Sunday, January 17, 2010
Home and Recovering
Some of you may have heard the news that I was taken ill while on holiday with the family.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sample vids from the new DVD with T Rogers
Here's a couple of the tunes from the new T Rogers/Son Henry DVD that should be out pretty soon. They're from the Gastroblues festival in Paks this past summer. It was a great performance and although I can still hear the last touches of a sore throat in my singing it's still fun to watch- it's obvious we were having a great time (which we were).
Here's Can't be Satisfied...
And Richer than a Sheik...
And "Let me lay my head down"...
Hope you enjoy them!
Here's Can't be Satisfied...
And Richer than a Sheik...
And "Let me lay my head down"...
Hope you enjoy them!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Son Henry Live in B'Pest DVD
Coming soon to a bandstand near you! Live from Budapest with T Rogers, it's an hour of live music filmed at the Gastroblues festival. You can probably fget a c
Back on line!
Wow, who'd ever think that it could take 3 months to get an internet connection? But it's there, and I'm back on line again. More later....
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Off to Paks!
I think this images sums it all up! I'm off to Paks to play the DVD release party for the 2009 Gastroblues Festival and taking a great band with me. Tonight, the T Rogers Band and I are on around 8, headlining what promises to be another great night of loud, high energy blues!
Our gig last night in Budapest was another stormer. We played to a packed house at the Fregatt and then proceeded to drink and dance the rest of the night away. Coffee, a little petrol and we're off today. Oh, wait, there is still time for one more round of goulash before we leave....
Friday, December 04, 2009
Budapest, Fregatt tonight!
OK, short notice, but if by some chance you are in Budapest tonight, I 'm playing ath the Fregatte tonight with T Rogers. It is a warm up gig before we hit the road for our DVD release party gig on Saturday. Pictures to follow!
Answer- 3 months....
Question- How long can it take to get an internet connection?
Back on the web for a couple of short but wonderful days. More notes to follow...
Back on the web for a couple of short but wonderful days. More notes to follow...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
website is back up, email may be missing
OK, looks like everything is working again,website os back up.
If you sent me an email in the last 2 days, might be worth a re-send because not much came through!
If you sent me an email in the last 2 days, might be worth a re-send because not much came through!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Garage Sale time
Yep, having a MASSIVE clear out of old gear. So much stuff that I've created another blog to hold it all
http://vintageguitarsuk.blogspot.com
is the location of the new site. I'll post the for-sale stuff there and all the blues stuff here.
http://vintageguitarsuk.blogspot.com
is the location of the new site. I'll post the for-sale stuff there and all the blues stuff here.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Slowing down, changing pace
Well, with the recession in full force it was bound to happen.
I'm putting the brakes on life for a bit, cutting back on the travel to make a little more cash and spend some time close to home. But, even with the economy in the crapper, we're still making some changes.
We had a great couple of gigs over the weekend in some local venues. My favorite was the show at cellar 35, where we kicked back and played old-school jump and chicago blues for a couple of hours. Some of that carried over to the other gigs that weekend, particularly at the ballroom. But it needs to stick. It's a good change. It'll fit well with the newer lap steel tunes too, all as an integrated package.
So, yeah, we're cutting back for a while to make some changes and pay a few bills. But expect good things to happen over time.
I'm putting the brakes on life for a bit, cutting back on the travel to make a little more cash and spend some time close to home. But, even with the economy in the crapper, we're still making some changes.
We had a great couple of gigs over the weekend in some local venues. My favorite was the show at cellar 35, where we kicked back and played old-school jump and chicago blues for a couple of hours. Some of that carried over to the other gigs that weekend, particularly at the ballroom. But it needs to stick. It's a good change. It'll fit well with the newer lap steel tunes too, all as an integrated package.
So, yeah, we're cutting back for a while to make some changes and pay a few bills. But expect good things to happen over time.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
T Rogers and me, live in Hungary!
Hey, I was on Hungarian TV, with some great live audio and video of me playing with the T Rogers band. They killed that night, absolutely spot-on playing, great live show, fantastic sound. Here's the link....
CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE
The East Side Kings, Cellar 35, Thursday July 23
So, there's a new band that will be playing at Cellar 35 starting on Thursday the 23rd as part of the rotation of bands, it's called 'The East Side Kings'- it's me, Spider McKenzie, Mike Oxley, Duncan Stewart. It''s an old-school blues band- Old Muddy, Jump, Swing. No lap steel, no blues-rock, totally different than my normal band. It's a blues gig. We'll be calling standards and some new songs. We'll also be rotating other players in periodically to keep it different. This isn't a new version of the Son Henry band, it's a different style, a different set of tunes. Different.
