Final pics and thoughts on Memphis..

It's now late Monday and I've finally gotten around to some finals thoughts....All of the band is safely back in Maine..... and bummed that the Pats lost last night.....however some random thoughts on being in Memphis... to be in the home of the blues...with tons of fellow musicians..... all supporting each other and enjoying the moment is a lifetime experience. Most of the bands were happy to just be there.....some of the bands already had 5-7 CD's for sale, some had personal booking and management agencies, professional web pages and one band even came in a tour bus. One band in the club that were performed at flew in from Australia to perform. Talk about a mixture of varied talents and styles of blues. The entire spectrum was represented. Listening to everyone still makes you realize that the blues is based on a passion and love of the music. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.....hopefully will. later....

Beale Street at night...

Beale Street at nightime..where else could you find ten clubs with blues bands and six more with duo/solo acts from 5 - 11pm for two nights in a row. These were taken as they were blocking off Beale Street to traffic.....a couple hours later and the street were full with people. The place to go for blues lovers. More pics and stories to follow....provided we can get home on time and not spend another twelve hours at O'Hare. The fellow performers were great.. ....most everyone was enjoying the moment.later...time to get some decent sleep for the first time in days...

Finally...Friday nights pics...

The band played the last set at Club 152 at 10:15 pm on Friday, closing the semi-finals of the 2008 IBC. The crowd was ready and we were ready. We opened with "Born In Maine", our version of "Born In Chicago"), went into a aggressive version of "Tore Up", slowed down with Matt's "Back To Livermore", and ended with "Crusin 27". Unlike Thursday night (we were flat) with PA issues all night...no monitors, mike's shorting out, etc....tonight's gig was dead on...the soundguy, Steve, had rewired most of the house system....showtime... The crowd was into it and so were we....in the zone for the entire set....both Matt and Kyle stepped to the front and let it rip....Rich and Dave were like a sledgehammer....ringing all night...only stumble was when I almost went down trying to cross behind Dave to do some backup vocals with Matt on Rich's song. Our guitar chords got tangled and I almost unplugged myself, along with almost falling... we just laughed it off and didn't miss a beat. Nothing could be better than playing the final set on Beale Street dead on....we pretty much knew we weren't going to the finals but wanted to end our time on a positive note....we did!!!!

This post would have been done sooner but we stayed out much later and enjoyed Beale Street. Some members of the band didn't get in until 3:00am. Today was short as we all went to the Finals at the Orpheum Theater...just 10 killer bands but that and more pics will have to wait...





Nothing like a great performance to end the trip!!!!

more Beale Street pics...

the band on Beale Street.....

The band performed their first set at Club 152 on Thursday night at 6:35....some pics. We will be performing on Friday night at 10:35. Will post more pics later.

Thursday in Memphis..Part I....

This was the day...started with registration for the IBC....we all walked a couple of blocks to the Doubletree Hotel to register. Tons of people picking up tickets, etc. We were actually in the wrong line for a few minutes....I figured it out when I noticed that everyone had boxes of CD's except for us...this was a topic of converstation later.....finally got into the correct line and got check in....got a chance to talk to Paul Benjamin (promoter of the North Atlantic Blues Festival) and meet some of the other acts.


In the afternoon, Tyson, my son and myself went to the Gibson store. I had a chance to play some of the 335's and Les Paul's...went looking for a ES-339 but they didn't have any. Check out the pics of the store......didn't dare look at the prices...everything is $1500 - $4000.











Then Tyson, my son, and myself took the Gibson factory tour...interesting education of how the hollow body guitars are built. We spent about 45 minutes having a guided tour of the production line. It was a step by step course on how to build a guitar.....

Part II...the band on Beale Street to follow....