Friday, December 22, 2017

Harper and Midwest Kind December Blog 2017

Hey Everyone,

Happy Holidays!!  My band "Midwest Kind" and I have been taking a month long break but will be getting back into it in January, 2018.   We finished the year with an amazing show at Byrons in Pomeroy, Iowa - a hidden gem amongst the corn fields and a soul satisfying final show at Dale Fisher Gallery in my home town of Grass Lake in Michigan.

During December, Ive been working on writing some new tunes for a new CD which I hope to record with my band next year and release either late 2018 or early 2019.  We have some exciting tours planned for 2018, a tour to Europe for the Groesch Blues Festival in Germany, a tour to the West Coast in late July and another European tour later in the Fall in the works. 2017 was an amazing year, we toured Australia for three weeks, which turned out to be the best tour I have ever done there.  So much love and respect, it was an incredible experience.  The two week tour to China was the trip of a life time, so unexpected yet so fulfilling!  I even managed to teach some Chinese Children how to play the didgeridoo.

We would like to thank all the people who came out to our shows, who supported our fundraiser for our China tour.  You fill us with love and self worth and we certainly couldn't do what we do with out you.

Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah (just past) with a Merry Christmas and Kwanzaa coming up. May we all find peace, prosperity, tolerance and enlightenment on Earth!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindwintertour
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Saturday, October 21, 2017

Harper and Midwest Kind Oct Blog 2017

Hey Everyone,

Happy Fall! Glad to report that I am feeling a lot better after getting a mega flu last week causing me to lose my voice and forcing me to cancel our shows to Tennessee, Virginia and South Carolina.  We will reschedule these shows.  Very sorry we couldn't make it.  Thank you all so much for all the well wishes and positive vibes!

These last few weeks in between coughing, I have started working on a new CD which I hope to release sometime in 2018.  Its always hard to get the creative juices flowing with so much touring and being away from home. Its quite daunting to try to do better than "Show Your Love'. But Ive made a start, which is a good thing.  I am happy to announce that we will be touring Europe in May, 2018 having been booked at the prestigious Grolsch Blues Festival in Germany. Many more dates to follow.

We have some of our favorite shows coming up - Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester and Syracuse in New York,  the Lizzie Rose Music Room in New Jersey and Timeout Pub in Maine for an incredible Halloween Party.  Some newbies such as Sweet Nolas in Virginia and the Candlelight Theatre in Delaware, which will be fun to be acquainted with.

We hope to see you out on the road this Fall in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Virgina, Delaware, Maine, Georgia and Florida with more to follow in the Winter !!! 

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindfalltour
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Harper and Midwest Kind September Blog 2017

Hey everyone,

Happy Fall.  Sending positive healing vibes to all those who were caught up in the devastating path of Hurricane Urma and the terrible earth quakes in Mexico.  Happy to report that all our friends and touring venues are OK! But so many more didn't fare so well.

Labor Day weekend saw some crazy driving.  We were very lucky not to be rained out at the fabulous Sioux Falls Block Party.  But due to an early load in at the Peoria Heritage Blues Festival in Illinois we had to drive through the night.  We made it to town at about 7.30am, caught a few hours of snooze, then we were off to the festival.  And what an amazing festival it was.  Great staging and sound, beyond incredible hospitality.  I got to hang out with new friend and guitarist Mathew Curry.  Really nice guy!  Then I caught up with good buddies Walter Trout, Sammy Avila and Michael Leasure. So good to see Walter looking so healthy.  The band put on a fabulous show.   We saw fellow Aussie John Butler Trio perform.  It was so cool to hear so many Aussie accents back stage at an American Festival.  We finished the weekend at one of our favorite clubs - Pop's Place - where its always a lot of fun!!! Thank you Tom Miller for the amazing Brisket!  Just this weekend we had some great shows and glorious warm Fall weather at Niagara Falls Blues Festival, New York and Camp Jam in the Pines in New Jersey.  On the way to New Jersey, a car pulled out on us suddenly on the Highway, didn't use his turn signal and seemed  completely oblivious to the fact we were in the left hand lane. If I hadn't steered the Chevy hard onto the left shoulder, we would have been wiped out. That defensive driving course I took many years ago in Australia has served us well so many times!  Camp Jam in Pines proved to be very hard to find with two different GPS's taking us to some weird little church in the woods.  But we made it and what a superb time we had.  Stunning weather, cool hippy crowd, nice big stage on a lake, surrounded by woods, bon fires and lazer lights!!!

