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 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 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
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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

Harper and Midwest Kind June Blog, 2015

Happy June Everyone,

The Summer Festival season has arrived here in the USA . My band "Midwest Kind" and I are about to head out on a Four week Tour taking us all over the USA.   We will be headlining Pennsylvania's, Jacks Mountain Blues Festival  and opening for HEART at the Spyglass Winery this weekend then its onward to Idaho, Washington, Oregon then California, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado then back to Michigan before heading to Thunderbay, Ontario,  Canada and Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada.  We have some great festivals coming up in July: Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival, Oregon,  7 Sisters Festival, California, Sioux Falls jazzfest and The Blue Waters Blues Festival, Nebraska.

Happy to announce that the "No Wukkin" Furries" T Shirt has arrived and are available on www.harper.biz    We have small through to 3XL, some sizes sell out more quickly than others but be assured, we can now order in new shirts in a timely manner.  We will also have shirts at our shows.  Some of you will also notice a bunch of new tunes over the next few months.  We plan to road test a lot of new material. Please let me know what you think.  My band and I will be recording a new studio CD in December for a February release.   Its been a while between CDs but Im really working hard to make this one the best so far. 

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

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)
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Harper and Midwest Kind May Blog, 2015

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are enjoying this Spring weather, here in the Northern hemisphere!.  We are entering into the festival season in the USA, the best part of the touring calendar.  We had an amazing tour to Ohio, Alabama and Florida.  We had a delicious Soul Food dinner with Cedric Burnside and his partner Mona, Trent Ayers and their family.   The best fried chicken, mac n cheese and black eyed peas ever.  We absolutely chowed down!!  Bobbi is now booking Cedric Burnside Project as part of her new agency- Hwy Key Touring Artists and doing a great job.  It was an absolute pleasure to meet them all. In Florida we caught up with my former but fabulous guitarist Tyler Mac at The Paradise Inn in Pensacola Beach,.  It was so cool to jam with Tyler.  Jame's Brother Paxton also got up to play guitar.  Nick from Nick and the Overals also jammed with us, which was very cool.  It was a fabulous three nights of music in beautiful Pensacola Beach.  Then it was on to Guanabanas- our favorite club in the jungle and then on to Terra Fermata in Stuart - a new stunning out door venue with incredible sound.   We made some amazing new friends, Katie, Rhett, Dawn and Scott.  We stayed with these fabulous folks in Jupiter for a couple of days. We had a rocking show at The Little Bar in Goodland followed by our favorite Irish Pub- The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda.  Many of you will know that our scheduled show at  2 Brothers was cancelled due to the venue burning down in late March.  The Celtic Ray kindly gave us a make up show at the last minute.    Happy to say the Celtic Ray was packed for this last minute show. 

Two weeks ago we performed at a new club in Jackson, Michigan called Grand River Brewery.  Lots of friends turned up for some great brews and tasty treats.   Last week we toured to Upstate New York for the Dinosaur BBQs then south to New Jersey for Camp Jam in the Pines and further south to the Rowan Jazz & Blues Festival in North Carolina.

Hope to see you all out on the road this Spring and Summer!

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

Harper and Midwest Kind March, 2015 Blog- Stolen Guitars Returned!!!!

Hey Everyone,

Yay Spring is finally here in the USA!  We have some amazing news!!!!.  The two stolen guitars of Mike Howe and James Norris have been recovered and shipped home to the guys as good as new.  James found the two guitars with serial numbers listed up on Ebay last week.  Bobbi our intrepid manager called the Mount Pleasant Police in South Carolina to let them know.  She was told that EBay are very difficult to deal with when it comes to stolen items being listed.  So Bobbi and Detective Fey put together a ruse to find out exactly who was selling the guitars and the exact address.  So Bobbi pretended to be a guy named "Pete" and contacted the seller on Ebay asking if she could come and look at the Les Paul  and was willing to pay $2000 cash.  The seller immediately replied.  As it turned out the guitars were at a Pawn Shop in Charleston, South Carolina.  So Bobbi set up a sting with Detective Fey at 3pm last Monday.  The Pawn Shop seller was arrested as was the guy who pawned the guitars.  Woohooo!!!  A huge thank you to The Mount Pleasant Police and Detective Fey!  So happy for Mike and James

