So, picture this; it's Monday night in Maumee, Ohio, Maumee being a suburb of Toledo. The local bar has just undergone an ownership change. They're not so sure that live music, especially blues, will sell beer the way Karaoke will, but at least football season is coming up. The idea of a so-called "National Blues Act" coming into town and doing any business on this late addition to the schedule, at a glance, looks like a long shot.


Yet here we are, and the room is full. And it's because of one thing; the local Blues Society. In last night's case, The Black Swamp Blues Society.


For any touring blues band, the local Blues Societies are the people ho put gas in the tank, and cold drinks in the cooler. At the Cincinnati Blues festival, it was BS - as in "Blues Society" - volunteers who drove the army of gold carts carrying equipment and people from the parking lot, to the hospitality tent, to the backstage. In Edmonton, BS volunteers swarmed the stage between sets and moved...whatever they were told to move, really. They bring the food, run the gate, sell your merchandise, make you tea, and sometimes even do massages. They take pride in spoiling us.


And I'm pretty good at getting spoiled.


The only thing they want in return is a little access, and that interaction between "Artiste" and "Fan" is what makes the blues A.) special and unique, and B.) a living, breathing art form. I see articles all the time bemoaning the future of the blues, and how the form isn't bringing in younger talent, isn't expanding it's appeal, and the fan base is aging.


Well, yeah! Not everyone grows up loving the blues. A lot of fans come to the blues as they get a little older, and the reasons have to do with the "re-invent the wheel" nature of popular music that makes so much of it ring hollow to the ageing fan, and the fact that blues is so fan friendly, through festivals, the cruises, and local Blues Societies.


It's not just touring acts; Blues Societies are invaluable resources for local acts, too! They're the one's who come to see you, talk about you, and buy your stuff. If you're a musician, these are the fans who can help your career. Most of the time, they know who needs someone before the musicians do (like Deb Lubin, who I'll owe forever for the heads up on the Candye gig!).


What always trips me up, though, is the knowledge you run into with blues fans. It's pretty natural during the course of a conversation to do a little name-dropping. People want to share their stories of hanging out in Memphis with so-and-so, or how when a certain singer came through town they went fishing together, or the dinner party they were at for this great band from wherever. I'll tell you a secret; a lot of time, I've got no idea who they're talking about.


I'm not completely ignorant; I know who a lot of people are, and if I've been on the bill with them, I try to learn a little somethin' about them. Some of these guys are friends, and it's a treat to be on the same festival. But I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge that your average Blues Society member displays. So I smile and pretend and tell them how cool I think their stories are. And they are cool, I just don't always know who they're talking about.


So, support your local Blues Society, because they support everything! Speaking of which, it's almost time to renew my Golden Gate Blues Society membership!

The Mississippi River rolls straight down from the top of this country to the bottom. It is a storied waterway, a romantic symbol, and a historic avenue of commerce. Songs are sung, stories written, and paintings and photographs depict almost every curve.

The same romantic notions will never, ever, ever touch on Highway 80. No one will ever write a cool song about it. No tales of the romance of the long, black ribbon of asphalt will last beyond their creator. Visually, while parts of it wind through beautiful scenery, the majority of it is monotone; scrubby desert, or miles and miles of corn.

So I'm not the guy who's going to wax poetic here, as I tell you of my drive from San Jose to Cincinnati. I don't really want to talk about it at all, but this is where the story starts, so here we are; landing at San Jose airport, collecting the van, and heading out for the start of our month long Mid West tour. Google says 36 hours of driving, and with three drivers, that should be easy.

*Sigh*

First, I'll brighten the mood and tell you about the good part, because there was one. One. Day two, we stopped for dinner in Salt Lake City at The Red Iguana, and met Deanna, Christian, and Baby Emma! That was great; Emma sang all through dinner then danced barefoot on the table. The company was fabulous and the food amazing.

The rest of the time was spent driving, and driving, and driving, broken up by dumpy hotels and not-so-good food. Certain things break up the tedium, like the Biblical storm in Nebraska that made the sky look like a scene from "Independence Day." Driving was an exercise in not getting blown away.

