Playin & Workin

Played the Spring Into Summer Festival in Oak Grove, KY (near Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne!) Had great time. Beautiful amphitheater! Later, did an interview on WKDZ.





Afterward, ran into my old HS buddy, Ken Nance, a retired Screaming Eagle himself! We shared some BBQ and some memories! Great day!

(Photos courtesy WKDZ, Rachel Vickrey)

Rain, Rain Go Away

Rain played a big factor in the Lowertown Art and Music Festival as hard rains on Sunday really hurt attendance. In fact, we, along with several other bands were told we didn't have to play if we chose. Some bands packed it in and left town. Not me. I played on! I had driven up from Fulton and to be honest, wouldn't have felt right cashing the check if I had not held up my end of the contract. Also, we had two small groups who had driven up from Tennessee to Paducah, just to hear us play, so I didn't want to let them down.

Right before our set, I had a conversation with Nathan Blake Lynn, a very talented songwriter/singer who plays solo, and with the popular band "Bawn in the Mash." They had already taken down the stage on which he was to perform, so he asked if he could do a few tunes while we set up. I thought it was a great idea, plus I wanted to hear him play some of his songs, so it worked out great.

It's always tough with the weather this time of year. Kinda weird in that the culprit this time is a pesky low pressure center to our west which has been moving at a snail's pace and keeping us in relatively the same pattern for several days. Hopefully, it'll be out of the way by Friday, when we play at the Viceroy Amphitheater in Oak Grove, Kentucky for the Spring into Summer Festival.

Found out today, I'll be back at the Lion's Club Telethon of Stars in November. My 20th year there. Where does the time go!?! It's a super good time and a super cause. One of the beneficiaries of the Telethon is Easter Seals Western Kentucky, which we at PATS work with. They're fantastic folks and perform a fantastic service and I couldn't be happier than to play my heart out to help them.

Nice article on the 20th anniversary of Hot August Blues!

I keep getting hit up with the question of when I'm going to put out another CD. The answer is, as soon as I can. I just about have enough material to do it, however, the economy is pretty tight right now...as if I have to tell you that! I'm planning and hoping though. I still have some stories to tell.

I wish "Current" would ask me what's on MY Ipod! It might be surprising!

God Bless you all!

When I Need To Recharge, I Head To The Delta

I'm from West Tennessee. I remember the cotton fields from my childhood. When I need rejuvenation, that's where I go back to.

I seek out Junior:

I seek out R.L.:

I seek out Paul "Wine" Jones:

I seek out Big Jack Johnson:

And of course, my mentor in the blues, the late, great Snooky Pryor. God Bless you Snooky, I miss you so much.

Looking for My Fav Girl Rockers

There are some who think being a rocker is a guy thing. I'm not one of them...I have plenty of favorite girl rockers and bluzers!

I saw Lisa Loeb several years ago, and I think she's a great songwriter.

I really like Sarah McLachlan, even though she's Canadian!

Speaking of Canadians, I guess my favorite is Joni Mitchell. Here's a great clip of her with Pat Metheny and the late Jaco Pastorius. I've never seen her live, but would love to.

One of my favorites over the years is Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. "Brass in Pocket" is my favorite Pretenders song.

Another of my favorites is Bonnie Raitt. Her concert is one of the best I've ever seen. When I saw her sing this song, you could have heard a pin drop in the place. She's also one of my favorite slide players.

One of my favorite Blues Gals is Candye Kane. I had the fortune to meet her several years sharing a bill with Marcia Ball and Kim Wilson. She's great, and this is a great clip with Steve Wilcox on guitar and the great Sue Palmer on the piano.

I also like Susan Tedeschi and would enjoy seeing her live sometime.

And there are many, many more where these gals came from.

Tis The Season

It's almost Festival Season and even with the economy in such bad shape, I'm excited. I know many of the festivals are working on limited budgets this year, but perhaps they'll give everyone a chance to get away for an inexpensive day trip, listen to some great music and forget about the economy for a few hours. It's the same for me. I get to reconnect with old friends, both onstage and off, and listen to some artists who I've never heard and always wanted to hear live!

I'll begin at Alto Vineyards, Saturday May 9th at their Spring Wine Festival. I always love playing at Alto Vineyards, even though it's a long gig (5 hours). Someone once asked me if I could play a certain song there and I responded, "I sure can! In fact, at 5 hours, I'll play everything I know, and several songs I don't know!"

Sunday May 24th, I'll play the Lowertown Arts Festival in Paducah. It's a really unique festival, with all kinds of music. Saturday's lineup is great too with avant garde bluegrass outfit Bawn in the Mash and an artist I've really wanted to see perform, Amy LaVere, from Memphis. She's a very unique talent who has an unforgettable voice and plays upright bass. I'm so thrilled they booked her for the Lowertown Arts Festival, so I'm planning on coming up Saturday to see her set before we play on Sunday.

Friday, May 29th, we'll play in Oak Grove, Kentucky at the Spring Into Summer Festival. It's scheduled at their new amphitheater, and has a lot to do for the whole family. We've never played at the Oak Grove/Ft. Campbell area and look forward to it!

