h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Heya Sharky, I thought I'd better stop by here rather than continue this great tangent on the Amfoot trivia forum. I'm a huge fan of the blues, and for no good reason I've not stopped by to talk blues ... until now. I can tell we have a lot of similar tastes! I like Kenny Brown's version of Miss Maybelle a lot, too, though I recommend getting RL's "Burnside on Burnside" if you can. I have a great story to tell about Kenny Brown, so sit back and grab an if you got one ...

I struggle to say this with modesty, 'cos it was so incredibly fun ... you're talking to someone who's had the unusual pleasure of jamming with Kenny Brown as well as Cedric Burnside. This was back in 1999, at the (then very first) Thirsty Ear festival that happens annually in the late summer on a movie ranch south of Santa Fe (where I lived from 1998-2002). The story goes that I knew (indeed, still know) a certain group of professional beer brewers (we call 'em brewpubs here in the US) that are close friends and old school mates of mine, as well as loving blues and knowing the (then) assistant managing editor of the Thirsty Ear magazine that sponsors the show ... so, obviously I was there for the premier event, and was (being a guitarist myself of somewhat modest means) talked into bringing an axe or two along to see if an impromptu jam might open up with other musicians that I knew would be there. Okay, so to cut this long story down a bit, right when Kenny Brown was to play his set (the venue had nearly two dozen acts playing almost continuously for three days, from noon 'till well past midnight), a huge thunderstorm for which New Mexico is justly known right as Kenny was to play. So, we all piled into the saloon (this movie ranch - the JW Eaves ranch at the time - is the real deal, being where several old west movies have been filmed) and Kenny wanted to jam a set there. For various reasons, Kenny's set was mostly just him and the rest of his band (except Cedric) were not around. One thing led to another, it was a very small and cramped crowd, and the brewers yelled at me to help set up something for Kenny to jam with in a corner of the saloon. Being knowledgeable about this sort of thing, I helped set up, and Kenny just said, in a slow, serious Mississippi drawl that was only enhanced by his ragged Pabst Blue Ribbon garage shirt soaked by the rain and a ridiculous floppy sunhat, "Alex* said you play - wanna play rhythm on a couple jams until this rain quits?" It was an incredible gig, even though I messed up the timing that Cedric and Kenny have down naturally from playing together so much (thankfully we were pretty loud and the crowd was just happy and rowdy - good and made sure of that). At the time, RL himself was feeling ill, and didn't make it out to the festival (he was scheduled). He did tour elsewhere that year, as well as later years, but he never did make it through Santa Fe when I could see him. Still, two years later I ran into Kenny and Cedric again, this time at an small invite-only party at the Santa Fe Brewery's 15th birthday bash (I think it was 15 - maybe 20) which was right up the road from my house back then. This time, however, there was no jamming to be had (by Kenny). He'd (very humorously) drunk himself into a staggering stupor by the time he was to go on, so other guys played a great jam (afore-mentioned Alex Maryol being one of them).

So there you have it, my entire Kenny Brown blooze story - as much as I can type at the moment. I can say (and have bragged pretty shamelessly about it to my friends) that I have played rhythm with Kenny Brown doing wicked slide geetar and Cedric crashing the skins right next to me. One of the best good times I *ever* had!

I've since gotten very much into the blues (I'd considered it a bit of a fun thing before, but since those days it's become a more of an obsession). I'm not a performing artist, officially - but I compose and do some studio and session work when I get time. It's more than a hobby, it's my life outside of work!

Anyway ... been meaning to say, it's very heartening to meet a British blues fan who's as fanatic as I am! Have one one on me! Yeah, it's Friday evening here ...

- JD (with blisters on his fingers after all that)

*Alex Maryol, a prodigy of a guitarist in Santa Fe, who was well-known at the time despite being only about 17 at that time.

That's so - it's nice to hear that the guys on the Fat Possum roster are as shambolic and good natured as they appear from the publicity. I very nearly ordered a copy of Burnside on Burnside from FP themselves, but settled for T Model Ford and Robert Belfour instead as they are *much* more difficult to get hold of in this country. RL is still coasting on the Ass Pocket Full of Whisky lp over here, but distribution for the rest of their stuff is patchy at best...

Sad to say I can't play a note, but I've been lucky enough to be involved with eight years of local blues festivals organized by a friend of mine who is a pretty well known figure over here and in France and Germany (Denny plays in a Peter Green style). Over the years we've had some excellent nights with some astounding musicians. The biggest coup was Dave 'Honeyboy' Edwards who not only played a knockout set but proved to be a great storyteller and generous with his time as well. The most unexpected, well, that had to be the appearance of Snowy White and a 'pick up band' including a former member of Little Feat on keys. Although he was surprised at the size of the venue (it holds about 220 people), by the time they'd finished we couldn't get them off stage because they were having so much fun...We didn't care, as they were headlining, but the local council got a bit irate...