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Country Blues => Saturday Night Fish Fry => Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop => Topic started by: lindy on February 16, 2012, 11:37:42 AM

Title: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: lindy on February 16, 2012, 11:37:42 AM
2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival

If you look at the right side of the Weenie home page, you?ll see a box showing how many days are left until the next Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Workshop and Festival, taking place this year from July 29 to August 5.
 
And if you click on the ?About Weenie? link on the left side of this page, you?ll find out that Weenie Campbell was born?fully formed and already in a late stage of life?to a group of midwives attending the 1997 workshop.

The core Weenies who created this wonderful forum spend a lot of time thinking and talking about PTABW, and in our rarely humble opinions, we think that the 2012 faculty lineup is one of the best ever.

Click here and see why (http://www.centrum.org/blues/2012-blues-faculty-artists.html). The list includes Robert Belfour and his fellow Mississippian Terry Bean, teaching Hill Country and Delta styles. And Ari Eisinger?the man for learning the music of the "four Blinds": Blake, Davis, Fuller, and Lemon Jefferson. Three great slide teachers: Steve James, Orville Johnson, and Rev. Robert Jones. Reverend Jones has a way of channeling the musicians whose songs he teaches?wait ?til you hear him sing like Son House. Then there?s our own John Miller, in demand as a teacher on two continents. Every summer he pulls a country blues obscurity or two out of his bag of tricks, which opens the door to making further discoveries on my own.

I?m completely hooked on the PTABW experience?I?ve only missed one in seventeen years. In May of 1996 I got the radical idea that I didn?t have to listen to other people make music, I could do it myself. I bought a Takamine dreadnaught, and six weeks later, armed with only three chords (but three really good ones) I asked a fellow named John Jackson, ?John, you got a minute to show me how to play ?Boat?s Up the River???

John taught me the way he knew how: play a phrase over and over and over until I got it. We spent a half-hour together, and I was sweatin? beads, thinking that this great musician must be getting tired of showing a rank newbie how to move around the fretboard. But the bigger part of the lesson was this: John never gave the impression that he was anything less but perfectly happy to be right where he was. Later that same week I heard another workshop student ask him, ?Hey John, you got a minute to show me how to play ?Boat?s Up the River??? And in that Rapahannock accent that could stretch out the word ?sure? into three syllables, he said, ?Why sure, I?d be happy to,? and he meant it.

That?s the kind of story you can tell your friends back home if you attend PTABW. Sure, you pick up a few songs, learn a new chord or two, maybe work on a second instrument. But you also get to share a bench with John Dee Holeman. You get to listen to stories about North Mississippi from Robert Belfour, or jam with Robert Lowery. You get to meet Rev. John Wilkins, the son of Robert Wilkins, or hear Erwin Helfer talk about tracking down forgotten pianists in St. Louis and New Orleans back when there were still a lot of forgotten blues musicians around to be rediscovered.

Those are examples of recent experiences I?ve had at Port Townsend. But the stories I really treasure are those I?ve collected over the years from teachers who are no longer with us. Like the time Honeyboy Edwards showed me how to shave a pair of dice, and how to cause a distraction in order to switch the loaded dice for the regular. You never know when a skill like that might come in handy.

Or the time Howard Armstrong held court in the old cafeteria, telling the story about how he charmed his way out of what could have been a bad situation for a black string band in an Italian neighborhood in Detroit in the 1930s by playing his mandolin and speaking what was good enough to pass for Italian under the circumstances.

Or the year that Othar Turner and his family performed on the big stage at McCurdy Pavilion. A lifelong farmer, he had the biggest, strongest hands I?ve ever seen. I got to chat with him for a while that Saturday morning while he stood in a parking lot in his coveralls, one hand in his pocket, the other rubbing his chin in wonder while watching someone use a piece of technology he?d never seen in his 92 years: an espresso machine.

Then there was the time Grant Dermody, Robert Lowery, and the one-armed harmonica player Neal Pattman started jamming on the porch of The Schoolhouse. They played a simple little call-and-response riff, with Neal singing couplets like ?Georgia water taste like cherry wine/Make you higher than a Georgia pine.? Ten minutes went by, Grant had to teach a class, so he hopped over the railing and made his escape. Another five minutes passed, then Robert Lowery stood, threw down his hand as if to say ?I give up,? and he left. Neal just kept playing, head tilted back, big grin on his face, blowin? and singing and blowin? with a half-dozen of us watching. Never have I seen someone as happy as Neal Pattman that day, just playing his blues in the sun, really for no one in particular but himself.

So many good memories: Precious Bryant singing ?If You Don?t Love Me, Can You Fool Me Real Good?? Larry Johnson telling the teenaged David Jacobs-Strain, ?I?m a leftover from the 60s, just like someday you?ll be a leftover from the 90s? (you may have seen that on the Weenie quote generator). Drink Small talking about his Ph.D. in Womanology. Jerry Ricks talking about all of the country blues giants he met while doing the booking for a Philadelphia coffee house in the 1960s. Alvin Youngblood Hart describing his right-hand technique in highly technical terms: ?Then you just kinda flop your hand around.?

