Hey Everyone,
We are starting to get into the festival season, which is always the best time of year. Im happy to say that this year we have over thirty festivals booked in five different countries. This is the biggest year for us ever. We will also tour the United Kingdom again in late August and even get to do a festival in beautiful Ireland which is sponsored by "Guiness". We could be in trouble there!!!! April was a pretty relaxing month with very little touring involved. It was great to catch up on doing the ordinary things such as cooking your own meals, making the bed, chain sawing the many trees that had decided to fall down while we were out on the road. Even getting bitten by a wood tick kind of brings you down to earth from the craziness of the road. Oh- & getting to sleep in without someone yelling "House Cleaning" Ive been working hard on getting some new songs together as well. So far so good. We plan to start performing some of the new tracks in the next couple of weeks. I hope to release a new CD early in 2010. During April we added a new bass player Chris Smith, to my band "Midwest Kind"-- yet another talented Michiganda!
Some of you may have noticed that we have a new look Harper website www.harper.biz with an interactive blog. Try to check it out when you can. This week we head out on a short tour to Iowa, we will be visiting our favorite lady, Betsy in Fort Dodge at Betsy's Blue Note, this will be a show and a Jam after- which will be a lot of fun. Then to Des Moines for Blues On Grand - yet another great club & then we headline the Simply The Blues Festival in Fort Madison, Iowa. So Please come on down because this is a fantastic festival full of amazing music and good vibes.
On Friday May 15 we will be doing a stunning new theater in Bowling Green, Ohio called The Clazel with opening Toledo band- "Frostbite" and we have another show at our favorite Flint , Michigan club- Rubes on Sat May 16. Then we head south to Alabama and Florida, where we are sure to get a sun tan.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace, Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Harper Blog April 2009
Hey Everyone,
Just back from a six week west coast US tour. Its good to be home.!!!! After our wild weekend in Hico , Texas , we headed to an "out of the way" town in Alpine, Texas which is the home of an awesome club called "Railroad Blues". Alpine is just north of the Big Bend National Park and we do this club from time to time, if we happen to roll by that way. We had a packed house on a Tuesday night, which was pretty cool!
Our shows in Colorado went well. On the way home from our show at The Toad Tavern in Littleton, Colorado, we were driving down the highway to Boulder, Colorado, round 3am. Seemingly out of the darkness, a man appeared right in the middle lane of the highway. Bobbi let go a blood curdling scream and threw her arms in front of her face, in an attempt to protect herself from the impending disaster. It was only my quick reflexive reaction that saved us and saved the life of the young drunken man who was so hell bent on loosing his life. Our bass player was following in a car behind and the driver barely missed the man as well. We were all shaking from head to foot. I asked Marc our drummer to call the police to let them know that there was a drunk on the highway. One can only imagine the ripple effect that would have occurred, if we had crashed into that young stranger. It would have left a terrible scar on our souls because there is no way that he would have survived the impact , let alone the anguish caused to the man’s family. I thanked God for guiding us through this situation. That defensive driving course I completed in Australia so many years before served me well that night.
The drive through the Colorado rocky mountain range through to Utah was absolutely breath taking in the early spring. The sun was shining in a deep blue sky and the mountains had just the right amount of gleaming white snow. We stopped the van many times to take photos and to take in the view. We did a great show in Cedar City in Utah at The Grind Coffee House. It was an alcohol free show which took place on St Patrick's Day. One would think this wouldn’t work but we had a packed house of coffee drinking music lovers. The next day we did a show at The Wine Cellar in Ogden . Utah. Its always nice to hang with Mitch and all the folks in Ogden. We had some really nice shows in Northern California at The Torch Club (hello to Crystal & Jason), The Stage Door and Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. We then did the magnificent drive up highway 101 North along the brilliant Oregon coast line to Washington. We drove through the Avenue of the Giants. We saw many huge Redwood Trees, it was amazing.. Our shows in Washington were a lot of fun and we looked forward to our show at The Yale Hotel in Vancouver, Canada. We have done many border crossings before and had actually done the Vancouver run last year. After hitting the border, we were told to go into the border office to get our work permits. We were told to wait until called. It seemed to be taking quite some time- longer that usual. Then GT our bass player was called up to booth and was there quite a while. He came back and told us that he wasn’t allowed through and that we would all have to return to the US. So our next step was to take GT back to the US, put him in a hotel close to the border and then head back to Canada. We were stuck in line for at least two hours. When we got to the US side, we were asked to go into the office. Then our van was searched, which took more time. But we got through. We easily found GT a hotel and were on our way. We had to go back into the Canadian border office to get our work permits. The Canadian border guard after taking our passports and the performance contract said that he could not let us in without a 7 digit labor number, which the Yale Hotel’s booker had failed to give Bobbi. Bobbi couldn’t believe that the paper work hadn’t been put through because she had sent through all the information required at least two months prior. The problem was that Joe Luciak the booker had gone on vacation to Jamaica and hadn’t left any instructions for his staff.
