"I was there too"

Traveling around playing music makes you realize how interconnected the world is sometimes. Two weeks ago I was in upstate and central New York playing with Creole Stomp. One night we played at the "Rongovian Embassy" in Trumansburg which is right next to Ithaca. This club is a story in itself. During the break one of the local bar patrons came over to talk to me because he enjoyed my guitar playing. Unfortunately I don't remember his name. That is always nice in and of itself. During our conversation Clarkesdale Mississippi came up. He had ended up in Clarkesdale quite accidentally once, or better said, unintentionally, a year or so ago. He was traveling in Mississippi and being a blues fan he felt himself drawn to Clarkesdale when he realized that he was close by. I laughed and told him that I was just there two weeks ago. He asked if I knew a little juke joint called Red's and I told him that I had just hung out at Red's Saturday and Sunday night the week that I was in Clarkesdale. Red's is a very small and usually dark club in Clarkesdale. Red is the owner and he is one of the primary reasons that blues is alive and kicking in Mississippi. Red's is homebase for Big Jack Johnson who is one of Clarkesdale's native sons. Big Jack is an amazing guitar player who played with the legendary Jelly Roll Kings that also included Sam Carr and Frank Frost. All three are legends in the Delta. Big Jack played to a full house on Saturday night. Robert Balfour - a real juke joint acoustic blues player - filled the house on Sunday night. Balfour is also from Mississippi he relocated to Memphis a number of years ago. I have seen him a number of times but he was absolutely in his element on that Sunday night. The gentleman I was speaking to at the Rongovian Embassy is a big Robert Balfour fan so he enjoyed the fact that not only did I know Red's but that I had just seen Balfour play there.

The next night I was in Rochester with Creole Stomp. Before the gig there was a little party for the band and members of the Cajun dance group that we were playing for. The party was at our host's house. Our host was a very nice woman and a clinical psychologist in Rochester. She is a huge cajun music fan so I asked her if she ever goes to Louisiana. Yes, she said I was just there last weekend for Festival Arcadian. We were in Louisiana last week as well I said. I then asked her if she had happened to go see Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at the Blue Moon in Lafayette last Saturday night. Steve Riley is one of the most interesting cajun bands. I am a big fan of his guitar player Sam Broussard. The Blue Moon is an outdoor beer garden that is a little bit bigger that Red's but not by much. It as absolutely packed. She said that yes she was there. I laughed and said I was there too.

When I went to watch Big Jack play at Red's I ran into one of my Clarkesdale friends, a guitar player named Big "T" Williams. Big T is another Clarkesdale native that got his start as a teenager playing with Big Jack and the Jelly Roll Kings. Big T was playing bass with Big Jack on Saturday night. When I first met Big T about four years ago for a second I thought he was Big Jack. Sam Carr was playing at Sarah's Kitchen on a Sunday night with various other musicians. Big T was one of the guitar players. He looks kind of like Big Jack but I knew that he was too young. Big Jack I assume is around 70. Anyway I complimented Big T on his guitar playing that night and he invited me back to his house to jam. We played until 5 o'clock in the morning. Big T just released a record on a new Mississippi label called Broke and Hungry records. He was busy this summer doing the blues festival circuit. I know that he was in Chicago and St. Louis. It is good to see him doing well.