on hallowed ground - march 25, 2004
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Hello friends,
It has been a fun few weeks. My new CD was released on March 16th and my band and I have been staying busy in a coordinated effort to get the word out. We have been touring around the midwest performing the songs from the disc. People seem to be excited about the material and have been very appreciative of what we have been putting down. A lot of guitar players have come around to dig on Alex Schultz's sound and I don't think they have been disappointed.
working at B.L.U.E.S. has always been a labor of love for me...
In addition to shows in Indiana and Cincinnati we had a couple of really nice shows in Chicago, performing at Buddy Guy's Legends and then at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted.
I must admit, working at B.L.U.E.S. has always been a labor of love for me and an honor. I consider the stage there to be hallowed ground. I think back to the days in the late '80s when the great pianist Sunnyland Slim played there every Sunday night. His band consisted of my good friend Steve Freund on guitar, Robert Covington on drums, Robert Stroger on bass and Sam Burkhardt on tenor sax. That seminal band really set a high standard for what is still considered the Chicago style of blues.
A lot of the new bands in Chicago in recent years have strayed somewhat from Sunnyland's swinging, elegant, nearly acoustic brand of blues. There are a few bands who have kept the tradition going strong though; Dave Specter and John Primer come to mind. I must admit that my own brand of soul/blues is a pretty distant cousin of Sunnyland's pure blues, but it is where my muse leads me and I have to be faithful to her lest she decide not to come around anymore.
Anyway, we did manage to do a sort of homage to the classic style of another regular at B.L.U.E.S in the old days, Big Walter Horton, when we performed his: That Ain't It. The song begins, "I've been around the world, I've covered a lot of space and I never found no one to ever take your place." It continues, "But that ain't it, baby I need your love. If it ain't me darling, who are you thinking of?" It is lyrics like these that remind me how and why I ended up in this business. It definitely wasn't for the money and the generous benefits package. The directness and honesty of these lines is breathtaking. The truth about the transient, often lonely life of a traveling musician (or any traveler), and the toll such a life can take on relationships is all in there. The power in the poetry of "I covered a lot of space" is beautiful to me.
the truth about the transient, often lonely life of a traveling musician -- or any traveler
One of the most rewarding things about the shows over the last few weeks has been the presence of my wife, Amy, at four, (count 'em), four of the shows. In the past, there have been entire years that have passed in which Amy hadn't been able to make it out for one reason or another. So having her check out the band in several different environments recently has been a great thrill for me. I hope we passed the audition with her!
Thanks to all of the people who made it out to shows and for the e-mails I have received from new and old fans of the band. Please come back and visit me here at the blues journal.
Thanks for visiting.
TR
