Music Trip to Austin -September 2012

Sam Broussard, Johnny Nicholas, and David Greely at Hilltop Cafe

Johnny Nicholas and Dave Greely at Hilltop Cafe

Starting in at the first of August, Dan and I  made a trip to Austin and Fredericksburg,  Texas to chase Golden Triangle. We caught their CD release party at Hilltop Cafe out of Fredericksburg on a Thursday night.
The Hilltop Cafe is a small gem in the middle of nowhere owned by Johnny Nicholas and his wife, who is the chef.




This place is an old service station from the 40's revamped and decorated with a lot of memorabilia Johnny collected when he toured with the band
 Asleep at The Wheel. (Dan and I followed Asleep at the Wheel around for a few years over 30 years ago.)  This was a unique dining experience, paired up with the incredible show performed by Johnny Nicholas, David Greely, and Sam Broussard, also known as the Band Golden Triangle. Previously, I posted a song performed by two of the performers at Chickie Wa Wa. Check it out to see what you think. Sam was unable to make that Chickie Wa Wa show show, but the performance  still stands up extremely well. Dan and I were the first to purchase their CD that night at The Hilltop and they autographed it on the spot.

Patty at Luckenbach

The next day  kicked around the countryside and visited Lukenbach Texas and then caught Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys  and Golden Triangle on a double bill at Antone's in Austin. C C Adcock sat in with Steve's band. That was a very good show. Dan and I started dancing and got the whole place up and going.







After the show, C C told us that Jimmy Vaughn was at The Continental Club Upstairs and we went there when we left. We were able to catch most of a set Jimmy Vaughn  put on, which was sort of a Jazzy Blues mix.

Steve Riley At Antone's

Patty and Jimmy Vaughn

C C Adcock At Antone's

We went back to The Hilltop that Saturday  night for another spectacular dinner and show by Steve Riley and his band, of whom one of the members is Sam Broussard. Sam is an exceptional guitarist, I might add. 



After visiting with Jimmy Vaughn after the show Friday night, CC also  invited us to go to the Fuck Cancer benefit held the next day (a Sunday) at The Continental Club , which was a benefit  for guitarist Nick Curran, who was riddled with cancer at the time. (Nick passed away two weeks ago-RIP.)

Patty and Dale Watson

The list of performers that played that day were:
Dale Watson
Dave Gonzales and Stepahnie Marlar
The Wyldwood Four
The Horton Brothers
The Bellfuries
The Sniffs
The Modern Don Juan
C C Adcock and The Lafayette Marquis and of course
Nick Curran and The Flashboys




Nick was very sick, could not speak, yet he played a blistering set of high powered punk. Dan got a poster and had all of the performers autograph it. I don't think I will hang it with the "F" word on it, but we will treasure it anyway.
I am posting  a photo I took of Nick's hands. I will not post a photo of him the way he looked that day  out of respect. He looked terrible and I don't want anyone to re-post a photo of him in that state and take it out of context.

Nick Curran's hands at the Fuck Cancer Benefit

The concert ended at 7:15 that evening and I had to jump in the car and drive back to Louisiana to be at work the next day at 7:00 am. I was an hour late to work, getting there at 8:00, after making a hellish ride back though the night which included getting lost in Houston due to a badly marked detour. It was worth it.
I went to work the next day  with the stamp on my hand in red  ink that read "Fuck Cancer." I wore it proudly. After all, I lost both my parents to cancer and it just did not seem right to wash it off.

Patty and Nick Curran in 2009  at The Blue Moon-Lafayette LA

Johnny Nicholas and David Greely

Johnny Nicholas and David Greely

Dan and I braved the rain and drive to NOLA to see Johnny Nicholas and David Greely do a set at Chickie Wa Wah. It was an incredible show which showcased Johnny's song writing ability and David's ability to pick up a melody right away. David Johnny have voices that mesh quite well.
Here is the  song address for the song "Big Basile."  David Greely is amazing and Johnny writes the most wonderful  songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Cei1Xdmtoo

.

