Hey everyone,
Spring is on its way finally. After digging my van out of a three foot snow drift that blew across my driveway this week- Im so ready for some warmth. Today we begin our annual trek across the USA hitting Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Utah, Northern California, Vancouver, Canada, Washington State, Colorado then home to Michigan. This is one of my favorite tours of the year, the scenery is just stunning. We plan to visit the Redwood Forest again in Northern California on the amazing highway 101 and we are certain to be stopping many times to take in the view amidst the mountains of Utah and Colorado. We will be also be visiting a few schools this week where my band and I will be demonstrating the deeply spiritual didgeridoo (yidaki).
We have some exciting news just to hand, Bobbi- my wife and manager will be releasing her new book "Nasty Motels, a Wombat and a Big Red Van" sometime in April. The book is about our life on the road and all the crazy, inspirational, bizarre and life threatening situations (LOL) that we have faced over the years. It will include many pictures and paraphernalia from our various tours, including the early days in Australia when we first started all this madness, plus tours of the US, Europe and the UK. So stay tuned for more details next month.
The new CD "Stand Together" through Blind Pig Records is set for a May 11 release. Can't wait!!! I really think that this CD is the best one Ive written and it features my fabulous band "Midwest Kind" plus some special guests. Im sure you are all going to dig it. Listen out for some of the new tunes during our upcoming tours.
Sad to hear about the passing of blues guitarist Li'l Dave Thompson in a car accident on his way home to Mississippi from the Low Country Blues Bash in South Carolina. We were on the same festival as Dave. It just goes to show how dangerous it can be out on those roads. So please buckle up! Our heart felt sympathy goes out to Dave's wife and family.
Hope to see you all this spring.
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Harper February Blog
Hey Everyone,
Welcome to snowy February here in the USA. January saw us in the freezing cold in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Michigan then we headed south to Alabama and Florida for some much appreciated warmth. Our Florida shows at the fabulous Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahasse, Ms Newbies in Panama City Beach, Aces in Bradenton, Celtic Rays in Punta Gorda, The Backroom in Boca Raton were alot of fun. As was Little Willies in Alabama. We performed yet another show for the special needs kids at the Buckingham Center for Exceptional Students where as per usual we had a blast. It seems with each visit we stay longer and longer. The wonderful kids and their teachers are such a blessing to experience. This time we all had to be finger printed which is now required by law for all Floridian schools. Our new guitarist Drew thought it would be funny to put down as an alias "Shifty Joe" on his application, not realizing the seriousness of the situation. Thankfully he crossed it out. So I guess Drew now has a new nick name. After a two year absence we performed at Key West's fabulous Green Parrot Bar. The afternoon session was huge with at least 200 in attendance. There were quite alot of familiar faces plus several people just off the boat from the Legendary blues cruise.
After Florida we headed north to Virgina where we hung out with Mike and Jane Aronson. Copious amounts of red wine, fine cheese and large steaks were consumed. The next day we presented a didgeridoo workshop at the Jefferson Center Music Lab in Roanoke, Virginia followed by an evening show at Blue 5. We were surprised to see our former keyboard player James and drummer Scott at the show. it was great to catch up. We were urged by the locals to leave town that night to avoid the huge winter storm that was coming through the next day. So after the show we drove through the night to Camden, South Carolina narrowly missing the snowmaggedon and arriving at about 5.30am. We checked into the first hotel that had an open sign on. Later we discovered that we had checked in the crack hotel central. Its hard to see at night- especially when you're tired, but no harm was done. We had a great show at The Venue on Broad then we headed south to Charleston for the Low Country Blues Fesitval. We got to hang out with the Kyla Burrell Band for a bit at the first show, then later Steve Simon, Keith & T at The Mill Lounge.
Some bad news just to hand. We have decided to cancel our upcoming UK tour, due to the down turn in the world economy. This has forced us to cut back on our international touring schedule for this year. But the good news is that we picked up some other US festivals during the same time frame. The new CD through Blind Pig is due to be released on May 11- can't wait ! Hope to see you all out on the road.
