AAHHHOOOO - The Wolfman comes to Greensboro

I had the pleasure of attending the Walter "Wolfman" Washington show at the Empire Room on Thursday. What a great setting to see a show! Local favorites Blues World Order set the tone for the evening with a rocking 45 minute of solid blues.

The Wolfman followed and had the crowd on their feet most of the evening with his brand of Louisiana Jazz and Funk. I think the thing that I admired the most about Mr. Washington - aside from his wonderful guitar playing - was the fact that it was apparent this guy was having fun! I love to see an artist that never seems to get tired of playing shows. If you missed it, you missed a good show. Lets hope that this is a harbinger of future blues and jazz shows at the Empire Room.

This just in - read about the Wolfman in this Yes Weekly feature.

Random Thoughts

Another fine night at the Club House last evening at the Blues Jam - all participants appeared to be in fine form. I spoke to Art, the owner of the Club House about booking NDY. He asked me if we were a blues band and when I replied to the affirmative he laughed - said every time he books a blues band attendance, and of course sales, are not very good.

That got me to thinking (often a dangerous thing at best). Last weekend when we played in Reidsville the place was packed, and with lots of younger folks that were hoopin and a hollerin and dancing and having a grand old time. Then the light bulb went on - these kids liked the blues - they just didn't know that it was the blues they were a hoopin and a hollerin too. Of course the reason this is a random thought and not a brilliant idea is that I haven't figured out what to do with this new found knowledge.

The answer, of course, is in reaching and educating the younger generation so that they not only show up at these shows, but, more importantly, can keep the blues alive once us older guys are not Not Dead Yet. I love it when I see someone like Matt Hill take the stage with the passion he has for the blues, but he is outnumbered by us old folks.

Ideas? Comments?

Monday Jam at the Lion

What a great night at Gary Redd's Red Lion in High Point yesterday! In addition to many of the Blues Jam regulars we had Justin and Quinn, a couple of great horn players who brought the house down. The club was packed with people digging the live music - always a great thing, and Gary himself even took a set behind the kit last night. A good time was had by all!

Thank You Reidsville!

Wow - what a great turnout and welcome we had at our 2nd live show at the Sports Restaurant Bar & Grill in Reidsville last night. You guys know how to have a good time and on behalf of the Not Dead Yet blues band thank you for letting us be a part of it! Hopefully we will be seeing you again real soon.

Preparation for the Show

Well, our second show is tonight and I'm as anxious as a kid on Christmas Eve. You'd think at my age (which I won't reveal, but suffice it to say old enough to know better) I'd lose some of the eager anticipation before playing but I never do. I think it's the sheer joy I get of playing the blues with my fellow NDYers that makes it hard to temper my enthusiasm.

After a week of work and dealing with the general stresses of daily life, playing the blues is a release. So here I sit at 8am on Saturday morning listening to a Roy Buchanan recording from 78 at My Fathers Place in Roslyn NY - my old stomping grounds - waiting to hit the stage later. For those interested, the show can be streamed from www.sugarmegs.org along with a lot of other great shows.

Live to play - play to live!

T

Welcome to the Not Dead Yet Blues Blog

While sitting at the Clubhouse in Greensboro last evening enjoying some of the music being served up by some fine local musicians I realized that we really need to give props to the local club owners that support the open mic blues jam format. If not for the blues jams Not Dead Yet would not exist (some may think that a good thing...), I would not have started playing the guitar again after an 11 year hiatus (again, some may think that a good thing...), and, more importantly, I would never have met my fellow bandmates as well as a host of other fine people that I am proud to call friends.

So... lets give kudos and our support to Art at the Clubhouse, Gary at the Red Lion, and the fine folks at Dezyres and Backstreets for supporting our addiction to the blues.