James Talley and Blues for My Brother

Just a quick heads up that we've added a second headliner to the Blues for My Brother show on November 11 in Anchorage. James Talley, a monster musician and songwriter, will be joining us adding a real special acoustic element to the show. To learn more about him, click here. What can I say, I'm thrilled that we've got *another* musician of his caliber being part of the show. Special thanks to Mike McCormick of Whistling Swan Productions in Anchorage for making it happen.

If you missed it a few posts ago, Otto 'Ottomatic Slim' Lenz, an old friend from the East Coast will be the other headliner. Otto's the best harmonica player I know, period. And the back-up band rocks. If that wasn't enough, Big Robert T will be there. Only one member of the Alaska class of 2005 that we still need to get a thumbs up from and that's Joey Fender. Joey, if you're reading this shoot me an email because it's not a party with out you!

The final line-up should be posted later this week, just trying to coordinate some details (and some of you are hard to reach). I'll post the line-up and the poster art here when I get it all together. In the meantime, keep watching this space because it's going to be a great show.

My new favorite guitar player

When Robert Cray was in town last month he had a solo artist open up for him. Yeah, sure I thought and almost lingered over dinner to get to the show in time to see RC throw down. Damn glad I didn't, because the opener was a cat named Ray Bonneville. Electric guitar and harp, great voice and some amazing songs. What can I say, I'm glad I was there because he totally rocked the house.

Got a chance to talk to him after the show, he's also a really super, mellow guy that just loves playing music. So, I bought a couple of CD's and I've been wearing them out. My favorite of them is called 'Gust of Wind' and you can get it at CDbaby. Check him out, let me know.

Road gigs coming up, brace yourself.

It's underway. Anyone got a mandolin?

Well, I've got the artwork started, all I need are a few songs.....

But, I've now got 3 songs started with rough parts on tape. Just finished recording the basic tracks to 'Hole in my Soul', a song you may have heard at the Blue Lamp. Also have the basics to 2 other new songs that have never been played in front of an audience. I'm excited about this new disk. It'll be a mix of raw acoustic blues and some odd instrumentation. My big regret is that I left my mandolin in Alaska, and I've got the perfect place for a mandolin part. Damm. Can anyone loan me a mando?

So, I'm going to try and have this finished by the time I head back to Alaska so I can organize the duplication while I'm there. We'll have a CD release party sometime about mid-November.

So, it's underway, the songs are all written and arranged. What can I say, I'm excited. And the artwork is almost done too. How cool is that!

Some new songs to listen for!

Just so you think the news isn't all bad, some new songs in the works, and you'll hear them at the up-coming gig at the Blue Lamp. My good friend Blue Lisa gave me a much needed kick in the pants, and I'm back to work writing songs and (as you can tell from some earlier posts) getting them recorded as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I need to mix the Atomic Mama show. I know. I'm working on it.

Here's what's interesting- There's some interesting blues songs happeing, but also a tango or two, some old country, a little jazz. Not sure where this stuff is coming frm but I'm putting it down on paper. The good stuff will go on tape too..

OK, enough for today. Too nice to be inside here, so I'm going to finish the wiring as best I can and then hit the beach. You heard that right- hit the beach right here in bonnie Scotland....

Peace.

Well, add them to the list of stuff lost in the move

Finishing up wiring the studio so I can get back to work. All my insert cables are missing, some that I made myself that connect some audio equipment to the board. What a pain, I need to re-make all those cables again. Arrrrgh.

Even Guitar Players need a day off.....

Even guitar players get a day off. So, time for a pilgrimage. I took my clan to see Doune Castle, one of the sites where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed. It was used as Camelot, Castle Anthrax, Swamp Castle, and of course, the Castle of Guy de Lombard. We spent several hours deciding what scene was filmed in each room. We also bought a copy of the movie script in the gift shop to be sure the running dialog was accurage.




"I have to push the pram alot....."


What a great day. OK, back to blues.

Oh, we're on for the Orkney Blues Festival

Here's the URL

Click Here


That's my buddy Joey in the background of the picture.

