Harper and Midwest Kind August Blog

Howdy Everyone,

We are in the thick of festival season, and we are heading West as we speak.  Some exciting news has happened, my new CD - as part of "Harper & Griebe" - called "Long Distant Unity" is due to be released on August 10th.  The style of music is more progressive Adult contemporary, but I think you all will dig the tunes.  There is an incredible backstory to this CD.  Back in the year 2000, German Guitarist Joachim Griebe, contacted me in Australia, after hearing my CD "Glass on The Stepping Stone" being played at a Berlin club called "Quasimodos".  He invited me to come to Germany to write with him.  We put together a CD but it was never released due to a falling out caused by a misunderstanding and the language barrier.  16 years pass and Joachim emailed, out of the blue.  I was so happy to hear from him and he was amazed to hear that we were going to be performing in Germany just 2 hours from his house.   We met up at the hotel in May and it was like meeting my twin brother again.  We laughed so hard, people were looking at us strangely.  To top it off, Joachim wanted to write with me again and was able to get our original recording deal back with a major European Label - "Rough Trade". 

So "Harper and Griebe" is once more!  Please check out the facebook page and the website (still being built).  "Distant Unity will be available online from August 10th onwards.   

https://www.facebook.com/Harper-Griebe-282579245848175/

http://www.harper-griebe.com/  

 

Here are some sample tunes from "Long Distant Unity" : Please enjoy!!!  http://www.joachimgriebe.de/harper---griebe-.html

Harper and Midwest Kind 's summer tour is choc full of festivals/ concert series and club dates.  We will be performing in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Sioux Falls, Minnesota, Nevada and California.  We will be headlining Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza for the second time,  we have a show with Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band in Reno, Nevada, we will be returning to Sounds Of Spirit Lake in Minnesota and Waukesha Blues Festival in Wisconsin and some new ones : Microbrew Fest, Mancelona Michigan and Eckhert's Apple Orchard in Belleville, Illinois.   Please come out and say hi.

See you all out on the road this summer!!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,

Harper and Midwest Kind

#harperandmidwestkindspringtour

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Harper and Midwest Kind June Blog 2018

Happy Summer Everyone,

Just back from Germany, Kentucky and South Carolina.   Our visit to the Grolsch Blues Festival in Shoppingen, Germany was outstanding in every possible way.  The crowd, hospitality, sound and atmosphere was incredible. We had the 9pm slot and it was fabulous.  Great artists like Ronnie Baker Brooks, Lucky Peterson and agency pals - Jeremiah Johnson Band were also there.   And an amazing thing happened!.  My old german writing partner - Joachim Griebe emailed me three weeks prior to our trip to Germany.  After a falling out, 16 years ago, he emailed, out of the blue.  I was so happy to hear from him and he was amazed we were going to be performing in Germany just 2 hours from his house.   We met up at the hotel and it was like meeting my twin brother again.  We laughed so hard, people were looking at us strangely.  To top it off, Joachim wanted to write with me again and was able to get our original recording deal back with a major European Label.  So "Harper and Griebe" will be releasing a CD very soon.  

Once back in the US we performed at the Blues Between the Bridges in Lexington, Kentucky.  It was a very hot but great day of BBQ and blues and roots music.  We had an absolute blast.  Then we had three shows at Old Daufuskie Crab Company on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina.  It was a really unique gig because we had to leave our van on the main land at Hilton Head and travel by boat with our gear to the island.  We were given two golf carts to get around in - got horribly lost on our way to our accommodation one night and rained out on one show.  But all in all it was a fun weekend and great soft shell crab to boot.  But a word to the wise, keep away from the "scrap iron hooch" .

This June/ July/ August we have a bunch of cool festivals/ concert series and club dates.  We will be performing in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Wisconsin, Iowa, Sioux Falls, Minnesota, Nevada and California.   Please come out and say hi.