The next big of amazing news is that I have been nominated for two 2015 Detroit Music Awards-  Best World Music Songwriter and Instrumentalist.    The final bit of great news is that Harper and Midwest will be appearing on PBS Television on Friday March 20th at 11pm Eastern  USA as part of WKAR Backstage Pass.  For those of you who would like to see the concert now here is the link to the concert on line  http://video.wkar.org/video/2365430223/

Lots of touring coming up here in the USA. A big sorry to our New England fans we had a change of routing in May due to an offer to headline the Rowan Jazz & Blues Festival in North Carolina. We will get back your way, promise!!    Good news for Aussies- We will be touring Australia in late October/ November, working on dates as we speak!

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

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

Harper and Midwest Kind February Blog 2015

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to the first Blog of the year.  We are heading to the Lancaster Roots and Blues Festival in Pennsylvania as we speak and the sun is shining!!!!.    We've been dealing with alot of snow here in Michigan, I have had close to three feet of snow on the front porch of my house.  In January we had  a few very snowy Michigan gigs. In early January, a huge snow storm was blowing through, yet folks still seemed to make it out to our acoustic show at the Sandhill Crane Wineyard in Jackson,  Mash Bar in Ann Arbor and Scooters in Flint.   The Scooter's show was part of the Greg Nagy Presents Concert Series, so there were a lot of very talented musicians in the audience.  Greg got up for a few tunes, guitarist Will Rideout  also played a few tunes and our drummer Cam Lewis did a great soulful rendition of "The Thrill is Gone".  The drive home from Flint was white knuckle scary, but we made it home- slowly but surely!

The Following week the weather was fabulous, lots of sunshine and clear, dry roads. Our tour to Nebraska and Iowa was alot of fun.  We played a fun double bill with Jim Suhler at the 21st Saloon in Omaha then we headed east to Burlington, Iowa for a show at The Washington.  Owner:  David Hazel has done wonders with this amazing listening room.  Midwest Kind and I had a great show at The Washington and definitely plan to return in the Fall.   Next up was The Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival in Cherokee, Iowa.   This was a multiple venue event, we had the pleasure of performing at a very new and happening club called "Loft 101".   We had a packed house of intense music fans, unfortunately we were having some major sound issues, so we cut our set short and sent in Mike Howe our amazing guitarist/ sound engineer to sort things out.   After a bit of rewiring and adjustment of graphics, we were good to go!.  We did a long set and the place was jumping.  We loved playing at Loft 101 so much that we will be doing a repeat performance - back by popular demand on Saturday April 11th.   So please spread the word!  The next day was a full house at the Legendary Byron's Bar in Pomeroy, Iowa.   You all need to put "Byron's on your bucket list because this bar is truly a unique experience that can't be explained!

The next week we did a TV spot on Fox 4 Morning Show in Kansas City.  We had a blast at the TV station and even got to meet the dancer- Amy of "So You Think You Can Dance".   That evening we played a show at The Trouser Mouse in Blue Springs.  We did a double bill with a fabulous local band called "Blue Plate Special" - a very talented and extremely nice bunch of guys.   Then it was on to one of our fab clubs- the incredible BBS Jazz, Blues & Soups in St Louis.  We ended the month with a new club called Pop's Place in Decatur, Illinois.   We had a full house and received lots of good vibes from all there.   In February we head south (yay) to West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. 

Hope to see you out on the road this winter and Spring!

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

Harper and Midwest Kind December Blog, 2014

Hi everyone,

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter/ Summer Solstice and a Happy Holiday Season.    In November we welcomed our new drummer from Chicago - the amazing Cam Lewis, who we met earlier  this year in Pensacola Beach, Florida.  I prophetically told Cam at the time that we would be working together someday!  Funny how things turn out.   We had a fabulous acoustic show at Trinity House in Livonia, Michigan, followed by the amazing and very wild Mash Bar in Ann Arbor and the fabulous Celtic Ray in Lexington over Thanksgiving weekend.