A great quote, made me laugh

I'm reading a book by Nick Hornby called 'A Long Way Down', abouu 4 people that meet on New Years Eve at the top of a tower where they've all planned to jump. One of the characters is a musician. Later on, he's complaining about people that don't read:

"I've spent my entire life with people who don't read - my folks, my sister, most of the band, especially the rhythym section"

OK, not exactly blues, but it struck me as funny.

Saw Tam White last night

Almost forgot. Saw Tam White at the Globe in Aberdeen last night. He was as good as always. Great voice, and a good raport with his audience. Real informal too, I really dig it. You should check him out if he's in your area.

Working in the studio this weekend

Hey all.

Got a couple of new songs in the works. I'm sure I'll trot them out at the Blue Lamp gig next month. But, I'm getting back to work in the studio working on some demos of new songs. And, (scouts honor) I'm going to *FINALLY* mix the live broadcast we did on the Atomic Mama show in February. I don't really have an excuse for not having this finished, it's about 5 hours of work to complete. Well, my excuse is that I've been hanging out in pubs, eating take-away kebabs and hanging out with my family.

Looks like they caught the bomber.

Amazing how quickly too. Now if all the violence could end. No politics here, just sadness at how we all treat each other. Still a '60's child.....

A 2-minute national moment of silence for the London Bombing victims

So, join me if you will...
















Thanks. Pray for peace tonight. Work for peace in the morning.

I enabled the 'Email this Post'

Hey all-

I was digging through the Blogger documentation and realized I could enable the ability to email posts. So, you can now click on the email icon at the end of the posts and email them if you like. For example, email the schedule post to all your friends....

OK, back to the blues.

An official schedule update

Some up-coming dates so you'll mark your calendar! CD's available....

August 6: Johnshaven Fish Festival, Son plays solo, and with a little luck Sandy Mathers is going to sit in, arent you Sandy!. Time and location TBA.

August 12: Son Henry Band at the Blue Lamp (A Beermonster Production, brought to you by our friend Chris Simmonds). Details to follow. But it's close enough to home that I'm bringing all the toys.

August 20: A double-header at the Arbroath Festival. Look below for the information or click here for the official site.

We're finalizing details to go up to the Orkney Festival, and of course, there's these two:

September 23: Son Solo at the Inn Cafe, Palmer, Alaska. 6:30- 9:30. I'm hoping that Alison King and John Clark will be playing too.

September 23/24 The Free Buster Tour. Two nights at the Fly By Night Club. Band starts at 10 pm, no cover, lots of special guests both nights. Celebrate my dogs departure from Anchorage to join the family in Scotland!

November 11th: The Fifth Annual Blues for My Brother benefit for the Brother Francis Shelter. 4th Avenue Theater, Anchorage Alaska. Doors open at 7pm, show goes late and features Otto "Ottomatic Slim" Lenz, a monster harp player from Boston with a new CD on 95 North Records as well as a bunch of local and regional favorites.

Arbroath and beyond...

Hey gang, this just in. On August 20th I'm playing a solo and a band set at the Arbroath Festival! That is so cool. More details as I get them, so check back! Also in the process of confirming a couple of other festival and pub gigs, so stay tuned!

A Dundee Retrospective

Wow. It's taken me a few days to recover from the Dundee Blues Bonanza. Like many of you that were there, I went without a break for three straight days. What an incredible weekend of music and just plain hanging out.

For those of you reading this from someplace other than Scotland, Dundee is a nice little city on the coast, about an hour south of Aberdeen. Here are some Pictures of the town of Dundee from the Blues Bonanza webmaster's photo library:

The look up Reform Street:



Dundee City Square:




It really is a nice place. Easy drive too.

The festival was the same weekend as the G8 summit, and everyone was expecting the roads to be bad because of the protesters. The organizers were also worried that the attendance might be down for the same reason. Well, there may have been a large number of people marching, but there were also a large number of people out supporting live music as well.

So, here's what happened!