In other words, the music is just one part of the Port Townsend experience, making friends and being part of an ongoing community is another. As this year?s lineup attests, there are many generous people and talented musicians interested in keeping this community strong.

So come to the party, y?all! Go offline for a week while you make music and new blues buddies. Spend some time jamming at Weenie Central. Eat and learn and play and dance and stay up way later than you?re used to. Then get up the next morning and do it all over again, for a full week. And when you get home, start making plans for PTABW 2013.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Bill Roggensack on February 27, 2012, 04:22:03 PM
Well said Lindy! Have you ever considered a career in advertising? You make this event sound rather compelling.
The 2012 workshop will make it eighteen consecutive years for me. I might have considered taking a year off, but have never had a good enough excuse! And if I ever did take a year off, I would lose out on the possibility of being granted free lifetime (what's left of it)  attendance when I hit the twenty year mark. Remind me to check in with Mary to see whether Centrum's Blues Loyalty Program is still in existence (or if it ever was!).
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Gumbo on February 27, 2012, 05:29:55 PM
Great write up! Makes me happy just knowing it's out there. Even if it's an ocean away ...
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on February 29, 2012, 08:52:55 PM
The first time I traversed the Pacific to get there was on faith after receiving a "good talking to" from my good friend Mick Knight. Thanks Mick!

I did it again the following year, and then ran out of discretionary spending dough for a while. I'm fortunate to be living a lot closer to the workshop site these days, or at least on the same continent. PT is really special in undefinable ways and well worth the effort.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on May 02, 2012, 05:39:22 PM
Jerron Paxton gives a stream of consciousness impression of the PT experience, Ghostrider gets a name-check at 3:00

http://youtu.be/h7g5PB7PJfE (http://youtu.be/h7g5PB7PJfE)
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Cleoma on May 02, 2012, 05:47:32 PM
Jerron will be with us at Fiddle Tunes this year -- I miss Blues Week so much but it seems that I can't bat for both teams, so I highjacked Jerron!!!  just kidding...
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Slack on May 02, 2012, 06:22:00 PM
Still cannot wrap my head around Jerron - this is 2008, he's 19!  And a musical sponge, last year he was channeling Jelly Roll Morton.... just fabulous and fun stuff.  Not to mention is guitar and banjo and fiddle playing.

Alex, I assume you ended up giving him that guitar?  You only have about 40 old guitars.

50 degree summer days is one of the main attractions for me, love it!   :P
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on July 04, 2012, 06:21:27 AM
I added this little event to the calendar, strange it wasn't on there.
25 days to go until the Sunday kickoff, 22 for the advance guard.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on August 05, 2012, 08:01:03 PM
Back home in Austin after another incredible PT week. There were too many highlights for me to list at this early stage. I worked my butt off on guitar and mando, 50-50

I started a photo gallery category and uploaded an Ari shot so we can start uploading pics. http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=gallery;cat=43 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=gallery;cat=43)
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: uncle bud on August 08, 2012, 09:06:00 AM
And a good time was had by all. Lots of fun this year, not unexpectedly. Great to see everyone, hadn't seen Ari in ages, he ain't slowed down yet. Glad to see Rivers back as well. There were something like 16 guitar teachers - not bad. I felt for the pianists and harp players.  :P As always, extra thanks due to excellent travel friends Mr. Page and Mr. Sudsbury and key master Jed. Alex, I have a case for that guitar, just send it to me and it will be well-protected.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: NotRevGDavis on August 08, 2012, 10:18:33 AM
Wow what a week. It was nice to finally make it back. I didn't get to make it to the Weenie houses much but got to spend some time with almost everyone somewhere during the week. The dorms were fun- lots of old and new friends.

Darryl and Mary did a great job this year everything went very smooth.
I was lucky enough to run in to Peter in the Centrum parking lot, congratulations on your new future man.

And I would like to mention where would Blues Week be without Farron she's the best!
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on August 08, 2012, 08:46:42 PM
Amen to the above. The schedule was more intensive this year with 4 workshops per day but somehow we managed to pack-in some great jams and general partying in #15. Jamming standouts were with Alex all day Friday pre-soak when we must have played both our entire repertoires' at least once, and the big jam with Lauren and Eleanor (I think it was Friday). Lightnin' was his usual brilliant mercurial self on several occasions.

Personally I came away with a lot of benefits, specifically from the guitar workshops with Johnm and Ari and mando workshops with Steve James and Rich Delgrosso. Fabulous, just what I needed. I even made it to the clubs this year.