So Bobbi started calling the Yale Hotel and managed to speak to one of the bar attendants who was able to locate Joe, who had just returned, next door. A tense 15 minutes went by, with much praying and then Bobbi called again. An Australian voice answered the phone this time and he was aware of our predicament . The staff had to break into Joe’s office to get the labor number and thankfully found it. It was such a relief to hear an Australian voice and it was so easy to hear the number correctly. Bobbi gave the number to the border guard and even he seemed to be happy for us. I guess the hard ass act was just part of the job. We received our permits and raced to the Yale Hotel. We arrived at 8.15pm for a 9pm show. We had been stuck at the border since 2pm. What a day! The show went well as the three piece. Infact everyone seemed to be blown away that we had no bass player.
We stopped by Ed Mahoney’s house on our way through Seattle. Ed is one of the owners of Highway 99- an awesome club we had performed at on the Saturday before the Canadian border crossing. He cooked us up a fine feed of large shrimp and chicken. A few brews were also consumed and the conversation was excellent. So we began the long drive though Washington State, Idaho and landing in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was Marc's birthday and we went to see a burlesque show called "La Femme' courtesy of our old guitarist from 10 years ago- Elvis Lederer, who now works for Cirque Du Soliel. We had an awesome night & it was great to catch up with Elvis. So then we headed to Tucson , Arizona for a show at Club Congress, where we were surprised by our Texas friends from Hico. The final show took place at the Glendale Jazz & Bues Festival. We had stunning weather and the park was packed with people. We had a brilliant show and an excellent finale to our six week tour.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace, Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Just back from a six week west coast US tour. Its good to be home.!!!! After our wild weekend in Hico , Texas , we headed to an "out of the way" town in Alpine, Texas which is the home of an awesome club called "Railroad Blues". Alpine is just north of the Big Bend National Park and we do this club from time to time, if we happen to roll by that way. We had a packed house on a Tuesday night, which was pretty cool!
Our shows in Colorado went well. On the way home from our show at The Toad Tavern in Littleton, Colorado, we were driving down the highway to Boulder, Colorado, round 3am. Seemingly out of the darkness, a man appeared right in the middle lane of the highway. Bobbi let go a blood curdling scream and threw her arms in front of her face, in an attempt to protect herself from the impending disaster. It was only my quick reflexive reaction that saved us and saved the life of the young drunken man who was so hell bent on loosing his life. Our bass player was following in a car behind and the driver barely missed the man as well. We were all shaking from head to foot. I asked Marc our drummer to call the police to let them know that there was a drunk on the highway. One can only imagine the ripple effect that would have occurred, if we had crashed into that young stranger. It would have left a terrible scar on our souls because there is no way that he would have survived the impact , let alone the anguish caused to the man’s family. I thanked God for guiding us through this situation. That defensive driving course I completed in Australia so many years before served me well that night.
The drive through the Colorado rocky mountain range through to Utah was absolutely breath taking in the early spring. The sun was shining in a deep blue sky and the mountains had just the right amount of gleaming white snow. We stopped the van many times to take photos and to take in the view. We did a great show in Cedar City in Utah at The Grind Coffee House. It was an alcohol free show which took place on St Patrick's Day. One would think this wouldn’t work but we had a packed house of coffee drinking music lovers. The next day we did a show at The Wine Cellar in Ogden . Utah. Its always nice to hang with Mitch and all the folks in Ogden. We had some really nice shows in Northern California at The Torch Club (hello to Crystal & Jason), The Stage Door and Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. We then did the magnificent drive up highway 101 North along the brilliant Oregon coast line to Washington. We drove through the Avenue of the Giants. We saw many huge Redwood Trees, it was amazing.. Our shows in Washington were a lot of fun and we looked forward to our show at The Yale Hotel in Vancouver, Canada. We have done many border crossings before and had actually done the Vancouver run last year. After hitting the border, we were told to go into the border office to get our work permits. We were told to wait until called. It seemed to be taking quite some time- longer that usual. Then GT our bass player was called up to booth and was there quite a while. He came back and told us that he wasn’t allowed through and that we would all have to return to the US. So our next step was to take GT back to the US, put him in a hotel close to the border and then head back to Canada. We were stuck in line for at least two hours. When we got to the US side, we were asked to go into the office. Then our van was searched, which took more time. But we got through. We easily found GT a hotel and were on our way. We had to go back into the Canadian border office to get our work permits. The Canadian border guard after taking our passports and the performance contract said that he could not let us in without a 7 digit labor number, which the Yale Hotel’s booker had failed to give Bobbi. Bobbi couldn’t believe that the paper work hadn’t been put through because she had sent through all the information required at least two months prior. The problem was that Joe Luciak the booker had gone on vacation to Jamaica and hadn’t left any instructions for his staff.
