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