In early December we headed out on tour to The Alamo in Springfield, Illinois.  The next day Bobbi and I presented Australian Didge-ucation to the beautiful children of Montessori's Children's House.  Afterwards we visited the Illinois State Museum's Research and Collections Center. Curators: Terrance J Martin and Jonathan E. Reyman gave us a tour of an ancient Australian Aboriginal collection from the 1800s, Western Australia.  There were ancient didgeridoos, shields, spears, boomerangs, jewelry plus more.  It was an amazing collection of artifacts.  The plan is to return the collection to Canberra, Australia.   We then headed south to Brackins in Maryville, Tennessee which was a fun show.  Then its was on to Charleston , South Carolina for Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ.  We had a great show and the BBQ was fabulous.

Unfortunately early on Saturday December 6th my van was broken into at The Sleep Inn in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.  The front passenger window was smashed and the door was damaged.  Mike's Gibson Les Paul guitar and Jame's 5 string Fender Jazz Bass guitar were stolen.  The thief also tried to get into the back of the van but was unable to.  Two other cars were also broken into.  I made a police report and have been checking Craig' s list, music stores, pawn shops- you name it, since.  Such a horrible thing to happen.  Our insurance covered the damage to the van but not the guitars.   We had the window taped up with plastic so we could make our show at Darwins in Marietta, Georgia.  Two wonderful local musicians loaned us their guitars for the evening.  Then the next week our good buddy Steve Arvey loaned us two guitars to finish the rest of the tour to Florida.  A big thank you to these generous musicians and also to our friends and fans for donating some cash to Mike and James to help them replace their stolen guitars.

Bobbi and I finished the year with an Australian Didge-ucation presentation at the JVS in Detroit for the PTS veterans.  These programs put together by the JVS really do work.  One veteran in particular was so sad, isolated, depressed and defensive when we met him earlier in the year.  We were astounded by this his beautiful smiling face this time around.  He had been transformed.  Bobbi told Psychosocial Specialist Donna Rhoades that she had given back this man's humanity.    It was so beautiful to see.   Thank you all for sharing this journey with Bobbi, my band "Midwest Kind" and me, this year.  We truly appreciate your support and love.

May 2015 best a year of peace, prosperity, joy and love for us all.  See you out on the road next year!

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

Harper and Midwest Kind November Blog, 2014

Hi Everyone,

Its starting to get cold here in Michigan and my log fire is getting quite a lot of work.  Very sorry to announce that we had to reschedule our Australian tour.  The day before we were due to board the plane to Sydney, I was involved in a car accident.  I was the passenger in a friend's car, when another car drove right through a stop sign and barreled right into us.  I sustained three fractured ribs.  Very very sore but not serious.  My doctor put me on the "No Fly List" so we were forced to cancel our tour.  Thankfully all our Aussie clubs and festivals have graciously agreed to rebook us for the same time next year.  So we will get there eventually!  Very sorry for the inconvenience to our Australian fans!.

October saw us heading back to the Downhome Blues Festival in Camden, South Carolina.  it was fun to run into Chef Jimi and his lovely wife Leslie plus many more familiar faces.  We also visited Asheville, North Carolina- Westville Pub which was a lot of fun.  Then it was down to Florida for an amazing visit with our special needs kids at the Buckingham Exceptional Student Center in Fort Myers.  We've been performing for these kids since 2009 and every show is an absolute blessing.  New principal Doctor Ruthie Lohmeyer was absolutely blown away at the way the kids were reacting to the music especially the didgeridoo session at the end of the show. Ive known for many years that  music is a very powerful and healing force!. After Fort Myers we headed to the stunning Guanabanas amidst a tropical rain forest then it was Englewoods on Dearborn.  We also performed at the Inaugural Camping with The Blues in Brooksville.  Got to see Doug Deming and Bryan Lee perform.  We had an all star jam at the end with about ten musicians on stage which was just magical! The festival was a lot of fun with good vibes all round.  We finished our tour at a new club for us-  Two Brothers in Punta Gorda, a very nice outdoor show indeedy!

 We hope to catch you all out on the road this fall and winter with dates in Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska!

