As I write this I’m listening to Maybe August’s debut CD for the second time.  I don’t expect this to be the last time I listen to them.  They’re very good, meaning the songs are very good, the singing is very good, and the playing…

I met Jon Paris, the guitarist who played for years with Johnny Winter, at SPAH, where he invited me to come sit in with him at BB King’s in NYC, where he plays Lucille’s Grill every Monday night.  Last night I went to sit in…

In the last few weeks, 3 of my pieces have been posted to various Top 10 lists on Broadjam.com, a site for indie musicians.  One of my pieces, “Kill the Doctor (That Killed My Wife)”, was 4 on the worldwide Blues Top 10 list for…

Today is the second anniversary of the death of my brother Ted, who was almost 55 when he died.  He died in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lived the last few years of his life, and where he was happy for the most…

We’re doing some work on my house, and the work happens to include the room I use for recording.  This weekend I have to disassemble my studio, move the pieces out, wait three days, then reinstall it.  I suppose I’ll take this opportunity to make…

Jon Gindick runs a thing called Harmonica Jam Camp, where players at various levels hang out, learn from a team of instructors, and play, play, play.  It’s a concentrated weekend of harmonica, and a great experience for all. I’m one of the instructors at Jam…

There are two big lessons in the blues: 1)  Get it any way you can. 2)  Making art from your life will get you through the deepest misery imaginable.

One of the things that impressed me at SPAH was how many players were using special tunings, and how radical some of those tunings were.  James Conway’s “Drone harp,” which had the bottom note doubled and the first 5th tripled, was one example.   That’s a…

There are a few things on my mind about SPAH.  The main thing on my mind is this: there are a lot of good things about this event, but it’s on a downward slope, and if something doesn’t change it’s going to run right into…

I forgot to mention in my various notes from SPAH that one of the best players I heard at the blues jams was Ben Nathanson.  Great ideas, great tone, very original playing.  I know I’ve heard of him before, but I don’t know where or…