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The day started out with the skies and prospects
for the first day of the festival looking rather
dark and me thinking of one of my favorite Robert
Cray songs ("The Forecast Calls For Rain").
But, we lucked out. No rain. In fact, by the
time the sun was ready to turn in, the weatherman's
call of a high of 73°F was way off. The
last day of August will definitely be a dog
day and our normal Labor Day heat and humidity
will be along for the ride. The crowd was decent
but tenuous early in the afternoon. But, after
it was obvious the bad weather was yesterday's
news, the crowds swelled - just in time too
(we'll get to that later).
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It's
always good to see old friends and a blues festival
is a great opportunity to visit with out-of-town
blues lovers and entertainers. And, the Big
Muddy brings them in from far and near - one
regular visitor rides his motorcycle in from
Tucson, Arizona, annually, just spend three
days soaking up St Louis blues and then heads
back. Folks, that love for the blues, especially
our St Louis blues.
Next week you'll be enjoying the sounds of a
number of St Louis (and surrounding area) bands
new to the show - I collected a handful of CDs
today and there's two more days to go!! A lot
of musicians don't even know about internet
radio yet - that's even more true for the vast
majority of blues fans. "Oh, you mean I
can listen to your show while I'm using my computer?"
Well, as you might have guessed, that's music
to the Blue Jazzman's ears because I can tell
them all about the show - after all, they asked,
right?
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Some
groups/artists you hear on the show regularly
included Soulard Blues Band, Patti & The
Hitmen, Mr. Arthur Williams (my nominee for
best entertainer in the Midwest), Oliver Sain
& The St Louis R&B All Stars, Brian
Curran and Leroy Jodie Pierson. There were a
number of groups I've never caught before or
just didn't have their music: Big Babe Martin
& Chump Change, Alvin Jett & Hired Help,
Crying Shame, and a new, as yet, unrecorded
group, Workin' Blues, amongst too many others
to list. We'll start featuring Chump Change
and Hired Help on Wednesday.
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Workin'
Blues, using standard four-piece instrumentation
with solid musicianship at all positions, definitely
has a bright future as a party band and, very
possibly, a solid recording group too, once
they work past covers and develop some original
material. Their lead singer is also a professional
stand-up comedian and the band weaves hilarious,
ribald humor into their blues for an excellent
show. The addition of some original songs with
the classic double-entendre blues lyrics, updated
for modern listeners, should guarantee them
critical and commercial success. (I caught them
at one of the night spots participating as a
festival sponsor after the evening's acts.)
The
highlight of the day was the twenty, or so,
minutes I spent with Robert Jr Lockwood (Robert
Johnson's stepson)- with nobody, I mean nobody,
interrupting us. But, imagine how many people
are constantly asking Mr Lockwood about Robert
Johnson. So, I intentionally never brought up
Johnson. Instead, we talked about Robert's long
journey from Helena, Arkansas, through Memphis,
later St Louis and finally to Chicago where
he became a blues icon known and revered all
over the globe, not just for his ties to Robert
Johnson but for his unique mastery of combining
the old Delta blues with the Chicago electric
blues AND staying relevant after almost 70 years
in the blues business.
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We
also chatted about his efforts in recent years
with upcoming blues artists and icons of rock-and-roll.
For instance, we talked briefly about his new
CD featuring Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.
Obviously, I would've loved sitting there all
night. But, Security told us they had to get
ready for the next act (Oliver Sain) and I thanked
Mr Lockwood for his time. And, he was most appreciative
of the CD I gave him of the "Up From The
Delta" hour we played on Thursday, paying
tribute to Mr Lockwood, Hubert Sumlin and others.
(Mr Sumlin gets his copy tomorrow when he appears
with Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin, Carey Bell
and Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith.)
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Another
high point was a brief audience with my own
favorite, local blues DJ, Papa Ray (Tom Ray)
who does the 4-to-7 Monday drive-time blues
show on a huge community radio station here
in St Louis. He's also a rather accomplished
blues harpist and owns one the largest independent
record stores in the Midwest (Vintage Vinyl).
As I've mentioned in the past, the major record
labels & radio corporations want to ignore
internet radio completely - they'd like to just
wish us out of existence. So, working with Papa
Ray will certainly help expand our playlist.
(Indies needn't worry, though. "Every Day
I Have The Blues" is and always will be
solidly in your camp and playing your blues,
no matter how many major label CDs we acquire.)
A
lot of the day was spent passing out postcards
provided by Live365 to recruit new listeners.
So, I didn't get to hear as much blues as I
wanted. I had to keep reminding myself I was
there to work, if you can call it that. Meeting
blues lovers with the potential of becoming
loyal listeners isn't exactly what most folks
would call "a job", after all. And,
making new friends who share a love for the
blues ain't a bad way to spend the day at all.
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I
was passing by the Vintage Vinyl booth and saw
a couple browsing through the blues albums Papa
Ray thoughtfully brought down to sell - at a
deep discount - at the Festival. [The out-of-towners
really appreciate this since they often don't
have a good blues CD source]. I offered them
a promo piece and got to chatting with them.
Folks,
it's a very small world. Turns out the husband's
brother has a Wednesday C&W album hour on
KHBL in Hannibal, Missouri. Of course, KHBL
was the first traditional radio station to notice
and invite us to broadcast. In a city of two
million at a festival with anticipated attendance
in six figures, what's the likelihood of something
like this happening? And, yes, I bought my Powerball
lottery ticket earlier (haven't yet checked
the numbers, though).
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Have
to run. Tomorrow's another Big Muddy Blues Festival
day and the first act at 4 P.M. will come soon
enough. (Remember, I'm still cutting and pasting
highlights of previous shows to make the Labor
Day weekend encores fun for those who can't
"bluesify" and have to be at home
or work, as well as our overseas listeners who
don't get a three-day weekend like we do in
America and Canada).
Sleep? Maybe next week. You won't mind if one
show next week (after we play music from the
Festival) is an encore show, will you, so the
Blue Jazzman can get some rest?
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