So Bobbi started calling the Yale Hotel and managed to speak to one of the bar attendants who was able to locate Joe, who had just returned, next door. A tense 15 minutes went by, with much praying and then Bobbi called again. An Australian voice answered the phone this time and he was aware of our predicament . The staff had to break into Joe’s office to get the labor number and thankfully found it. It was such a relief to hear an Australian voice and it was so easy to hear the number correctly. Bobbi gave the number to the border guard and even he seemed to be happy for us. I guess the hard ass act was just part of the job. We received our permits and raced to the Yale Hotel. We arrived at 8.15pm for a 9pm show. We had been stuck at the border since 2pm. What a day! The show went well as the three piece. Infact everyone seemed to be blown away that we had no bass player.
We stopped by Ed Mahoney’s house on our way through Seattle. Ed is one of the owners of Highway 99- an awesome club we had performed at on the Saturday before the Canadian border crossing. He cooked us up a fine feed of large shrimp and chicken. A few brews were also consumed and the conversation was excellent. So we began the long drive though Washington State, Idaho and landing in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was Marc's birthday and we went to see a burlesque show called "La Femme' courtesy of our old guitarist from 10 years ago- Elvis Lederer, who now works for Cirque Du Soliel. We had an awesome night & it was great to catch up with Elvis. So then we headed to Tucson , Arizona for a show at Club Congress, where we were surprised by our Texas friends from Hico. The final show took place at the Glendale Jazz & Bues Festival. We had stunning weather and the park was packed with people. We had a brilliant show and an excellent finale to our six week tour.
Hope to see you out on the road,
Peace, Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Harper,s Blog, March 2009
Hey Everyone,
Spring is definitely on the way. We had a pretty rough winter in Michigan, so its nice to get some warmer temperatures. February was a month of several new clubs. Midwest Kind & I had the pleasure of performing at the Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia. This is a great listening room with a great concert vibe. We did a fundraiser for the Virginia Music Adventures which is a musical organization that tours young musicians all around the world. Jeff Cummins does an amazing job of providing this unique opportunity to so many young up & coming musicians. JM Randalls & Blue 5 also in Virginia were also great shows. We also did a show at the Lakeview Lodge in Lawrenceville , Pennsylvania. I suggested to Dexter the owner of the Lakeview to put on a festival in August. The views from the lodge over looking a large lake are spectacular and would be the perfect spot for a summer festival. Bobbi gave Dexter a few phone numbers of some of our good musician friends and within half an hour , Dexter had the whole lineup booked for Sunday August 23. So make sure you mark your calendars, because this will be a great day.
Our shows at Tullys, The Dinosaur BBQs & the Lafayette Tap Room were a lot of fun as per usual. We performed at The Thunderbird Café in Pittsburgh, another new club for us. The Thunderbird Café is a really nice club with great sound and a relaxed atmosphere- we definitely plan to hit this club again before the end of the year. A new Michigan club for us was the The Livery in Benton Harbor. This is an excellent micro brewery. The beer is just superb!!!!! Plus a great listening room- another good find for us. The last week of February was spent at the Carter Middle School in Clio, Michigan. Bobbi, Marc & I taught classroom didgeridoo, and didgeridoo painting to the band students of the school. We also did two shows in the gymnasium for the whole school the next day with the whole band. It was a trip. I ended up on two Television stations plus several stories in the local papers. I think we were a hit!!!
