Bellrock blues, Day 2

Life is like one of those animal shows on discovery channel. Sometimes you ride the rhino, and sometimes you get your jeep knocked around. Sunday the jeep took a beating.

I'm not sure what the deal was, but it all started to go sour with a broken string on my lap steel on the first song. From there, the rest of the first set was dogged by PA problems, and even after completely rewiring the cables it was still dodgy. So, I dod the only thing I could think of, and that was point the monitor out at the folks in the bar (it was the one working speaker) and carry on.

For some reason it all cleared up for the second set. And I touched nothing to make that hapen, just switched everything on again, and off we went.

Oh well. I got a chance to try out some new songs, a couple of odd guitars. All fine. So, thanks t those of you that stuck with us through all this! Great weekend all in all, and the fish-n-chips in Arbroath is worth the drive alone.

Bellrok Blues Festival, Day 1

Well, we're one day into the Bellrock Blues festival. Thought I'd write a bit before heading back to Arbroath for my last solo slot.

It's been an interesting festival. It's a different feel from the former Smokie Blues, and I can't quite put my finger on it. But that said, it was an odd experience being on my way to a gig for an 11 am downbeat. I think we playwed well,. Mike Oxley, covering for Dino, in particular, did a stellar job, and it was a great chance to try some new stoff on the fly.

From there we packed up, finishing at 1 and me scrambling over to the Newgate bar to get set up for a 2 pm gig. Talk about a panic- lots of traffic, impossible parkin situation and one-way streets. Wasn't sure that I'd make it. But Mike, sensing the stress level, volunteered to help me get there and settled before heading for home. Talk about a friend, someone that will sacrifice a sunny day to help you move gear. What can I say but thanks Mike!

Newgate was a great time, once the football match was over. Nice to get a chance to play a solo show that's more than one set long! It was also the first time I've been able to play lots of the new solo stuff for y'all in a sitation where the acoustics and the PA were up to the task. I ended up in the sidewalk for about a half-hour playing and warming up, talking to the smokers, while we all wated for the football to end.

And then off to the Station Bar for a second 2-hour show. I like that little pub, it's hard to set up there, but you jam 100 blues lovers in there and it's a rockin good time. That show was over before I knew it.

So, 3 down and one to go. As promised I'll play some different stuff at the Newgate this afternoon, more of the new solo stuff. Grab a bottle of sun tan lotion and head on over! I'm starting at 1 pm, and there will be pleanty of time to enjoy a cold beer and some warm sunshine.

OK, gotta run!

some Larne images....

Some photos from the Chaine Music web site. What a great time!

some Larne images....

Some photos from the Chaine Music web site. What a great time!

Blues Hall of Fame

Well, this is cool. Got this in the mail today, here's the key details, but the rub is that I'm now a blues hall of fame'r. Today is one of those days where it's good to be me!

Thanks for the honor guys...

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

Hello Son Henry,

This is Johnny Mannion Blues Hall Of Fame® Ambassador at Large.

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that you have been inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame® as Ambassador to Alaska.

We welcome you to the BHF family and invite you to become involved in the BHF. You were nominated for Ambassador and your nomination went before the BHF Ambassador Board of Directors. You received the unanimous yes vote required for ambassadorship. Congratulations.

Congrats,


Johnny Mannion

Big time in Larne

First Chaine Folk and Blues Festival is now just an aftershock after the big rumble. What a great shakin time it was, and never mind the weather.......

So, we left town Friday night and drove to a hotel close to the ferry terminal to be ready to catch an early ferry the next morning to Ireland. Picture a van with an Alaskan, and Englishman and a Scotsman all unsure of the need for a passport when getting off the ferry. Talk about an interesting conversation, it was like that millionaire game show where your last lifeline is phoning a friend. We did finally get the answer, it's a little embarassing how many people we needed to call to get a definitive one!

But, be that as it may, we made it. Plenty of time, ferry crossing was a snap and it was a short hop to the venue and the hotel.

Thanks to all of you that came to my workshop on slide guitar. I hope that you goet something of value from it. I know I enjoyed hanging out with you all and talking guitars and slide technique.

The gig? Great fun, and we did over-run the curfew by a *bit* I supose. But hey, what were they going to do, arrest all of us that were making too much noise?


See y'all next year. In the meantime, keep in touch!

Goin Back to Alaska!

Yeah, it's true, but only for a visit!

Plans are coming together for this years Blues for my Brother benefit for the Brother Francis Shelter. The show will be November 10, starting around 7. I'm not giving anything away at this point, but it sure is going to be a good show. Spread the word!

Ireland, here we come!

Off to the Chaine Folk and Blues festival in Larne real soon. It's our first trip to Ireland, and I've always wanted to go there. Am I excited about this? Yeah!

The Festival Web Site is here: http://www.chainemusic.com/index.cfm

As part of the festival I'll be doing a lap steel and slide guitar workshop at 2:30 on Saturday the 18th. Check the festival web site for the location. For all you guitar players it'll be a change to pull apart some of the the basics of electric slide guitar, in the styles of Elmore James right through to Duane Allman.

See ya'll there, be sure and say hi!

No bike blues

image sez it all......