My band isn't going away, btw. We're too loud for this room. As an alternative we'll try something a little different. So, this is a players night out thing to get together with some friends and play. I have a feeling it'll be a great gig! See you there, only at Cellar 35.
My band isn't going away, btw. We're too loud for this room. As an alternative we'll try something a little different. So, this is a players night out thing to get together with some friends and play. I have a feeling it'll be a great gig! See you there, only at Cellar 35.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy 4th!
So, Happy Independence Day to all!
Between 1927 and 1929 my grandparents fled poverty in Germany after living through the horror of World War one, which included one grandfather losing all his brothers in France, and my other grandmother being left an orphan reduced to scrubbing floors to survive as a 12 year old.
They came to the US with a one-way ticket and the promise of a better life. They had to work, but they found it. In actual fact they never rose very far above what we might consider poverty today, but eventually they owned a house (one that housed 3 families most of the time) and always had to share the things they had to make ends meet. At one point my grandparents lived in a house made from sod cuttings in North Dakota.
It was that promise of a better life for their kids that drove them on. My father's father died young from the years of painting other people's houses with lead-based paint. My uncles all died or were injured fighting for their new country in Europe or the Pacific. I don't think I ever heard them complain- it was the reward of seeing my father and his sister succeed; scholarships to university, having middle class jobs, raising their children in clean housing, escaping the horror of war.
I'm sure they did have their own heartbreak- they never saw the friends and relatives that they left behind again.
But they did send what little they had back to those in need. They sent tickets for passage to brothers and sisters, let them sleep on the sofa while they got started. And, in my fathers-fathers case, returning for a visit in the early 1930's and reading the handwriting on the wall with National Socialism and refusing to be part- returning instead to work on the other side and bear arms against the country of his birth to fight for what was right.
By my fathers account, it was a happy life, hard but meaningful. They were all working together towards a better lot in life.
So here's an offer of grateful thanks to those brave enough to leave everything behind, to make a better life for their familes. Of being unafraid of hard work and hunger, of lonelieness and want to reach a goal.
And here's to our new home that made all of this possible.
Today I'm not going to a flag waving parade. There won't be any celebrations like that in Europe today. Instead, I'll pray for all our safety in a crazy world, that that others will find the freedom and safe haven that my family found 80 years ago. And to the first thing they saw at Ellis Island.....
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Between 1927 and 1929 my grandparents fled poverty in Germany after living through the horror of World War one, which included one grandfather losing all his brothers in France, and my other grandmother being left an orphan reduced to scrubbing floors to survive as a 12 year old.
They came to the US with a one-way ticket and the promise of a better life. They had to work, but they found it. In actual fact they never rose very far above what we might consider poverty today, but eventually they owned a house (one that housed 3 families most of the time) and always had to share the things they had to make ends meet. At one point my grandparents lived in a house made from sod cuttings in North Dakota.
It was that promise of a better life for their kids that drove them on. My father's father died young from the years of painting other people's houses with lead-based paint. My uncles all died or were injured fighting for their new country in Europe or the Pacific. I don't think I ever heard them complain- it was the reward of seeing my father and his sister succeed; scholarships to university, having middle class jobs, raising their children in clean housing, escaping the horror of war.
I'm sure they did have their own heartbreak- they never saw the friends and relatives that they left behind again.
But they did send what little they had back to those in need. They sent tickets for passage to brothers and sisters, let them sleep on the sofa while they got started. And, in my fathers-fathers case, returning for a visit in the early 1930's and reading the handwriting on the wall with National Socialism and refusing to be part- returning instead to work on the other side and bear arms against the country of his birth to fight for what was right.
By my fathers account, it was a happy life, hard but meaningful. They were all working together towards a better lot in life.
So here's an offer of grateful thanks to those brave enough to leave everything behind, to make a better life for their familes. Of being unafraid of hard work and hunger, of lonelieness and want to reach a goal.
And here's to our new home that made all of this possible.
Today I'm not going to a flag waving parade. There won't be any celebrations like that in Europe today. Instead, I'll pray for all our safety in a crazy world, that that others will find the freedom and safe haven that my family found 80 years ago. And to the first thing they saw at Ellis Island.....
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
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