See you all out on the road this summer!!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,

Harper and Midwest Kind

#harperandmidwestkindspringtour

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Harper and Midwest Kind May 2018 Blog

 Hey Everyone,

Happy May!  Just back from a four week tour to Missouri, Illinois, Florida, Texas and Arkansas!   We have a rare home show this Saturday May 12th at The Rumpus Room, Chelsea Michigan.  Michigandas here is the ticket link:  This is a very special music room and we would really like to make it very successful! 7pm Doors, 8pm Show!  Please spread the word!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harper-and-midwest-kind-tickets-44577078241invite=&err=29&referrer=&discount=&affiliate=&eventpassword=

Our Spring tour was a lot of fun.   We visited our friends at BBs in St Louis.  Our good friend and amazing didgeridoo performer Brennan England, showed up and jammed. Which was very cool!  We had some fun shows at Pop's Place in Decatur, Ilinois followed by the Alamo in Springfield.  My beautiful wife Bobbi and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on the road.  We had a meal with the band at Golden Corral then visited Walmart straight after - Soooooo Romantic LOL!!!! We circled back to St Louis and spent some time at the amazing National Blues Museum.  If ever in St Louis, you must check this place out.   We plan to do a show there in November.

Then we headed South to Florida and visited many of our favorite venues.  Some newbies were South Street City Oven and Grill in Naples and the Shark Bar in Fort Myers Beach.  Nice music clubs and definitely worth checking out.   Then on to Texas for the Toyota Music Factory / Big Beat Dallas.  What a huge venue - amazing sound and hospitality.  The legendary Antones in Austin Texas, was just as amazing as I thought it would be.   Then the final show took place at another new venue for us - Chelseas in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Eureka Springs is such a quirky and cool place.  We completely fitted in there and hope to return!  We are off to Germany next week for the Grolsch Blues Festival Yay!

We hope to see you out on the road this spring and summer!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindspringtour
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Harper and Midwest Kind April Blog 2018

Hey Everyone,

April has arrived and that means the band will head out for yet another big tour which will take us to Missouri, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Michigan, Germany and Kentucky.  Super excited about heading back to Germany for the Grolsch Blues Festival in Schöppingen.  We are one of the headliners with other great artists such as Ronnie Baker Brooks and Lucky Peterson.  We are also really happy to be returning to Texas. Its been quite a few years and playing Antones in Austin and Big Beat Dallas will be quite a treat.

March was an easy month in terms of several local shows in Michigan.  We played at an amazing venue called Founders in Grand Rapids to a crowd of 500.  Great hospitality and incredible sound! We had our own personal server called Adam and he couldn't do enough for us.  And he refused to be tipped for his service!!!!.  We also had an intimate concert at The Gateway in Clarkston put together by music promoter/ supporter: Craig Carrick.  A beautiful Flower shop/ nursery and concert venue.  Very unique and such an enjoyable. soul satisfying evening was had by all.  We had a huge turn out for our Fundraiser for the Friends of Grass Lake Township at the Dale Fisher Gallery/ Eagle Farm.  The show was completely sold out and we raised $6400 + and residents donated over 300 pounds of food to the local food pantry.  The last week of March we headed to Martins in Roanoke, Virginia and got to hang out with some old friends. Then on to two new venues - Jonathan's Landing in Delaware - where we had a nice full crowd and then the legendary Madam's Organ in Washington DC.  Madam Os definitely lived up to her reputation!!!  We finished the month of March with a fun show at Sweet Nolas Southern Food lounge in Winchester, Virginia.  

We hope to see you out on the road this spring and summer!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindspringtour
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Harper and Midwest Kind March Blog 2018

 Howdy all,

Happy March. Finally Spring has arrived. Our show at the Winter Bluesfest - at The Franke Center for the Arts in Marshall Michigan was sold out. Local guitarist Jake Kershaw opened the show and really rocked the crowd.  The Franke Center is an amazing listening room, please try to check it out if you are ever in the area, its worth it. A massive winter storm hit Michigan in early February so we decided to leave a day early for our tour South.  Really glad we did because we would have been snowed in. As it turned out, we had great weather and roads all the way to Florida and Alabama and back.

Our tour to Florida and Alabama was great.  Fantastic weather and full to capacity at most shows.  We performed at several new venues - Arts Garage in Delray Beach and the Barrel Room in Fort Myers - both excellent music venues.  Plus some of our old favorites - the legendary Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahassee,  Capitol Oyster Bar in Montgomery Alabama where Bass player James Norris celebrated his birthday with a dozen sumptuous oysters!! Guanabanas in Jupiter for Valentines Day - and of course,  I had to sing "Feels Like Sunday Morning" for all the valentines. An absolutely packed Englewoods on Dearborn, finishing off with the incredible Little Bar in Goodland.  We ended the month with a very cool show at yet another new venue - The Third Base in Springfield, Illinois.