P

Michael Juan Nunez and the American Electric is set to release "My Little Train Wreck" on April 17th, 2012

A couple of weeks ago I was baby sitting my adorable grand baby and stayed home while Dan and Larry drove  over to Lafayette to see Michael Juan Nunez and The American Electric at a fundraiser.I don't know much about that show, but as Dan was leaving Juan slipped him a copy of the just completed and polished "My Little Train Wreck" CD to bring back for a listen.

I was honored. I listened to it four times in a row and sent Juan a message: Could I review it? He said to keep it under wraps for a while and that we were privy to it ahead of the world. Of course we have been listening to it non stop. It has ten clean cuts.

Juan's song writing and slide guitar abilities shine here. He also brought into the fold some of the best musicians Acadiana  has to offer, including super slide star Sonny Landreth.
Over the last few months we have seen Juan play the title track song "My Little Train Wreck" many times with only him on guitar. It was a delight to hear Sonny Landreth slide on in on that cut and to hear Juan hold his own next to Sonny. I used to think Juan was heavily influenced by Sonny, but side by side it is obvious that Juan has a distinctive individual  style of his own. He uses a variety of guitars on these tracks and even plays bass on a cut.

Juan has brought in some young guns from his Alma Mater, Erath High School. A young man from Erath High School named Alex Boudreaux plays trumpet, Mike Veasey, the assistant band director at Erath High School plays sax, and Josh Trahan from UL plays trombone on the cut named "Lemonade." This cut has a very "New Orleans" feel to it. Delightful.

Dudley Fruge and Clint Redwing appear on the drums throughout the tracks. I can tell who is who, but listeners not familiar to these two might have a hard time distinguishing between the two. Basically, if there is finesse involved in the drums, that is Dudley. Powerful pounding sounds of driven force is usually Clint.
My favorite bass player in the world, Chad Willis is found here in full force. On "Needles," the sound gets powerful and tough and it brought back the feel of an Anders Osborne show I saw a year ago. Clint Redwing pounds the drums with force and conviction here.

The cut "Rock N Roll" is very good but I am hooked on the version from Juan's web site in a group of songs he allowed fans to download for free called "Songs from Potter's Field." (That gift is gone from his site now, I am sorry to say!) I can't get used to this version. If you have not heard the former, you will like this version just fine.

A tune about Harry Hippolite is endearing. This is a sweet tune dedicated to Juan's dear friend. It is a wonderful blues ode to a wonderful person.It is soulful and emotional.This showcases Juan's use of the slide in a way that is all his own.

The end cut is my favorite. "Up Jump the Devil" showcases the unusual  sounds Juan can coax  from the guitar just as he does at the end of each and every live show he does. Juan coaxes out sound here that is powerful, unusual, yet subtle.This cut reeks of  hardcore blues. Gris Gris oozes out of the sounds sliding across the landscape all the way from Congo Square ..........................

You can catch Michael Juan Nunez and the American Electric Thursday, April 19th, at  8:00 pm at Jefferson St. Pub, Jefferson St., Lafayette, LA, and at Festival Internationale in Lafayette, Louisiana on April 28th.
Below is the link to a video from the fundraiser that I missed.

There is a long list of people involved in the making of this CD:
Dan Desandro does the Mexican DJ voice on "Border Station."
Jerry Lejeune plays a gris gris stick on "Up Jump The Devil."
The CD is engineered by Tony Daigle and produced by A.J. Dauphin and MJN.
It is mixed by MJN and Tony Daigle. It was recorded October 22-26 2011 at Electric Comoland Studios in Lafayette, Louisiana, except for "Up Jump The Devil." Additional over dubs were done at Jerry Lejeune's studio in Lafayette, Louisiana. "Up Jump The Devil" was recorded (the guitar and vocals) at the KRVS
studio on the ULL campus by Aaron Thomas, and Carl Fontenot.


I am looking forward to the next few shows. I hope to see you there.
Patty McGehee

Below is a link to a live performance..........