Another fun part was the fact that somewhere between 10 and 15% of the drive was through slowed down, "Stimulus Dollar" construction projects. And the "Party of No" talking heads keep telling us that there are no jobs coming from the program. Those politicians should take a drive.

Far and away, my favorite is the casually racist small talk at the Wyoming Gas/Bait/Ammo shop. I mean, I know I walked into that one, wearing my "Brad Pitt for Mayor" T-shirt. It drew a sneer right away from the proprietor who sells shirt with things like "12 Reasons Handguns are Better Than Women", and "Trust the Government? Sure! Ask Any Taxpayer".

The man addressed me as Brad Pitt asking why I had 11 different kids from 11 different countries. "And why" he asked, "do THEY all have black babies now? Ever' one of them has to get themselves a black baby from Africa or somewhere. Don't we have children here, that need help?"

What are you gonna do? Argue with the ammo guy, while you fill your van with Cali plates at his pump? You shrug, grin, pay and leave. After all, you're from California, where you're pretty sure we know better, but you know this guy thinks he's the normal one, and that anybody from a coastline, chances are they're nuts.

But you know what? I call bullshit on this Mid-Western, "salt-of-the-earth" superior dance. I'll tell you why; all the way across the country, every town has a Starbucks. Hell, even "Granny's Café" next to the Ammo-rama had Lattes and Espressos. And if you check "Yelp!" on your Smart Phone as you plow through those "Flyover States", you'll find Four Star Sushi joints dot the landscape the way herds of Buffalo did a hundred and fifty years ago. The same stupid "Reality" shows people watch in L.A. and N.Y. are on in Smalltown USA, and People Magazine doesn't have different edition based on your proximity to an ocean.

So take THAT, America. You've been assimilated, and you like it. I'm even beginning to think that you're just posing as hicks and hayseeds for our benefit. I imagine the Gas&Guns guy waiting until I left, and then he and his friend bursting into peels of laughter; "Did you see his face when I asked about Black Babies? Priceless! He's going to be muttering about rednecks for days. Now be a dear and pop next door for a Soy Vanilla Latte for me, would you Hon?"

That's enough 'grumpy' for one night. We drove 600 miles today, and I'm sitting in a very old, elegant hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa (where the Rest Stops have Wi-fi, thank you very much), and watching a thunderstorm. Next time, I'll tell you about the gigs! Which have been very cool. And interesting.

I know that a lot of you are my friends on Facebook, so lately you’ve been getting all the weird Status Updates about charities, strippers, churches, giant organs, and…I dunno…Sushi. I realize that maybe, just maybe, not all of you follow my every move, and may be a little unclear about what the hell I’m doing.

As if I know!

But, I figured I’d take a minute and fill you in on the whole United by Music thing, and tell you some stories.

Briefly, United by Music is an organization started some years ago in the Netherlands. The concept is to find talented intellectually disabled people, work with them a while, and put them on the road with a “Real” blues band. Candye’s been involved with the thing since it’s inception, and even came up with the name “United by Music”.

We are on the inaugural UBM North American adventure. What we have been doing the last week plus, is present a Showcase, featuring three performers from the program in Holland, and throw in some education, and not just a bit of a sales pitch, to set up bringing UBM to the States.

So every night, the band and Candye play a little, listen to some speeches, play some more, listen, play, listen, play…then belly up to the buffet. We’ve got seven shows behind us now, on an eight show tour. We head to Portland tomorrow for the last show, and a big farewell dinner at our favorite Portland pit stop, Starkey’s.

The three performers from Holland who we back every night are the best ambassadors the program could have. “Lady Angel” is a singer who first met Candye and got involved a few years ago. Music and performing have brought her out of her shell. She’s a “Diva” now, and displays grace and humor in a crowd. Arthur is a true success story, and a born entertainer, who spent years hearing about how he’d never amount to anything, and gets emotional whenever he thinks about how now he’s on tour in the USA. And finally, the newest UBM performer, Leon. Leon plays guitar, and while his favorites are instrumental rock bands like the Shadows and the Ventures, he’s a walking encyclopedia of music.

Every night we - The Candye Kane Band - back these guys up, and every night of the tour, each and every one of them has given it their all, enjoyed every minute, and gotten better. It’s a reminder of the joy that playing music brings, and how lucky we are to get to do this.