Our show at the Kalamazoo State Theatre in Michigan was incredible. Such a beautiful building with ornate furnishings, large balcony and seating for about 500 plus. It was part of the Budwieser Blues series and it was very cool to be invited to perform. Rubes in Flint, Michigan was also a packed house. The first week of March we began our annual tour to the West Coast. We hit BBs, in St Louis & Cartoons in Springfield , Missouri along the way. That weekend we did a house warming party for our dear friends Richard & Michelle Sukup in Hico , Texas. They have a stunning hacienda style house on 75 acres. We had a wild weekend of horse riding & shooting. Richard had two large horse trailers of 8 horses brought in for the Saturday and on Sunday we had an incredible day of shooting targets and clay pigeons. Don’t worry no critters were hurt. It was the complete western experience. We wore cowboy hats & boots and roasted steaks out on the open fire while listening to the coyotes howl. What a weekend!
March will see us heading to Colorado, Utah, Washington, California, Vancouver, Canada and Arizona. We hope to see all our West Coast fans in the next few weeks.
Peace & Safe Journey,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband
www.blindpigrecords.com
Spring is definitely on the way. We had a pretty rough winter in Michigan, so its nice to get some warmer temperatures. February was a month of several new clubs. Midwest Kind & I had the pleasure of performing at the Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia. This is a great listening room with a great concert vibe. We did a fundraiser for the Virginia Music Adventures which is a musical organization that tours young musicians all around the world. Jeff Cummins does an amazing job of providing this unique opportunity to so many young up & coming musicians. JM Randalls & Blue 5 also in Virginia were also great shows. We also did a show at the Lakeview Lodge in Lawrenceville , Pennsylvania. I suggested to Dexter the owner of the Lakeview to put on a festival in August. The views from the lodge over looking a large lake are spectacular and would be the perfect spot for a summer festival. Bobbi gave Dexter a few phone numbers of some of our good musician friends and within half an hour , Dexter had the whole lineup booked for Sunday August 23. So make sure you mark your calendars, because this will be a great day.
Our shows at Tullys, The Dinosaur BBQs & the Lafayette Tap Room were a lot of fun as per usual. We performed at The Thunderbird Café in Pittsburgh, another new club for us. The Thunderbird Café is a really nice club with great sound and a relaxed atmosphere- we definitely plan to hit this club again before the end of the year. A new Michigan club for us was the The Livery in Benton Harbor. This is an excellent micro brewery. The beer is just superb!!!!! Plus a great listening room- another good find for us. The last week of February was spent at the Carter Middle School in Clio, Michigan. Bobbi, Marc & I taught classroom didgeridoo, and didgeridoo painting to the band students of the school. We also did two shows in the gymnasium for the whole school the next day with the whole band. It was a trip. I ended up on two Television stations plus several stories in the local papers. I think we were a hit!!!
Our show at the Kalamazoo State Theatre in Michigan was incredible. Such a beautiful building with ornate furnishings, large balcony and seating for about 500 plus. It was part of the Budwieser Blues series and it was very cool to be invited to perform. Rubes in Flint, Michigan was also a packed house. The first week of March we began our annual tour to the West Coast. We hit BBs, in St Louis & Cartoons in Springfield , Missouri along the way. That weekend we did a house warming party for our dear friends Richard & Michelle Sukup in Hico , Texas. They have a stunning hacienda style house on 75 acres. We had a wild weekend of horse riding & shooting. Richard had two large horse trailers of 8 horses brought in for the Saturday and on Sunday we had an incredible day of shooting targets and clay pigeons. Don’t worry no critters were hurt. It was the complete western experience. We wore cowboy hats & boots and roasted steaks out on the open fire while listening to the coyotes howl. What a weekend!
March will see us heading to Colorado, Utah, Washington, California, Vancouver, Canada and Arizona. We hope to see all our West Coast fans in the next few weeks.
Peace & Safe Journey,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband
www.blindpigrecords.com
Monday, February 16, 2009
Harper Blog, February 2009
Hi Everyone,
February has been a tough month emotionally for me. The devastating fires in my home state of Victoria in Australia tore away a piece of my heart. The searing temperatures and gail force winds created Australia's worst disaster of the century with nearly 200 people killed and a horrendous loss of native animals, live stock and property. The saddest aspect of this disaster is that many of the fires were deliberately lit. I find it hard to fathom that any human being would want to wreak such havoc on so many innocent families. Forever scarring our souls and minds and the beautiful Australian landscape, that we all love so much. My heart felt sympathy goes out to all those effected. The worst is now over and now is the time to rebuild and move on with our lives the very best that we can. Thankfully my family is safe, but the fires did get very close. I am also very thankful that my favorite pub- The St Andrews Hotel in St Andrews, an area hit very hard, is still standing. So please say a prayer for our Australian brothers and sisters.