Big news -  a tour to Texas  in May with dates in Dallas and Austin, Texas. please spread the word cause we haven't toured Texas in years!!!! Also in August we will be touring to Reno Nevada and Northern California.  We have to send out a big thank you to Randy Christian for getting us the show at Antones in Austin and Leslie Marble for helping us out with the Poor House Bistro in San Jose.  See you out on the road this spring!

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindwintertour
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Harper and Midwest Kind January Blog 2018

Howdy everyone,

We are nearly into February and the touring has started again thick and fast.  For our Toronto Fans the scheduled show for next Friday has run into a scheduling conflict.  We hope to rebook this date at a later time, very sorry for any inconvenience caused.   Our fundraiser in December at The Dale Fisher Gallery in Grass Lake Michigan for the non profit group:  Friends of Grass Lake Township raised over $5000 which was way beyond expectations and an amazing event to be apart of.

January saw us facing a two week arctic blast but we managed to perform to some great crowds who braved the icey cold weather to come out to see us at our favorite Michigan clubs - "Tip Top Deluxe" and "Trinity House Theatre"and a very new venue - "20 Front Street" in Lake Orion. We made our debut at "World Cafe Live" in Philadelphia and "Kettleworks" in Columbia PA.  "Kettleworks" was a complete sellout - we hope to return later in the year.   At "World Cafe Live" we hung out with our dear friends: Lori and Steve owners of "Camp Jam in the Pines".  We hope to make a return visit to Camp Jam in September.   Just this past weekend we performed in Connecticut at a great new venue "Woodbury Brewing Company"  and returned to an old favorite - "Black Eyed Sallys".

January was also a very frustrating month  - with our heating furnace breaking down during the big freeze and a sewage explosion for the second time in our basement and Bobbi poured a cup of tea over her new Mac Lap Top for the second time as well. When it rains it pours, as they say LOL!!!!.  I am just very thankful for my wonderful friends who came to our rescue and you all know who you are.  Im still working on a new CD and our guitarist Mike Howe has just completed his solo CD.  The festivals are starting to roll in.  We plan to tour to the West Coast next summer, more dates to be announced very soon.  We Hope to see you out on the road this winter and spring!

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
#harperandmidwestkindwintertour
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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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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
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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 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
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Harper and Midwest Kind December Blog 2016

Happy Holidays Everyone,

Well its nice and cold here in Michigan and we were fortunate enough to have a white Christmas.

November saw the band and I head down to Florida for a warm week of shows.  We had some great crowds at Englewoods on Dearborn and the Little Bar in Goodland.  We had the Grand Opening of Mermaid Blues on Marco Island which was a sell out.  Another new venue for us was the Rhythm House in Fort Myers and we finished the tour at the amazing Terra Fermata - a stunning out door venue in Stuart, Florida.  December saw us hold our first China Tour Fundraiser at The Green Door in Lansing, Michigan. Twyla Birdsong and her band put on a great show for us and Twyla even got up and sang a few tunes with my band.  She has a great voice and her band consists of some of Lansing's finest musicians. It was such a pleasure and honor to have them play.  The snow pelted down but we were all warm and snug inside the Green Door.  We continue to Fund raise for our upcoming China Tour through https://www.gofundme.com/2t98u6r8  We have lots of goodies on offer in return for your support.

We had a very cool show at TCs Garage in Napoleon, Michigan.  Good to see TC putting on shows again.  We had a nice turn out at this intimate music room.  We also had an acoustic concert at one of my favorite rooms - Trinity House Theatre in Livonia, Michigan. We finished the year at Bemo's Bar in Bay City.  Another great sounding room with a really cool crowd.  We had a kinda of a bizarre and dramatic end to the night. On the very last song, a man head planted the floor right in front of the stage.  It looked like he had died on the spot. The whole room seemed to collectively gasp in shock! We were very relieved to see his lips moving while he lay on the floor.  He had only feinted after all.