These showcases last an hour and a half, and generally start early in the evening, typically 5 or 6PM. Nestled around a couple of these we’ve done some Candye gigs, and it can make for a long evening for delicate musicians! Last Friday, we were at Highway 99 Blues Club in Seattle by 4:30 to set up for a showcase, worked that from 6 to 7:30, then at 9:30 started a two set Candye gig. That makes for nine hours at the club.

Generally, nine hours in a barroom can’t mean anything but trouble. Touring is hard, remember? The truth is at Highway 99 the owner is the coolest, the food is great (and free), and we had a Burlesque Dancer, “Shanghai Pearl” perform with us on stage.

Were we tired? Betcherass. As it fun? Yeah, it was hella fun. Of course, that didn’t stop us from complaining about that 9:30AM Lobby Call the next day for the long drive to an early afternoon Showcase the next day!

The United by Music tour comes to an end tomorrow, and the crew from the Netherlands fly home. We head for Cincinnati, and start what Candye calls “The Humidity Tour”, bouncing around the mid-west for the next month or so. We get a lot of compliments for doing this kind of charity work, but it’s easy for us. We show up and play music and people pay us and feed us and tell us they like us. “Rewarding” doesn’t scratch the surface!

Dear Canada,

Hi, it’s me, Kennan, and once again I’m here in Vancouver! I figured it out; in the last 12 months, I’ve been to Canada for six gigs, on five trips, four of those here in Vancouver. I really like this city. It’s beautiful, clean, has a little of everything from seedy to toney, and also has a lot of good Sushi bars. Remember how much fun we had together during the Olympics? That was so cool!

So, listen, it’s because we’re friends that I wanted to have this little chat with you. You’re a great country, but unless you clean a couple of things up, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep coming back so often.

We’re friends, right? We live so close, neighbors in fact. We tease each other, but we have more in common than we do differences. Sooo…what’s the deal with the damn border? Why does it always take hours and hours to cross over? I mean, I understand the need for paperwork, and tax forms and such, but why does everything grind to a halt even when it’s all taken care of? C’mon; is Vancouver in danger of being overrun by deadbeat bands from the U.S.?

Two or three weeks ago, we landed at the little airport in Thunder Bay, and the girl looked at our Passports, asked us where we lived, and passed us through. Today, same band, and time came to a standstill.

Now, I know that the guys on our side of the border don’t make it any easier for your folks either, but somebody has to stand up and be the adult here, and frankly, I think you’re better suited to do that than we are. Take the initiative. I know it will take a little work. You’ll have to upgrade; that ancient DOS system you’re using needs to be replaced. That way, you can call up our names when we show up to cross, and see that we’re in good standing! Then we can just whisk through and instead of rushing around and playing gigs in our “driving clothes”, we can take our time, change into our cool gear, and have a leisurely Sushi dinner! It’s a huge “win” for everyone!

Eventually, the guys from U.S. Customs/Homeland Security/Whatever will come around. It may take a little while. We can do this. It will be awesome. I’m here to help.

There is one other little thing. I know you like the differences between you and the states in certain things. Health Care, the groovy way you say “about”, and we don’t even have to mention Canadian Football, which is nuts, by the way. Sorry, couldn’t help myself, but what I really wanted to bring up is your Highway 99, the one traffic artery into Vancouver. You cruise along on a two lane road, and suddenly, just as three more lanes merge into it from the East, the whole thing goes down to one lane. ONE LANE!?! From five? How can you possibly think that’s a good idea? I get that you feel the need - supposedly - to allow traffic from the other direction to use the lanes, but I’ve never seen the Vancouver bound direction get the same courtesy, and let me tell you; it gets very, very congested.

Here’s what you need; they’re called “Metering Lights”. We use them down on the Bay Bridge at the spot where we have to drop the traffic from about 15 toll booths to four bridge lanes. It stops the traffic, and allows a timed release of the cars, so everybody gets spaced out and merges much easier. C’mon. Everyone benefits on this one.

Canada, you’re a cool place. Thanks for everything. These are just little ways you can be even better! I’m leaving tomorrow, but I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for the Edmonton Blues Festival on August 20th. That’s going to be a ton of fun, playing between Canada’s own “Monkey Junk” and Jimmy Vaughan! So, give some thoughts to my suggestions before then, okay? Love you, and see you soon!

