Harper and Midwest Kind November Blog 2018

Hi everyone,

Sorry for delay in posting this blog.  This year's Harper and Midwest Kind summer tour was absolutely full on.  We drove from shows in Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota to shows at Mammoth Lakes California, San Jose, Sacramento, Reno Nevada then on to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois then back to Michigan.  The festivals were amazing - Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza right close to Yosemite National Park was incredible fun.  It was very smokey from all the wild fires and lots of roads were closed but the sky seemed to clear for a few hours while we performed. There were 13 fires burning in the area - very sad to experience.  Helicopters were swooping around us collecting water from the lakes.  The club shows at The Poor House and The Torch club were great, lots of old friends coming out of the woodwork.  We then decided to do some touristy stuff - spending a day in Las Vegas - there we had some incredible sushi!!  Then we took the winding scenic drive along the Vermillion Cliffs on Hwy 89 in Utah.  The redness of the rocks surrounded by sage grass were something to see.   Then we took a day in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.  The weather was stunning and the views beyond imagination.  The drive out the east gate was really something to see.  Large mountains, winding rivers, bright blue sky turning in to a golden sunset as we drove towards Montana.    Sorry we didn’t make it up to the North West - Washington State but we will try to do it next time around.

After Montana we played a cool concert series on Spirit Lake in Menahga Minnesota.  Then we finished the tour with a great show at Waukesha Blues Festival in Wisconsin and Pop’s Place in Decatur Illinois.  We ended the summer over Labor Day Weekend at Old Daufuskie Crab Company on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina just before the hurricane hit.  Thankfully the island was spared!  In September, we got to visit one of our favorite festivals - Camp Jam in the Pines in New Jersey.  Wonderful people and good times.   In October we headed down to Mississippi for the incredible Bukka White Blues Festival on a stunning lake out in the countryside of the town of Aberdeen. 

The new "Harper and Griebe” CD has been released and has received heavy rotation in Europe on Top 40/ Rock Stations which is a very nice thing to happen.   Please check out the facebook page and the website   "Distant Unity” is available online at, please check it out .   https://bsc-music-gmbh.lnk.to/S-AeF

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

http://www.harper-griebe.com/  

We are about to head out on yet another tour - to Illinois, Missouri and Florida.  Wishing you all the best for Thanksgiving - despite the negative appearances we see on our televisions and on social media, we all have a lot to be thankful for!

See you all out on the road this Fall/ Winter!!!

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 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
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

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
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Harper and Midwest Kind September Blog 2017

Hey everyone,

Happy Fall.  Sending positive healing vibes to all those who were caught up in the devastating path of Hurricane Urma and the terrible earth quakes in Mexico.  Happy to report that all our friends and touring venues are OK! But so many more didn't fare so well.

Labor Day weekend saw some crazy driving.  We were very lucky not to be rained out at the fabulous Sioux Falls Block Party.  But due to an early load in at the Peoria Heritage Blues Festival in Illinois we had to drive through the night.  We made it to town at about 7.30am, caught a few hours of snooze, then we were off to the festival.  And what an amazing festival it was.  Great staging and sound, beyond incredible hospitality.  I got to hang out with new friend and guitarist Mathew Curry.  Really nice guy!  Then I caught up with good buddies Walter Trout, Sammy Avila and Michael Leasure. So good to see Walter looking so healthy.  The band put on a fabulous show.   We saw fellow Aussie John Butler Trio perform.  It was so cool to hear so many Aussie accents back stage at an American Festival.  We finished the weekend at one of our favorite clubs - Pop's Place - where its always a lot of fun!!! Thank you Tom Miller for the amazing Brisket!  Just this weekend we had some great shows and glorious warm Fall weather at Niagara Falls Blues Festival, New York and Camp Jam in the Pines in New Jersey.  On the way to New Jersey, a car pulled out on us suddenly on the Highway, didn't use his turn signal and seemed  completely oblivious to the fact we were in the left hand lane. If I hadn't steered the Chevy hard onto the left shoulder, we would have been wiped out. That defensive driving course I took many years ago in Australia has served us well so many times!  Camp Jam in Pines proved to be very hard to find with two different GPS's taking us to some weird little church in the woods.  But we made it and what a superb time we had.  Stunning weather, cool hippy crowd, nice big stage on a lake, surrounded by woods, bon fires and lazer lights!!!