Friday, June 26th, we'll be in East Prairie, Missouri for the Mainstreet Festival, which is held in conjunction with the "Tour de Corn." Oddly enough, my brother, an avid cyclist, has ridden in the Tour de Corn several times and may again this year. I might ride in it this year too, as I love riding, but I don't go very fast! I'm hoping that East Prairie's native son and my buddy, Reid Howell can make it!

Thursday night, August 27th, I'll be back at the Hot August Blues Festival. It's the 20th Anniversary and they've got a good lineup! I'll be especially interested in hearing, for the second time, Eddie Turner, who I heard at the Chicago Blues Festival a few years back, and Lil Dave Thompson. I've seen Reba Russell several times over the years, and she always smokes em. I even remember her from Reba and the Portables in the 80's Memphis music scene! Turner goes way back. In fact, he even took Tommy Bolin's place in the legendary band Zephyr "back in the day."

In September, we'll be at the Cache River Basin Winery for a wine festival, and then September 19th, we'll open for Ronnie McDowell at the Old King Coal Festival in West Frankfort, Illinois. That will be a hoot!

Saturday, September 26th will be a real hoot! BBQ on the River and we'll share a bill with one of the hottest and longest running Blues bands around, The Beat Daddy's. It'll be great to see my buddy Larry and watch them play again. This is gonna be fun! Then it'll be time to take a break, watch some football and eat some wings! It'll be a fun ride!

I Still Watch American Idol

I still watch American Idol, although I'm terribly busy, what with the quilt show week coming up and all. Here are my favorites and handicap thoughts following "Movie Night":

I love Lil Rounds voice, but she does need to do a better job of making songs "her own." She really needs Melinda Doolittle's "song advisors." She has so much promise, but sadly has gotten worse as the show has gone on. If ever someone needs to get her groove on, it's Lil Rounds, because she has the chops.




Danny is a great singer with a great back story. I'd like to see him do well! I think he has a great voice and does great interpretations! He didn't do great tonight, but everyone stunk it up tonight. He was lukewarm in a sea of ice water.




Adam is very dramatic, flamboyant, creative and yes, very gay. Could he be the first flamboyantly gay winner? It will depend on the teenage girls. Will they buy in? Can they "cross over" enough to "the other side?" Cher thinks so! "Ground control to Major Tom?" I'm not so sure, even with his "raging" reviews from the judges.




Matt, the Justin Timberlake clone of the competition is not bad, but is he carving out his own niche? He wants so bad to be a rocker, but his stripes, which he cannot change, are so 'N Sync.







I like Allison, but hate teenagers who have already made more money than I will in my lifetime. Is that so wrong? What a dilemma!




Chris is not bad! I hope he doesn't get voted off. Anoop is terrible. Please, "no mas!" He needs to go.

I must say, "Movie Night" was a tremendous disappointment. I mean, TWO Bryan Adams songs? Even Bridget said, "This makes me want to listen to Metallica." I'll never forget my interview with Peter Fonda, one of the favorites I ever did, when he said how honored he was when he saw where Quentin Tarantino said "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" was his all time favorite movie. How sad Quentin must be, that his night, "Movie Night" was such a dud. Even "Vote For The Worst" seems torn. It is a much more clear cut case that David Alan Grier should not have been voted off "Dancing with the Stars" in favor of cocaine aficionado albeit Hall of Famer, Lawrence Taylor. If there was a way, they ALL should be voted off tonight. I'm still waiting for "Blues Night," "Rockabilly Night," "Jazz Night" or even "Sinatra Night."

Black Panthers!

I have never seen, in person, a tornado, a UFO (well maybe once, but from a distance), Bigfoot or a Black Panther (except for Bobby Seale on TV years ago). That's why it depresses me that members of my own family have seen the elusive black panthers in West Tennessee on more than one occasion. I just might have to make it a mission, because I KNOW they're there!


So far, the only black cat I see regularly is Buckwheat, my pet cat, but even with that one, there are days which go by without sighting the elusive cat, and it's IN MY HOUSE. Buckwheat's a strange cat, but certainly not large or legendary.


Although the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says there's no such thing, others in West Tennessee keep track of the sightings. They're black cats, but much larger than house cats. They're reported to be larger than a mid size dog. There are a few photos of them, but not many. TWRA says they are cryptid.

I don't think so, and I have 2 witnesses in my own family. My brother, an avid bike rider, spotted one in a ditch beside the road one evening, and my little sister spotted one on at least one occasion in a field behind our parents house, near Trenton, TN. I tend to believe my sister on these things since she's a PhD in Zoology. Both said it was no housecat. They're not willing to say it was a puma or mountain lion, or jaguar or leopard, but it was MUCH bigger than a house cat. They said it was slightly larger than a mid-sized dog.

I told both of them to do something I always do: have a camera. I always have a digital camera or a cellphone with camera at all times, just in case I see that darn cat.