2016 was a busy year, lots of tours, festivals and the release of the "Show Your Love" CD which got to # 3 on Billboard and stayed in the Top Ten for six months. It also hit # 1 in Europe and # 3 in Australia. Such a wonderful result for this new CD, I am so very thankful. 2016 was also a rough year, so much war, mass shootings, devastation and the loss of so many wonderful musicians.  Icons such as David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, George Michael, Prince, Leon Russell are no longer with us.  The world seems a little sadder!  The cool thing is that their music lives on. They stay with us through their songs.  With a new year brings a new beginning and a new hope for a better world.  For Harper and Midwest Kind we will be embarking on a tour of Australia and China in March which is very exciting!!!

Thank you so much for supporting my band and my music and sharing our journey. Happy Holidays, may 2017 be a year of peace, prosperity and joy for us all.  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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Harper and Midwest Kind October Blog 2017

Hey Everyone,

Happy Fall!!!!.  We have some amazing news.  Harper and Midwest Kind have been invited to tour China for two weeks in March, 2017.  This such an amazing opportunity for my band to play our music to such a unique culture, were are all very excited.  We have put together a  Harper and Midwest Kind China Tour Go Fund Me Campaign to raise funds to cover touring costs such as flights/ train tickets/ Chinese tour manager/ accommodation and equipment hire.   In return for your amazing support, we have loads of cool stuff on offer: the new "Show Your Love" CD, the limited edition "No Wukkin Furries" China Tour Tee Shirt/ Ladies Tank, workshops and concerts.  We certainly intend to give back to our supporters.  Please spread the word, every little bit helps!!

https://www.gofundme.com/2t98u6r8  Please click on the link & also check out our youtube video about the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6Sv2T_ZCE

In September we headlined the Art Eats Beats Festival in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA which was pretty cool.  We played a new and very cool venue called BeMo's Bar in Bay City and finished the weekend at The Wine & Harvest Festival in Paw Paw.  Then we headed to Vegetable Buddies in Indiana, our favorite Pop's Place in Illinois, the amazing Alamo in Springfield and then The Rathskeller in Indianapolis.  Our good friends Justin Brown and Mark Menefee got up and jammed at The Rathskeller.  Then the next stop was Hattiesburg, Mississippi for the Thirsty Hippo.   We had an amazing set at Bogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival in Louisianna.  It was unbelievably HOT, but so was the music. It was crazy to realize that the festival grounds had been under 5 feet of water only six weeks before.  So many amazing bands at this festival, the standard of musicianship was outstanding. We also got to hang out with Trent Ayers and Cedric Burnside .  The Capitol Oyster Bar was up next in Montgomery, Alabama. And you know we ate a ton of oysters!!!   We finished the month with a three day visit to The Paradise Inn in Pensacola Beach, Florida.  Bass player James got to see his whole family. Our old guitar buddy Tyler Mac stopped by and got up and jammed.  It was a very cool visit.  Then it was The Celic Ray in Punta Gorda, hanging with Mackie and Ann Marie! Then over to the east side of the state to visit Katie, Everett, Scott and Dawn at the "Camp Ground" in Jupiter, Florida.  Cool shows at Guanabanas and Terra Fermata.  Good times were had by all!!!!

We have an amazing Fall/ Winter Tour.   Hope to see you out on the road this Fall and Winter!!



Harper and Midwest Kind
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Harper and Midwest Kind September Blog 2016

Happy Fall Everyone,

This long and hot summer has flown by, as it always does.  The hottest summer on record for Michigan and we really felt it!!!  Happy to say that the new CD "Show Your Love" continues to break all previous records hitting # 3 with 23 weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard.  Woohooo! 

We started off the month of August with an amazing weekend in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada for the Kitchener Blues Festival.  The main stage show was off the hook with giant jumbo trons at the back of the stage, a big raucous crowd and a great sound.  Backstage hospitality was excellent as were the Festival staff.  We felt very welcome and soaked in the great blues and roots music coming off the multiple down town stages.  On the Saturday I did a harmonica presentation/ concert at the Boat House in Kitchener, which was packed to the rafters then followed by at late night club show at the Lancaster Smoke House. We plan to have a return visit to the Boat House on Friday February 3, 2017, which is good news!.  

Then it was back to the US for a bunch of concerts in Sioux Falls and Iowa.  The show at Mckennan Park Band Shell, Sioux Falls was nice, then it was a return visit to the Strawbale Winery.  Unfortunately we had some huge problems with the sound system with one of the speakers blowing out, a couple of songs into the set.  We soldiered through and thankfully the crowd was very forgiving.  Our show at the Court House was rained out, but we ended up playing inside in the actual court room, which was very cool.  The Storm Lake, Wood, Wine and Blues Festival was kinda of different, but a lot of fun,  we played music while the woodmen chainsawed their wooden masterpieces.   We ended our tour at the Legendary Byrons in Pomeroy, Iowa.