On a more positive note, our January tour here in the US went really well. It was a relief to escape the freezing temperatures of Michigan that caused the cancellation of our show at the Fire Fly Club in Ann Arbor. We enjoyed the music of "Diddley Squat" who opened for us at Knuckleheads in Kansas City. We said a little prayer for this band as they headed out in the dead of winter, for an over night drive to Denver for a show the next day. Such is the life of the touring musician. Our shows at Blues On Grand in Des Moines and Uncle Bo's in Topeka were a lot of fun. We then headed South to Tennessee for a show at Bourbon St Blues & Boogie in Nashville which was closely followed by a very cool lunchtime show at the Chattanooga State Community College. We enjoyed the warmth of Alabama with shows at Little Willies in Tuscaloosa and two shows at Brownstones in Hattiesburg. We were blown away by the number of people who had driven up from New Orleans to see us at Brownstones. I guess we need to organize some shows in that fine city very soon!!!
The last surviving juke joint in Alabama, Blues Tavern in Mobile- was a packed house. We plan to return for the tavern's owner- Randy's birthday in June.
Our drive north was a real eye opener. A powerful ice storm had hit Arkansas and Missouri. Miles upon miles of power lines were down, many power poles were snapped in two. There were also a large number of fallen trees- laden down with heavy ice, that had crushed several homes. But we made it to St Louis after a slow and arduous drive. I am happy to say that we have a new home in St Louis- BBs Jazz , Blues & Soups. If you have never been to this club, you must go. The history on the walls is a who's who's of the jazz & blues scene. It is a beautifully decorated club with great food and sound. Owner John May has been running his club for 30 years. He really made us feel welcome!
We also got to visit our good friend Betsy at Betsy's Blue Note in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Betsy's Mum - Janice passed away recently. She was a fine lady! We definitely felt her presence at our show. The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska was a lot of fun- we will be back for the Celebrate Lincoln Festival in June. Our final show for our January tour took place at one of our favorite stops- Kirksville, Missouri - for the Journal Building. We had a packed house and the vibe was incredible.
We have a west coast tour coming up in March and a few Michigan shows coming up for the last two weeks of February.
Peace & safe journeys,
Harper & The Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband
www.blindpigrecords.com
February has been a tough month emotionally for me. The devastating fires in my home state of Victoria in Australia tore away a piece of my heart. The searing temperatures and gail force winds created Australia's worst disaster of the century with nearly 200 people killed and a horrendous loss of native animals, live stock and property. The saddest aspect of this disaster is that many of the fires were deliberately lit. I find it hard to fathom that any human being would want to wreak such havoc on so many innocent families. Forever scarring our souls and minds and the beautiful Australian landscape, that we all love so much. My heart felt sympathy goes out to all those effected. The worst is now over and now is the time to rebuild and move on with our lives the very best that we can. Thankfully my family is safe, but the fires did get very close. I am also very thankful that my favorite pub- The St Andrews Hotel in St Andrews, an area hit very hard, is still standing. So please say a prayer for our Australian brothers and sisters.
On a more positive note, our January tour here in the US went really well. It was a relief to escape the freezing temperatures of Michigan that caused the cancellation of our show at the Fire Fly Club in Ann Arbor. We enjoyed the music of "Diddley Squat" who opened for us at Knuckleheads in Kansas City. We said a little prayer for this band as they headed out in the dead of winter, for an over night drive to Denver for a show the next day. Such is the life of the touring musician. Our shows at Blues On Grand in Des Moines and Uncle Bo's in Topeka were a lot of fun. We then headed South to Tennessee for a show at Bourbon St Blues & Boogie in Nashville which was closely followed by a very cool lunchtime show at the Chattanooga State Community College. We enjoyed the warmth of Alabama with shows at Little Willies in Tuscaloosa and two shows at Brownstones in Hattiesburg. We were blown away by the number of people who had driven up from New Orleans to see us at Brownstones. I guess we need to organize some shows in that fine city very soon!!!
The last surviving juke joint in Alabama, Blues Tavern in Mobile- was a packed house. We plan to return for the tavern's owner- Randy's birthday in June.
Our drive north was a real eye opener. A powerful ice storm had hit Arkansas and Missouri. Miles upon miles of power lines were down, many power poles were snapped in two. There were also a large number of fallen trees- laden down with heavy ice, that had crushed several homes. But we made it to St Louis after a slow and arduous drive. I am happy to say that we have a new home in St Louis- BBs Jazz , Blues & Soups. If you have never been to this club, you must go. The history on the walls is a who's who's of the jazz & blues scene. It is a beautifully decorated club with great food and sound. Owner John May has been running his club for 30 years. He really made us feel welcome!