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Welcome to snowy February here in the USA. January saw us in the freezing cold in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Michigan then we headed south to Alabama and Florida for some much appreciated warmth. Our Florida shows at the fabulous Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahasse, Ms Newbies in Panama City Beach, Aces in Bradenton, Celtic Rays in Punta Gorda, The Backroom in Boca Raton were alot of fun. As was Little Willies in Alabama. We performed yet another show for the special needs kids at the Buckingham Center for Exceptional Students where as per usual we had a blast. It seems with each visit we stay longer and longer. The wonderful kids and their teachers are such a blessing to experience. This time we all had to be finger printed which is now required by law for all Floridian schools. Our new guitarist Drew thought it would be funny to put down as an alias "Shifty Joe" on his application, not realizing the seriousness of the situation. Thankfully he crossed it out. So I guess Drew now has a new nick name. After a two year absence we performed at Key West's fabulous Green Parrot Bar. The afternoon session was huge with at least 200 in attendance. There were quite alot of familiar faces plus several people just off the boat from the Legendary blues cruise.
After Florida we headed north to Virgina where we hung out with Mike and Jane Aronson. Copious amounts of red wine, fine cheese and large steaks were consumed. The next day we presented a didgeridoo workshop at the Jefferson Center Music Lab in Roanoke, Virginia followed by an evening show at Blue 5. We were surprised to see our former keyboard player James and drummer Scott at the show. it was great to catch up. We were urged by the locals to leave town that night to avoid the huge winter storm that was coming through the next day. So after the show we drove through the night to Camden, South Carolina narrowly missing the snowmaggedon and arriving at about 5.30am. We checked into the first hotel that had an open sign on. Later we discovered that we had checked in the crack hotel central. Its hard to see at night- especially when you're tired, but no harm was done. We had a great show at The Venue on Broad then we headed south to Charleston for the Low Country Blues Fesitval. We got to hang out with the Kyla Burrell Band for a bit at the first show, then later Steve Simon, Keith & T at The Mill Lounge.
Some bad news just to hand. We have decided to cancel our upcoming UK tour, due to the down turn in the world economy. This has forced us to cut back on our international touring schedule for this year. But the good news is that we picked up some other US festivals during the same time frame. The new CD through Blind Pig is due to be released on May 11- can't wait ! Hope to see you all out on the road.
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Harper January Blog "Happy New Year"
Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year. I hope you are all having a great start to the new year. The month of December was spent in the recording studio- "Big Sky Recording" in Ann Arbor, Michigan working on the new CD. It was pretty intense with many long hours. I am happy to say that the new CD is finished and now awaits mastering. Our record company Blind Pig Records plans to release it in early May of this year. I know its a long way off but these CD releases always take more time than we would like. The recording process was fabulous, Marc Dixon on Drums, Chris Smith on Bass, Gregg Leonard on Guitar and Kurt Wolak on Keyboard. It is a 12 song, 48 minute plus CD which Im sure many of you will dig once it has been released.
With a new year, comes a new guitarist- Drew Pentkowski, a great Michigan guitarist who is sure to win some fans. His slide guitar is unbelievable! We are all happy that he has joined Midwest Kind.
This week we tour Michigan and Indiana with tours next week to Illinois, Missouri then down to Alabama and Florida at the end of the month. Our Florida tour will include a visit to our pals at Buckingham Exceptional Student Center and a long awaited visit to Key West. In February we hit South Carolina, Virginia, Upstate New York, Massachusetts, Maine and ending up in Michigan. In March we have a month long tour to the West Coast and in between which will take us all the way to Vancouver, Canada. Then its off to the United Kingdom in April. We had a fantastic year in 2009 and things are looking great for 2010. Thank you all for sharing the journey.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
Happy New Year. I hope you are all having a great start to the new year. The month of December was spent in the recording studio- "Big Sky Recording" in Ann Arbor, Michigan working on the new CD. It was pretty intense with many long hours. I am happy to say that the new CD is finished and now awaits mastering. Our record company Blind Pig Records plans to release it in early May of this year. I know its a long way off but these CD releases always take more time than we would like. The recording process was fabulous, Marc Dixon on Drums, Chris Smith on Bass, Gregg Leonard on Guitar and Kurt Wolak on Keyboard. It is a 12 song, 48 minute plus CD which Im sure many of you will dig once it has been released.