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

Harper and Midwest Kind July Blog

Hey everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the summer.  My band Midwest Kind and I are on the road in beautiful Oregon and Washington, USA as we speak.  We have been hitting the road pretty hard this summer, but it has been a lot of fun.  In late June we had a very cool tour to Colorado for some Australian Didge-ucation Library performances then on to amazing Utah.   We performed at the fabulous Groovefest in Cedar City, Utah.  Great audience, loads of cool vendors with interesting jewelry and clothes.  We had a fabulous show and really enjoyed the Reggae band after us called "Stranger".  Then it was on to The Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City.  This festival was huge with multiple stages and an eclectic mix of music, art and theatre.  We saw the Australian theatre group who perform on stilts called "Strange Fruit" which was a unique experience.  Our show at The Park Stage, closing the festival was a huge buzz.  Big crowd and good vibes all round.  We really enjoyed playing The Wine Cellar in Ogden, Utah, so nice to catch up with owner Mitch and his awesome staff.

Then it was Salt Lake City to Ottawa, Ontario Canada.  Not the best routing but the festivals were amazing.  The Ottawa Bluesfest is beyond huge, up to 30 000 people per day, multiple stages and many many amazing bands.  We performed on the Black Sheep Stage with the Honey Island Swamp Band.  They had big screen jumbo trons at the back of the stage.  It was kind of bizarre to look behind you and see yourself ten times bigger than life.  After our set Bobbi and I rushed over to The Bell Stage to catch up with bass player: Ross Valory after his set with Journey.  There were literally 30 000 people in front of the  Bell Stage.  We had special Journey back stage passes, so we had a really close up view of the band.  It was cool to hang out with the wives of the band and to see the band after their killer set.  Our Saturday show on the Claridge Stage was fun.  This stage was huge, complete with even bigger jumbo trons on either side of the stage.   The sound, back stage crew, hospitality at this festival were fabulous.  We hung out with Matt Anderson and JJ Grey back stage.  Had a lot of fun. Even got to see Lady Gaga drop a load of F bombs during her performance..  Despite that, she did put on an extravagant  show with her 24 tour buses and 150 person crew and entourage.  The next day we headlined the final day of Sab Stock in Pembroke, Canada. This was a very nice ending to a great tour.

The next week I performed ten shows in seven days- the highlights were Jamming in Jackson, Briggs Farm Festival and Blues in the Vineyard in St Catharines, Canada!!!   No Rest for the Blessed!!!! Hope to see you out on the road this summer.

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.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
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Harper and Midwest Kind May blog, 2014

Hey Everyone,

Wishing you all the very best for Memorial Day Weekend here in the USA!.  Happy to announce that I won a 2014 Detroit Music Award for "Outstanding Vocalist".  Woohoo, what an honor!!   I was out on tour in New England when I heard the good news.  My amazing friends : Dianne Shute and Steve Lambert received the award on my behalf.  Steve even gave a speech.  His New Zealand accent might have fooled just about everyone there. LOL!!!!.  Also very excited to announce that Midwest Kind, Bobbi and I will be touring Australia in late October for three weeks.  We have some great festivals booked plus it will give Bobbi and me, a chance to catch up with our family.  Our last trip home was in 2007, so its been a while!

Our tour to New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine was a lot of fun.  The Dinosaur BBQs in New York are always welcome on every tour.  Plus we get to play Dinosaur in Buffalo, New York in July.  New venues:  Johnny Ds and the house concert- The Brick House House were very cool.  Great folks and hospitality!  Also it was great to revisit The Elks Lodge in NH and of course the Legendary Time Out Pub in Rockland, Maine.  We then headed south to a full tilt  College gig at On The Rocks in Florence, Alabama. Followed by the amazing Darwins in Marietta, Georgia.  Then it was a trip to the wild woods of Tallahassee, Florida for The incredible Bradfordville Blues Club.  Some of our band members were new to the BBC- so they got to experience for the first time, the best fish fry in the USA, courtesy of Miss Ernestine plus the warm gathering around the huge bon fire.  We hung out with former band mate and good friend Tyler Mac at The Paradise Inn in Pensacola Beach.  Got to see his very cute little daughter .   Then it was on to Englewoods On Dearborn and The Bayside Grille in Key Largo.  Another new venue for us- The Blue Rooster in Sarasota.  Instant good vibes at The Blue Rooster, as the management put out orange cones to reserve a parking space for us in front of the club. So VERY considerate!  Fabulous food, good sound and nice peeps all round!  We finished our tour with a fabulous show on Mothers Day at The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda, Florida.