We have a very special House Concert - Fri Sept 29th - CaD 'Zan House Concerts - Cambridge, Illinois - RSVP: john.r.taylor@gmail.com Limited to 30 seats if indoors!  So Please contact John for your ticket. This will be an intimate house concert - one of the best ways to enjoy music and for me personally - the best type of concert to perform at!!!

We hope to see you out on the road this Fall in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Virgina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Georgia and Florida with more to follow in the Winter !!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Harper and Midwest Kind August Blog

 Hey Everyone,

Sending positive vibes to our brothers and sisters in Texas who are facing devastating floods - the worst in 500 years,  caused by Hurricane Harvey.  So good to see neighbor helping neighbor and stranger helping stranger!

Summer has rolled by way too fast!!  We've had an amazing festival season with some great shows at the Manistee National Forest Festival, Michigan, The Greenwood Blues Cruise in South Carolina and The Merchant Street Festival in Illinois in July.  It was great to catch up with old friends at The Rogue River Concert Series in Michigan. The Cosmic Awakening Show in Detroit with good friend Michelle Wailing was very interesting and unique for me.  In August, we had a crazy drive from the London Jazz & Rib festival in Ohio to Delaware for the Riverfront Festival with only 5 hours sleep but we made it to the gig in time and the show was very well received.  So nice to catch up with amazing guitarist Laura Chavez who used to perform with the fabulous Candye Kane. We had some stunning weather for our shows in South Dakota - Music at the Meridian and Sounds of Sprit Lake in Minnesota.  Such beautiful places to perform. The Flatted Fifth and the Legendary Byrons in Iowa were a lot of fun with some great crowds and smiling faces which always makes us feel good.    Our private event at Blues at the Burgundy, New York was way too much fun - the folks, the food and vibes were all good and we even had a fabulous Hula dancer - Jacquelyn spinning her hoop to our tunes.  We will be returning to the Dinosaur BBQs - Oct 25- Rochester and Oct 26 - Syracuse, New York in the Fall!  So please spread the word!   In September, we have the Sioux Falls Block Party, Peoria Heritage Blues Festival. IL, Pops Place, IL, Wine and Harvest Fest, MI, Niagara Falls Blues Festival and Camp Jam in the Pines, NJ.  We have a very special House Concert - Fri Sept 29th - CaD 'Zan House Concerts - Cambridge, Illinois - RSVP: john.r.taylor@gmail.com Limited to 30 seats if indoors!  So Please contact John for your ticket. This will be an intimate house concert - one of the best ways to enjoy music!

Some of you may notice a new face in the band - Dee Washington on Drums.  We wish Mario the very best for his move to Toronto Canada. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you out on the road this Summer and Fall in  South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Virgina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Georgia and Florida with more to follow in the Winter !!!

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                         Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

Harper and Midwest Kind June Blog 2017

Hey Everyone,

Summer is upon us and we have a great touring schedule "chokkas" full of festivals and concert series coming up.   April saw us touring Florida, Mississippi and Niagara Falls, Canada.  We got to hang with our good friends Mackie and Ann Marie in Punta Gorda Florida and Dawn, Scott and Katie and Everett in beautiful Jupiter, Florida.  Got to see some baby owls and their folks plus loads of cool shows.  Then it was on to North Carolina and West Virginia, Iowa and Illinois. We even managed to do a great show at Kitchener, Canada at the Boat Shed which was a lot of fun.  As I looked out from the stage it seemed like the whole bar was dancing. Such a great show!!!.  Unfortunately on the way back to Detroit, we were all strip searched and delayed for 2 hours at the US border.  Not a nice experience at all!!! 

In June this month, we caught up with former but fabulous band mates - Chris Smith on Bass and Matt Besey on guitar at Michigan's very first Shrinefest.  The Matt Besey Band sounded great.  It was really nice to catch up with these guys! Some more Michigan gigs followed with Metro Park on Lake St Clair and the Lowell Show Boat Concert which took place on one of the most beautiful evenings so far this summer.  The next day was the amazing Alpena Blues Festival.  We had a little rain but it held off for the evening shows.  Then it was down to Indianapolis for the stunning Rathskeller where good friends Justin Brown and Mark got up and jammed. 

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you out on the road this Summer in Michigan, South Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Delaware, South Dakota, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey and Missouri with more to follow in the fall !!!