With a new year, comes a new guitarist- Drew Pentkowski, a great Michigan guitarist who is sure to win some fans. His slide guitar is unbelievable! We are all happy that he has joined Midwest Kind.
This week we tour Michigan and Indiana with tours next week to Illinois, Missouri then down to Alabama and Florida at the end of the month. Our Florida tour will include a visit to our pals at Buckingham Exceptional Student Center and a long awaited visit to Key West. In February we hit South Carolina, Virginia, Upstate New York, Massachusetts, Maine and ending up in Michigan. In March we have a month long tour to the West Coast and in between which will take us all the way to Vancouver, Canada. Then its off to the United Kingdom in April. We had a fantastic year in 2009 and things are looking great for 2010. Thank you all for sharing the journey.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
Friday, December 11, 2009
Harper December Blog
Hi there everyone,
Its cccccold here in Michigan, USA. Wow another year has just sped by so quickly. But I have to say its been a great year for my band "Midwest Kind" and myself. We have alot to be thankful for. And a huge thank you to all those folks who came out to our shows and festival performances this year. We had an amazing 30 festival bookings this year!!! Its truly a blessing to have your support.
I am writing this blog on my laptop at Big Sky Recording Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. we are into day three of recording my third Blind Pig Record release. The band is sounding great and the songs are starting to take shape. We plan to have the CD out late April, early May, 2010 to combine with our upcoming United Kingdom tour.
In November we headed to the Midwest and Colorado. Our shows at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City, Uncle Bos, Topeka and the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska were a blast. So many friends turned up- it made us all feel good. Then on to Colorado where we were bombarded by heavy snow. We still managed to perform our shows at The Little Bear and Lincolns Roadhouse.
We had three shows in Michigan in mid November, The Livery, Lake Superior Arts Center and Billys. The show at Billys was HUGE!!! we hope to be back in May to do a CD Release Party. Then it was south to Fort Myers, Florida to perform for the special needs kids at the Buckingham Exceptional Student Center. And what a truly inspirational show it was!!!. These kids were so appreciative that the band and I had come to visit their school. One little wheel chair bound boy was so excited he was emitting screams, or should I say shrill squeaks of excitement. He just couldn’t contain himself. It was a wonderful thing to experience. There was another little girl sitting on the stage who was just moshing to the music. Her entire head was braided and her braids flicked wildly about as she head banged to the music. Those children that could dance did and those in wheel chairs were assisted by teachers and fellow students. We added another special needs school to the tour- Westgate School in Pensacola, Florida. We were blown away by the dancing of these children. These kids had amazing rhythm and coordination. They collectively clapped their hands in complex poly rhythms complete with syncopation. Many musicians couldn't do this, let alone the average person. Bobbi later inquired about the music program at the school and learned that Westgate School has an extensive music program complete with drumming circles. Just amazing!!!. It just goes to show that music has a profound soulful effect physically as well as mentally.
Our shows at Celtic Rays, The Funky Blues Shack were fun. At the Paradise Inn in Gulf Breeze, we experienced a huge flood and one of our shows was canceled. Blues Tavern, Little Willies, Brackins were all well attended. We had a last minute show come up at The Bushman Brewhouse in Indiana which was alot of fun.
Our last show for the year will take place at the 411 Club in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This will be Mike Howe's last show, so please come down to send him off with a bang. There's also a whisper that the Chicago Rhythm n Blues Kings will be down later to jam!!
Have an amazing Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Happy Holidays to all. May 2010 be full of joy and inspiration.
See you out on the road,
Harper And Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
Its cccccold here in Michigan, USA. Wow another year has just sped by so quickly. But I have to say its been a great year for my band "Midwest Kind" and myself. We have alot to be thankful for. And a huge thank you to all those folks who came out to our shows and festival performances this year. We had an amazing 30 festival bookings this year!!! Its truly a blessing to have your support.