Friday night I was scheduled to play at the Marquee with my new band (Les Taylor on drums and Mike Oxley on bass). Got there around 3pm to have a sound check and met Bob Telford (the organizer), his wife Henny (hope that's spelled right) and Ivers from Bob's band Wolftrain who was running sound that night. Also on the bill was Bottleneck John from Sweden and Tam White- a well know Scottish blues singer an actor (he was in Braveheart). All great people. Also on the bill was Bob Hall, an incredible blues piano player who was part of Savoy Brown and some of the other players like Peter Green. What an honor to be on the bill with these guys, even more so to be the last act of the night.

the club was supposed to be easy to find. "Look for the big yellow sign that says Marquee" were my instructions. We looked and looked and couldn't find it. Because they were repainting the sign. So after about 20-30 minutes of looking around there was finally enough on the sign that we understood what was going on.

The Marquee was a cool club, real long and wide with a nice high ceiling. Decorated in a retro, vintage disco vibe. Sound check was easy, the guys really knew their stuff. Les and I hung out listening to the other cat's do their thing and then it was our turn. Here's a photo Les took over the top of the drums of the magnatone lap steel in action:



And here's a picture of me and Bob Hall:




Meanwhile, my long-suffering wife was back poolside at the hotel, hanging out with our little kids. She wisely made arrangements at a hotel right downtown that doubles as a spa. It also turns out that it was walking distance to all the clubs, which was really convenient because we only have one car. Last thing I wanted was for the 3 of them to be stranded.

After sound check I went back and checked on my gang, had dinner in a great pub and wandered the city for a bit. Show started at 8pm, we were on at 11 so we had some time. I ended up there around 9 or so, my wife threw me out of the hotel room- I think the pacing was making her nervous. And there you go, I *hate* waiting to go on. It's not a nervous thing, it's an excitement thing. I just can't wait and so I get all worked up and start pacing and singing. Like watching a hig-jumoer rehearse a jump perhaps. No matter, it bugs her so off I went to the Marquee.

Instead of pacing at the club, I got to hang out on the front steps and talk to Bob Hall quite a bit. He's an interesting person. We talked about the chicago blues festival, a bunch about Muddy and Wolf. Mostly we talked about clothes. How odd is that- 2 musicians talking wardrobe. It's an odd thing for me to see players on stage in a T-shirt and jeans, I suspect it's cultural. Bob and I were both really dressed up, probably the only 2 (outside of my band).

Tam White was up in front of us. Great band with an unusual line-up: 2 guitars, a harp player and Tam singing. He's got a great voice, did some excellent songs and really worked the room up to a nice energy level. Then it was our turn.....

The guys in my new band now have a few gigs behind them and they rocked. We came out swinging with 'Killing Floor' and put a bunch of people on the dance floor. From there is was slide and shuffle time, a bunch of steel guitar and all kinds of carrying on. Typical loud and in your face Son Henry set. And the guys running sound were excellent, they really made us sound good.

When it was all over, the place had been well-rocked. Thanks to those that stayed late, and that went home with a copy of the CD! I didn't get home until late, talking to Bob Telford and the crew. And thanks Bob andd Henny for the T-shirt!


Here's a shot of the Marquee, with the band about to endd a tune:





Saturday I got a chance to play solo at the Balcony, great small club with an old wood floor. Great acoustics. And more bodies than I thought you could pack into a small space. Phew. It was hot in there but I really loved the energy. I'd do that again in a heartbeat.

Sunday I ended doing a double header. The band was at the Bank Bar, and I opened for Otis Grand in the Social. But first I had to make a speed run back to Aberdeen and drop off my wife and kids, and go back with my PA. So far I've been lucky that I didn't get any speeding tickets. Bank Bar gig was fun, tons of folks (thanks for being there) and lots of familiar faces that I saw several times over the weekend. The high-point of my day was stringing up the National and opening for Otis, though. The room was packed, and I mean packed, with bodies. Everyone was in a great mood and the site of a few rows of people in their 20's dancing and yelling along to some old country blues made me smile.

I think I've droned on enough. Thanks to all of you that made it such a great weekend. Come see us again!

Social, Sunday night:



Tam White in action (Les Taylor Photo)




Yours truly giving an impromptu demo of the lap steel at soundcheck (another Les Taylor Photo):