Blind Mississippi Morris at BB's

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to go downtown to Beale and soak up a little more blues. I was actually taking my new boss out to see the 'sights' and give him a feel for Memphis. So of course I took him to Beale Street.

When we got in BB's, they introduced Blind Mississippi (Morris) Cummings! Definitely a treat. That evening, he was just playing by himself with one guitarist. They didn't need no more! He laid down a bunch of great tunes and really lit the place up.

After the show, I bought a CD of his and it rocks every bit as good as his live show does. Great fun!

If you have a chance to see him play, make sure you do!

Charlie Musselwhite Live At the Dakota Jazz Room

While on a business trip to the Twin Cities, I decided to check out the blues scene up there (I live down south). A google search popped up the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis, and sure enough on my last night of the trip (Thursday night) Charlie Musselwhite was playing there.

The Dakota is a nice venue to go see good music. Food was a bit pricey, but it was good. I managed to get a seat all of 10 ft from the right side of the stage. The house was packed, but somehow I managed to get a full 4 person booth to myself got to sit in the best seat.

I had never seen Musselwhite live before, and he did not disappoint. His chops were great and he worked the crowd as I expected he would! The band was tight and his guitar player, Matt Stubbs, was killing it all night (I'm also a guitar player and really appreciate that instrument too).

 The set ran just under two hours and finished up with a great rendition of Christo Redentor. Definitely a great song recorded, but even better live.

After the show, I had the chance to meet Charlie and talk with him a bit and he really seems like a down to earth, genuine guy. I picked up copy of his latest CD and got it autographed by the band.

I thought the evening was over, and the club owner came out and announced that the second show was not quite full, so if we had paid for a 7pm ticket, we could stay for the 9pm show (for free)! I'm so glad I did. The second show was mostly different material than the first, and the band really kicked into high gear. Charlie cut them loose and let each member get a great solo section in, much to the crowd's great appreciation.

 Charlie is getting up there in years, and I'm glad I've gotten the chance to see him. So many of his peers are already gone. Seems like we've got to take the chances we've got to see the original innovators and creators of this great music.

All in all, an awesome show!

I also need to mention that the CD I brought home with all those autographs is awesome. It includes many of the tunes I heard at the show and just like the show, Charlie's licks are strong, his band is tight and the music is solid! Definitely worth picking up.

Some Changes To My Blog

When I started this blog, my intention was to post about Mandolin Blues. My intention remains just that, but reality has shown me that I have much wider interests in the blues than just those played on the Mandolin.

My interest in the blues started a very long time ago with a harmonica from the corner drugstore in my family's Arkansas hometown. Later, it grew to include the guitar when I first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan, I even played blues on the trumpet for a while during gradeschool. It was much later in life that I found blues on the Mandolin and the Electric Mandolin.

Truth be told, I'd be much better off sticking with one instrument, but understanding myself as well as I do, I know that as the surroundings of my life change, so do my interests. I know if I would stick with one instrument, I might become a master of one, instead of the master of NONE that I am.

I do plan to continue discussing mandolin blues as I originally intended, but now I'll talk about other blues experiences that I have here in the Bluff City. This is the home of the Blues! As Charlie Musselwhite said the other night (he's a fellow Memphian), 'The blues just comes up out of the ground in Memphis, and you can't help but get it'!

My First Custom Blues Harp Mic

Sorry for the non-mandolin content, but it is blues! Reality is that I've been playing blues harmonica since I was a kid. Learned from an old blues player in Arkansas how to bend notes and it was all downhill from there. Truth be told, I'm not great, but I enjoy it, and that is what really matters.

After listening recently to Blind Mississippi Morris down at BB's on Beale Street a number of weeks ago, I decided I was going to buy a good blues harp mic, so I could play amplified. I got lucky and found an old JT30 that someone had already done some customizing to. He had added an Amphenol connector and a volume knob. Unfortunately, he did both jobs wrong....

So, I got it home, and played on it, and it sounded/sounds awesome! As mentioned above however, when I opened the mic, I found a wiring mess.... I decided to clean up all the wiring and fix the Amphenol connector which he had simply drilled through and essentially eliminated the need for..

After figuring out the correct wiring for the connector and fixing that, I went after the volume pot wiring and the grounds. Finally, all of that was correct, and I could spend some time on paint!

I sanded the whole mic down to bare metal, and then primed it. A light sanding later, and I was able to airbrush on several nice coats of House Of Kolor Pavo Purple. Some good metalflake in it, so it really looks cool!