We have an amazing Fall/ Winter Tour coming up plus a 3 week tour to Australia in March with a possible 2 week tour to China there after!  If any of you want the band to play at a festival in your home town please let the festival folks know and we will do our best to make it happen.   Hope to see you out on the road this Fall!!

Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs/ Shirts/ downloads
 http://cdbaby.com/cd/harperandmidwestkind2   CD Baby      
www.harper.biz/workshops.html    Australian Didge-ucation
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind

Harper and Midwest Kind June Blog 2016

Howdy everyone,

Sending positive healing vibes and prayers to our brothers and sisters in Orlando, Florida.   

We have just come back from an amazing weekend in Orangeville, Ontario Canada where we were fortunate enough to headline the Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival.  What an amazing event, located down town with multiple stages, workshops, food vendors , arts/crafts and a car show.  The weather was stunning, the vibes were friendly and the crowd numbers were full to the max.  This was guitarist Mike Howe's first show with us, returning after a 14 month hiatus. 

The new CD "Show Your Love" hit # 5 on Billboard Blues Charts for the second week and top ten for the past 10 weeks.   Also # 10 on The Roots Music Report and # 1 Hot Hit Tracks 100, in the Netherlands woohoo!  And to top it off, # 3 on The Australian Blues Charts, so cool to be appreciated by the folks from home!   In May we headed down south for some very nice shows. The first show was The Natchez Festival of Music, held at the Performing Arts Center.  This theatre was featured in the James Brown Film.  A beautiful building for sure.  After the show,  the sponsors for the event kindly held a reception for us in their home which was a renovated Train Station.  The next show was Martins in Jackson, Mississippi,  this was a bit of a quite one, but a really nice room  and cool folks.  Then we headed North to BBs Jazz Blues and Soups, St Louis.  Yes we are back at BBs!!!   Some of you may remember we had to cancel last time through.  Word is that the old management is back in place and all is well.  We had an amazing show at Blues at The Bohm in Albion Michigan.  This is a cool theatre gig where we got to play a set and then the blues jammers got up to jam for a few sets then we finished off the night.  We had a great turnout - 217 peeps for a Monday night aint too shabby.   The Bohm theatre is a stunning music venue, check it out if you are ever in Albion, Michigan

We have a busy summer schedule coming up, loads of festivals, concert series, some club dates and workshops.  Please check out the tour guide below.  Hope to see you out on the road this summer!!
Thanks and Peace,

Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs/ Shirts/ downloads
 http://cdbaby.com/cd/harperandmidwestkind2   CD Baby      
www.harper.biz/workshops.html    Australian Didge-ucation
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind

Harper and Midwest Kind December Blog

Howdy Everyone,

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving.   After our amazing Australian Tour,  it was straight out on the road to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  We were greeted by warm weather - up in the 80s and many friendly faces.   Home team BBQ on Sullivan's Island in South Carolina was fun.  You may remember this time last year, we had two guitars stolen from our van, but thankfully we were able to catch the thief with the help of the Charleston Police.  Thankfully, no problems this time through.  Darwins in Georgia was also a good time.  Then we hit florida with a vengeance with some amazing shows at Englewoods on Dearborn, The Cultural Center of Charlotte , Terra Fermata and Guanabanas.  We stayed most of the week with our good friends - Katie and Everett and Dawn and Scott in beautiful Jupiter.  These kind folk really took care of us!

The big news is that the HARPER AND MIDWEST KIND NEW CD GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN has reached the new total of $6520 raised with only $480 to reach our target of $7000
  Woohoooo !!!!!! gofund.me/peterdharper 

If this link above doesn't work please cut and paste this link and put it in your browser.   https://www.gofundme.com/peterdharper   A huge thank you to those who have contributed and shared.  We are able to create this new CD because of you!!

For those who would like to pre order the new CD/ shirt or other stuff we will be keeping the website open for another week finishing on Christmas Eve.  We have been recording the new CD at Big Sky Recording Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I hope to have the CD ready for release sometime in February, 2016.   There will be 11 new tracks and I plan to call the new CD  "Show Your Love" .  Let's face it,  we need more love in this world with all the tragedy we see and hear about.  So hopefully my music will put that positive energy out there into the universe!