We also got to visit our good friend Betsy at Betsy's Blue Note in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Betsy's Mum - Janice passed away recently. She was a fine lady! We definitely felt her presence at our show. The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska was a lot of fun- we will be back for the Celebrate Lincoln Festival in June. Our final show for our January tour took place at one of our favorite stops- Kirksville, Missouri - for the Journal Building. We had a packed house and the vibe was incredible.
We have a west coast tour coming up in March and a few Michigan shows coming up for the last two weeks of February.
Peace & safe journeys,
Harper & The Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz
www.myspace.com/harperband
www.youtube.com/harperband
www.blindpigrecords.com
Friday, January 16, 2009
Harper's Blog January 2009
Happy New Year !!!
I hope you all had a great holiday season. My band & I are just back from an amazing tour of Belgium, England and Wales. We almost didn't fly out of Detroit because our flight to New Jersey was cancelled. Bobbi managed to get us all on an earlier flight, so it was a mad rush to the airport. We had a great flight to London but unfortunately my didgeridoos and harps didn't make it. Our good friend Howard Graves was also with us & his bag went missing as well. It was a bit disconcerting as we had to catch the Eurostar fast train to Belgium with out our bags. We were assured that the bags were on the next flight. Actually it was a blessing in disguise as we really had too much luggage to carry and there were no trolleys. Two elderly ladies literally fell over on the escalator to the Euro star because they couldnt carry their bags. We helped them to get to the train amongst a stampede of people pushing to get to the entrance. Flying is definitely alot more civilized. Once we got to Brussels we were met by the festival director Eddy Plasquay. Eddy had hired "a large American van" to transport us to Vilvoorde - the city where the festival was to take place. Well this large American van was just a large sedan and we had six people, guitars and luggage. We literally squished into the car. It reminded me of the car crushes we used to have at school. We managed to get in 27 thirteen year olds into one car. Eddy was so frightened of getting pulled over by the cops that he took all the back roads to Vilvoorde - so we had to endure about an hour of been squashed.
We had a great time in Belgium & thankfully the didgeridoos turned up on the day of the festival. The Pjeire Blues Festival was held in the grandiose stables of a bankrupt aristocrat. It was a great night to experience. We had an amazing show and I was invited to jam with Javier Vargas and the Vargas Blues Band from Spain. Later we found out exactly what the word "Pjeire"mean't. It is a slang word for 'horse eaters". So we performed at a horse eaters blues festival!!!! Apparently horse meat is considered quite a delicacy in Vivoorde and Eddy wanted to take us to a horse meat restaurant. Everyone was hyped up to eat horse, except Bobbi who is a big horse lover. We arrived too late at the restaurant after our show at Crossroads Cafe. Everyone except Bobbi, was disappointed. On one of our off days Bobbi, Mike, Howard and I visited Paris, while Marc & Ralph went to Amsterdam. Paris was freezing, but we managed to see quite alot in one day. Our friend Howard was on a spiritual pilgrimage for his wife Holly who passed suddenly in September. He poured her ashes into the river Seine just across from the Eiffel Tower. It was a very poignant moment- one I will never forget.
After another ride on the Eurostar to London, we arrived in England for a week of shows. The UK was very warm compared to Belgium. Our shows at The Cellars in Southsea, The Musician in Leicester and The Green Room in Macclesfield went really well. Worthenbury Hall in Wales was amazing. It is such a beautiful country that has retained its cultural identity. It was so nice to catch up with the many friends we had made in 2007 on our first trip. In Liverpool we did the Beatles tour at The Kasbah- the very first place the Beatles performed. Rory Best (brother of Pete Best) was our tour guide and his early stories of the Beatles just about blew us away. That evening we played to a packed house at Foghertys. It was a fun week and we plan to tour the UK again in late August and September.
We flew back to Chicago on December 22 then took the short flight to Detroit. Well this time we all lost our bags thanks to Northwest Airlines. Detroit airport was in disarray , there had to be at least 1000 delayed bags just sitting at baggage claim. After 2 hours we got out of the airport then drove back to Grass Lake to find our house snowed in. We stumbled through two feet of snow to get to the front door. Then we spent the next hour and a half digging Marc & Mike's car out of the snow. What a night.!!!
After nine anxious days I received my four foot long bag containing the didgeridoos & harps. Wooohoooo!! With a new year we have a new beginning. We welcome GT from Flint, Michigan as our new bass player. We wish Ralph all the best best for the upcoming birth of his new son.