I am writing this blog on my laptop at Big Sky Recording Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. we are into day three of recording my third Blind Pig Record release. The band is sounding great and the songs are starting to take shape. We plan to have the CD out late April, early May, 2010 to combine with our upcoming United Kingdom tour.
In November we headed to the Midwest and Colorado. Our shows at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City, Uncle Bos, Topeka and the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska were a blast. So many friends turned up- it made us all feel good. Then on to Colorado where we were bombarded by heavy snow. We still managed to perform our shows at The Little Bear and Lincolns Roadhouse.
We had three shows in Michigan in mid November, The Livery, Lake Superior Arts Center and Billys. The show at Billys was HUGE!!! we hope to be back in May to do a CD Release Party. Then it was south to Fort Myers, Florida to perform for the special needs kids at the Buckingham Exceptional Student Center. And what a truly inspirational show it was!!!. These kids were so appreciative that the band and I had come to visit their school. One little wheel chair bound boy was so excited he was emitting screams, or should I say shrill squeaks of excitement. He just couldn’t contain himself. It was a wonderful thing to experience. There was another little girl sitting on the stage who was just moshing to the music. Her entire head was braided and her braids flicked wildly about as she head banged to the music. Those children that could dance did and those in wheel chairs were assisted by teachers and fellow students. We added another special needs school to the tour- Westgate School in Pensacola, Florida. We were blown away by the dancing of these children. These kids had amazing rhythm and coordination. They collectively clapped their hands in complex poly rhythms complete with syncopation. Many musicians couldn't do this, let alone the average person. Bobbi later inquired about the music program at the school and learned that Westgate School has an extensive music program complete with drumming circles. Just amazing!!!. It just goes to show that music has a profound soulful effect physically as well as mentally.
Our shows at Celtic Rays, The Funky Blues Shack were fun. At the Paradise Inn in Gulf Breeze, we experienced a huge flood and one of our shows was canceled. Blues Tavern, Little Willies, Brackins were all well attended. We had a last minute show come up at The Bushman Brewhouse in Indiana which was alot of fun.
Our last show for the year will take place at the 411 Club in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This will be Mike Howe's last show, so please come down to send him off with a bang. There's also a whisper that the Chicago Rhythm n Blues Kings will be down later to jam!!
Have an amazing Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Happy Holidays to all. May 2010 be full of joy and inspiration.
See you out on the road,
Harper And Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.facebook.com/harperandmidwestkind
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Harper November Blog
Hey Everyone,
Winter is nearly upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere. We have one more month of shows then we go into the studio at Big Sky Recordings in Ann Arbor, Michigan to record the new CD for my third Blind Pig Record release. Woohooo! Its been an exciting two months with John Mayall releasing my song "Just What Youre Looking For" as track two on his new CD "Tough" (Eagle Records) and my friend "Dog The Bounty Hunter" using "Do What Is Right" on one of his bounty hunting episodes on the A & E TV network.
We had a nice warm tour to Tennessee and Virginia with shows at the Chattanooga State Community College, Blue 5 and Attucks Theater for the 'Discovery Music Series". Attucks Theater is a fabulous venue with a spacious stage and superb sound. We certainly hope to do a show there again soon. We noticed an immediate drop in temperature when we headed to upstate New York, Connecticut and Maine. We did a festival in Maine called the Harmony Harvest Festival. Man it was ccccold. The audience basically huddled round several log fires for the entire event. The festival took place on a stunning property just out of the tiny town of Harmony. We hope to visit this festival again when its warmer. On our way out of the festival, we were pulled over by the police, but we were totally "Kosher", so no problems there.