Blues Matters Burnley Review

From the June/July issue of Blues Matters Magazine, one of our favorites, a review of the set we played at the Burnley National Blues Festival:

We headed upstairs to the auditorium in time for the main stage program, which began with the Son Henry Band. Son heralds from Alaska and is now living in Scotland from where he has recruited a powerful rhythm section. Together they have formed a unique sound, mainly down to Son's first choice of instrument; the lap steel guitar. The Blues they played were authentic stomping down and dirty and the slide threw in a different dynamic, at times having the force of a sledgehammer and at others a melodic subtlety. A couple of highlights were Muddy Waters 'I can't be satisfied' and a stunning rendition of 'Voodoo Chile'. We must get to see them again

Thanks Tony and Sue! Glad you enjoyed the set, and we'll cross paths again real soon....

in mid compostion.....

Ever wonder what it looks like? This is the look of intense creativity that you get in mid-song. Strange face, no?

Blues for my Brother, Nov, 2007

My annual benefit for the Brother Francis Shelter in Anchorage Alaska is going to happen this year. There were some doubts and concerns, but I think we have it nailed. As you might guess, Alaska is a hard place to be homeless. This is a worthy cause, and this year we'll be gathering a collection of local and international people to the same stage for a couple of great nights of music!

It's going to be a big blow-out, partially to make up for last year, but mostly because we can. The Saturday of Veteran's Day weekend will be the main show, with a smaller acoustic show at the Marsten Theater on Friday night.

So far, Bob Hall the brittish piano legend has agreed to headline. More bands and performers to be announced. Stay tuned there. And if you're interested in performing, drop me a line!

Big show, really big show....

airport blues

There's nothing like a long plane trip to make running into unexpected security hassles seem worse. So, this will serve as a warning that if you're flying to Atlanta with a guitar you need to either plan on entering the US somewhere else, or be sure your guitar goes as carry-on luggage.

I have ma acoustic guitar with me, it rides around in a really serious hard shell case. Indestructible. That means I can check the guitar and know that if I see it on the baggage trolley I'm ok. Until, that is, landing in Atlanta.

In Atlanta when you come through the International Terminal from suspect places like Paris or London, you need to collect your bags, go through customs like normal. When you leave customs, however, you need to put your bags back on the trolley to collect them at the FAR end of the airport in an un-secured area open to the public. Yeah, I understand it's a safety thing, and I'm ok with that.

Here's the snag: Guitars go on the oversized baggage trolley, suitcases go on the normal one. So, right off you have 2 different places in the airport to collect things. OK, fine, in the interest of security I can hang with that. What they don't tell you is that the oversized bag trolley goes through the part of the airport where all the boxes and other cargo is processed. Suitcases? They were there when we arrived, waiting for us. Not a problem. The guitar took 6 hours to make it to the same area. SIX hours. And that's normal, BTW.

People were leaving their golf clubs, etc, and coming the next day to collect them. But this is where all the kids car seats, guitars and other essentials of life go. Can you imagine? Six hours to collect your kids car seat after a 9-hour flight?

If this is the world we now live in, making parents wait that long for a car seat to take a tired infant home from the airport, it's hard not to feel like the terrorists are winning. Either that, or they've changed jobs and are now designing all the draconian proceedures we need to live by at airports.

Really, I'm totally fine with the extra security, and always thank the TSA people for what they do. But this is a little extreme, no?

more about junk mail

I must have hit a nerve here, I've had 3-dozen emails about junk mail. At least I'm getting email from people I know for a change. And we're talking about Viagra, and other slightly off-color topics. Odd, no?

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LAP STEEL

1. Man buys a really poor quality guitar
2. Neck warps.
3. Too lazy to buy a new one, he lays it down and plays it on lao, also uses it as a TV-tray for beer.
4. Everyone lived happily ever after, until he realized he could plug it in.....

the junk mail blues

enlarger pumps
and cut-rate viagra pills
free credit card offers
to cut my telephone bills
i get nothing but junk mail
every time I turn my computer on
wonder where these people
got my address from?

nuf said. quit sending me this crap. I mean it.

Bellrock Blues Festival, Arbroath

Just in from the folks organizing the Bellrock Blues Festival in Arbroath. Here's our schedule so far-

1. 11am sat 25 Aug in the Central- da band
2. 2pm sat 25 Aug in the Newgate- solo
3. 8pm sat 25 Aug in the Station- solo
4. 1pm sun 26 Aug in the Newgate- solo

Should be fun, I love Arbroath, foods great, people are fantastic and the band is hot these days...

I want to try this too.....

BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.

With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky.

Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.

"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin.

"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."


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Yeah, a parachute is a good idea. But a GPS? That's a little high-tech for me...

Moorings Bar, Saturday Night

What can I say, there's a certain type of bar or pub that I really like.

A little on the edge, dodgy part of town. Reputation for being a little on the rough or wild side. I'm there. Perfect place to play blues.

And that's what we did again last night at the Moorings Bar in Aberdeen. It has everything I like in a pub, and on our second trip through the Moorings we kicked it pretty hard. Great to play for an enthusiastic crowd, a room full of SHB regulars and new faces. Oh, and some really loud lap steel, played with a steel overhead door and a bucket load of feedback. Some blues too.

If you're new to the band, you should get on my mailing list by clicking the link about (to sign up) and I'll send you stuff so you can catch us again!

So where is Joey Fender?

Any ideas? Joey, are you still out there?

Website is down, and he's gone with out a trace. The Alaskan Rockabilly-blues king, vanished. Odd.

If you know where Joey is or how to get in touch with him, send me an email ok?