Thursday, February 28, 2013

Harper and Midwest Kind March Blog

Happy March Everyone,

Well February was a wild ride weather wise!  After our show at Harbor House in Detroit we headed out on tour for three weeks.  We had shows at Goodfellas in Illinois, The 21st Amendment Saloon in Omaha, Nebraska then the fabulous Old Skoolz in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  We had relatively warm weather for this time of year and very good turn outs to the shows.  We had a few minor vehicle problems- a flat battery one day then the starter motor the next day.  But we managed to get where we needed to be.  I had a cancel a radio show with DJ Crash for Sioux Falls but apart from that nothing else had to be cancelled.  The Fargo Blues Festival in Fargo, South Dakota was a blast.  A great crowd attended the Best Western, Double Tree Inn. Got to see Eddy The Chief Clearwater perform, who replaced Magic Slim who unfortunately passed away recently.   It was so cool that we all had accommodation there - so no need to drive after the show.    It was just as well because later that evening a huge blizzard hit Fargo.  The wind howled mournfully and It just snowed and snowed and snowed. It seemed like it would never stop!!  We were all locked away in our rooms for and extra day and half and couldn't leave the hotel because the weather was so bad.  Interstate Highway 29 was closed due to five foot snow drifts and Interstate 94 wasn't much better.  We were freaking out because we had to be in Key Largo, Florida for the following week.   Originally we had allowed four days to get there but now it was getting down to two and a half days.  Thankfully late Monday afternoon,  Interstate 94 open up and we were out of Fargo- heading to Minnesota.  It was a scary drive- lots of ice and compacted snow, so I drove slowly and carefully.  We made it to Madison, Wisconsin the first day, The second day we rolled into Lake City, Florida and the third day - sunny Key Largo.  32 hours of driving!  Talk about extremes.  Frigid temperatures in the North to monsoon like conditions in Georgia then a balmy 80 degrees F in Florida.  It just goes to show where there is a will, there is a way!

Our Florida shows were fabulous- Bayside Grille in Key Largo- Bobbi was treated to chocolates and a lobster dinner for Valentines Day, then Mangrove Mamas which was rained out but the show still went on.  Three amazing shows at The Celtic Ray then our favorite Ace's Lounge and The Legendary Bradfordville Blues Club.  We also visited our incredible special needs kids at the Buckingham Exceptional Student Center in Fort Myers.  To see the joy on the Buckingham Kids faces is absolutely priceless.  We are very blessed to receive such a beautiful experience.    We have a couple of shows in Michigan then its back to Florida for St Patrick's Day week then back to the Midwest for two weeks of shows.  For those of you who asked  here is the correct link for our Australian Didge-ucation Presentation:  http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html   The shows are listed on the tour page on the Harper website listed below:

Hope to see you out on the road.


Thanks and Peace,

Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs and E Book
http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html    Australian Didge-ucation
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.myspace.com/harperband