We have a very special House Concert - Fri Sept 29th - CaD 'Zan House Concerts - Cambridge, Illinois - RSVP: john.r.taylor@gmail.com Limited to 30 seats if indoors!  So Please contact John for your ticket. This will be an intimate house concert - one of the best ways to enjoy music and for me personally - the best type of concert to perform at!!!

We hope to see you out on the road this Fall in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Virgina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Georgia and Florida with more to follow in the Winter !!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Harper and Midwest Kind August Blog

 Hey Everyone,

Sending positive vibes to our brothers and sisters in Texas who are facing devastating floods - the worst in 500 years,  caused by Hurricane Harvey.  So good to see neighbor helping neighbor and stranger helping stranger!

Summer has rolled by way too fast!!  We've had an amazing festival season with some great shows at the Manistee National Forest Festival, Michigan, The Greenwood Blues Cruise in South Carolina and The Merchant Street Festival in Illinois in July.  It was great to catch up with old friends at The Rogue River Concert Series in Michigan. The Cosmic Awakening Show in Detroit with good friend Michelle Wailing was very interesting and unique for me.  In August, we had a crazy drive from the London Jazz & Rib festival in Ohio to Delaware for the Riverfront Festival with only 5 hours sleep but we made it to the gig in time and the show was very well received.  So nice to catch up with amazing guitarist Laura Chavez who used to perform with the fabulous Candye Kane. We had some stunning weather for our shows in South Dakota - Music at the Meridian and Sounds of Sprit Lake in Minnesota.  Such beautiful places to perform. The Flatted Fifth and the Legendary Byrons in Iowa were a lot of fun with some great crowds and smiling faces which always makes us feel good.    Our private event at Blues at the Burgundy, New York was way too much fun - the folks, the food and vibes were all good and we even had a fabulous Hula dancer - Jacquelyn spinning her hoop to our tunes.  We will be returning to the Dinosaur BBQs - Oct 25- Rochester and Oct 26 - Syracuse, New York in the Fall!  So please spread the word!   In September, we have the Sioux Falls Block Party, Peoria Heritage Blues Festival. IL, Pops Place, IL, Wine and Harvest Fest, MI, Niagara Falls Blues Festival and Camp Jam in the Pines, NJ.  We have a very special House Concert - Fri Sept 29th - CaD 'Zan House Concerts - Cambridge, Illinois - RSVP: john.r.taylor@gmail.com Limited to 30 seats if indoors!  So Please contact John for your ticket. This will be an intimate house concert - one of the best ways to enjoy music!

Some of you may notice a new face in the band - Dee Washington on Drums.  We wish Mario the very best for his move to Toronto Canada. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you out on the road this Summer and Fall in  South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Virgina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Georgia and Florida with more to follow in the Winter !!!

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Harper and Midwest Kind June Blog 2017

Hey Everyone,

Summer is upon us and we have a great touring schedule "chokkas" full of festivals and concert series coming up.   April saw us touring Florida, Mississippi and Niagara Falls, Canada.  We got to hang with our good friends Mackie and Ann Marie in Punta Gorda Florida and Dawn, Scott and Katie and Everett in beautiful Jupiter, Florida.  Got to see some baby owls and their folks plus loads of cool shows.  Then it was on to North Carolina and West Virginia, Iowa and Illinois. We even managed to do a great show at Kitchener, Canada at the Boat Shed which was a lot of fun.  As I looked out from the stage it seemed like the whole bar was dancing. Such a great show!!!.  Unfortunately on the way back to Detroit, we were all strip searched and delayed for 2 hours at the US border.  Not a nice experience at all!!! 

In June this month, we caught up with former but fabulous band mates - Chris Smith on Bass and Matt Besey on guitar at Michigan's very first Shrinefest.  The Matt Besey Band sounded great.  It was really nice to catch up with these guys! Some more Michigan gigs followed with Metro Park on Lake St Clair and the Lowell Show Boat Concert which took place on one of the most beautiful evenings so far this summer.  The next day was the amazing Alpena Blues Festival.  We had a little rain but it held off for the evening shows.  Then it was down to Indianapolis for the stunning Rathskeller where good friends Justin Brown and Mark got up and jammed. 