We performed a didgeridoo presentation at The Naples Elementary School in New York, followed by a very cool show at Black Eyed Sallys. We had a last minute booking (three weeks notice) at a Canadian Festival called the "Canal Bank Shuffle"in Thorold, Ontario. We were booked to perform at The Holy Rosary Hall- quite a large theater at 1.30pm. It was quite early in the day for us, so we weren't sure if there would be a crowd. Well we were mistaken, quite a decent crowd turned up for the show and the sound was brilliant. My band "Midwest Kind" & I had a great show!!! The only mishap was an elderly gentleman who walked up to the front of the stage and started yelling at Marc our drummer, saying that the band was too loud. I guess he picked the wrong person to yell at because this made Marc hit his timbales even louder in defiance. Seeing that he was getting no where with Marc, the man then walked over to the sound man to yell at him instead. I was told later that this particular guy does this sort of thing every year.
We finished off the month of October with a huge Halloween Party at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park where we opened for Ohio legends Ekoostik Hookah. Our band all dressed up with Mike dressed as a cow, Marc- a fluffy bunny and Chris came as a bumble bee. They looked hilarious. I dressed up as Mel Gibson from "Brave Heart". All the pics are up on our myspace page. www.myspace.com/harperband The guys from Ekoostik Hookah got me up to jam with them during their set. A great way to finish the month. We head out on the road this week to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, then Michigan and Florida
Hope to see you out on the road,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Winter is nearly upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere. We have one more month of shows then we go into the studio at Big Sky Recordings in Ann Arbor, Michigan to record the new CD for my third Blind Pig Record release. Woohooo! Its been an exciting two months with John Mayall releasing my song "Just What Youre Looking For" as track two on his new CD "Tough" (Eagle Records) and my friend "Dog The Bounty Hunter" using "Do What Is Right" on one of his bounty hunting episodes on the A & E TV network.
We had a nice warm tour to Tennessee and Virginia with shows at the Chattanooga State Community College, Blue 5 and Attucks Theater for the 'Discovery Music Series". Attucks Theater is a fabulous venue with a spacious stage and superb sound. We certainly hope to do a show there again soon. We noticed an immediate drop in temperature when we headed to upstate New York, Connecticut and Maine. We did a festival in Maine called the Harmony Harvest Festival. Man it was ccccold. The audience basically huddled round several log fires for the entire event. The festival took place on a stunning property just out of the tiny town of Harmony. We hope to visit this festival again when its warmer. On our way out of the festival, we were pulled over by the police, but we were totally "Kosher", so no problems there.
We performed a didgeridoo presentation at The Naples Elementary School in New York, followed by a very cool show at Black Eyed Sallys. We had a last minute booking (three weeks notice) at a Canadian Festival called the "Canal Bank Shuffle"in Thorold, Ontario. We were booked to perform at The Holy Rosary Hall- quite a large theater at 1.30pm. It was quite early in the day for us, so we weren't sure if there would be a crowd. Well we were mistaken, quite a decent crowd turned up for the show and the sound was brilliant. My band "Midwest Kind" & I had a great show!!! The only mishap was an elderly gentleman who walked up to the front of the stage and started yelling at Marc our drummer, saying that the band was too loud. I guess he picked the wrong person to yell at because this made Marc hit his timbales even louder in defiance. Seeing that he was getting no where with Marc, the man then walked over to the sound man to yell at him instead. I was told later that this particular guy does this sort of thing every year.
We finished off the month of October with a huge Halloween Party at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park where we opened for Ohio legends Ekoostik Hookah. Our band all dressed up with Mike dressed as a cow, Marc- a fluffy bunny and Chris came as a bumble bee. They looked hilarious. I dressed up as Mel Gibson from "Brave Heart". All the pics are up on our myspace page. www.myspace.com/harperband The guys from Ekoostik Hookah got me up to jam with them during their set. A great way to finish the month. We head out on the road this week to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, then Michigan and Florida
Hope to see you out on the road,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Harper October Blog
Hey everyone,
September saw us leaving the UK, doing a show in Michigan the next day, then driving to Canada for the second annual Portstock Festival in stunning Port Dalhousie. We were all exhausted but we had a great show in Canada and helped to raise money for the purchase of equipment for The St Catherines General Hospital Foundation. $15000 was raised, which is amazing. The next week we had a show in Kalamazoo at The Evergreen Hall which benefited The National Kidney Foundation followed by our favorite Flint Michigan club- Rubes. Some exciting news just to hand, is that British Blues Legend "John Mayall" has just released my song "Just What You're Looking for" on his new CD "Tough" (Eagle Records). I also got my third song- "Do What is right" on "Dog The Bounty Hunter"- on the A&E TV network.
