THIS WHEEL'S ON FIRE!

Synchronicity; would that be the right word? Be it a cosmic connection or just pure coincidence, it seems that all spokes have been leading to the center of the same wheel; Levon Helm's wheel, that is. It began at a festival in Wheeling west Virginia. We'd passed the town of Wheeling, which hugs the shore of the Ohio river with its cool old homes and buildings, so many times as our travels took us one way or another across the bridge. At one point curiosity finally got the best of us and we actually took the downtown exit and gave ourselves a little tour. There's an island across from the town in the middle of the river, and the bridge that takes you over to it has so much historic charm that we couldn't resist it, and the old homes on the island must've been the envy of the town in their day. So, suddenly, after all of these years of being passed by, Wheeling is hosting a blues festival!

Though the talent line-up for both days was phenomenal, and the festival sight is right on the river, the festival suffered from first year blues and had a low audience turn-out. Playing on the second day, Sunday, we had the additional obstacle of torrid rain for the whole first half of Aug 12. As luck would have it though, the rain cleared out in time for Wallace Coleman's band to play the blues. I wasn't hip to Wallace, but now that I've experienced him, I just love him: a singer/harp player, his band is great, and they play the blues just how you wanna hear it...he's really got the vibe. Having backed up Robert Jr. Lockwood for 8 years, he's out on his own with a new C.D., Stretch My Money....check him out!!!

Speaking of the man, Robert Jr. Lockwood was up next and I sat in the front row, watching in awe his guitar prowess on a 12 string, which accompanied the deep blues soul of his voice. An amazing artist, still going strong.

When we performed I had that feeling...ya know; where the sound you're getting on stage and the feeling you have inside are in perfect harmony and you love every moment up there. I like to think we set the vibe right for the headliners, Bob Margolin and the Rolling Fork Review featuring Hubert Sumlin, Carey Bell, and Levon Helm...oh, I'm finally getting to that spoke on the wheel! Carey Bell was phenomenal - one of the few left folks...that real old school Chicago blues harp thing. You can't help but think of Jr. Wells when you see Carey, there are many similarities, and I mean that in the best way...I'm sure they both came up sittin' at Sonny Boy's feet. And I've never heard Hubert pull out all the stops the way he did that late afternoon! I even caught Bob Margolin's eyes poppin' out a couple of times when Hubert grabbed the strings and just wrenched some other-worldly, bad-ass blues licks from his guitar.

Maybe it was the incredible back up band that Bob has now with Mookie on Bass and Russ on drums...both great singers, Mookie blowin' a mean harp, too, David Maxwell on piano...and Levon Helm on drums too..yea, two drummers!! It was just awesome...and Levon's got that perpetual grin on his face while he cuts one of the deepest grooves the blues and rock world has ever known. When A.J. and I jumped on stage for the final jam, we now had two bass players and three guitar players...All I know is that every moment of their show was magic, and at the end of the set, with all of us jammin', well suddenly, it was all over but Bob and Hubert and I remained on stage...Bob started playing a slow, deep blues, and Hubert and I joined in and it became a moment in time that I will never forget...blues heaven!!!

Watching and playing with great musicians is half of the fun at festivals; hanging out with them is the other half!! Hubert and Levon are both charmers who cannot be resisted! And Bob and Levon are great story tellers! I noticed Don and Levon starting to really connect, both being drummers, and both having grown up on farms...it's that down-home thing! It was after that show that my band and I decided to find Levon Helm's autobiography of himself and the Band, entitled This Wheel's On Fire, and read up. We were not disappointed; this is a great story about American Rock and Roots music with particular emphasis on the whole Woodstock scene, Bob Dylan, and the birth of rock 'n roll. Highly recommended reading for all those who care to indulge.

Just as I was entering the last chapters adventures in (Wheel) so did I receive my latest issue of Blues Review, and lo and behold, an article on the Band and Bob Margolin's column elaborating on the after-hours jam after the movie shoot of the Last Waltz ended. So, to complete the serendipitous experience, I had to go out and rent a video of the Last Waltz. Of course I've seen it when it came out, but this second viewing was graced with a Whole new perspective. And so it goes.