This weekend we head to the brand new Celtic Ray in Lexington, Michigan.  This is the sister club of our much loved Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda.  The Friday show will be held in the Pub. The Saturday show will be held in the Theatre attached to the pub.  Bridget's Cross will be joining us in a double bill throw down!

Hope to see you out on the road this Spring and Summer!!

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.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind

Harper and Midwest Kind April Blog- Harper Wins Detroit Music Award!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

Very glad to be saying Happy Spring here in the USA!!!!   Just finished a run to New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Coming up next isAlabama, Georgia, Florida and New Jersey! We have an amazing summer festival season coming up with nearly 30 festivals booked in the USA, Canada and Australia.  Very exciting indeedy!!  Last Friday night I was up for Five Detroit Music Awards.  I am happy to announce that I won a 2014 Detroit Music Award for Most Outstanding Vocalist.  A huge thank you to all who voted.  Totally blown away.  Unfortunately I was in Boston the night of the awards but my good friends Dianne Shute and Steve Lambert picked up the award on my behalf.

In late March we visited two amazing elementary schools in Ohio- Port Washington Elementary and Midvale Elementary.  Bobbi and I presented "Australian Didge-uction" to nearly 1000 children.   Great kids - lots of fun!!!  Then we had a great double bill with the Mark May band at Canal House.  Followed by a visit to our Kankankee Friends of the  Blues at the Bradley Bourbonnais Sportsmans Club in Illinois.  We had a packed house, dueling didgeridoos and good blues were had by all.  In St Louis, Missouri, I managed to get two parking tickets in one day, but our show at BBs was still fun!!   We visited a new club- Calvin Rockett in Marshalltown where we had a fabulous turnout.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn that evening and were awoken at 7.30am the next morning by a supposed phone call from the front desk manager, asking for our credit card information.  Thankfully we didn't give it out-  Apparently this is a national scam- so never give out your personal information over the phone unless you called them!   We ended the week with yet another fabulous show at the legendary Bryons Bar in Pomeroy, Iowa!!  My band Midwest Kind and I headed back to Illinois for another Australian Didge-ucation Presentation at St Patricks School followed by a visit to North Hill Elementary in Burlington, Iowa.  It really is cool to see how amazing American teachers are!  We had another fantastic double bill with The Bluz Benderz at The Trouser Mouse in Blue Springs, Missouri.  Hope to see these guys again.  Then it was back the The Firehouse BBQ and Blues in Indiana for another great double bill with The Funkyard Dogs.  We had a packed house and great music was enjoyed by all.  We ended our tour at the Players Pub in Bloomington, Indiana. Where it was my pleasure to present a musicianship award to Justin Brown!

Bobbi and I presented three more Australian Didge-ucation Presentations in Michigan at the Kalamazoo Public Library, Alice & jack Wirt Public Library in Bay City and the Bay City Academy!  The kids had a ball, got to paint didgeridoos and learn to play them as well.  We all had a blast.

Hope to see you out on the road this Spring and Summer!!

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.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind

Harper and Midwest Kind March Blog, 2014

Hey Everyone,

Finally Spring has arrived here in the USA yay!!!   March has been an exciting month.  I learned that I have been nominated for FIVE- 2014 Detroit Music Awards- "Outstanding Acoustic Vocalist", "Outstanding World Music Vocalist", "Outstanding World Music Composer", and "Outstanding Blues Recording and Outstanding Acoustic Recording for the Harper and Motor City Josh "Bare Bones" CD.  Its such an honor to be nominated.  Motor City Josh was also nominated for "Outstanding Blues Instrumentalist" which is very much deserved.   Its been a long cold winter here in Michigan.  We were very lucky to tour for a month in February to Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to escape the Polar Vortex.  After our last show in SC we headed North to Michigan.  It was a pretty uneventful drive until we hit Northern Kentucky and Southern Ohio where a winter storm was barreling through.  The roads were icy and treacherous!  The going was slow but we got through the worst of it without too much trouble. Once we reached Michigan the roads were dry and we could breathe a sigh of relief.    Our driveway was not so good.  It had at least a foot of snow on it,  so with just the right amount of speed I managed to get the van up the hill and into the garage.  Once I got into my house I was struck by how cold it was.  I soon realized that my furnace had stopped working and most of our taps were frozen.  I couldn't get the furnace working so I decided to get the log fire going to warm up the house. Bobbi got online to the Red Cross website to find out the best way to thaw out frozen pipes and taps.  So with space heaters and hair dryers in hand we worked on thawing out our house.  It was freezing.  Our bass player James Norris was also with us because his van was still stuck in a snow drift on our driveway.   Thankfully no major damage was done.  The furnace guy came out and fixed the furnace and AAA towed Jame's van out of the drift.  So life is good!!!