The last week of September we had several school shows in Burlington, Iowa and Springfield ,Missouri which were alot of fun. The kids really dig the didgeridoo!!. The band and I also performed at a beautiful winery called the Sugar Clay Winery just outside the town of Thurman in Iowa. It was an early finishing show and we were dreading going back to our hotel. When we had arrived earlier in the day in the tiny town of Tabor, we felt a little intimidated by the old turn of the century Inn that would be our home for the night. It was a double storey classic styled building with grey paint peeling on every panel and a "For Sale" sign out the front. We finally met up with the owner "Jean" and checked in. We nick named the house “The Amityville Horror House” because it looked so spooky. The inside of the Inn was quite beautiful- dark polished cedar wooden panels and floor boards with colourful Indian rugs. It was quite a surprise, considering the ominous exterior. We were the only people staying at the Inn, even the owner "Jean" didn’t stay there, which we thought was a little odd. I was looking at one of the round wooden breakfast tables in the down stairs lounge room and to my astonishment saw a magazine move all by its self. It was as if someone had picked it up and threw it across the room. The house was definitely haunted!.
After the show at the Winery, we decided to hit a local bar in town which was with in walking distance from our haunted Inn. The neighborhood bar was called “Glory Day’s” and we had a wild night of pool playing. We planned to drive back to Michigan early the next morning, so Bobbi and I decided to leave Glory Days round mid night. The streets were deserted in Tabor’s Main Street as we walked along the cracked pavement back to the Inn. I open the back door of the Inn and walked into the lounge room, I was startled by a man standing in front of the fire place. In a blink of an eye, he vanished. I asked Bobbi if she had seen the man too, and she said she had.
Having survived the haunted house, we have a busy touring schedule coming up with shows in Tennessee, Virginia, Upstate New York, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio and back to Canada.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
September saw us leaving the UK, doing a show in Michigan the next day, then driving to Canada for the second annual Portstock Festival in stunning Port Dalhousie. We were all exhausted but we had a great show in Canada and helped to raise money for the purchase of equipment for The St Catherines General Hospital Foundation. $15000 was raised, which is amazing. The next week we had a show in Kalamazoo at The Evergreen Hall which benefited The National Kidney Foundation followed by our favorite Flint Michigan club- Rubes. Some exciting news just to hand, is that British Blues Legend "John Mayall" has just released my song "Just What You're Looking for" on his new CD "Tough" (Eagle Records). I also got my third song- "Do What is right" on "Dog The Bounty Hunter"- on the A&E TV network.
The last week of September we had several school shows in Burlington, Iowa and Springfield ,Missouri which were alot of fun. The kids really dig the didgeridoo!!. The band and I also performed at a beautiful winery called the Sugar Clay Winery just outside the town of Thurman in Iowa. It was an early finishing show and we were dreading going back to our hotel. When we had arrived earlier in the day in the tiny town of Tabor, we felt a little intimidated by the old turn of the century Inn that would be our home for the night. It was a double storey classic styled building with grey paint peeling on every panel and a "For Sale" sign out the front. We finally met up with the owner "Jean" and checked in. We nick named the house “The Amityville Horror House” because it looked so spooky. The inside of the Inn was quite beautiful- dark polished cedar wooden panels and floor boards with colourful Indian rugs. It was quite a surprise, considering the ominous exterior. We were the only people staying at the Inn, even the owner "Jean" didn’t stay there, which we thought was a little odd. I was looking at one of the round wooden breakfast tables in the down stairs lounge room and to my astonishment saw a magazine move all by its self. It was as if someone had picked it up and threw it across the room. The house was definitely haunted!.