 

Repost for My Space from 2 summers ago-Christian Serpas and Ghost Town at Ruby's Roadhouse

Christian Serpas and Ghost Town At Ruby's

Dan was sleeping on the couch at 7:00 Saturday night. He just can't hang with me on a Saturday night when he golfs on Saturday morning. I have a long time sulk going on about his Golf playing because it is always more important than my wants. It leaves me either watching him sleep on the couch all Saturday night or I can go out with friends. Problem is, at our age, no one wants to go out on a Saturday night to see music but me, so I find myself off into clubs alone.

That usually presents few problems but it does limit where I will go. For instance, I just won't go to The Marigny alone. Hammond is close but there is only two music clubs-one with too much cigarette smoke for me and the other a trendy College bar with high cover  charges for bands. Tommy's Pizza Parlor has Patrick Catania and Chris Zimmer there on Thursdays. They are wonderful to go watch, but alas, they are sandwiched in between the bar and a table section making it awkward to position oneself to listen.

That leaves Ruby's. It is a 30 minute drive away in Mandeville, La. It is a funky down to earth bar with a great sound system, a patio for smokers, and a staff that does not put up with nonsense from patrons. I feel safe there and usually have a great time.
So, Saturday Dan slipped off to go play golf and by 7:30 was cutting z's on the sofa. I was about as stir crazy as could be. I left in time to arrive there at 9:30 To see Christian Serpas and Ghost Town. The band was hanging around with friends cutting up and enjoying themselves. They are a very uplifting group of guys.

The show was solid and fun. I especially like their selection of covers of Rockabilly and vintage Country sprinkled with a few special songs on the verge of what I would call Folk music. ("Kocking on Heaven's Door," written by Bob Dylan.) They do a killer version of Bobby Fuller's "I fought the Law." George Neyrey made his guitar sound like a steel pedal guitar on this one somehow.
They performed "Little Sister," a song made famous by Elvis - written originally by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, members of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. This night, Christian sang it less stylized and with less of a nasal tone than  he has in the past. I like the new way a lot better.

A few Johnny Cash covers, a few Buck Owens songs later, they did a couple of songs Christian wrote. My favorite is "Read them and weep." George Neyrey plays very sweet guitar licks on this song and they are his own......Christian's lyrics are wonderful. I love the way he writes songs. He always tells a sweet story. If it was up to me, I would like them to do a whole set of songs Christian wrote. "Nothing ain't worth nothin" was especially touching to me that night.

I think my favorite cover they do is "Brand New Cadillac," a tune written by Vince Taylor, recorded in 1958. (covered by the Clash in the 1970's.) Somewhere in my vinyl  records I had a LP of Vince Taylor with a cover written in French. I think my cousin  has it now, over in Mandeville. I got it at Record Ron's in the French Quarter in the 70's when I saw the cover picturing a girl in a 50's style party dress hanging on leather clad Vince. Very campy stuff. I never even played it - had no turntable at the time and my cousin "stole" it from me when she was visiting. She claimed she would put it on cassette for me. I am still waiting. 

They ended the night playing "Sleepwalk," a tune written by Santo and Johnny Farina. It was originally recorded in 1958. I am very familiar with this song as it is the favorite song that Paul Lil' Buck Sinegal loves to open and close his gigs with. Now, after hearing both guitar players play this song, it is hard for me to chose who does it better: Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, ????? IT is a toss up to me. How either of them can make a guitar sound like a pedal steel guitar - I don't know. And, Paul Lil' Buck Sinegal is a legend, so that should tell you a thing or two about George Neyrey's ability. Behind all of this is two other solid wonderful performers that provide a foundation for Ghost Town: Brent Roser on Bass and Jeff Oteri on drums. Jeff is a driving force  in Ghost Town. Brent is solid and fun to watch. 

Remembering Buster Holmes' Kitchen

I awakened a little while ago and brewed coffee and chicory and cut a couple slices of French bed for breakfast and had a memory flash: I was back in Buster Holmes' kitchen in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. I was sitting  at the counter in his kitchen eating red beans and rice. On the side was two pieces of French bread spread with real butter. I had a small glass of iced tea. Mr. Buster was watching me eat. I had just paid him seventy five cents for the plate of food and the tea. If I had wanted just water, my tab would have been 45 cents. It was hot in there. Not every place in the Quarter had air condition in those days, and certainly there was none in the kitchen.