Kennan

“When are you playing around here?”

I get that question a lot, usually right after I’ve done local dates. We’re headed into our busy season with the Candye Kane band, so the answer is “probably pretty soon.”

Saturday, I’m on a plane to Denver. We’re playing the “Blues Under the Bridge” in Colorado Springs, with buddies Charlie Musselwhite. Secret plans have been made to stick the drummers, Evan and June, with the bar tab. Don’t tell!

Sunday we’ll hang around Colorado Springs and play at the Gay Pride Festival. I’m not sure what time we’re scheduled, but I know we’ll be on the Heuberger Stage.

Monday we’ll fly to Tahoe, meet up with the van, and play at Squaw Valley “Bluesday” at 6:30.

Now, for my Bay Area friends, here’s our “local” schedule. It’s a little tricky because we have some big stuff going on. Some gigs are good old, regular Candye Kane gigs with all that brings with it. Some of the dates are United by Music Showcases. United by Music is a charity that was started by Candye and Joris van Wijngaarden. The concept is taking emotionally and mentally challenged people, and get them performing and touring with the band. I personally don’t really know what to expect!

Here’s one thing I do know; THESE SHOWCASES ARE FREE! Is there a catch? Well, yeah; you have to reserve your space by signing up at the web site! You need to go there anyway, because it explains the whole concept far better than I can! Go here; http://www.unitedbymusic.org/usa/index.php


So here’s how the next couple of weeks will work;

Thursday, July 22nd, Candye Kane Band at The Verve, in Aptos. 9PM.

Friday, the 23rd, Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco;
5 PM, United by Music Showcase with Candye Kane and Janiva Magness
8 & 10PM, The Candye Kane Band

Saturday the 24th;
11AM United by Music Showcase, Redwood City Blues Festival
9 PM Candye Kane Band, Phillipsville, Ca The Riverwood Roadhouse

Sunday the 25th,Candye Kane Band, Headfeathers, Napa

Tuesday the 27th, The Yale, Vancouver, Canada
5 PM United by Music Showcase
8 PM Candye Kane Band

Thursday the 29th, United by Music Showcase, Traditions World Folk Art Café, Olympia, WA. 7PM.

Friday the 30th, United by Music Showcase, Highway 99, Seattle WA. 5PM.

Saturday, the 31st, United by Music Showcase, The Upstage, Port Townsend, WA. 1PM.

Sunday, August 1st, United by Music Showcase, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, WA. 5PM.

Monday, the 2nd, United by Music Showcase, Jimmy Mak’s, Portland, OR. 5 PM

Portland marks the end of the United by Music Showcase tour, but the Candye Kane band rolls on into summer;


8/6 Cincinnati, Ohio Cincy Blues festival
8/7 Columbus, Ohio/ Rumba Cafe
8/11 Des Moines, IA Blues on Grand
8/12 Omaha, NE New Lift Lounge
8/13 Springfield, MO Archies Lounge
8/14 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads
8/15 Lincoln, NE Zoo Bar
8/17 Springfield, Illinois Fairgrounds
8/18 Champaign, Ill Clark Bar
8/20 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Blues Festival
8/21 Chicago. Berwyn, Fitzgeralds
8/22 Kalamazoo, MI/ 411 club
8/24 Tuscarawas, Ohio/ Canal House
8/25 Pittsburgh, PA/ Club Cafe
8/27 Topeka, KS/ Uncle Bos
9/3 Rockford, Illinois Waterfront festival
9/5 Marquette, MI Marquette Mountain Blues Festival

So, there’s a mess of gigs, a lot of charity work, and a lot of “local” gigs, not just in the Bay Area. See you soon!

Lake Superior Dance, Part Two

Okay, we got that crap out of the way! Let’s have some fun!

One of the first things we did when we hit St. Paul was head over to Candye’s friends, Miki and Rob’s. Miki is a veteran of the Music Biz, has in the past managed artists you’ve heard of, and lives on the edge of one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. Miki has a big warm smile, and a lot of good business advice.

