Friday night..late..late...late

We went on about 11:00pm and closed the show at Alfred's. It was an upbeat high energy set. Matt got down in the audience and did his thing.....good crowd response....

It was a long day but well worth it. We didn't win the venue but the experience was worth the trip. The quality of musicians is pro level and everyone was friendly. Some friends of ours, Jennifer Marriot and Odd Sheep Out didn't win their venue either but that was a rip-off. I watched both sets and they smoked....interesting...

Tomorrow is the finals....should be interesting....right now I'm downloading the video of us on Friday night into the computer. Hopefully will have some more uploads on YouTube sometime in the next couple of days. It is 2:50am on Sat. and I have to be up in couple of hours to take people to the airport...later..

Friday day report...

The entire band went to Sun Studios today for pics and a tour. Sun Studios first recorded stars like BB King, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. Great to see some more history of Memphis. Tom had fun sitting behind the drum kit. We couldn't take pics in the display area but the studio was a treat. Had some nice gear in there, especially old amps and guitars.....collector items....

Spent the afternoon chilling out.....our gig is at 11:15pm which is 12:15 eastern time. The bars and restaurants are open til 3:00am......I know I won't make it but we need to see who makes the finals.

I will try to upload some more video tomorrow. Had some issues with taping at last night's performance. later.

Thursday night late.....

Did manage to get one video on YouTube....look for "Born In Maine" under barnburnersband. The gig went well. Had a few monitor issues and the bass didn't make the FOH but we still did a good job........Friday night we close at 11:15.....our kind of spot....later.

We all got in later last night. After we got done with out gig, we went out and checked out some of the other bands. Caught Jennifer Marriott and Odd Sheep Out...friends we met last year. They had a smokin' set....hope they make the finals......good people and great blues. We must have hit five or six other clubs, had some fried chicken at Miss Polly's on Beale Street...it was delicious.

Wed continued...

Picked up Matt, Dave and Kim from the airport and got back to the hotel. They all pretty much crashed since they had to get up at 1:00am to make the flight. Went to the Doubletree and got a schedule of events. We are scheduled to play at Alfred's 7:15 on Thursday and 11:10 on Friday. I took a walk to Beale Street and checked the club place out. Wow! great stage and lightning...large dance floor...located next to the Fedex Forum.

Had to go to the airport again to pick up Kyle. He called and was already at the airport....seems like he had messed up the arrival time. Right at we started to pull out of the pickup area, we see Steve Bailey...waiting for a taxi....no way...told Steve to hop in and save a few bucks. Kyle managed to program the GPS for his hotel...after we took a side trip and a couple of 300 degree turns.....yes I said 300....tale for another time..

After enjoying the hotels free dinner, the guys and their spouses headed to Beale Street for some music....first stop.....Alfred's of course...had to check out the place again.....great band (Darryl Raines) with Pat Pepin sitting in with them. Matt & Dave went back to crash again. My wife and myself hit Ground Zero Blues Club and BB King's before calling it a night.

Next up: the semi finals on Thursday...will try to get some more pics up.....later.

Early morning walk on Beale Street.

We did a quick walk on Beale Street this morning. Went to a real nice shop in Peabody Place and looked at a beautiful short sleeve shirt that would be great to gig in...it had guitars embroidered on both front sides ...until I saw the price - $175....not for me...bg Did see a shop on lower Beale Street that I'll have to check out later when it is open. Great looking stuff in the windows.

Went to the Gibson factory store and actually got my hands on a Gibson ES-339 in curly maple (special edition) with a price tag of $4300....don't think it will be coming home with me. The temp is 35 degrees and the wind chill makes it more like 15. Temps are supposed to raise into the 60's by Friday....more later...got to got to the airport to pick up the other guys.

more pics of Clarksdale

it should be easy to figure out which is the museum and which is the blues club.....bg...

went down to the crossroads...

Went to Clarksdale, MS and visited the Delta Blues Museum and Ground Zero Blues Club. Saw a ton of exhibits on most of the old blues players. Pictures don't do it justice and they have plans to add a $3M addition. Yes!!!! It gives one a true appreciation of the area and it's historic meaning to blues music. Had a great audio and video presentation on Muddy Waters. Included is the cabin where he was born. The list of musicians is too long to list. We'll have to consider making the trip again when the addition is added.

Then went to Ground Zero Blues Club for lunch. Signed the table where we ate and also the stage.....What a dream place to perform in....This is the place shown on the PBS blues special a while back. Morgan Freeman (the actor) and his partner bought it and have restored it to the juke joint it once was. Unfortunately we won't be able to get back when they have live music. the vibe is unreal.

Finally in Memphis..

Up at 3:10 am......on the road at 4:00...in the airport at 5:00...met Jess & Tom.....off the ground by 6:00. It is now 8:40 and I’m in the airport at Detroit...flight to Memphis is not for another 3 hours. Time to get some breakfast and maybe a nap....didn’t get a lot of sleep last night...

Got into Memphis around 1:20 local time (Central time). We all went down to Beale Street and checked out some of the clubs. Had some real good ribs at Blues City Cafe. Will check out the dinner at the hotel later.

Plan on heading to Clarksdale, MS tomorrow to check out the "crossroads". Hopefully will post some pics....we're all a little tired by now....later.

wilbur

The countdown starts...

Five days and we're headed off to Memphis.....can't wait. The band's last practice is Sunday... trying to clean up a few loose ends and finalize the song selection. Looks like we'll be doing four originals, "Barn Boogie", "Born In Maine", "Back To Livermore" and "Crusin' 27" .

You can view our Maine Blues Society performance of "Crusin' 27" on YouTube. Search for "Crusin' 27" and check it out. I hope to upload the band's performances for both Thursday and Friday nights in Memphis.

Updates and info will start on Monday, Feb. 2...... later

wilbur

Video's on Youtube and MySpace....

The band now has "Crusin' 27" on YouTube....look under "barnburnersband" and at www.myspace.com/mattandthebarnburners . We plan to add more videos and music in the future. The goal is to record some video's from the upcoming trip to the 2009 IBC in Memphis. If the quality is good, they will be added ASAP.

Two weeks and we'll be in Memphis.....great food and music.....the place to be.....more updates and pics to come. later.