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you out on the road this Summer in Michigan, South Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Delaware, South Dakota, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey and Missouri with more to follow in the fall !!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                             Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Harper and Midwest Kind April Blog 2017

Howdy all,

Just back from a 5 week tour of Australia and China and now back on the road in Florida.  My band and I had an amazing time.  In Australia we performed 12 shows with  some great festivals. The GirraKool Blues Festival on the central coast was very wet but super cool.   We stayed in a luxurious apartment over looking the beach.  We were so bummed that we had to get up at 4am to catch a 7am flight to Melbourne for the Mordialloc Food and Wine Festival the next day, but that's life on the road folks. After the show at Mordialloc we had to catch a flight to Perth, Western Australia that evening.   Talk about full on!!  In Perth I got to hang with my family.  It was the first time my parents had ever seen me perform with my band.  So it was really nice to do a show at the Perth Blues Club.  The band that opened for us had the bass player -Pete Lisiewich from my very first band ever.  We had some great club dates in and around Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. The Final festival was the HUGE Forth Valley Blues Festival in Tasmania where we opened for guitarist Icon Ian Moss.   We covered a lot of ground in a very short time.   So many old friends and fans came out and really supported us.  Huge thanks to Ian Ferguson for organizing backline and performing before us with his band NRG.  It was the best OZ tour Ive ever done.

Then it was on to China.  An experience of a lifetime!!!.  Absolutely huge cities -especially Beijing and Shanghai. Crazy traffic and pollution. There seemed to be no road rules at all. Infact in China, pedestrians have to give way to cars and buses!!  We had packed houses in Beijing. Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Shanghai.  The shows were really well promoted by Eric de Fontenay and the audiences really got into the music.  Most of the places we visited, the people didn't speak any English, thankfully we had a Chinese Tour manager Clyde, who really took care of us. The Chinese people were very friendly and very accommodating. The food was incredible!   We were all treated like stars!!  We managed to fit in a little touristy stuff like a visit to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.   I would have to say that we have all never walked so much in our lives. By the end of the two weeks, we were all foot sore and exhausted.  Bobbi was literally limping by the end.  There were several shows where we had about 4 hours sleep before we had to catch a train or a plane to the next show.  The weirdest thing about China are the squatting toilets with no toilet paper.  Also most restaurants didn't have toilets - you had to leave the building to go to a public toilet.  It was hard to get used to but if all the world was the same, life would be pretty boring.  Bobbi,  Mike, James, Mario and I were so very appreciative of this amazing opportunity and we hope to return in April 2018!

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you out on the road this Spring and Summer!!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)

Friday, February 3, 2017

Harper and Midwest Kind February Blog, 2017

Happy February Everyone,

Very excited to announce that our Australian and China Tour is set.  Through the generous contributions of our fans through our Go Fund Me Campaign, https://www.gofundme.com/2t98u6r8 - the plane tickets have been purchased and we are close to obtaining our goal of raising $5000, with only $1432 to go!!!!!!!!.   We have 12 shows in Australia and 10 - possibly 11 shows in China.  Thank you everyone, we are so pumped to have the opportunity to do this ground breaking tour!

We have a huge show coming up on Sunday February 12, produced by the amazing Detroit Blues Society - Cabin Fever Reliever  at the Shrine Circus Park, Clio, Michigan.  We have a Mega band lineup: Kevin Nichols & Blue Tuesday, Asamu Johnson and the Ambassadors of the Blues, The Good, The Bad & The Blues, Martila Sanders & Gee Q, Plus guests: Howard Glazer, Billy Davis, Harmonica Shaw, Eric Goebel, Denise Davis & The Motor City Sensations plus many more. The event is a Fundraiser for China but also a showcase for all these amazing bands. Only $10 for the whole day (2pm -7pm)

January was surprisingly relatively warm for Michigan and the Midwest.  We had some great shows at Tip Top Deluxe and O Maras Irish Pub in Michigan and the wonderful Jillys in Ohio.  We had a great run through Iowa and Illinois.  A fun show at the House of Blues, Chicago plus a cool house concert at the Light House Inn in Storm Lake, Iowa.  The Cherokee Jazz & Blue Fest at Loft 101 was amazing and Byrons in Pomeroy was packed to the rafters as per usual.  We finished the month at Mash Bar in Ann Arbor, a great show and a full house of fun people.   Our weekend in Canada for this weekend has been rescheduled due to the sudden closure of Hughs Room in Toronto, we have moved the Kitchener Boat House to Sat May 20th and hope to organize another show at the newly reopened Hughs Room in the near future.  Hope to see you out on the road.

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs/ Shirts/ downloads
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