Monday, November 7, 2011

Harper and Midwest Kind November Blog

Hey Everyone,

November is here, today we are driving north to Michigan after an amazing tour of Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida where we experienced some toasty warm weather. Prior to our Southern states tour we headed east with shows in Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. We got to experience several new clubs for us- The Armour Inn in Hamburg, NY (amazing food) and The Abilene Lounge in Rochester, New York (very cool), the stunning "Dusk" in Providence, Rhode Island and the Elks Lodge in Franklin, New Hampshire (down home and bluesy). We had fun shows at them all and plan to return soon.

On our trek south it was great to visit Brackin's Bar, The Empty Glass and Blue 5. The Columbia Blues fest in South Carolina was an incredible day. Several thousand attended the event and the sun was shining. We had sold out of CDs by the end of the set so I guess we did good!! My band and I went to the after party and hung out with all the festival staff. One of the staff kindly offered me a ride back to the hotel. Within one minute after leaving the club, we were pulled over by the police. My kind friend was arrested for DUI and I received a ticket for not wearing a seat belt in the back seat. OUCH!!! Then I had to pay for the taxi fare as the other passenger had no money. What a night!!!

On the following Monday, Bobbi and I went to one of the local elementary schools in Columbia to give a presentation on the didgeridoo and Australia. It was very cool because the school's emblem was "the kangaroo". The kids really dug learning about Australia. Then we headed to our favorite music friendly Inn- The Paradise Inn in Pensacola Beach where we got to chill out for a few days. For those of you who have never been to the pure white sands of Pensacola Beach it really is worth the trip. Lots of wild life- Bobbi and I saw several stingrays plus many sea birds and fish. We performed at Alabama's best Juke Joint- The Blues Saloon then on to the incredible Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahassee. You just can't beat the fish fry, the huge bonfire and the cool blues at Bradfordville Blues. It certainly is a unique club. We finished the week with a show at The Backroom in its new location in Delray Beach.

We performed a Halloween show for our dear kids at The Buckingham Exceptional Student Center. I went as a pirate, Bobbi was a witch, Chris was a china man, Matt was a snooza man and Scott was a scare crow. The kids had a great time. That evening we performed to a packed house of gouls, witches, vampires plus many more at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda. Our show at Guanabanas, The Coconut Creek Casino, The Buckingham Bar, and Aces were alot of fun. Our final show of the tour was a double bill with Mike Zito at Earls Hideway. Despite the wind and the rain we had a packed house and the jam with Mike and myself was the highlight of the day.

Coming up in November we have a three shows in Michigan followed by a jam packed tour to Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa. Our show at Wilebeski's Blues Saloon on Saturday November 26 in St Paul Minnesota has been canceled as the club suddenly closed with out warning. We were fortunate to book a second show at Byrons in Pomeroy Iowa for a Harperfest weekend on Sat November 26 and Sunday November 27. We hope you will spread the word

We hope to see you out on the road this Fall.

Harper & Midwest Kind

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