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Cross Country Tour: Fall 2005
Well, we're back!
Just two days short of five weeks, yea, this was a
long one! But
fortunately it was a great tour. When I think back on
the first few
shows, it feels like a whole other period of time, not
part of this
tour at all. Traveling this much can really distort your
sense of time,
not to mention the weather changes we went through. Fall
was just moving
into full swing as we headed south to Asheville, N.C. for
our first gig.
The drive was just exquisite with all of the changing
leaves dotting
the hills and farmlands along highway 81 south through
Virginia.
As we reached
Georgia, and
then Alabama
for the next
two shows, summer
was once again
in full swing.
What a gorgeous
day it was for
the
Kentuck Festival of the Arts; that kind of perfect late summer, early
fall day when it's warm and sunny, but not too hot, and the air is
crystal clear, the sky a deep blue. Since our start time was 3:30 in
the afternoon, we made sure we got there in time to walk the grounds
and check out all of the art. What a treat to get to see so much art
in one place; everything from painting to pottery to jewelry to
woodwork! And then there was the car that was completely paper
machéd and decorated, kinda like Sally Thackery's blues mobile! Very
entertaining!
Our fourth piece for this tour would be keyboard wiz Doña
Oxford.
Hey, you guys
know Doña from
her tenure with the Shemekia Copeland Band. But due
to her own busy
schedule, she couldn't "hop on the bus" until gig number
four of the tour
at the Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis,
Indiana. So my
guitar tech, Harley Erickson, came out with us for the
first three shows
and spoiled me by keeping my guitars in fresh strings,
setting up my
gear, and in general, just helping the band get on down
the road. When
Doña came aboard Harley flew home, as, let's be honest,
unless I were
to begin to pull a trailer, we can't comfortably travel
with more than
four bodies in the van.
That first show at the Slippery Noodle Inn was, as it usually is, a
hoot! This is a great venue, featuring all of the top touring blues
acts, serving food and drink, and hosting all kinds of crazy blues
fans. Have I ever mentioned Big Jim? He's been coming to my shows for
years, and yes, he loves the ladies! So when Jim arrived at the Noodle
to discover that Doña was playing with us, his eyes rolled back into
his head and he entered his own personal heaven. And so I digress.
You can't miss Big Jim, as his name implies, he is big!
And to add
to his size,
he has a very big personality, which is probably a bonus
for him at his
place of work, which happens to be at a prison! Rumor
has it that he
used to be a prison guard but after a somewhat heated
encounter, he
was moved to a prison desk job. But this could also have
been because
he is somewhat of a computer wiz. I don't know.
Anyway, at the
first show he and his wife came to, his demeanor did
make me a little
nervous, not to mention his appearance. You see
recently Jim
has been fitted for a full set of dentures, but at that
time he only
had one tooth left, front and center, bottom row, and the
thing was rotten!
But the more we talked, the more I could feel a
heart of gold
underneath. Meanwhile, Big Jim was busy shooting
pictures of us
all night long. And not just on one camera - he's got
multiple digital
cameras hanging from his neck, shoulders and belt.
Like I said,
when it comes to digital and cameras, Jim is your man.
The next time we passed through Indiana, Jim was at the show with
his family. He announced to me that he had a big surprise for me tonight,
and I couldn't even imagine what it could be. He milked the suspense
by waiting until we were just about to go on stage before pulling up
his sleeve and unveiling my surprise - a tattoo of my face on his upper
arm! So that's why he took all of those photos. But he told me not to
get too big-headed about it, because he has Marcia Ball on the other
arm! Since that time, many other blues women, including Doña herself,
have come to grace Jim's arms.
It wasn't too far into our first set at the Noodle that Doña and I
could tell just how much fun we were gonna have on this tour! Throwing
licks back and forth, we realized how much in common we have as
players. Doña's years spent with her mentor, Johnny Johnson, molded
her musical make-up as did my years with Albert Collins, so there was
instant chemistry.
There were so many cool gigs on this tour, I won't be able to cite
them all, but I sure was grateful to have big turn-outs at our two
major city shows: Chicago and San Francisco. I hadn't played Buddy
Guy's Legend's in quite a while, and I just love that club! It's big,
it's bad, and it's Buddy's! They've got excellent food and a cool
blues atmosphere, a great stage and a great soundman. Thanks Dave! A "
must see" on any blues-lover's travel list. And right up there with Buddy's
club
is Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco. I love the way these clubs attract
a
great mix of folks from local blues fans to tourists from all over the world.
As we hit the northwest, so did two other bands, creating a little
competition for our shows: Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones! The
Stones would play about two or three days prior to our hitting an area
and then McCartney would either perform on the same night we did, or a
night or two later. Many of my "baby-boomer blues fans" were torn
between trying to get out to all the shows. Ya know, time and
money are getting harder and harder to come by! So I was surprised a
couple of times when we packed the house such as at Roger's Zoo in
North Bend Oregon. Just a little town on the coast on a cold funky
night, but folks came out to party and support the blues, with so much
spirit and love for the music! Roger is a lifer in the biz and used to
run a punk venue before he "mellowed" into the blues. So he knows
what
it takes to make the folks happy: a funky atmosphere, a huge bar, a
dance floor, and surprisingly great food! So when we hit Portland, Oregon,
I figured the folks would be totally burned out by too many shows to see
but the fans came out to the Cascade Bar and Grill and partied all night long.
Yea!
Oh yea, I can't wrap this up without talking about Halloween. Thank
goodness the blues society in San Louis Obispo had kept up with my "
letters from the road" and knew my great affinity for Halloween. I
thank them so much for thinking of us when planning their party, 'cuz
it was a good’n! This long established Blues Society always throws its
parties at the Vet's Hall which holds hundreds of folks. So if you can
picture a giant hall filled with crazy costumes, you get the picture.
Doña and I had a ball in the girl's bathroom doin' our make up and
giggling like school girls! A.J. had picked up a Bootsy Collins hat to
augment his Funkmeister persona, and Doña and I attacked him with our
make-up causing him to end up a cross between Kiss and Bootsy. Doña's
commitment to a witch costume was a bit frightening, complete with
green face and press-on nose with warts! And Don was just adorable
with orange Pippy Long Stocking pig tails flying!
Well, besides getting attacked by a tumble weed out west, we made it
through another adventure unscathed. I just wanna thank all of the
club owners and fans for working to keep the blues alive!
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