It was magic to see everyone again, long live the PT workshop week. I wanna move up there. Special thanks to Alex for bringing pretty much his entire parlour guitar collection and other rarities, each one I picked up seemed better than the last. Also to Jed, what a dude, Shelley, what a gal, and everyone else who made it happen.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: NotRevGDavis on August 08, 2012, 09:55:55 PM
I forgot one very important person- John Miller. His teaching style helps me absorb more in a short amount of time than anyone else, his choices of songs are always unique and interesting. His Monday class gave me the confidence to start the week after quite a long break in playing guitar.
I'm sure I'll have more to add after it all soaks in and I'm already looking forward to next year.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: islandgal on August 10, 2012, 07:14:31 PM
Hey not Rev,

Thanks for the strings! It was great having you as a neighbour. Roll on next year!
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Slack on August 11, 2012, 07:00:19 AM
We're soon going to have to give NotRev the Humanitarian Weenie award - which will most likely be a first and last.   ;D
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Johnm on August 15, 2012, 05:37:40 PM
Hi all,
I'm kind of late to the de-briefing, but I just wanted to say what a treat it was to see and hear and visit with all of you who were in attendance at Port Townsend this year. Classes were really fun for me.  It's a tribute to the work that people have done over the years that it ends up being possible to teach some pretty dense songs in the course of one class period and having people playing all the way through them by the end of the period.  It was exciting for me to see the enthusiasm for the Post-War Jesse Thomas tunes, Hayes McMullan, Blind Willie Johnson's non-slide material and other topics, including the music of Robert Pete Williams and Cecil Barfield.  It's great when people are willing and able to reject a "one size fits all" approach to playing music, and are open to trying all kinds of different approaches.  Of course, they won't all resonate equally well or feel natural in every instance, but when you hit upon one that really connects, man, it is exciting.
Apart from the teaching/learning aspect of the event, it is just so good to see friends that I otherwise see way too infrequently to suit me.  It is truthfully the most important part of the event for me, and really sticks to my ribs.  Taken in combination with the music, it's pretty hard to beat.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on August 15, 2012, 06:38:55 PM
Amen brother! And thanks for the Jesse Thomas reminder, I need his complete recorded works, not just for learning some very cool guitar playing, I look forward to having him playing while I'm doing other things around the house.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Bunker Hill on August 16, 2012, 01:32:29 AM
Amen brother! And thanks for the Jesse Thomas reminder, I need his complete recorded works, not just for learning some very cool guitar playing, I look forward to having him playing while I'm doing other things around the house.
Check out the JT tags for previous informative discussions.

Also http://www.wirz.de/music/thojefrm.htm (http://www.wirz.de/music/thojefrm.htm)
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: NotRevGDavis on August 17, 2012, 02:43:45 PM
We're soon going to have to give NotRev the Humanitarian Weenie award - which will most likely be a first and last.   ;D

The "Humanitarian Weenie" hmmmmmmmmm...



Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: jed on August 18, 2012, 09:38:16 PM
Hoo boy, yes, what a fine time!  Went to more classes this year than almost the last two years combined. 

I greatly enjoyed seeing everyone - scheming to put Rivers' employer on hiatus during camp next year.  Alex inexplicably slipped away with my guitar; if he wants a room next time...

May have mentioned running into Mary Flower on the way out - she said it well:  "I don't know it could have been any better."

Me neither.  Only 49 weeks to go!
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on August 18, 2012, 10:13:50 PM
We'll see how it goes Jed, project schedule has me over committed that time next year. A lot can change in a year though...  ;)
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Rivers on August 21, 2012, 07:17:45 PM
I put up a couple more pics, http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=gallery;cat=43 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=gallery;cat=43)

Should have taken more. I say that every year.
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: Slack on September 03, 2012, 07:51:05 PM
Hey kids, one more reminder to get your PT evaluations in.  The grapevine says that Daryl is already starting to pick 2013 faculty!
Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: lindy on September 04, 2012, 07:25:39 AM

I've already suggested the return of country blues pickers like Roy Book Binder, Paul Geremia, and Paul Rushell/Annie Raines.

But I'd like to encourage those who haven't submitted their wish lists yet to add Gayle Dean Wardlow to them. According to his book and his contributions to this forum, he'd be a perfect fit giving lectures on blues collecting and history, similar to what Elijah did this year. I don't think he could possibly run out of stories in only a week's time.

Whoever's on your list, please give them to Daryl, I'm sure he'd appreciate the feedback.

L

Title: Re: 2012 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Post by: GhostRider on September 04, 2012, 09:55:47 AM
Just reintroduced my request for Tim Williams.

Alex
Title: The old days
Post by: dennis on May 08, 2020, 06:04:47 PM
I am sitting here with my WeenieCampbell.com super electrical fly swatter that Bob West gave me at the ready.  A big fly wandered by a while back and I am prepared.  It made me think about what a luxury it was to listen any time to greatest music ever recorded.  I am hoping it will again appear.  I know, I could pull out an LP and drop the needle.  It just aint the same.  I created a Wikipedia page for Bob West.  You need to add "radio" in the search to get him. I miss him.  I miss weeniecample to tune in on.  Thanks  Dennis
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