On to the show at Wilebski’s Blues Saloon, an aged Dance Hall built back in the who-knows-when. The gig fell into the “Better than expected” category, and everybody was really cool. The opener, Annie Mac and the Have Nots were pretty cool folks, and “road friends” were made.

Miki assigned Rob with breakfast duty the next day, and we had a bit of a feast lakeside. Rob regaled us with tales of winter, when the lake freezes solid and the temperature can drop to -20 degrees. Minus. As in “below zero by 20 degrees.”

So, then we magically appeared in Thunder Bay, Ontario on the shore of Lake Superior, which - surprise! - is really, really big. Debbie ran the festival “motor pool” of Tracy and Wendy, and a ride was just a phone call away! So after a stop at our hotel, and some sushi across the street, we headed to the festival. We got there in time to catch some of Tab Benoit’s set of swampy blues.

While we were hanging out backstage and talking to people on a nice warm night, pretty soon a small crew of policemen started gathering. Full uniforms, bullet proof vests, and armed and ready. /backstage at a big festival is kind of a weird place for such a show of force. I was thinking maybe the night’s headliner Blues Traveler had some kind of big entrance planned. Suddenly, they all moved towards the parking lot, and everyone craned their necks to see what kind of action was going down!

Suddenly, the band, all the cops, and a bunch of other “security personnel” were headed toward the stage with a large, silver…thing.

Candye, who was discussing porn with Tab Benoit at the time, said she thought they had a keg, and boy, it must be a really special one with all that security. When someone told her what she was seeing was the Stanley Cup, she said “What is that? Like, a Golf Trophy?”

This is the kind of thing I didn’t think would make a very good “Stage Anecdote.” Those Canadians went nuts for the Cup, and it received a standing ovation that was long and loud. Frankly, I wouldn’t even bring up Candye’s response, but she already had outted herself. No filter!

While all this was going on, another reunion was taking place. Candye used to have a piano player named Brad, or “Smedley B.” as he’s known on stage, and he, his wife Annie, and their beautiful three year old daughter Ella are native Thunder Bay residents! Flat out wonderful people and Ella was a lot of fun to play with.

We made it somewhat of an early night, due to our 1:15 time slot at the festival the next day. How do you get ready for a show that early? The general feeling within the organization was that the promoters and press didn’t really know who we were, and didn’t expect much. The press focused on other artists, and without putting anyone else on the bill down, we felt our time slot was earlier than perhaps it should have been.

We were having a great time, though, so we just rolled along. The festival crew was funny; whenever you’d ask how things were going, you’d hear tales of insanity and thing spinning off the tracks and all hell breaking loose, but from our perspective, everything was smooth as silk! Need a ride? You’ve got it. Deli tray? Here you go. Bottle of whiskey? On it’s way.

When we arrived at the festival Sunday, Nick Moss and the FlipTops were playing, our trailer was ready and stocked, the local paper wanted an interview, and it was raining, hard. The stage is a permanent concrete structure on the waterfront, with a huge awning protecting it, so the musicians, techs, and equipment was safe, but the audience members were subjected to all the elements.

As we got ready to take the stage, miraculously, the sun came out, and it turned into a beautiful day! We played a great set, and had a lot of fun. Evan wore a sleep mask during his solo, Smedley B. got up and played with us, in front of a large contingent of friends and family, and Candye took the whole thing over the top by playing Smedley’s piano with her boobs! We got a standing ovation!

While Candye and Laura were signing autographs - a very long line, by the way - and Mike Zito was playing his set, the sky opened up again, and it poured. Make that POURED. The hearty Thunder Bay-ites simply put on ponchos and raised umbrellas and sat there grooving to Mike. This would establish a pattern for the remainder of the afternoon; rain like hell, then bright, bright sun.

We headed for the hotel to change, and have more sushi across the street. After lunch, we wandered down the street to the Bowling Alley, to have a drink and check out the local action. It turns out that the “lounge” had a very strong “You aren’t from around here, eh?” vibe., so we headed in to throw some balls. It turns out, Canadian Bowling is a very different beast indeed. There was regular bowling there, too, but “When in Rome…” So we rented shoes, and signed up for Five Pin. In Five Pin, you have…well, five pins. The ball itself is only about seven inches in diameter, with no finger holes, and you get three balls per frame.