We wish you all the very best for 2009. May it be a year of peace, prosperity, joy and inspiration for us all.
Peace, Harper, Bobbi, Marc, Mike & Ralph & new bass player GT
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
I hope you all had a great holiday season. My band & I are just back from an amazing tour of Belgium, England and Wales. We almost didn't fly out of Detroit because our flight to New Jersey was cancelled. Bobbi managed to get us all on an earlier flight, so it was a mad rush to the airport. We had a great flight to London but unfortunately my didgeridoos and harps didn't make it. Our good friend Howard Graves was also with us & his bag went missing as well. It was a bit disconcerting as we had to catch the Eurostar fast train to Belgium with out our bags. We were assured that the bags were on the next flight. Actually it was a blessing in disguise as we really had too much luggage to carry and there were no trolleys. Two elderly ladies literally fell over on the escalator to the Euro star because they couldnt carry their bags. We helped them to get to the train amongst a stampede of people pushing to get to the entrance. Flying is definitely alot more civilized. Once we got to Brussels we were met by the festival director Eddy Plasquay. Eddy had hired "a large American van" to transport us to Vilvoorde - the city where the festival was to take place. Well this large American van was just a large sedan and we had six people, guitars and luggage. We literally squished into the car. It reminded me of the car crushes we used to have at school. We managed to get in 27 thirteen year olds into one car. Eddy was so frightened of getting pulled over by the cops that he took all the back roads to Vilvoorde - so we had to endure about an hour of been squashed.
We had a great time in Belgium & thankfully the didgeridoos turned up on the day of the festival. The Pjeire Blues Festival was held in the grandiose stables of a bankrupt aristocrat. It was a great night to experience. We had an amazing show and I was invited to jam with Javier Vargas and the Vargas Blues Band from Spain. Later we found out exactly what the word "Pjeire"mean't. It is a slang word for 'horse eaters". So we performed at a horse eaters blues festival!!!! Apparently horse meat is considered quite a delicacy in Vivoorde and Eddy wanted to take us to a horse meat restaurant. Everyone was hyped up to eat horse, except Bobbi who is a big horse lover. We arrived too late at the restaurant after our show at Crossroads Cafe. Everyone except Bobbi, was disappointed. On one of our off days Bobbi, Mike, Howard and I visited Paris, while Marc & Ralph went to Amsterdam. Paris was freezing, but we managed to see quite alot in one day. Our friend Howard was on a spiritual pilgrimage for his wife Holly who passed suddenly in September. He poured her ashes into the river Seine just across from the Eiffel Tower. It was a very poignant moment- one I will never forget.
After another ride on the Eurostar to London, we arrived in England for a week of shows. The UK was very warm compared to Belgium. Our shows at The Cellars in Southsea, The Musician in Leicester and The Green Room in Macclesfield went really well. Worthenbury Hall in Wales was amazing. It is such a beautiful country that has retained its cultural identity. It was so nice to catch up with the many friends we had made in 2007 on our first trip. In Liverpool we did the Beatles tour at The Kasbah- the very first place the Beatles performed. Rory Best (brother of Pete Best) was our tour guide and his early stories of the Beatles just about blew us away. That evening we played to a packed house at Foghertys. It was a fun week and we plan to tour the UK again in late August and September.
We flew back to Chicago on December 22 then took the short flight to Detroit. Well this time we all lost our bags thanks to Northwest Airlines. Detroit airport was in disarray , there had to be at least 1000 delayed bags just sitting at baggage claim. After 2 hours we got out of the airport then drove back to Grass Lake to find our house snowed in. We stumbled through two feet of snow to get to the front door. Then we spent the next hour and a half digging Marc & Mike's car out of the snow. What a night.!!!
After nine anxious days I received my four foot long bag containing the didgeridoos & harps. Wooohoooo!! With a new year we have a new beginning. We welcome GT from Flint, Michigan as our new bass player. We wish Ralph all the best best for the upcoming birth of his new son.
We wish you all the very best for 2009. May it be a year of peace, prosperity, joy and inspiration for us all.
Peace, Harper, Bobbi, Marc, Mike & Ralph & new bass player GT
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
December Newsblog
Hey Everyone,
November saw the election of Barrack Obama here in the US. It was truly a historical and inspirational day. Congratulations to all those voters, regardless of political persuasion, who got out to vote.
We had alot of festivals to do in October. The Roots n Blues n BBQ festival in Columbia, Missouri was beyond huge- there had to be over 100 000 people attending. Incredible weather and a multi stage, multi artist festival- it was very cool to be apart of. We saw Bettye Lavette, Buddy Guy, Tab Benoit and many many more. Columbia is a very unique college town full of art and music, I really hope I get to visit it again soon.