After the show at the Winery, we decided to hit a local bar in town which was with in walking distance from our haunted Inn. The neighborhood bar was called “Glory Day’s” and we had a wild night of pool playing. We planned to drive back to Michigan early the next morning, so Bobbi and I decided to leave Glory Days round mid night. The streets were deserted in Tabor’s Main Street as we walked along the cracked pavement back to the Inn. I open the back door of the Inn and walked into the lounge room, I was startled by a man standing in front of the fire place. In a blink of an eye, he vanished. I asked Bobbi if she had seen the man too, and she said she had.
Having survived the haunted house, we have a busy touring schedule coming up with shows in Tennessee, Virginia, Upstate New York, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio and back to Canada.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Harper September Blog
Hey Everyone,
Just back from an amazing UK tour- 13 shows in 13 days!!! Thankfully we have a few days to recover before it all starts again. August was a great month for festivals. We visited the White Mountain Blues n Boogies Festival in New Hampshire here in the US. It was VERY hot and we performed in the baking Sunday afternoon sun facing the stunning white mountains. The sound was superb and the crowd really dug the show despite the heat. We performed also at our favorite clubs- Harrys & Inn On The Blues. After a show at Kclingers Tavern we headed to New York for the Chenango Blues Festival. We did several workshops at a Youth Camp, the public Library and a Veteran's Home. So we basically covered every age imaginable in one day!!!. The next day we performed two shows at The Festival and brought the house down. Chenango was alot of fun, really well organized and probably the best hospitality ever. After the festival we all got to hang out in the town of Norwich where there was plenty of live music to be heard. We caught up with amazing musicians: Mitch Woods and Chris Cain. Bobbi and I also hung out with our good buddys Chef Jimi and his lovely wife plus several other folks drinking red wine, eating gorgeous cheese in the foyer of our hotel until we were asked to leave!
The next day we headed to the first Annual Lakeview Lodge Festival. Apart from a very short huge heavy down pour of splattering rain, this was a great day. We caught up with Tyler Mac and Biscuit Miller. We finally got to meet Motor City Josh, after many conversations on the phone and got to hang out with Chris Cain for the second day in a row. After the show there was an almighty jam in the lodge that went to the wee hours of the morning.
A couple of days later we flew out to London for our 13 day UK tour. The flight was OK and we picked up our van and equipment at Heathrow Airport. The next stop was our hotel- The Metro Inn in Stockton on Tees. We booked this hotel on line and it looked pretty good in the photograph, but reality was a whole lot different. The hotel turned out to be an old Formula 1 which had changed its name. We had stayed at a Formula 1 in Australia several years ago and vowed never to return. This hotel was just as bad. Shared bathrooms- self cleaning toilets and showers- very nasty indeed. Bobbi had asked the receptionist if we could have a late checkout for 12 noon the next day and was told we could. At 10.15 am the next morning we were awoken by loud knocking at our door by the heavily tatoed, shaven headed manager with his Rottweiler dog in tow. We were told we had to leave! We hastily packed up and got the hell out!
Our shows at The Studio in Hartlepool and The Musician in Leicester went well. The Great British RnB Festival in Colne was a blast. We performed in a huge theater packed with people, just before Mick Taylor (Ex Rolling Stones). We had such great reaction that we were called back for an encore and an elaborate bow to the audience. Our shows at The Cellars and the Maltshovel Tavern were alot of fun. On our one day off we visited the town of York and climbed the 375 steps of the ancient York Minster - the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. We stayed the next two days at a 300 year old farm house in Laycock Village. We did two didgeridoo presentations at two local primary schools in Bradford and in the evening performed to a sell out crowd at the Laycock Village Hall. The next evening we performed at a fabulous club called the Boardwalk in Sheffield.
Our flight to Ireland for the Harvest Blues Festival was very short in comparison to our journey through security at Birmingham Airport. Our Bass player Chris Smith had to go through three different times. Flying is such fun these days!!! Ireland is the greenest of green countries. We stayed at a beautiful hotel and were treated to an amazing ala carte meal in the hotel's restaurant where we all had a very first authentic Guinness. The band performed at 1am in the morning to a packed house and we didn't get off stage until 3am.