I can’t begin to tell you how the scoring works. The first two balls Candye threw were strikes, and she opened up a big lead right off the bat. Everyone developed their own style, and the competition was fierce! Let me set the record straight; I won the first two games, but could not keep up my dominance for the third. I think in light of this, It’s pretty clear who won the tournament. If anyone would like to challenge my crown, we have a couple more Canadian dates in the next month or so. Bring it on, eh?

Because we were so far North, the sun didn’t set until around 10PM. A lot of memories that seemed like “Afternoon” memories are actually “Evening” memories. So that evening, while Candye did some hot tubbing and relaxing, Evan, Laura, Brad and I headed back to the festival, arriving about the same time Taj Mahal did. We hung for a while, but it became pretty clear we were all fairly tired., so we hitched a ride back to the hotel in Nick Moss’ van.

We had been speculating who’s gigantic tour bus was in the hotel parking lot all day. Couldn’t have been Taj’s, or Curtis Salgado’s, because we were aware of how they arrived. And none of the other acts were really “Tour Bus” level. When we pulled in front of the hotel in Nick’s van, and guy walks up and says, in a thick Scottish brogue, “You guys havta be a band!”

“Yeah! We play with Candye Kane. We’re here for the blues festival!”

“Fantastic,” says the guy, “We’re Nazareth. Pleased to meet’ya!”

Another Scotsman/Nazareth guy joined him and the rest of the conversation was about where it might be possible to get a drink at midnight on a Sunday in Thunder Bay, Canada. They seemed to have extensive knowledge, but I was done for the night and looking forward to the giant King sized bed in my room.

The next morning, over “Motel ‘Spresso” (twice brewed hotel coffee), I found the local newspaper’s on-line site, and the front page of the Chronicle Journal was a big headline about the festival, and an article and interview with Candye! And just Candye, too. The actual paper had a big picture of Candye and Laura onstage, right above the fold! On page two, a local columnist gave out his festival “Awards”, and called Candye “Entertainer of the Year”!

Everywhere we went; the front of the hotel, coffee shops, and the airport, there’s Candye and Laura’s picture staring at us! People would congratulate Candye on the great article! We left Thunder Bay feeling pretty damned triumphant, and pretty hopeful of being invited back, and most likely with a pretty nice time slot.

The difficulty of writing about a long weekend of gigging is trying to achieve a sense of balance. Our trip to Minneapolis and Thunder Bay was so much fun, and we’re really hoping that it works out that we go again next year, but it wasn’t all good. There were some parts that were incredibly messed up and just dumb, but they were so overshadowed by the good parts that it feels whiney to bring them up.

But, bring them up I shall. The good with the bad. Yin and yang. Felix and Oscar. So let’s get them out of the way right up front, so we can start having some fun.

Here are the things that suck; Delta Airlines, The Minneapolis Airport, and, yet again, Canadian Border Guards, but only some of them. Let me explain; we flew in from Minneapolis to Thunder Bay, and our crossing was so easy we thought it was a trap, but lot’s of bands who drove up had problems at the border. Michael Burks’ whole band was turned away.

Delta wasn’t much help to the festival. The one flight a day gets cancelled every other day for random purposes. Fridays flight did, and when we showed up for the flight - notice I’m saying “the flight”? - Eric Sardinas and his band had been waiting an extra day. Problem was he was scheduled to play about a half hour BEFORE the plane was scheduled to land. And Delta cancelled Sunday’s flight, so Sunday night’s headliner, Taj Mahal had to fly to Duluth, take a taxi to the border, where he and his band were met by someone from the festival, and driven to the sight, arriving about ten o’clock at night for their 9:15 set! Plus, Delta had managed to misplace all their luggage, so what they arrived in after all that hustling is all they had.

On the other end of things, Candye had fallen asleep on her massively delayed flight home Monday night, and left her new lap top on the plane. Want to guess how helpful Delta was to her as of this writing? On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being “Not” and 10 being “Totally”, Delta scored a minus seven. What miserable people.

The dopiness of the Minneapolis Airport is a tough one; we had a rough time getting out on Saturday, but I had so much fun there Monday that I’m inclined to give them a pass. Besides, some of Saturday’s problems were of Delta’s making, and not the Airport. Of course, I didn’t have my guitar patted down and searched by the slowest man in the world, either. But, Minneapolis Airport, some clearer signage and maybe a graphically intelligent map would work wonders on your Tram system. I’m just sayin’.