 

When the color was laid, I was able to go in with several light coats of clear, followed by one nice wet coat of clear. After all that was done, I buffed the whole thing out and waxed it. I'm really proud of the result as it turned out quite nicely.

 

I also ordered a new knob for the volume control, and put a new 'silk' in behind the grill. I cut that from an old cycling jersey which no longer fit me.

 

Most importantly, the thing sounds great, and I can make some pretty good sounding music on it.

 

 

I'm currently playing the mic through either my Vox DA5 or my Stella Cigar Box amp. Both actually sound pretty cool. The Stella setup is crunchier, but simpler, and the Vox has reverb and delay which sound good while playing blues harp.

 

Lots of fun! 

 

 



 

Cigar Box Mandos

I've been collecting a few things to build myself some Cigar Box mandolins. I have some neck blanks and some boxes.

While searching the web for more info about building one, I came across this website and this vid.... Pretty fun stuff.

Saturday Mornin Blues

This morning, I was getting things ready to do a recording of my wife an her sister. To check out the software and mics, I knocked this short little song out. I guess I oughtta make it a full song instead of a couple verses.

I guess its been too long for this blog to be up without putting up some actual acoustic blues.

Without further adieu......

This is based on the Gerry Hundt vids I linked to in my previous post.

Chicago Blues Mandolin

Found some great stuff in Youtube by Gerry Hundt. Good stuff. Give it a try, you'll enjoy it.

 

Ipad Blues Mandolin Jamming!

This Christmas, the wife and I bought ourselves an Ipad. Its our first, so there has been a learning curve with it. Those who have one and moved from a PC to the Apple product understand what I mean!

When I bought the Ipad, I decided to buy a few Ipad/Iphone magazines and see what I could learn. One particular publication had a short 1 page article on guitar apps and accessories for the guitarist. I quickly grabbed that one and read the article through and it tipped me to the idea of using my Ipad to expand the possibilities with my emando. The app

If you plan to do the same, the first thing you have to get is an Ipad/Iphone guitar/emando plug interface. There are a bunch on the market and all seem to get good and bad reviews. None seem to be terrible though. All appear to come with their own App to interface with, but all seem to also interface with GarageBand, the Ipad/Iphone app included with your Ipad when you buy it.

For my guitar plug interface, I went with the 'Jam Up' plug from Positive Grid. This unit is simple and inexpensive but seems to work well. I do wish that the unit was a little more sturdy as the molded plastic case is not the strongest item I've ever attached a guitar/emando cord to.

Plugging up the Jam Up Plug was easy, as it fits into the headphone port in the Ipad. From there, you simply plug in your guitar/emando cord and your headphones.

When I first hooked up everything, I went to GarageBand. I selected one of the amps and began playing. It really was a lot of fun. The variety of digitally mimic'ed amplifiers is pretty impressive, and while I'm not by any means an amp expert, the 'copies' seem right on. GarageBand also comes with an impressive array of effects pedals to play with. To add one, you simply click on the empty spot in the pedal board and the available pedals appear. Click on one and your ready. For the bluesy rock type stuff I play on my emando, I used the 'blues crunch' amp with a delay pedal and a vintage crunch pedal. It had great sound and fit well with my playing.

GarageBand is also capable of creating percussion, bass and other portions of music as tracks and looping them. It can also record your playing. Needless to say, it has a lot more capabilities than I'll figure out, or could write up here.

After playing with GarageBand, I added the 'Jam Up' app to my Ipad. Installation was quick and it is free (there is a pay version). This app is much like GarageBand, but decidedly guitar oriented, and much more limited in its selection of amps and effects.

However, what 'Jam Up' seems to do well that I could not get GarageBand to do well is pull in any MP3 track and allow you to Jam over the top of that music. I play over 'backing tracks' all the time with Youtube playing over my computer speakers in my music/computer room, but that does not remotely compare to the sound you can create by setting the Jam Up app correctly. Getting the balance correct is quick and easy, and allows the electric mandolin to come through easily and seamlessly on the track. It sounds good!

Hopefully, over the winter, I'll learn a lot more about using both apps in my Ipad, and maybe even record some music with both. I'll post it here if I'm daring enough....

If you've thought about trying this, I highly suggest it. Jamming with your Ipad gives you an opportunity to play without disturbing your family or housemates. It gives you the opportunity to have a better 'backing track' experience. I think it also allows you to test drive amps you've never played before to see what you like and don't like.