| Nominated Best Solo Blues Artist of 2009 by the Washington Blues Society | |
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I just received a Washington Blues Society nomination for Best Solo Blues Artist of 2009. This is a pleasant surprise! It’s nice to know that my efforts at playing acoustic Blues here in the Pacific Northwest have attracted some attention and appreciation by Blues fans here. Now, if I can just manage to find an agent, agency or personal manager willing to work with me, we can get this show on the road. |
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| Miya, Spoonman and me | |
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http://markopolo.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=3048911&format=rss200 Artis and I were both hangin' at the Pike Place Market when he told me about a performance that he had scheduled that afternoon in Georgetown. This south Seattle neighborhood was hosting an annual art and music event called, Artopia. I offered Artis a ride to his gig as he had given up driving personal conveyances for public transportation and feared he might arrive late to the event if he took the bus. Artis mentioned that the organizers of this shindig were open to the idea of those who enjoyed street performing and I wanted to check it out. If it looked good, I had my musical saw and Nobro resophonic at the ready to busk my brains out. I was surprised when Artis invited me to sit in with him on his stage set. I wasn't expecting to be invited but I was happy to comply to his request. We've had a long history of playing together over the years, but we've each followed our own paths. Though we share many mutual interests, we haven't had the opportunity to perform together much of late. When I asked him if he had any flavorites that he wanted me to play, he left the decision up to me. So, my first choice was to play one of mine, "I'll Do Anything To Make A Buck". It's a twisted tale about the many colorful methods we employ to earn our shekels. Before I could begin my closing number Artis requested "51 Highway Blues". I love that road song. I used to live just a stones throw from the northern terminus of this two lane road and have traveled it's entire length from Hurley, Wisconsin to just north of New Orleans. I've recorded this song many times and though I don't think that I have a definitive version yet, I've enjoyed how the tale has changed in the telling over the years. The version of it that we managed to play on that day was of particular note but not because of anything that we were able to add to it. It's not that we didn't play the hell out of it. Because we did. But it was what happened in the middle of our performance that really made this version stand head and shoulders above any other version that I've played to date. From out of our audience we were joined by a third. A tiny girl named Miya. With boldness that can only be derived from innocence she saw one of Spoonman's microphones set down low to capture his spoon playing and decided that this mic was just the right height for her to sing into. She didn't hesitate once as she walked up on stage in the middle of my gravelly throated interpretation of "Highway 51". She went right to the mic and began to softly sing. Artis and I both immediately backed off our intensity and volume to allow her plenty of room to express herself. It was just an amazingly magical moment as she then also began to play along with us using some of the many items in Artis' spoon kit that was lying on the stage. Everyone listening was as awestruck as we were to see all of this unfold. The smiles fest that happened as a result was beyond belief. Moments like that don't happen nearly enough in my life and those very special memories are something that I truly treasure. That's why I was so thrilled to see that Mark had captured so many photos of from our stage performance that day. It brought back that moment so clearly that I've been smiling all the while as I've been writing this. Please do check out Mark's photos at the link posted above. Click on any of the photos on that page to view them in a larger format. There are over thirty pictures featured there. Click, enjoy, repeat and share the link with your friends! Sawwwwwwww ya later, Reg vvvvvvvvvvvvvv |
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