That’s all the whining I’m going to do. I’ll exorcize these demons by cutting them out of the rest of the story, by telling this story in two parts; the dark, crummy bits - here - and the much longer all good parts, which I’ll write about tomorrow!

Ahhh, Summer! Warmer weather, more time in the great outdoors, and less clothing. For me, the best part is that it also means it’s Blues Festival season! Yay!

Playing Festivals is the best for several readily obvious reasons. For one, the crowds are bigger. Also, it’s really the only time you get to see other bands and musicians play. And all the Festivals try to take such good care of the musicians coming through! We are very good at being pampered and catered to. Yeah, I know; “Surprise!”

Unfortunately, one small part of the festival experience seems to be going by the wayside, and I for one am extremely disappointed by the seeming demise of the Backstage Laminate.

It used to be that you’d pull into a festival, and someone would meet you, go over what time you played, showed you to the Hospitality Room, and then dole out these fabulous little plastic pieces of magic artwork on a lanyard. Words like “All Access”, or “Artist” let you know you were definitely “in the club”, and were like tickets to paradise, at least if you let your imagination run with it (and musicians are a pretty imaginative bunch). You could tell the cool guys from the rookies right away; rookies hung the laminates around their necks, like a grade school kid with his house key. Cool guys knew you put them on your belt loop so they hung about mid-thigh.

I have a nice collection of Laminates from around the world, and most of them are displayed hanging from a lamp in my living room. Some have beautiful art on them, some are wordy, occasionally in a foreign language, some are ridiculously big, and some are just perfunctory little glorified name tags, but I dig them.

This last Sunday, the Candye Kane Band played on the Main Stage of the Monterey Blues Festival. The very stage where Hendrix burned his Strat. The festival was huge, and I got a chance to meet a couple of bass players who I only “know” from Facebook; Chris Akin and Scot Sutherland. There were three stages and lots of music and the whole thing felt drenched in history and fun. The MBBF staff all sported matching blazers and fedora-like hats! I figured there’d be special Backstage Passes at this festival for sure!

It was not to be, however. This festival, like so many others, had opted to save their money, and go for the paper wristband thingys; the kind that encircle the wrist and stick to themselves. They weren’t even specially printed up ones; just generic “music” themed, bulk bought paper wrist bands.

Now, I’m a professional, so I didn’t let it affect my performance, and I still had a really fun day. The Tommy Castro Band, who played right after us, was amazing. Chris killed me, playing with Sistah Monica’s giant Gospel Choir, and was the eye of the hurricane there on stage. I saw lots of good bands, lots of great fans, and I can’t tell you how much fun it was to play on that big stage, with the giant Video Monitors on each side, to all those people!

I just wish I had some cool little souvenir to remember the day by. Like in the good ol’ days.

Big Week!

All kinds of goodness coming up this week! No rest for the wicked! Not for the fain t of heart! Come big or go home!

Whew. Just writing that left me a little breathless! Let’s get to the details;

Tuesday. Some kind of birthday. I don’t know what the deal is…and I’m not going to dwell on it either. If you’re looking for some kind of poetic waxing on aging gracefully and ‘you’re only as old as you feel’, look elsewhere. A lot of people have gotten older. Not really a big deal. Bah. Humbug.

Wednesday…nothing. Call me if you have anything.

Thursday, my triumphant return to The Billy Martini Show! Yay! Okay, ‘triumphant return’ is a little thick, but I’m looking forward to playing with their 70’s Musical Tribute again. The gig is a massive Beach Party at the Crow’s Nest in Santa Cruz. We fire it up at 5:30, and play into the evening. Let me make this clear; party, on the beach, 70’s rock music…are you getting the picture? What’s not to like?

Friday, on to San Luis Obispo and a Candye Kane gig at the SLO Brewery! I…don’t know anything about this city or place, but I’m betting on a big fun time! How can it not be? Candye Kane! Laura Chavez! Evan Caleb! I’m planning on having a GREAT time! I’m sure it’ll be boss.

