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!