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.