicians. Food. Raffle items. If it were me I'd go for the dinner tickets, reserve a place down close to the dance floor and bring really comforatble dancing shoes.

See you all there! I'll post pictures as soon as I get back!