Thursday, October 9, 2014

Harper and Midwest Kind September Blog, 2014

Hey Everyone,

October is upon us and we are having some amazing Autumn weather here in Michigan, USA.   After our beyond crazy summer tour it was nice to have an easy September, a time to regroup and write some new tunes for a new CD, I hope to release in early, 2015.  A big thank to those of you who bought our Aussie Tee Shirts.  They were all sent out this week.   The last weekend of August was spent at a new festival for us- The Snowy Range Music Festival in Laramie, Wyoming.  A 19 hour drive from Michigan but well worth the trip.   Unfortunately the weather was not the best.  We were having a great set and the crowd was really getting into it when a huge storm blew through.   The wind was howling and the rain started to pelt down, my band "Midwest Kind" and I kept on playing.  The overhead lights were swinging and then suddenly the backdrop ripped and fell- landing  on our drummer's head.  Like a pro, Greg kept playing and didn't miss a beat.   The backstage crew removed the back drop and the show went on.  This was a great festival to catch up with a huge bunch of friends: such as Erika Brown and Billy Branch. Also got to see the incredible "Dumpstafunk" perform!  The backstage hospitality was fabulous - great food/drinks and even several masseuses.  It was heaven!   We did a late night jam- I got to play some harp with the amazing Billy Branch and the next day I presented a didgeridoo workshop.  

September brought us a new Ann Arbor club - called Mash which was fun.  Then the next week we played the Niagara Falls Blues Festival.   Great crowd, sound and good vibes but again it was ccccold!!!!   The next week we played the Old Town Bluesfest in Lansing, Michigan.  WKAR Backstage Pass filmed the show for PBS- The weather was just right and the sound was superb.  I think we will have a nice TV feature coming  out in 2015.   It was so much fun catching up with all the Michigan musicians after the show.  We then headed south to the Rathskellar in Indianapolis.  We were kinda rained out for a bit but then the weather cleared and all was well.  Our good friend Justin Brown did a great version of "Help Me" which brought the house down.  We finished the month at our favorite Lexington, Michigan pub- The Celtic Ray!   We head to Florida next week, then our much anticipated tour to Australia for the Sydney Blues & Roots Festival and The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz!!   Hope to see you out on the road this fall and winter!

Thanks and Peace,

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