Harper and Midwest Kind August Blog

Hello everyone,

We are on the road to Colorado as we speak.  Warm weather and stunning views surround us as we drive.   Very excited to announce that the "Live at The Blues Museum" CD reached number 2 on the national XM/Sirius Radio Network- Bluesville.   Woohoo!!!   July was packed full of festivals.  We made a long awaited appearance at The Milwaukee Summerfest on the Harley Davidson Stage.  It was great to catch up with many old friends including stage manager Rudy Valentino- descendant of the famous slient screen star - Rudolf Valentino.   The weather was very hot and so was the show!  Then it was on to our fav St Louis club- BB's for yet another fun show.  We had a great afternoon show at The Eat to The Beat Series in Southfield, Michigan then it was the amazing Concert of Colors in Detroit.   We performed in at the Max. M Fisher Music Center . It was a great show in air conditioned comfort- the house was full, and the vibes were friendly.  We then headed out on tour to Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, California and Washington.  Our show at The Hub in Cedar Falls, Iowa was quite unique- we were fortunate to have a drum circle play with us on a few songs.  After the show we drove north for a few hours to lessen the trek to the Fargo Blues Festival in North Dakota the next day.  The Fargo Blues fest was amazing- a bright blue sky with a large music friendly crowd.   The place was pretty full for our 4.15pm show and we had a huge lineup for CDs after the performance.  We then drove to Wisconsin.  On our way we witnessed a bizarre accident.  A semi trailer truck lost its two back wheels and scraped the side of a mini van packed full of kids and their parents.  Incredibly the driver of the mini van steered his vehicle  out of harm's way onto the median strip.  Mean while the truck driver managed to steer his massive truck to the right side of the highway with out flipping over or taking any cars with him.  No one was hurt thankfully!!!  Our show at The Prairie Dog Festival was also a fine time.  We caught up with our old friend Matt Eimer who helped us out in 2010 when our van broke down.  Matt was the stage manager for the fest and really went out of his way to make us feel welcome and comfortable. The next day we performed at the World Famous Byrons in Pomeroy, Iowa and had a blast!

After chilling out with friends in Reno, Nevada we headed to the beautiful Mammoth Lakes in Northern California.  We performed at the Bluesapalooza in the woods.  It was a fabulous show and the lineup also included Trampled Underfoot, Johnny & Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer.  The wood site was packed to the rafters.  We hit the road after the show to get closer to our show at Roadhouse 101 in Lincoln City, Oregon.  The traffic was bumper to bumper for the last leg of the journey but we made it with time to spare.  The next day was the fabulous Mount Baker Blues Festival in Bellingham, Washington.  It was a toasty 100 Degrees F but the hospitality was unbeatable.  We had freshly caught  BBQ cooked salmon brought to our dressing room for our after show feast.   We got to hang out with good friend Hamilton Loomis and his band and even got to jam with every one at the end of the evening.  We all had a fabulous time in a beautiful part of the world.  In August we have many more festivals coming up plus a special "Hair Raising Event" at the B & O Station in Youngstown, Ohio- a Celebration for Life for Cancer survivors on Thursday August 16.

Hope to see you out on the road this Summer and Fall.

Thanks and Peace,

Harper & Midwest Kind
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