The next day we flew back to England for a show at The Famous Monday Blues Club in Oxford, followed by a show at The Robin 2 the next day. Our final show took place at The Blue Funk Blues Club in Poynton then we drove through the night to get back to Heathrow for our flight back to the US the next day. We had a fantastic tour, ate way too much food and drank way too much fine beer. We plan to head back to the UK in April.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
Just back from an amazing UK tour- 13 shows in 13 days!!! Thankfully we have a few days to recover before it all starts again. August was a great month for festivals. We visited the White Mountain Blues n Boogies Festival in New Hampshire here in the US. It was VERY hot and we performed in the baking Sunday afternoon sun facing the stunning white mountains. The sound was superb and the crowd really dug the show despite the heat. We performed also at our favorite clubs- Harrys & Inn On The Blues. After a show at Kclingers Tavern we headed to New York for the Chenango Blues Festival. We did several workshops at a Youth Camp, the public Library and a Veteran's Home. So we basically covered every age imaginable in one day!!!. The next day we performed two shows at The Festival and brought the house down. Chenango was alot of fun, really well organized and probably the best hospitality ever. After the festival we all got to hang out in the town of Norwich where there was plenty of live music to be heard. We caught up with amazing musicians: Mitch Woods and Chris Cain. Bobbi and I also hung out with our good buddys Chef Jimi and his lovely wife plus several other folks drinking red wine, eating gorgeous cheese in the foyer of our hotel until we were asked to leave!
The next day we headed to the first Annual Lakeview Lodge Festival. Apart from a very short huge heavy down pour of splattering rain, this was a great day. We caught up with Tyler Mac and Biscuit Miller. We finally got to meet Motor City Josh, after many conversations on the phone and got to hang out with Chris Cain for the second day in a row. After the show there was an almighty jam in the lodge that went to the wee hours of the morning.
A couple of days later we flew out to London for our 13 day UK tour. The flight was OK and we picked up our van and equipment at Heathrow Airport. The next stop was our hotel- The Metro Inn in Stockton on Tees. We booked this hotel on line and it looked pretty good in the photograph, but reality was a whole lot different. The hotel turned out to be an old Formula 1 which had changed its name. We had stayed at a Formula 1 in Australia several years ago and vowed never to return. This hotel was just as bad. Shared bathrooms- self cleaning toilets and showers- very nasty indeed. Bobbi had asked the receptionist if we could have a late checkout for 12 noon the next day and was told we could. At 10.15 am the next morning we were awoken by loud knocking at our door by the heavily tatoed, shaven headed manager with his Rottweiler dog in tow. We were told we had to leave! We hastily packed up and got the hell out!
Our shows at The Studio in Hartlepool and The Musician in Leicester went well. The Great British RnB Festival in Colne was a blast. We performed in a huge theater packed with people, just before Mick Taylor (Ex Rolling Stones). We had such great reaction that we were called back for an encore and an elaborate bow to the audience. Our shows at The Cellars and the Maltshovel Tavern were alot of fun. On our one day off we visited the town of York and climbed the 375 steps of the ancient York Minster - the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. We stayed the next two days at a 300 year old farm house in Laycock Village. We did two didgeridoo presentations at two local primary schools in Bradford and in the evening performed to a sell out crowd at the Laycock Village Hall. The next evening we performed at a fabulous club called the Boardwalk in Sheffield.
Our flight to Ireland for the Harvest Blues Festival was very short in comparison to our journey through security at Birmingham Airport. Our Bass player Chris Smith had to go through three different times. Flying is such fun these days!!! Ireland is the greenest of green countries. We stayed at a beautiful hotel and were treated to an amazing ala carte meal in the hotel's restaurant where we all had a very first authentic Guinness. The band performed at 1am in the morning to a packed house and we didn't get off stage until 3am.
The next day we flew back to England for a show at The Famous Monday Blues Club in Oxford, followed by a show at The Robin 2 the next day. Our final show took place at The Blue Funk Blues Club in Poynton then we drove through the night to get back to Heathrow for our flight back to the US the next day. We had a fantastic tour, ate way too much food and drank way too much fine beer. We plan to head back to the UK in April.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads
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