Thanks and Peace,

Peter D. Harper,
Harper and Midwest Kind
HarperWebsite                                                                                                                             Didgeridoo/HarmonicaWorkshops                                                                                         HarperandMidwestKindYoutube                                                                                                          HarperandMidwestKindFacebook                                                                                                                                                      HarperMusicPage                                                                                                                                                                             HarperandMidwestKindReverbnation

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
http://cdbaby.com/cd/harperandmidwestkind2
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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
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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 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

Harper and Midwest Kind September Blog, 2015

Hey Everyone,

September is here and we are just about through the summer and the festival season.  We had a blast out on the road this summer!  We performed in MI, PA, IN, IL, IA, SD, NE, ID, OR, WA, CA, CO, MN, Ontario  and Manitoba, Canada, TN, NC and SC and drove through all the states in between. Lots of driving but stunning views from the road.

We are launching our GO FUND ME" campaign for "Harper and Midwest Kind's new CD"   gofund.me/peterdharper

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

Our aim is to raise $10 000 to cover the recording studio, artwork, CD pressing and publicity costs.  This will be the first studio CD in five years, so its well overdue.  My band and I have been road testing most of the new songs over the summer and the feedback has been great.  Some of the new tunes feature my new didgeridoo in C with the beautiful Dolphin artwork  (aptly named Heather) . She sounds amazing!  The Official launch date is Saturday September 19th . The GO FUND ME page is up and running!!!!. 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. 

Our July trip to Colorado was a lot of fun.  Bobbi and I presented "Australian Didge-ucation" at Five different libraries.  We had some very big crowds of kids and their parents.  Our  Colorado club dates at Still Cellars, Navajo Hogans and The Little Bear Saloon were great. Lots of old friends turned up. Good to see our old buddy Lloyd Hoops back at The Bear!!!   We had shows in Michigan at The How Bazare Festival,  Roots on the River and the Michigan Theater.  We drove all the way up to Beausejour , Manitoba, Canada for the Great Woods Festival, Concerts in the Parks in Thunderbay, Ontario and The Boundary Waters Blues Festival in Ely, Minnesota.  Lots  and lots of miles but well worth it.

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

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 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 September Blog, 2014

Hey Everyone,

October is upon us and we are having some amazing Autumn weather here in Michigan, USA.   After our beyond crazy summer tour it was nice to have an easy September, a time to regroup and write some new tunes for a new CD, I hope to release in early, 2015.  A big thank to those of you who bought our Aussie Tee Shirts.  They were all sent out this week.   The last weekend of August was spent at a new festival for us- The Snowy Range Music Festival in Laramie, Wyoming.  A 19 hour drive from Michigan but well worth the trip.   Unfortunately the weather was not the best.  We were having a great set and the crowd was really getting into it when a huge storm blew through.   The wind was howling and the rain started to pelt down, my band "Midwest Kind" and I kept on playing.  The overhead lights were swinging and then suddenly the backdrop ripped and fell- landing  on our drummer's head.  Like a pro, Greg kept playing and didn't miss a beat.   The backstage crew removed the back drop and the show went on.  This was a great festival to catch up with a huge bunch of friends: such as Erika Brown and Billy Branch. Also got to see the incredible "Dumpstafunk" perform!  The backstage hospitality was fabulous - great food/drinks and even several masseuses.  It was heaven!   We did a late night jam- I got to play some harp with the amazing Billy Branch and the next day I presented a didgeridoo workshop.  

September brought us a new Ann Arbor club - called Mash which was fun.  Then the next week we played the Niagara Falls Blues Festival.   Great crowd, sound and good vibes but again it was ccccold!!!!   The next week we played the Old Town Bluesfest in Lansing, Michigan.  WKAR Backstage Pass filmed the show for PBS- The weather was just right and the sound was superb.  I think we will have a nice TV feature coming  out in 2015.   It was so much fun catching up with all the Michigan musicians after the show.  We then headed south to the Rathskellar in Indianapolis.  We were kinda rained out for a bit but then the weather cleared and all was well.  Our good friend Justin Brown did a great version of "Help Me" which brought the house down.  We finished the month at our favorite Lexington, Michigan pub- The Celtic Ray!   We head to Florida next week, then our much anticipated tour to Australia for the Sydney Blues & Roots Festival and The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz!!   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, Tee Shirts
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