The Pleasure Island Seafood Jazz & Blues Fest in North Carolina was one WET festival. We were really surprised that we got to play. The festival director had told us that we probably wouldnt perform but we went to the festival grounds anyway. Low & behold, the music was jammin, a fairly decent crowd in wet weather gear & umbrellas fronted the stage and all was a go. Johnny & Edgar Winter were the head liners that night & I guess people really wanted to see this legendary act. The wind was howling and the rain was pelting down, but the folks of North Carolina hang in there and they got to see the Winter brothers perform.
The following week the band & I took part in the outreach program of the LEAF festival. We did a didgeridoo workshop / presentation to the Black Mountain Elementary School, North Carolina. We followed up the next day with Aboriginal art, dance and the making of didgeridoos. It was a lot of fun. We also performed at the LEAF festival that weekend. And what a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains and a good sized lake. The weather was warm but absolutely freezing at night and when youre on an out door stage, you really feel it. This was a really cool festival with amazing diversity of music. Then we headed to PA, NY , MA & Maine for shows at Tully's, The Dinosaur BBQs, Harry's, Inn on the Blues and our favorite Halloween party- The Time Out Pub in Rockland. We also did a Halloween party on the Oct 31 at Rubes in Michigan & got to see some amazing costumes. We also visited our favorite home gig at The Fire Fly in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In November we headed south to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi for the incredible River Hawk Music Festival. River Hawk was alot of fun. Some really great music was heard and the vibe was friendly and relaxed. We hung out after our show by a warm fire and listened to some acoustic bluegrass jammers.
In December we have our first tour of Belgium coming up with an addtional tour to England and Wales. The session we recorded at the BBC Radio 2, London - "The Paul Jones Show" in May will be aired on Monday December 8
We hope to see you out on the road this Winter
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
November saw the election of Barrack Obama here in the US. It was truly a historical and inspirational day. Congratulations to all those voters, regardless of political persuasion, who got out to vote.
We had alot of festivals to do in October. The Roots n Blues n BBQ festival in Columbia, Missouri was beyond huge- there had to be over 100 000 people attending. Incredible weather and a multi stage, multi artist festival- it was very cool to be apart of. We saw Bettye Lavette, Buddy Guy, Tab Benoit and many many more. Columbia is a very unique college town full of art and music, I really hope I get to visit it again soon.
The Pleasure Island Seafood Jazz & Blues Fest in North Carolina was one WET festival. We were really surprised that we got to play. The festival director had told us that we probably wouldnt perform but we went to the festival grounds anyway. Low & behold, the music was jammin, a fairly decent crowd in wet weather gear & umbrellas fronted the stage and all was a go. Johnny & Edgar Winter were the head liners that night & I guess people really wanted to see this legendary act. The wind was howling and the rain was pelting down, but the folks of North Carolina hang in there and they got to see the Winter brothers perform.
The following week the band & I took part in the outreach program of the LEAF festival. We did a didgeridoo workshop / presentation to the Black Mountain Elementary School, North Carolina. We followed up the next day with Aboriginal art, dance and the making of didgeridoos. It was a lot of fun. We also performed at the LEAF festival that weekend. And what a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains and a good sized lake. The weather was warm but absolutely freezing at night and when youre on an out door stage, you really feel it. This was a really cool festival with amazing diversity of music. Then we headed to PA, NY , MA & Maine for shows at Tully's, The Dinosaur BBQs, Harry's, Inn on the Blues and our favorite Halloween party- The Time Out Pub in Rockland. We also did a Halloween party on the Oct 31 at Rubes in Michigan & got to see some amazing costumes. We also visited our favorite home gig at The Fire Fly in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In November we headed south to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi for the incredible River Hawk Music Festival. River Hawk was alot of fun. Some really great music was heard and the vibe was friendly and relaxed. We hung out after our show by a warm fire and listened to some acoustic bluegrass jammers.
In December we have our first tour of Belgium coming up with an addtional tour to England and Wales. The session we recorded at the BBC Radio 2, London - "The Paul Jones Show" in May will be aired on Monday December 8
We hope to see you out on the road this Winter
Peace,
Harper & Midwest Kind
www.harper.biz (Official Harper Website)
www.myspace.com/harperband (for CD down loads)
www.youtube.com/harperband (for live video clips)
www.blindpigrecords.com (for CD orders & downloads)
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