That week Bobbi and I presented "Australian Didge-ucation" to the Veterans at JVS in Detroit.  We had an absolute blast.  Great bunch of guys.  We plan to have another visit in July.  We also took our presentation to the Jackson School of the Arts in downtown Jackson, Michigan.  We had a packed house of very enthusiastic children and their parents.  We painted didgeridoos and had an all out didgeridoo jam at the end of the session.  Our shows at the Plymouth Elks Lodge and Inside Out Gallery in Traverse City were fabulous.  The Manistee All Spring and Music Festival held at the stunning Ramsdell Theatre was a lot of fun.  We met many talented musicians and I even got to hang with Smokey Bear!!

We are currently on tour to Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana.  We have a NE tour planned for the end of April to New York, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.  Then its back to Florida, Alabama, Georgia and New Jersey in May.  No Rest for the Blessed!!!   Hope to see you out on the road this Spring and Summer!!

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.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind

Harper and Midwest Kind October Blog, 2013

Hi Everyone,

Happy Halloween!!!   Well the new "Bare Bones" acoustic blues CD by Motor City Josh and myself was released on Tuesday October 29th  woohoo!!!.  For those who would like to purchase the CD it is available on the Harper website: www.harper.biz  Just click on the CD and away you go.  $15 and no charge for shipping within the US.  $20 for outside the US.  I'll even sign it for ya!

October was a crazy busy month with a three week tour to Florida, Upstate New York , Canada then finishing off in Michigan.  Our shows at The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda , Florida were fabulous as always.  Also the amazing Bradfordville Blues Club in the wild woods of Tallahassee was fun and Aces Lounge, was yet another fine time had by all. Our visit to the special needs kids at The Buckingham Exceptional Student Center was, as always, the highlight of our week.  Bobbi and I also visited Lori in Punta Gorda and gave her the full didgeridoo sound therapy treatment to help her deal with her chemo.   It was such a positive experience, we hope to do more in the future.  Englewoods on Dearborn was a lot of fun- a stunning out door venue.  Then it was over to the East side of the Florida for the fabulous Daytona Blues Festival.  What an amazing festival!!  Set in a baseball park, there was a huge stage and covered seating for all. Though no one needed it because the sun was a shinning.  It was my birthday that day as well and it was super cool to hear the entire crowd sing me "Happy Birthday".    After the show we headed to the incredible Guanabanas then we drove down south to picturesque Key Largo for the Bayside Grille.   We were treated to a stunning Key Largo sunset and a large crowd of music fans.

Then it was drive, drive, drive to upstate New York. But all the miles were worth it once we arrived at The Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester and Syracuse, New York.  We chowed down!!!! In fact the whole tour was one of amazing and very filling meals.  I had several fabulous birthday homemade dinners  (Anne Marie and Mackie), and (Libby and Derek)  which culminated in a sushi feast with my wife Bobbi, Dave our drummer,  Dave's sister and Derek our bass player.   Its amazing we could all fit into the van LOL!!!!   After a visit to the Armor Inn in Hamburg, New York we visited the mighty Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.  Always an incredible sight to behold, then it was the Dawg House in London, Canada then home to Michigan for a sold out acoustic concert at the Pump House Concerts in East Lansing.

We ended October with an indoor show at The Rathskeller in Indianapolis and then another sold out show at The Lone Oak Vineyard in my hometown, Grass Lake, Michigan!!!  What a great month!!!

Hope to see you out on the road this Fall and winter!!!

Thanks and Peace,

Harper and Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website) CDs and E Book
http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html    Australian Didge-ucation
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.facebook.com/pages/Harper-and-Midwest-Kind/163124467948
www.musicpage.com/harper
www.reverbnation.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.myspace.com/harperband