Harper August Blog

Hey Everyone,

Some amazing news just in- the new CD "Stand Together" is currently number 2 on the XM/Sirius Bluesville charts- woohooo!. It looks like the songs "Love=Peace=Freedom" & "Not My Brother" are the favorite tunes. And the CD has also entered the top 20 for the second time at number 17 on the national blues charts (Roots Music Report)

The month of July was festival madness. Our van was still stuck in Peoria Illinois so we had to make do. Our road angel friend Matt Eimer lent us his mini van for two weeks. It was just driving madness- in one week in particular we drove to Traverse City Michigan from Grass Lake, Michigan and back in one day for the Cherry Festival where we opened for the very talented Tommy Castro Band. And Whoah it was HOT!!! but the cool thing was that I got to hang out with Kenny Olson (Ex Kid Rock) and Larry Mccray. Then we drove to Nescopeck, Pennsylvania for the amazing Briggs Farm Festival where I opened the festival with an Acapella version of "The Star Spangled Banner". Pretty nerve racking for an Australian- but it all worked out fine. And yes we plan to post some footage up on facebook soon. Then we drove to Rochester, New York for a quick set at the Big Rib Festival. Managed to hang out for a little bit with Chef Jimi & Leslie and a few other cool folks such as Ken McKenzie from Florida. Then we had to head back to Michigan for another festival- Blissfest up in Northern Michigan- the very next day. So after driving to Blissfest, doing two festival performances and a workshop- Bobbi & I had to drive home that night - so that we could drive to Peoria, Illinois the next day to pick up our van.

As you all may remember the Dodge Sprinter's transmission died a horrible death in June. It cost $5300 (triple ouch) to repair. I tell you that van (aka The Silver Bullet) was a sight for soar eyes when we finally picked her up. Then we had to drive the van and the mini van to Burlington, Iowa to pick up our bass rig and drumkit from The Washington Club and to give Matt back his van. Bobbi and I decided to put four new tyres on the mini van as a present to Matt for his incredible generosity. He made a joke about wanted to let us borrow his truck as well- so I guess he was pretty happy.

The following week we performed on Fox TV's Morning show and also the Mitch Albom's radio show. The TV performance is up on the Harper website if you would like to take a peek. The International Blues Fest, Windsor, Canada was amazing. There had to be 10 000 folks in attendance. The whole performance was aired on Roger's TV in Canada and it was such a great show. We opened for Foghat who performed a great set. We were rained out at the Michigan Brewer's Guild Summer Festival. It just amazes me how many people were perfectly willing to stand in ankle-to knee deep water just to drink some great beer. Serious beer drinkers in Michigan, that's for sure!!!!. The Taste of Lincoln Festival in Chicago was also a great day with picture perfect weather.

We headlined the Maximum Blues Festival de Carleton sur Mer in Quebec, Canada on August 7. The Silver Bullet was still in the body shop- getting the body work done from our accident in May. (Yes its been quite the saga). So we had to squash five people into a Hyundai Sonata rental car for the trip- What fun! I would have to say the Maximum Blues Fest was just brilliant. Stunning location, amazing sound and lights and fabulous hospitality. It was worth the forty hour round trip. As of today FINALLY we now have the Dodge Sprinter back on the road

We have some amazing festivals coming up- The Cowpie Festival, Michigan, Bayfront Blues Festival, Minnesota, The Crossroads Music Festival, Ypsilanti, Michigan, The Big Bull Falls Festival, Wisconsin and the Paola Roots Festival, Kansas.

Hope to see you out on the road

Peace,

Harper & Midwest Kind

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