Saturday night is the big Red House show! I saw the poster online; nice big shot of Candye, and near the bottom, it says “Featuring former Red House Guru Kennan Shaw on bass!” Ummm…Yikes. Hope I don’t get in trouble for that. It looks like I’ll have a lot of family, and hopefully a lot of friends at the show, too.

Sunday is the biggie; main stage at the Monterey Blues Festival! We play at around 4PM, right before Tommy Castro. Laura has already claimed the ‘spot’ on the stage where Hendrix burned his strat. Apparently, it’s marked. This falls under the Iconic Gig status, somewhat, because ‘Monterey’ and ‘Festival’ bring a series of iconic visuals. And now, I get to wander up there and ‘bass face’ my way to joining that list! Another notch in the belt for the Accomplished Imposter.

Now, if you bought tickets for the wrong day of the festival, or your schedule makes it difficult to make any of these events, I’ve got a good back-up plan for you; The fabulous Red Hot Blues Sisters are in town, and are at the festival on Saturday, and playing Biscuits and Blues on Sunday night! So if you can’t get any Candye, at least there are some Red Hotz you can get your hands on!

How much would you listen to music this weekend? Wait! There’s more! Monday night is the Good Stuff Guitars Blues Jam at Armando’s in Martinez! The festivities begin at 7 and run through to 10, and the talent level is getting better every time we do this. I’ll have to see if there are any friends in town I can talk into coming by.

So the party is on. If next Tuesday rolls around and you haven’t seen any good music, well, it’s your own fault, isn’t it?

One quick thing; the August issue of “Vintage Guitar” magazine has a nice article about the marvelous Laura Chavez, guitarist extraordinaire with the Candye Kane band. If you’re a guitarist, you outta check it out!

If you’ve been reading these mental regurgitations for a while, you probably remember me talking about how I get to do cool stuff, mostly because I play bass. Remember? The travel, and meeting people, and seeing and doing stuff? Yeah! All that cool stuff! That’s me!

Sometimes, the cool stuff has to do with getting the opportunity to kind of, well…show off. That will be the case when The Candye Kane Band plays the Red House in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 26th.

As you may know, when Red House opened a few years ago, I was the…what? Bass Department? Bass Master? Guru? Whatever, I was the guy. I gave lessons, and I ran the Blues Jam for members. Heck, I was even working there before they opened, putting together Studio Furniture and hanging Lighting cans.

I had a lot of fun there and I made a lot of friends there with members and staff. When I left to go on the road in 2006, and Ed Platt took over the “department”, I’d still come back and do a class here and there. When that particular gig ended, I came back and hosted some more Blues Jams and was “The Blues Bass Guy” on the expanded roster of bass instructors. And made even more friends.

Then I got the gig with Candye Kane, and Candye works all the time, so my Red House duties, as few as they were, once again went on the shelf.

On Friday, June 25th, we’re at the San Luis Obispo Brewery, and on Sunday the 27th we’re on the main stage of the Monterey Blues Festival. The Saturday between the two shows, we had nothing! Saturday night? So I had the opportunity to play matchmaker between Red House and Candye’s schedule! Red House gets to show off it’s newly remodeled Performance Hall, and I get to show off for all the friends I’ve made during my time at Red House.

So I hope you’ll all consider coming out to the show. The band is fantastic; Evan Caleb swings hard on the drums, Laura Chavez is the next breakthrough blues guitar hero (and is featured in the August 2010 issue of ‘Vintage Guitar Magazine’), and Candye is an amazing singer and a fantastic entertainer. She was nominated for three Blues Music Awards this year; Best Female Singer, Best Contemporary Blues Album (for “Superhero”), and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.

Oh, and me!

This is a great opportunity to catch the band in a pretty intimate setting, right before we head off to the big Festival in Monterey, plus it’s All Ages, so bring the kids! We’ll try to behave.

Opening the show is the Jeff Magidson Blues Band. I thought I was in that band. Weird. I know I’ve done a couple of gigs with Jeff, and he’s a fantastic talent also. Really, all the guitar you could possibly crave in one night.

I just can’t decide how to approach the concept of the evening. “Conquering Hero” doesn’t really apply. “Prodigal Son” seems a tad “churchy.” I think I’ll go with “Reunion.” That feels good.