A Quick Update

Gary Smith

I haven't really been up to much during the past couple of weeks. Last Saturday, I caught Gary Smith at the Mojo Lounge. He put on a great show with Mike Phillips (bass) and Jimmy Mulleniux (drums). I can't remember the name of the guitar player. He was really good. Chris Brown (aka Chris Evans) played guitar on a few tunes.

The only other musical activities that I've participated in during the past couple of weeks has been RJ Mischo's World Famous Blues Jam at the Mojo Lounge on Tuesday nights. This past week was pretty cool. I had the opportunity to play a couple of tunes with three fifths of the Buzzy Dupree Orchestra. They kept me guessing the chord changes on an original tune. By the time, it was all over I think I got it down. It was fun. Hopefully, I didn't stink it up too badly.

The previous week, RJ was on tour and the jam was hosted by Birdlegg. Birdlegg is an excellent entertainer. His harmonica playing is in the style of Sonny Boy Williamson II. He sings and plays through the same microphone. That means, if you don't plan on singing and you're a harmonica playing, you had better bring a microphone to plug into the PA. Since, I knew that Birdlegg would be hosting the jam, I used this as an opportunity to test out my recently completed project, my tweed Champ clone.

There were very few harmonica players that day and Birdlegg was being very generous. He let me play for over an hour with a variety of players including: Scott Duncan, Vance Ehlers, John Graham and Don Yonder. One of the highlights of the evening was the opportunity to share the stage with the legendary lap steel guitarist, Freddie Roulette. I wanted to get some time on the amp, plus I wanted to hear how it sounded, so I let one of the harp players, Jeff, from the Buzzy Dupree band play through the amp. More on the amplifier later...