Saturday, August 24, 2013

Harper and Midwest Kind August Blog, 2013

Hi Everyone,

My band "Midwest Kind" and I are just back from an amazing tour to Northern California, the UP of Michigan and Wisconsin. We covered thousands of miles and saw some incredible scenery.  This trip is one of my favorites because the drive is just so breath taking.   I always joke that "Im a truck driver that sings". When you do trips like this, it really does feel like "Im a truck driver that sings" LOL!!!!!.  We left on July 31st from Michigan traveling through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, arriving in California three and half days later.  We had a stop over in Omaha, Nebraska and Park City, Utah.  We arrived late in the evening in Utah.  We had booked rooms at a Ski Lodge up in the mountains which had multiple buildings and absolutely terrible customer service.  The place was beautiful, but do you think we could find our room!!!.  Bobbi and I walked around for over one hour in the dark before we found our room.  The customer service person just hang up on Bobbi when she called to get directions.  Needless to say we were very upset!!!!.  Our show at The Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza in Mammoth Lakes was amazing!!!.  The mountains were completely covered in thick, white smoke caused by a wild fire in Fresno plus it was truly smokin up on stage as well.  We played to a huge crowd, and had an absolute ball. It was hard to breathe but the festival goers didn't seem to notice!!!.  Ours shows in Sacramento, San Jose and Half Moon Bay were all super cool.  Caught up with our good buddy Leslie Maple and her crew.  Then it was drive, drive, drive to get to the UP of Michigan.  We had a restful stay at good friend Steve Pence's Log Cabin in the mystical woods of Cornell, Michigan.  Plus some great shows at  Michigan's Blackstone Pizza CO, The Grand Marais Music Festival and Waukesha Blues Festival and The Smiling Moose in Wisconsin. Happy to say we made it back to Michigan safe and sound!!

An update on the "Harper and Motor City Josh new "Bare Bones" CD and Tour" Kickstarter Project.    We have 40 wonderful backers who have pledged $2140 towards our goal of $3000 woohoo!!!.   We have some great items/ performances and workshops on offer in return for your pledge.  The Fundraiser ends on Monday September 2 at 1pm EST.  The project only gets funded if we reach the full $3000.  With eight days to go, Josh and I feel confident that we will reach our goal.   For those interested in backing this new project please go to the Kickstarter link below and sign in  to give your pledge.    Check out the video, the new tunes and artwork of the CD,  the blurb about the project and the bio links.

Kickstarter Link:
 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barebones/harper-and-motor-city-josh-bare-bones-cd-and-tour

HARPER AND MOTOR CITY JOSH "BARE BONES"  CD & TOUR  KICKSTARTER PROJECT
1.  1 x Harper and Motor City Josh "Bare Bones" Sticker  $5
2.  1 x New 'Bare Bones" CD, signed by the both of us, plus a "Bare Bones Sticker"- $15
3.  1 x  Harper and Motor City Josh "Bare Bones" Tee Shirt plus a  "Bare Bones" Sticker and a signed "Bare Bones" poster-  $25
4.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD,  signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus "Bare Bones" T Shirt , poster and Sticker- $35
5.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus "Bare Bones" T Shirt , a Sticker and poster plus your name in the credits of the new CD -$45 (only 22 left)
6.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus a  "Bare Bones" T Shirt, and Sticker, 1 x poster,  all signed plus your name in the credits of the new CD, plus one free harmonica or didgeridoo or guitar lesson in your home (within the midwest -up to 300 mile radius from Detroit, Michigan) -$500 (5)
7.  1 x  Concert by Harper and Motor City Josh  in your home (within the midwest -up to 300 miles radius from Detroit, Michigan), 1 x free harmonica or didgeridoo or guitar lesson , 1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper and Motor City Josh,  1 x Bare Bones" T Shirt, 1 x sticker, 1 x poster, all signed plus your name in the credits of the new CD.  $1000  (5)

A huge thank you to our backers for this project.  In September we are heading to Ontario/ New Brunswick,  Canada and Rockland, Maine plus a few shows in Michigan.  Hope to see you out on the road this Fall!!!