"He asked me, "Hey Lil' Blondie. Are you a runaway?"

"Naw," I told him. "My daddy is working  for Mac McConnel down on Bourbon street." Buster sighed in relief.  He was used to seeing teenage  runaways in the Quarter and he had a big heart.

It was 1969 and I was 15 years old.

Buster  had a towel over his shoulder and he was cutting up onions and bell peppers. He had  a huge pile of them he was throwing into a large bowl. There were no food processors in those days. Cooking was laborious.  I remember going there quite often to eat, not because it was good, nor because it was cheap. I went to watch Buster and his staff cook. I found it fascinating to watch him prepare fish and fry it. I guess, I learned how to fry fish by watching Buster. He had pork chops in a pan and GOD THEY SMELLED FABULOUS!

Through a screen door (my memory sees a screen door!)  one could see the inside of the restaurant. It was not fancy, just clean and respectful. It had a nice comforting, homey feeling.  There were photos on the walls of local musicians and celebrities. That is where you went to get the fancy, more complicated Creole fare that Buster could cook up. Oysters, fried Trout dinners, and all sorts of Creole delicacies were on the menu. Turnip greens, Pork chops, soul food, Buster cooked  it all. Buster was famous for his cooking.  

But, back in the kitchen was where the action was. I loved to sit at his counter and watch him cook.When some black street performers (tap dancers) came in to eat, he shooed them all the way over to the other end of the counter. I was surprised he did that. I guessed he was afraid that the tap dancers might get out of line and I would  go back and tell daddy that I had to sit next to black street people. Buster had a great sense about running a business and  making sure he was managing his customers. But, that is what was  intriguing to me about Buster's. EVERYONE was welcome to eat in the kitchen. Sitting next to black  tap dancers from the street had an appeal to me. It was exotic. It was not THE WHITE BREAD SIDE OF LIFE. So, to hang out in Buster's kitchen, the only qualification was, you had to be hungry and at least half the people in your group had enough money to pay.

I went back to Buster's kitchen counter many times. I wish I could go back there now. If  I recall right, it was on the corner of Orleans and Burgundy street. My recollection is beans and rice was 45 cents. I have read articles that a say people paid 25 cents and a penny tax. Well, not in 1969, but maybe earlier in time that may have been true.

I am including a link to a wonderful blog that has a lot more info about Buster Holmes' and the characters  that went there. It was close to Cosimo Matassa's recording studio (J and M Studios) and may famous people went there. It is a hundred more fascinating than my remembrances, but to me, these are dear memories of a man that could not let the little people of New Orleans go hungry, if only they had a quarter..............................

RIP Buster Holmes                 1905 - 1995

OOXX
Patty McGehee


http://peroldaeus-musicandart.blogspot.com/2010/02/busters-by-per-oldus.html

The Musicians worth--according to Frenchman Street.......by Patty McGehee

Summer is going to wind down in a few weeks. It has been slow for Dan and I concerning going to see live music for several reasons. The biggest reason is the entrance into the world of out new granddaughter, Patricia June Wilson. She weighed in at 4 pounds 6 ounces and is  tiny and fragile. She is also very healthy and cute.

So, in between waiting  for the baby to come and doing household projects, I had a lot of time to think. One night in July we went down to Frenchmen Street in NOLA and walked around checking out the scene out there. While the amount of quality music emanating out of the clubs was impressive, there was a lot of garbage on the streets for a Saturday night. I began asking myself, "Why don't club owners do something about the garbage piling up?"  I know that on Bourbon street, the business owners wash down their sidewalks themselves every morning. It looks like the business owners on Frenchmen street have no clue about keeping things clean  down there. Look, I am not a big Bourbon Street Fan. Since I am basically not into drinking huge quantities of libations, I don't really enjoy going there. Hanging out with scores of drunks is disgusting to me. The only time I have been there in the  past 25 years is when I had out of state guests that HAD TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT. In fact, I had to do that with a visiting guest in April. One thing I noticed in comparison to the two locations is, at the start of the early evening, Bourbon Street is a lot cleaner. As the night comes on, well........I am not so sure because I don't  go there late at night.

