Harper June Blog

Hey Everyone,

Well May was a month of trials, tribulations and triumphs. The month began with a great show with Rootstand at The Savoy in Michigan. We then drove to North Carolina and had a fabulous four days at The LEAF Festival in Black Mountain. We saw some amazing performers: The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Ozomatli, Big Sam's Funky Nation and many more. The festival hospitality was unbelievable - the food was just incredible- organic and tasty yum yum good. We also made didgeridoos out of PVC pipes with the Kids of the Montessori School who then performed with us at the festival, which was alot of fun. The next week was spent in PA, upstate New York, York Beach, Maine and Hartford, Connecticut. We then made the big drive south to Florida. On May 16 we celebrated the 200, 000 mile mark on our faithful 2005 dodge sprinter (nick named-the silver bullet). The next day, whilst driving through North Carolina in torrential rain, an out of control speeding driver aquaplaned across highway 85 south. All we saw was a glimpse of a Ford Taurus doing 360 degree spins towards our van. With a loud bang, we came to a sudden halt on the side of the highway. The Ford Taurus then bounced back across the highway. We were all shaken but not hurt and amazingly the female driver of the Ford was OK too, but her car was totaled. The passenger side of our Dodge Sprinter sustained damage on every panel and the middle door was almost impossible to open. We were very lucky and thankfully we were able to close that middle door, so we were able to continue our tour.

It was such a relief to arrive at the Paradise Inn, Pensacola Beach, Florida that evening. We had a few days to chill out and to gather our thoughts. On May 18 the new CD "Stand Together" was released through Blind Pig Records and we celebrated with a show at The Paradise Inn. The next day we were invited for a sail by our new friend Frank Toney around the inlet in Pensacola, we were joined by our Texan friend Michelle Sukup. Thankfully the huge BP oil slick near Louisiana hadn't reached Pensacola Beach- so it was a beautiful day. We had some more great shows at The Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahassee, Ms Newbies in Panama City Beach, The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda and the Riverfront Music Festival in Sebastian. Florida was hot and humid and the shows were alot of fun. We even caught up with former drummer Scott Key at the festival and made many new friends. Our final show took place at Buckingham Exceptional Student Center for the special needs kids in Fort Myers. For me this was the highlight of our tour. When you see these exceptional students in action, you realize it is they who are the mountain climbers.

Just yesterday on our way to Maryville, Tennessee, we saw a huge lightning bolt hit a tree on the side of highway 75 just north of Atlanta during a powerful storm. Its loud boom sounded like an explosion and it scared the hell out of us. Man this tour has been quite the trip!

On a positive note. The new CD "Stand Together" is getting rave reviews far and wide and is already getting airplay on Sirius/ XM Bluesville and is due to become a pick to click very soon. So please request a track at your local radio stations to help us chart on the national radio charts. UK's Blues Matters Magazine has added the new CD to its top ten discs for 2010. There will also be a feature article in the Alternative Root this month- So life is good! Hope to see you out on the road this summer.


Peace,

Harper & Midwest Kind

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