Thanks and Peace,

Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs, Downloads 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

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Harper and Midwest Kind July 2013 Blog

Hello Everyone,

Happy Summer!   We are currently on tour in amazing California. Some cools things are a happening!!   Motor City Josh and I are close to recording our new acoustic blues CD which we plan to call "Bare Bones".  We have scheduled to release the CD in late October.   The songs are written and the pre production sounds great, with Josh as the engineer, we are sure to have a great sounding CD.   We would love to have your support for the recording, promoting, manufacturing and release of this new CD.  We have set up a "Kickstarter Project" in order to raise funds for this awesome new CD and tour.  We have some great items/performances and workshops on offer in return for your pledge.    We plan to raise $3000 to get this project off the ground ! The Kickstarter "Harper & Motor City Josh Barebones CD & Tour Project " has gone live.  The Fundraiser goes for 30 days ending on Monday September 2 at 1pm EST.  .Just go to the Kickstarter link below and sign in  to give your pledge.    Check out the video and rough artwork of the CD, the blurb about the project and the bio links.

Kickstarter link:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barebones/harper-and-motor-city-josh-bare-bones-cd-and-tour

HARPER AND MOTOR CITY JOSH "BARE BONES"  CD & Tour  KICKSTARTER PROJECT
1.  1 x Harper and Motor City Josh "Bare Bones" Sticker  $5
2.  1 x New 'Bare Bones" CD, signed by the both of us-15 plus "Bare Bones Sticker"- $15
3.  1 x  Harper and Motor City Josh "Bare Bones" Tee Shirt plus a  "Bare Bones" Sticker and a signed "Bare Bones" poster-  $25 (100)
4.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD,  signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus "Bare Bones" T Shirt , poster and Sticker- $35 (100)
5.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus "Bare Bones" T Shirt , a Sticker and poster plus your name in the credits of the new CD -$45 (100)
6.  1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper/ Motor City Josh plus a  "Bare Bones" T Shirt, and Sticker, 1 x poster,  all signed plus your name in the credits of the new CD, plus one free harmonica or didgeridoo or guitar lesson in your home (within the midwest -up to 300 mile radius from Detroit) -$500 (5)
7.  1 x  Concert by Harper & Motor City Josh  in your home (within the midwest -up to 300 miles radius from Detroit, Michigan), 1 x free harmonica or didgeridoo or guitar lesson , 1 x "New Bare Bones" CD, signed by Harper and Motor City Josh,  1 x Bare Bones" T Shirt, 1 x sticker, 1 x poster, all signed plus your name in the credits of the new CD.  $1000  (5)

Our trip home from the amazing Alpena Blues Festival in Michigan in June, was very eventful.   We had a turkey vulture nearly hit our van's front window, several deer and their fauns  and a wolf  cross the road in front of us.  To top it off, a large black bear bounded in front of the van.  I think we were as scared as he was.   Talk about critters gone wild- so amazing to see.  We beat the rain at the Rogue River Blues Series in Rockford and the Lowell Summer Concert Series in Michigan in late June. It seemed the storms avoided us where ever we went.  The Common Ground Music Festival and Jamming in Jackson were a lot of fun.   Midwest Kind and I played to some huge crowds at the fabulous Traverse City Area Blues Festival opening for Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Bluesfest International, in Windsor, Canada.   The Windsor Bluesfest was amazing. Apart from our band set to well over 10 000 peeps, I got to play with Scott Holt (former guitarist for Buddy Guy) and Neal and Kirk from Soul Live.  The next day I did a workshop with some amazing guitarists from the US and Canada. I played some harp and some slide didgeridoo!!!.  Then Sab and the Family Band asked to me play some harp for their whole set late on Sunday afternoon.  Good Fun!!!

The last week  of July, Bobbi and I headed to Raleigh, North Carolina to present six "Australian Didge-ucation" to Wake County Libraries.  The workshops were a huge success and all six we're very well attended. As we speak we are on the road in California for the Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza Festival plus some tasty shows in Sacramento, Half Moon Bay and San Jose. Then its the UP of Michigan and Wisconsin.  Hope to see you out on the road this summer!

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