Of course, comparing the type of music between the two streets, well, Frenchmen Street wins hands down. There is more variety and more of what I call, "THE REAL DEAL" down there. Frenchmen Street is one of the places where the creative spirit lives in NOLA. Now, I don't want to insult some of the  other venues that I respect, so I am going to make a shout out right here about my other favorite places in the NOLA area that are showing righteous music.  I don't want to hurt any feelings. This list is not going to be in any particular order, so if your venue  is listed last, it means nothing:
Mid City Lanes Rock N Bowl
The Maple Leaf
Old Point Bar

Deckbar on Jefferson Highway
Chickie Wah Wah
The Kerry Irish Pub
The Republic
Howling Wolf
The Rivershack
The Beach House in Metairie has some good shows every now and then
Monkey Hill
The Bon Ton Roule Bar on Magazine Street
Tipitina's uptown
Vaughn's
House of Blues
Ruby's Roadhouse in Mandeville
The Beach House in Mandeville (Formerly Lucy's)
One Eyed Jacks
Louisiana Music Factory in house shows Saturday afternoons


Now, the reason I am  writing this is that I found Frenchmen Street too dirty to be pleasant. It did not help my opinion when a member of band that was performing on the street began yelling at me when I took a photo of them. I had planned on writing a blog about how good they were and post their photo, but when the young woman  began yelling at me to pay up in tips for taking photos, I told her, "NO WAY! Tip you after this  rudeness? I don't know at this point if any of the photos I have taken in this dark light are of any use, and since I do not profit off my photos, I would not pay you for them. Are you  a musician or a model?"  I sauntered off pissed.  She and a few other people followed behind me yelling at me , "Who the Fuck do you think you are stealing our images..and Pay up, bitch. Fuck you thief  ..." I kept my back to them. It was a bit frightening. The incident made me very angry.  How insolent!

Now, I am a seasoned veteran of traversing the street in NOLA at night, and that was sickening to me. But, I began to talk that night to another street person displaying and selling artwork on the street. I was impressed with his pen and ink drawings. Since I am an art teacher and artist myself, I was interested in his work. One of the things I was interested in was how was the money flow for the artists. I told him about the incident with the musicians up the street. He said, "Please don't be too hard on her or judgmental. Everyone here is scratching out a living. Most of us are basically starving. Here you are in nice clothes and being older like you are, she just saw you as a person who could afford to give and she was frustrated."  I went on to explain that I was financially stable, but not necessarily solvent enough to shell out big bucks for street musicians.(Earlier in the night, I had paid two cover charges at the club named DBA, paid a tip to a band and had no more cash to spend at that point. I had bought a coke and two bottles of water. I was financially done for the night. The tab was approximately 25 bucks. And, I still needed to pay for the parking lot yet, which turned out to be 14 dollars.Gasoline from my home north of the lake to NOLA had cost me approximately 18 dollars.Earlier in the night we had cups of coffee at Envie on Decatur Street. This meant that my foray to Frenchman Street totaled in cost of about  sixty bucks)   Plus,  I was well acquainted with many street musicians who had made their living on the street performing and I had NEVER witnessed any of them yelling at a person who possibly might tip them.

So, I began to wonder, how much money do musicians make on Frenchmen street? Why did the young street musicians feel they had the right to verbally abuse a person on the street who stopped for half of a song and snapped two photos? I repeat: I snapped two photos on a dark street and did not even  listen to a whole song, much less, a set of their music, yet the young woman began to verbally attack me for money AND follow me down the street for a half a block bullying me.I know a lot of people in my age bracket that would NEVER return to Frenchman Street if that happened to them.

It is food  for thought and I am still thinking.........

Looking in the window of The Apple Barrel on Frenchman Street

Next: What do musicians get paid for  on Frenchman Street vs Bourbon Street

Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition

It was the daily grind and I was headed home at about 2:45 in the afternoon after a hellish day of dealing with teenagers who were ready for summer vacation to "be here already." I was driving back up the Alluvial terrace of the old Mississippi River towards Ponchatoula over the edge of the Manchac Swamp up onto higher ground when I heard IT! WWOZ was on the car stereo and I was about to doze asleep at the wheel and a honky tonk piano and a voice caught my attention. It was Jimbo Mathus  singing a  song in his Delta drawl, " There's too much water, under the bridge." I was knocked out! I sat back up straight and tried to focus so I would not fall asleep at the wheel, a problem I seem to have at that time of day for some reason. I was familiar with Mathus. He had been a member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. But this stuff was different. It was roots oriented and had a familiar feel to it. 

 I had twenty  minutes left on the commute home and the DJ was interviewing Jimbo. He was talking about what influences guided his creativity. It was something about being in a musical family and growing up in Mississippi. They went on to play  some cuts off of "Confederate Buddha," his latest CD. There were some astonishing twin lead guitar licks, a lively honky tonk piano and some solid, hard core influences that could be heard from The Delta all the way to Georgia. The Allman Brothers came to mind at first. Maybe some North Mississippi Hill Country Blues and just some greasy slide guitar to cement it all together with enough of traditional blues to make it gell just right.

I entered the house and  asked Dan to check the Ogden Museum music show listings. I told him I thought I recalled that Jimbo was going to be at The Ogden at 6:00 down in NOLA that evening. He looked at the schedule online while I went and stretched out on the bed for 15 minutes. I was feeling very exhausted for some reason and I really was not up to it. But I kept hearing in my head that honky tonk piano. Dan came back to the bedroom and told me we had a road trip to make! Jimbo was performing at 6:00 at  The Ogden Museum!

We drove on down to NOLA in anticipation. We got to The Ogden a bit early and there were a lot of patrons there going in for a cocktail party reception on the third floor. They were not letting in regular members until right at 6:00. So we went for a walk to get a cool drink a block away. By the time we returned we were able to get in and get a seat right up front.

The show came on and it turned out to be a big disappointment, not because of the show itself, but because the noise from the party above drowned out a lot of  the sound from Jimbo  Mathus and guitar player Matt Pierce. The whole band was not there. I was aching for the whole band, The Tri-State Coalition. I was aching for the piano. But, together they put on a solid show and they held an interview which was interesting. Jimbo talked about the musical influences of his mother and father. His whole family spent a lot of time making music at home throughout his childhood.

Towards the end of the show, the noise was extremely loud from up above. I found myself getting angry about it. The fact remained that his whole band would be at DBA across town at 10:00 that night intrigued me. But, that would mean hanging around town from 8 - 10:00 and getting back to Ponchatoula around 2:00 am. and I had to work the next day.  I was feeling wrung out and very exhausted. I told Dan I did not think I could do it. We went back to Ponchatoula  vowing to see Jimbo with the whole band as soon as we could.
Jimbo has one of the best stage presences I have ever seen. It was as if he emoted the fact that to perform for others is his entire existence. I admire that in a performer.

I prepared for bed and realized I had not taken my thyroid meds for THREE DAYS. I don't know how or why I skipped them, but I had not done so. That explained why I felt so poorly.

So, doing some research before bed, I found out that he was playing the Baton Rouge Blues Festival soon. That was something on the music calendar already because we had heard that Carol Fran and Tabby Thomas were going to be there.  Talk around Louisiana was that they had both suffered strokes, but would be performing anyway.

On May 7th, we headed off to Baton Rouge around 10:00 am. I was drenched in sunscreen yet I was expecting to get a bad sunburn anyway.  Dan and picked up Larry and we set off to the festival. We brought our our lawn chairs in the trunk. On the ride over, Dan and Larry talked about all sorts of trivia. They get bogged down into details of recordings, dates, who's who on records, producers, mixers, equipment, etc. I absorb some of it, research a bit of it, but I am more fascinated with the stage business. Recordings are nice, but for me it is all about the LIVE performance.

We got there before the big acts were up. A High School Blues band was playing when we arrived. They were good considering their age and situation. (Since I am posting about Jimbo Mathus at this point, I am going to skip information about the other bands that were at the Festival with the exception of Carol Fran and Tabby Thomas.)

Eric Carlton

Jimbo Mahtus

When Jimbo Mathus came on the stage, the shade had creeped forward up to the front rail. I got up from my lawn chair to rail hug to take photos and possibly get in the shade a bit. Jimbo kicked of the show and he rocked us and performed  with conviction.

I was mesmerized by the whole show. The twin guitar riffs on "Jimmy the Kid,"  the drawl in Jimbo's voice when he sings  "Cling to the roots," and the honky tonk piano, and Jimbo's harmonica riffs,  all mesh together, highlighting the influences of Southern Rock, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, and traditional Blues as known on the Delta.

Highlights of that set, for me was the twin guitar riffs and Jimbo singing a sad "she done me wrong song" with lyrics that said "You tore out my heart" with such conviction, one was sure that he had  definitely suffered lost love before.  The song "Cling to the roots," which is about the disasters that can befall anyone living in the Mississippi Delta hit home hit home with me, having gone through several floods and many hurricanes in my lifetime.
The song   "Days of High Cotton," hint that life goes in and out of fortune, in an out of social injustices. One can imagine Jimbo hanging around with some of the Kimbrough family members discussing racial oppression of the early 1900's. Heavy stuff.

After their set, Dan and I wandered down into some shade and met up with drummer  and keyboard player Eric Carlton. We had a nice chat and Eric told us about a festival in Mississippi coming up named "Hamstock."  Dan and I vowed that we would try to make it up to Jackson for that. It was fun to speak to the band members like that.
 

Jimbo Mathus

Blues Legend Tabby Thomas

After Jimbo Mathus left, we got to see Carol Fran and Tabby Thomas backed up by Henry Butler on piano, and Chad  Willis on Bass. I don't know the names of the rest of the band members, but it was wonderful stuff. It was a treat to see that their health was not going to stop their wonderful performance. I was mesmerized by Miss Carol! She still has "it." She had the crowd mesmerized!

Blues Maven Carol Fran

Bass player Chad Willis,  and an  unknown to me harp player

So, later that month, Dan and I went up to Jackson Mississippi  to "Hamstock," a festival to raise money for a handicapped playground for children in need. It was a family affair. There was a barbecue competition and the barbecue feast was delicious. It turned out that the temperature outdoors was hovering over the 100 degree mark. I thought I was going to be miserable, but there was a strong breeze about and we fortified ourselves with several bottles of ice cold water. The barbecue people were winding down and pulling out just when the music was being cranked out so the crowd was small. We  had  our chairs up close to the band and it was a wonderful show. Jimbo was up right after dusk and gave us an awesome show. Those twin guitar licks knocked me out again. AND the piano! I don't want  you to think the whole show is filled with twin guitar, but it shows up now and again just to whet my appetite. I think it is all about Jimbo's drawl,  and the Blues influence that makes it all worth while. The music has a groove and feel to it that feels right.

Eric Carlton

Justin Shaw

Matt Pierce

Jimbo Mathus

We got to meet The Bailey Brothers, a band that performed before Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition.  I was impressed by their performance. I went over to find them after take down to get a CD. As I paid them for the purchase and got them to autograph it, they mentioned that Jimbo had produced it. We stayed there for about 15 minutes chit chatting with them.

Before the performance, Jimbo was hanging around selling CD's with a statue of Buddha on the table. He was inviting people to rub Buddha's head. That confused me. I always thought it was lucky to rub his belly, not his head I told Jimbo that I had enjoyed the performance at The Baton Rouge Blues Festival. He said, "Man, it was extremely hot up there. How about the Carol Fran Lady? WOW!"  I agreed that she was awesome. I said, "Thank you for the performance."  He said, "You are welcome!"  I went away so he could sell CD's.

Ever since these festivals, The Bailey Brothers and Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-state Coalition 's CD's have been on my rotation stack in my CD player.

Patty McGehee

Next: A post about  The Bailey Brothers, the band  that has a new album produced  by Jimbo Mathis.