Hope to see you all out on the road this Winter.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays, Peace, Love, Unity and Happiness  to all!

Thanks and Peace,

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

Harper and Midwest Kind November Blog- Last Month of Go Fund Me Campaign

Hey Folks,

We've literally flew in from Perth, Western Australia just a couple of days ago and are about to head south for some shows in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, USA. No rest for the blessed!!!  Our Australian tour was amazing.  Will, Bobbi and I got to hang with Bobbi's family in Melbourne. Bobbi' s brother has a beautiful property in Research with an in built family of kangaroos and Kookaburras.  We also visited the Harper Clan in Perth. I hadn't seen my Mum and Dad for over ten years and some of my sisters for 15 years.  We had a great time with our families.  The shows were a lot of fun too.  The German Harmonie Club in Canberra was a full house, lots of old friends like Margaret and Ian Ferguson turned up.  Then we got to hang with the incredible James Glendenning at the Sydney Blues and Roots Festival.  We did some touristy stuff like visit the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and in Melbourne - The Healesville Sanctuary.  Will Rideoutt my fabulous guitarist got to see Emus, Wallabies, platypus and wombats.  The Towradgi Beach Hotel was also a lot of fun.  We had two shows at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz.  I would have to say that the second show was the best Ive ever performed in my home country.  Our Aussie Midwest Kind- of Andrew Robson and Adrian Sutton did a great job of learning the all original repertoire.  The flight home was not so good.  Will's flight to Vancouver was canceled because the plane hit a pelican.  Our flight from Perth was delayed, then our flight from Sydney to Vancouver came in late, so we missed the connecting flight to Toronto. Then our Flight to Detroit was delayed by one and half hours. Plus Bobbi and I were security checked at every city.  But we arrived home safely with all our bags, harps and didgeridoos intact!

The big news is that the HARPER AND MIDWEST KIND NEW CD GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN has reached the new total of $4160 raised  https://www.gofundme.com/peterdharper

If this link doesn't work please cut and past and put it in your browser.  
https://www.gofundme.com/peterdharper

We have covered the cost of the recording studio (yay) and now we are well on the way to covering the costs of the CD pressing and artwork (double yay).  We have one more month to go, so if you haven't checked out the website please do so now before we close it down..   We have lots of goodies on offer:  You have several choices: a  pre release signed copy of the new CD and a signed poster or a Tee Shirt or all three.  Maybe a house concert or harp/didgeridoo lesson in your own home as well!  Bobbi and I could also bring "Australian Didge-ucation" to your local school or library.  A huge thank you to those who have spread the word and supported this campaign. We certainly intend to give something back for your amazing support. 

Hope to see you all out on the road this Fall and Winter here in the USA.  Wishing you all the very best for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday!

Thanks and Peace,

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

Hey everyone,

Happy Fall!!!  A few more shows to go before we head to Australia for three weeks!  As you all know I had to cancel the tour last year because of some fractured ribs caused by another driver driving through a red light. But Im all recovered now and the Aussie clubs and festivals were gracious enough to rebook the tour for 2015.

The big news is that we have launched our GO FUND ME" campaign for "Harper and Midwest Kind's new CD"   gofund.me/peterdharper

If this link doesn't work you can cut and past and put it in your browser. That should do the trick:  https://www.gofundme.com/peterdharper

The main goal is to raise  $10 000 to cover the recording studio, artwork, CD pressing and publicity costs.  So far, in just over one week we have raised $1800 with much more being pledged.  This will be the first studio CD in five years, so its well overdue!  I have written a bunch of new tunes and we've been road testing them since the Summer.  We have the recording studio "Big Sky Recording" in Ann Arbor, Michigan booked for December and  we have even lined up a great publicist.   For those who wish to get involved there are loads of goodies to choose from.  You have several choices: a  pre release signed copy of the new CD and a signed poster or a Tee Shirt or all three.  Maybe a house concert or harp/didgeridoo lesson in your own home as well!  Bobbi and I could also bring "Australian Didge-ucation" to your local school or library.  We certainly intend to give something back for your amazing support. 

Hope to see you all out on the road this Fall!

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.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind