WeenieCampbell.com
Country Blues => Weenie Campbell Main Forum => Topic started by: jprole on August 05, 2004, 05:20:49 PM
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Hello all.
New guy on the boards here.. longtime associate of poney_boy in the confines of the "real world."
Aside from that, a big fan of the pre-war blues. I posted a link here in my livejournal and quite a few people thanked me for the link.. so if not a few more posters, i'm sure a few more listeners!
Anyway, just thought i'd say hello.
- Cam
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Hi Cam, welcome to the forum!
Many of us are returning from a week at the Centrum workshop (which folks will be posting about in the coming week), so excuse the belated welcome.
cheers,
slack
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the weenie roll, that is.
It seems like we've had something of a population explosion here in the last couple of weeks, so I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread for members new and old to introduce themselves.? That being said...
I'm frankie - been playing guitar for 20 years and listening to country blues from the beginning, although I didn't try to play it myself until I'd been playing for about 10 years.? I never thought I could do it!? heh - still can't really do it, but I'm less worried about sucking these days.? The thing that turned the screw for me was hearing Carl Martin's recording of Crow Jane Blues.? Up until then, I had been fascinated with Robert Johnson and early Muddy Waters and hadn't ventured much beyond that.? Shortly thereafter, I had the good fortune to meet Ari Eisinger, who really opened up my ears to what was out there.
I was introduced to weeniedom about five or six years ago by Slack, who sent me an invitation to a mailing list that he ran with a bunch of other CB nuts - all Port Townsend alumni.? At the time, I was a regular contributor to rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic - a veritable desert as far as CB is concerned - and had taken to posting long and pedantic messages that only the seven or eight other CB nuts would read, much less respond to...
My first time at Port Townsend was in 2001 - I had a great time.? Beyond great - so many amazing players.? I'm going back one of these years, once I can work out how best to get my whole family out there...
So - pleased to meet you all!
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I'm Aaron, 27 yrs, been into prewar music for about 10 yrs after hearing Last Kind Word in Crumb. First, I only had some Robert Johnson and it took me a while to find out much more than that. I bought a few Columbia releases (most of them terribly remastered, I later realized), and when I discovered Yazoo, that opened up a new world for me. I later got into string band and some jazz stuff. I've been playing guitar for about 13 years, but am still an amateur. I still have no idea what or who weenie campbell is.
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At the risk of telling you more than you want to know... :)
Aaron, Weenie Campbell comes from the 1997 Port Townsend Workshop. A couple mischievous faculty members noticed that no one was signing up for the particpants concert. To 'break the ice' they worte in "Blind Weenie Campbell" in the #1 spot. He didn't show up of course and so he has come to represent a mystery no-show, a reluctant performer and a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously (which is indeed tough to do when you call yourself a 'Weenie'). There is more to it than that, but you'll have to come to Port Townsend.
In any case I'm Slack (aka JohnD), 52. I put my guitar away for about 20 years until my oldest son (then 12) said he wanted to learn to play. I pulled my old Gibson J30 out of the closet (which I had bought in High School) and brushed up in order to teach him the basics. I enjoyed relearning to play, but had mostly been a strummer and a pattern picker and decided what I _really_ wanted to play was Country blues. I had listened to John Hurt in the 60's, which I attempted to play, but gave up, thinking it was impossible. So I started buying CD's and instructional material from Homespun... and began the slow process of making my fingers do what they did not want to do. Someone listed a faculty line up for Port Townsend on the RMMGA newsgroup and I sent off for the brochure, telling my spouse when it arrived - that THAT was my idea of a vacation. Bless her heart, she kept reminding me about the brochure and encouraging me until I signed up. Port Townsend was the eye opener for me (I had never heard of Bo Carter for example).
I've been interested in computers for over 20 years, for enjoyment and as a means of making a better living (I have computer related duties at work and do some computer consulting on the side). I became interested in building virtual communities as a means of learning computer communications and ran a pre-internet, landline Bulletin Board System called "La Cantina BBS" (sort of a Margaritaville theme) in the mid 80's - which the internet mercifully killed. I also started building guitars, mandolins and ukuleles about 5 years ago. So I've got a good mix of time consuming interests and when I fail at one, I can then blame it on the others. ;)
Step on up folks!
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In any case I'm Slack (aka JohnD).
He looks exactly as pictured, too...
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In any case I'm Slack (aka JohnD).
He looks exactly as pictured, too...
But only when he's percolating.
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While I've owned a guitar since I was a teenager - not quite as long ago as some of the folks here :) - I didn't start playing seriously until about 8-10 years ago, and have been playing country blues for about seven or so, I think. I got into through wondering who those Mississippi Sheiks were that Bob Dylan was covering on a couple records from the 90s. I already owned the Robert Johnson set and listened to that seriously for the first time, then started on a slippery slope of CDs purchases - first Charlie Patton and the Master of Delta Blues records on Yazoo which was the beginning of the end. A now-much-missed acoustic blues series at the Montreal Jazz Festival where I saw Paul Geremia, Steve James, Rory Block, Honeyboy Edwards, Alvin Youngblood Hart and many others cemented the obsession.
I'm actually a reformed drummer who played in rock bands, studied music for a couple years playing percussion and some jazz. All in the past now (and most of it forgotten) and I'm devoted to CB, guitar, learning mandolin, and hopefully one day some banjo and fiddle.
I was one of those 7 or 8 readers of frankie's much needed pedantic rants on rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, we started emailing, and he put me in touch with Slack and the original Weenie listserv. All of a sudden I found myself on the other side of the continent at Port Townsend, meeting people I'd only known electronically for a year, much to the spouse's great terror (she's all for it now).
Let us know how you heard of WeenieCampbell.com if you feel like it. It helps us figure out what we're doing right...
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Hi:
Name's Alex Knox. I learned to play guitar in the early 1970's (old Harmony semi-acoustic) and was just a strummer until I heard a guy in a bush camp finger picking folks tunes (kumbya-style) in 1982. I thought it sounded good, and I decided to try to combine fingerpicking with blues (I had never heard of Country Blues). My introduction was to Gary Davis (instructional book), but then I discovered Blind Blake and I was hooked.
In the space of a couple of years I had bought about 60 re-release vinyl albums of CB, from Yazoo, O. Jazz Library, etc. all by mail order. Bought all the TAB I could find and sat down to learning. Took a while...
I have only be transcribing tunes myself for 7-8 years. Long and slow at the beginning
In real life I'm a mineral exploration geologist living in Calgary, Canada. I'm away from home for long periods working, so I get lots of time to play. Doesn't help with the romance side though.
6'2", 56 years (2009), single. Like whiskey, bridge and the blues! Tolerent of pinko Quebecers
Why GhostRider? Don't ask!
I came across Weeniecampbell as a link on another blues website (which escapes me at the present). joined in January 2004 and waded right in. I remember Slack thinking my first post was out-to-lunch (but said in a very nice way) (in the Little Hat Jones lyric thread).
Tall, dark and 2 out of 3 ain't bad,
Alex
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Tolerent of pinko Quebecers
Ah, there's nothing like a little Port Townsend bonding. :P
I came across Weeniecampbell as a link on another blues website (which escapes me at the present). joined this January and waded right in. I remember Slack thinking my first post was out-to-lunch (but said in a very nice way) .
Ha! I vaguely remember this - I wonder if it is still on the forum. BTW, I may be sending you a NY Times article - in my never ending and difficult task of straightening you out. ;)
Cheers,
Slack
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My name is Todd. I'm a Country Blues addict.
I was born with a harmonica in my mouth, got hooked on Muddy Waters as a kid. Got the chance to play with a lot of cool old timers in Chicago through the awkward junior high and high school years, moved to Madison, Wisconsin at the age of 18 and met Catfish Stephenson who was a local street musician and played tons of great old material. I was bound and determined to start playing with him and learn country blues harp while he was bound and determined to get rid of me. The first tune that he played when I tried to sit in with him was Terraplane Blues. The second was Georgia Rag. I sounded like hell but didn't give up. He figured I had staying power so he took me under his wing, told me all the right stuff to listen to and what to play as well as what not to play. I played harp with him for four years, then switched to upright bass. Did that for a while, he left town and I served as sideman for some other guitar players. I always had a steady job in construction, some money in my pocket and took to buying guitars from different partners when they were broke and needed money. I also picked up little bits of guitar from each of them. Having amassed a pretty good collection and realizing they were all arrogant and crazy, I stopped being a sideman and figured that I should just back myself.
I lived in San Francisco for a while, befriended Alvin Youngblood Hart , was housemates with guitar great Craig Ventresco and started to really get into guitars from the teens and twenties. I moved back to Wisconsin, started finding old guitars and fixing them. I started building guitars about four years ago and have now quit my day job to dedicate all of my time to building and playing. Sometimes I wonder, "what the hell was I thinking?" but the worries are becoming less frequent. In truth, I couldn't be happier.
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Greetings -
I'm Mark, age 44, living in Victoria, British Columbia.? I learned to play piano accordian as a kid, but gave it up in my teens.? I took up guitar at age 27 or so, teaching myself to fingerpick by learning tunes by John Hurt, Bruce Cockburn, Leo Kottke etc.? John Hurt was pretty much the extent of my exposure to country blues until about 5 years ago when I started attending workshops with the likes of Tim Williams, Michael Jerome Browne, and Rick Fines (all frequent faculty at the Hornby Island Blues Workshop:? http://www.hornby-blues.bc.ca/).?
Since then I've been delving deeper and deeper into this great music: now I have an large (and growing) collection of prewar blues on CD and the majority of my guitar reperetoire is country blues tunes.? I'm currently playing tunes by Blind Blake, Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, John Hurt, Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, William Brown, William Moore and others, with sooo many more on my list of songs to learn (Bo Carter is next up).? Over the last 5 years I've also been playing mandolin (both blues and some fiddle tunes), and have taken up accordion again.
I've been down to the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop for the last two years in a row (thanks to the prodding of Shelley 'Desperate' Stevens, an alumnus of both PTCBW and Hornby Island Blues), and plan to keep on coming as long as they keep letting me across the border.?
I learned about Weenie Campbell (the myth AND the website) during my first trip to PTCBW.? Great work guys, just keep doing what you're doing.
Pleasure to meet y'all? ?;)
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Nice meeting you too Mark! - and glad you've finally made some posts! ;)
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I'm 53, grew up mostly in South Jersey, near Philly, listening to lots of soul and doo wop in addition to the British invasion and the psychedelic sound. I also got into a lot of Folk in the early '60s so when I told my folks I didn't want to waste any more money on piano lessons and they asked me what instrument I wanted to play (good answer), I told them folk guitar and we went and got a dime store Stella. Thanks to a very cool book by Alan Lomax (which I just found in the piano stool on a recent visit) I learned a bunch of chords and a bunch of folk songs. And then, by some twist of fate, I met a woman (well, she was a senior in college and kinda like Mama Cass) who taught me to fingerpick, alternating bass and all. I spent every day at her house all summer long. We played all kinds of stuff like PP&M and Donovan and even Come Back Baby by DVR. My folks were so impressed that they gave me a Martin D-18S as a graduation present. I went off to college (in Ithaca, NY) and played a lot of open mics and such. Even had a brief but cool band with a couple guys who were graduating a month later. Me on guitar and harp, Corey on washtub bass (with a hockey stick, of course) and Dave on soprano sax. My heart was broken when they took off. I also started getting more into theatre, and that finally took so much of my creative juices that I let the guitar slide to the point where I only played it once a year, at Christmas, for my family. Spent the rest of the '70s in and around the theatre department at Cornell and then after a year at the Boarshead Theatre in Michigan I spent the '80s becoming totally disillusioned in NYC. By a twist of fate (too long to tell here) I ended up in SF in time for the big Quake in '89. That kinda made me see things a little differently. I did have quite a reawakening of my acting career, but soon my awareness of the lack of boundary issues many bring to what is inherently a difficult collaborative process caused me to pursue fewer opportunities. After a while I started to realize I still needed to express myself and decided to get out the old Martin. Well, by then it needed a neck reset, but it was worth it. I got it back a little over three years ago and haven't stopped playing since. Come Back Baby led me to the prewar blues and pretty quickly I found Stefan's Guitar Workshop. I've also gotten into playing some of the old guitars and have developed a nice little collection of Oscar Schmidts (thanks to Neil), a couple Nationals and a few others to compliment the D-18S. I stick to the old arrangements pretty much, and am developing the ability to transcribe from the recordings, thanks to the encouragement of JohnM and Frank and others. But I do still play some of Dave van Ronk's arrangements. In fact, I had a great conversation with Lightnin' Wells who was also first turned on to country blues by DVR. We were listing off all the songs on "Sings the Blues" from about '64 and I mentioned the Morton song "Sweet Substitute" as one of my favs so Lightnin' tells me it's on his latest CD and I later got him to play it at the Public House. (Also spent a few more scheckles at Quimper) Anyway, can't remember how I found out about PT but the first guy I met was Doug from Sitka and those lads took me in and really drew me out, night after night. Lee and Gary have really become regular phone bill items and the whole bunch really exemplifies what PT is all about as much as the Weenies now do for me. Last year I was posting about my second PT on the IGS Forum and Frank emailed me about WeenieCampbell.com. I been here ever since.
All for now.
Barbecue John C.
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Michael, 40
Born in New York City, lived most of my life in New Jersey
"Outfidel" is the opposite of "Infidel"
Guitar history:
-- Learned a few chords in my teens
-- Picked up guitar in my mid-20s to learn a few T-Bone Walker riffs
-- Picked it up again in my mid-30s to learn to fingerpick like Mississippi John Hurt...and have not put it down since then
Main guitar is a Martin 00-18CTN Elizabeth Cotten model
Favorites: MJH, Libba Cotten, Doc Watson, Mance Lipscomb, Sam McGee, Rev Gary Davis, Merle Travis, Blind Blake and Etta Baker
Other heroes: Harry Smith & Joe Bussard
Also learning clawhammer banjo, albeit very[/i] slowly
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Tom here, a few months shy of 47. (motmot's an old injoke by highschool would-be wits).
Found guitar in high school (after less enjoyable musical flings with instruments ranging from uke to clarinet to Sousaphone to piano), and've been hooked ever since.? Found my way into country blues fairly early: John Fahey to John Hurt, and then "second generation" types like Hot Tuna and Ry Cooder and David Bromberg led me to originals such as Gary Davis and Jos. Spence and Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake, etc etc. John Estes/Yank Rachell records prompted me at one point to get a mandolin.
Tried to balance music with the procession of college, jobs, marriage, then law school and law practice, children, house projects, family hound dog, etc, and the music usually suffered.? I mostly played in the kitchen for the dog late at night.
In '95 my father gave me a fiddle he'd recently inherited, and I started sawing away on it. In a few years, I'd seen Bruce Molsky, and heard eclectic group called Cordelia's Dad play the oldtime tune "Abe's Retreat," and their liner notes led me to Dwight Diller, which inspired me to get an open-backed banjo to try and figure out "Abe's Retreat" for myself.? And I found a regular old-time jam session.? Played out a few times, and started, for the first time since high school choir, trying to sing again.
Just when I thought I'd moved from away from the blues, I stumbled onto a wierd, old, cheap resonator thing that let my slide playing sound somewhat acceptable.? Muddy Waters and Willie Johnson licks started working and making sense.? Then I picked up the trusty 00-18 and the old Stefan Grossman books (25 yrs old, some of them), and Blind Blake and Blind Lemon, etc seemed a bit more within reach, too.? Not that I've reached 'em yet ... but the blues had been reawakened.
I was never quite as satisfied with the oldtime session after that. Especially when I started accumulating CDs from Old Hat and those Yazoo series: Before the Blues, Hard Times, Ruckus Juice, etc.
I August 2003 I changed jobs and moved my family and the hound dog a couple hundred miles, and thus lost the regular session mates.? Not sure how, but I found this website in the winter of '03-'04 and lurked for a couple of months before hopping on the soapbox and holding forth.
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Never miss a chance to talk about myself! :)
My name is Malcolm Vidrine, 32 years old, raised in Louisiana but now residing in semi-rural Georgia. I’m a reformed Noise/Math Rock bass player who now plays clawhammer banjo and bandoneon. Been trying to learn the fiddle, but I can’t get over the hump. As soon as I start improving, I end up putting it down just long enough to forget everything I learned. It is easier learning it the second & third times, but at this rate I should be an intermediate player in 10 more years? I have my wife to thank for my love of Country Blues. When we met, I had the Old-Time Stringband bug, but hadn’t really listened to much CB. Well, during our courtship she let me borrow this live CD of Mississippi Fred McDowell while simultaneously making me read the Lomax book – The Land Where Blues Began. That’s all it took!!
About the same time we got married, I opened up an internet shop called Venerable Music – specializing in music of the 78rpm era. There is a local record shop that is known for its blues selection. I remember walking in the first time & seeing their selection of about 100 or so Document titles. I literally felt my heart skip a beat as I tried to figure which 2 I wanted to spend my money on. Anyway, my goal since then has been to open a specialty shop that gives me that same feeling every time I walk in!! I still get giddy when UPS shows up with a new shipment! If all goes well, I’ll have a storefront up in Athens GA in the next 5-6 years or so? Depends on how the business grows between now and then. Any of you with business degrees want to give a little advice on growing a retail shop or computer guys on increasing my google ranking – I’m listening!
In my spare time (I’m also a stay at home dad with 2 little uns), I play in a band called Brodie Stove. It’s a rock band, with odd instrumentation – namely banjo, bandoneon, sax, therimen, guitar, upright bass & drums. It’s tough to explain the style – other than lots of 6/8 and minor keys. The best description I’ve heard is something you’d expect as a David Lynch soundtrack. We just finished our first record (mastering this weekend) & I am very excited with how it turned out! I even impressed myself with some slide banjola – I didn’t think I was that good, must have faked myself out.
I have totally enjoyed this topic so far & I already feel like I know you better! I would love to attend this so-called Port Townsend Workshop one day – you guys let banjo pickers in? :D
Malcolm
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Gary (Davis, yeah I know, you should have seen the reactions at PT).
46 in a couple of weeks, I joined the WC in April when someone from the AG Forum directed me here when I had questions about Centrum/PT. I work as a Journeyman/Trades for school district in Northern California and have been a Carpenter since 1976. Before I picked up music this time I did some IT, system building, html/xhtml hand coding and debugging as a side job.
I don't have a long history of blues- I'm a former punk, with some interesting blues experience. I played cello when I was in elementary/jr high. I was given a guitar when I was twelve and played it the best I could (I now realize it had a badly tweaked neck). In junior high school I started to suffer from containment syndrome, (I didn't like being contained inside sort of like cabin fever) and started participating in extreme sports which slowed my musical pursuits.
In the late seventies The Clash, Sex Pistols and Husker Du changed the way I listened to and played music, I played bass in some garage punk bands, and, did a gig for a friend as his substitute bass player in a blues band. Played a weekend at a bar in the Mission in San Francisco and had a great time (great end to the story too, the lead singer split?and bought drugs with our pay). Stopped playing again when I started racing bicycles full time.
In the summer of 2001 I had a serious ankle injury while skateboarding and after experiencing some extreme cabin fever decided to pull out my Fender Jazz Bass in the spring of 2002, after noodling for awhile I decided that I was going to learn acoustic guitar since I had a Yamaha FG that someone had given me. My wife likes the music hobby much better, she's the one that sent me to PT.
My interest in Country Blues came about in a roundabout way. After realizing that alternative music was actually mainstream pop (and the fact that it was all boring) I started listening to some of my favorite bands from the mid-seventies which included alot of Neil Young. While reading about some of his early influences I decided to try some Country Blues. The first thing I bought was a Son House CD that lead off with "Death Letter Blues", that one song was all it took. This music had darkness that made punk sound happy.
Now here I am, going to PT, trying to get that blues feel in my playing, listening to artists I never heard of six months ago and trying to live up to my given name. 8)
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I have totally enjoyed this topic so far & I already feel like I know you better! I would love to attend this so-called Port Townsend Workshop one day – you guys let banjo pickers in? :D
Malcolm
"Ability to play the banjo soon places one in a social position to pick and choose from scores of social invitations. Everywhere, the banjoist is assured of a hearty welcome."
from THE BANJO, a 1927 pamphlet published by Gibson Inc
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My name is Ryan Leaf (26 yrs. old) and I live in Seattle, WA with my beautiful fiance and our two hounds.? ?When I was very young I would sneak downstairs quietly and throw on my parents records which consisted of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway etc. while everyone was sleeping.? As I got older my mom would give me 12 dollars for lunch at the beginning of each week and I would secretly use that money to buy cds.? I started working in a cd store at the age of 17 in Spokane,WA my hometown and with an open mind I tried learning about as many different categories of music as I could. My life is a soundtrack.? ?I can always recall my friends/family coming over clowning on me because I would always be absorbing things that seemed strange to them.? Music was always my escape.? I started managing a different music store at the? age of 20 and transferred to the Seattle area to finish up a business degree.? I found myself leaving being around music and being sucked into the "career" vortex.? Money was great, I was miserable.? One night I was up late and I heard a john Fahey piece called "sunflower River Blues" on the credits of a movie.? I wrote down his name and bought a cd the next day.? Life changed!!!? Realized that I always wanted to make my own music so quit my job and started working at an independent cd store so that I could go back to school? (still figuring out if I'm crazy).? I just enrolled last spring in an audio engineering program and started teaching myself guitar.? One night in researching some other music I stumbled across John Miller's name.? For my birthday in April I bought myself his two instrucional dvd's of Mississippi John Hurt and looked into First Degree Blues.? Last week I finally had my first lesson by the man Himself.? It made me think what it might have been like for Stefan Grossman learning From Gary Davis. I also kind of felt like in a movie when a young martial arts student meets his Ninja master for the first time!!!? and that is the cliff notes version of my life up to this point.? Look forward to hearing the rest of your stories and hopefully see you at my first port townshend experience next year.? Take care, Ryan
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Ryan;
You go for it, buddy.
But remember: Reality is more than just a concept. Making dough leads to great things (like Pt. Townsend).
Make a diference,
Alex
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Hey Alex, your job sounds really interesting!! If you are ever researching minerals in the Northwest drop me a line and we can have lunch and talk da' blues. I don't know if he resides near your neck of the woods, but there is a canadian guitar maker Michael Dunn that seems to make some impressive guitars....http://www.michaeldunnguitars.com/index.html
Good luck in your future travels and thanks for the reply
Ryan Leaf
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Howdy all. I'm Dennis, 52 (doesn't seem possible), live in upstate New York and make a living working in public health (sorry, no flu vaccine available).
I began playing guitar in high school, captivated by acoustic music (Dylan, CSNY, Hot Tuna, etc.). In college we had a great coffeehouse nearby (Towne Crier) and lots of great folks came through (VanRonk, Block, Redbone, Traums, Rev.DanSmith, Grossman, Schoenberg, VanDuser, our own JohnM, Hammond, etc., etc.) and listening there led me to country blues, which I immersed myself in thanks to a record store also nearby that carried Yazoo, BlueGoose, etc., etc. I played country blues intensely throughout college and for several years thereafter. Then I took lessons with Eric Schoenberg and that began a pleasurable several year detour through classic rags, Travis, Atkins, Reed, etc. My guitar playing hiatus began when kids hit their stride and I was just an occasional picker until my son expressed an interest...so, like a few others here, that sparked a return -- the guitars came out of the closet and I began playing in earnest again. I play a wide variety of stuff...whatever I like and happens to strike my fancy at the moment, but it is all rooted in country blues traditions.
My guitars are all out and accessible now and I play every day now. My son and one daughter both play -- haven't been able to get them captivated by Blake or Davis yet...but I will!
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Yes, hello indeed. My brief bio: By day I am a scientist at a large midwestern university. By night I've been having these dreams...
I have a long-standing history as a wannabe musician, but I haven't played guitar for too many of my ~40 years. Started on jazz sax, but quit that since it was too hard to keep up playing when in school (too dependent on other people and too loud in the apt). Drifted through various instruments and genres after that, including tin whistle/British isles and mandolin/bluegrass.
But I am also a hack amateur luthier and built my first guitar about a decade ago. After picking up Stefan Grossman's Mississippi John Hurt cassette lessons to cut my teeth on, I was hooked on fingerpicking and the country blues and haven't looked back.
Didn't have much time to play in the 90's (graduate school and kids), but in the last 1-2 years really started playing more. I like the comment in the last post - I decided to just have guitars out and about in the house as the kids got old enough not to drool on them, and now I have one in my hand most often.
tom
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Hi, I'm the uneeda biscuit guy. I'm pretty instrument-centric, just lately I've been revelling in my new HD-28V rediscovering bass and the dynamics of a serious dreadnought Martin after a years of OOO guitars, which I still love for different reasons. The HD also has the ebony fretboard I always craved, soapy and precise.
Merle Travis's playing, if not his politics, is my recurring study but I'm into all the same stuff everyone here is into. The line between really old jazz and blues is what gets me going right now along with Texas swing, Hot Club and Tin Pan Alley subverted to my own twisted purposes. Play slide pretty good, lap steel and 6 string banjo.
Been to Port Townsend twice and man I wish I could get back regularly. Liiving in New Zealand paying a mortgage makes that less than easy but you can't have everything right?
I could go on but to sum it up, been playing for 35 years, ain't dead yet! 8)
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Hi all!? My name is Bluesygirl and I just joined the Weenie community today, thanks to my friend Waxwing (who I know from the Stefan Grossman Woodshed). I'm in the Los Angeles area and am a graduate student and research assistant in anthropology.? I love playing country blues guitar and am currently working on a few tunes from the Stefan Grossman workshop CDs and DVDs.? I'm an advanced beginner right now but I hope to build up a repertoire of fingerpicking tunes by next summer.? I hope to attend the Port Townsend fest next year as well.? This seems like a great community and I'm thrilled to have found it and all of you.? O0 Bg
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Welcome Bluseygirl!
We're glad you found us too! Waxwing did not steer you wrong. ;) Never too early to start planning for Port Townsend - it is a great workshop and not to be missed.
Cheers,
slack
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Hi Bluesygirl. Welcome! What tunes are you working on from Stefan's stuff?
uncle bud
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Hi Uncle Bud,
Nice to meet you too! At the moment I'm working on some tunes from his "Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques" CD and DVD, mostly beginner level tunes like "Death Come Creeping," "Oh Papa," "Shake That Thing" and "Buck Dancer's Choice." I've also just started on a CD of his that is mostly fingerpicking exercises (e.g., single note runs, syncopated basslines, hammer ons, pull offs, counterpoint lines, and vibrato, etc). He also uses a lot of RGD licks for demonstration and I really like his playing style. I will definitely be picking up an RGD DVD when I get through the material I'm working on. In addition to country blues, I've discovered how much I like listening to and playing ragtime and hope to learn more in this style.
Bg
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Seeing as PT is not too far away and I will eventually get there, thought I'd better check in...just discovered this site about 10 min. ago.? Long time country blues fan.? Was hooked on John Hurt in 1967 when everyone else was getting into that electric stuff.? Have played Celtic for years, but am really starting to focus on blues--especially John Hurt, Gary Davis, Blind Blake and Big Bill.? Loads of fun playing that stuff. I'm playing it on a Martin OM18V which I like alot. Waiting for John Greven to finish my Prairie State. Starting to noodle with a new National Polychrome.
This site looks like a great place to come back to.
steveo
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Hey Steve:
Yup, you've hit the country blues motherlode. You've got lots of fun reading ahead as you go through the threads, new and old. Jump right in!
Good to have you aboard.
Yes, baby yes,
Alex
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Welcome Steveo! Glad you found us!
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Hi BG,
Welcome to the list. I personally have been slightly worried by the take-up of roots/fingerpicking by younger (well younger than me anyway) players, and it has always been a minority of females that find their way into it. We need more people like yourself so more power to you. The stuff you're working on is an excellent set to get your playing in the groove.
Rivers.
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Well at 43 I can't say that I'm all that young! But if people younger than me are picking up on country blues picking, maybe that's good in terms of keeping the music alive.
Bg
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BG, you fooled him. You said graduate student and he jumped to conclusions. :P
cheers,
slack
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Younger than a lot of us anyway !
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Strangely enough, there are a lot of us middle aged grad students around! >:D
Bg
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Hi, My name is slim,
Im a new member
Nice to here some people ho still love old blues.
I still need to find out how this all works.
Im not really great with computers!!
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Welcome Slim!
Looks like you are doing fine so far!
Cheers,
Slack
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Hey, all.
I'm Paul -- just turned 59. Got interested in the blues in the mid-60s in North Carolina and have played off and on since. That's the very short "executive summary".
The long version is probably much more than anyone wants to read. Feel free to skim, stop when you get bored, or skip entirely. I enjoy writing, and use it as a vehicle to stimulate both my thoughts and memory. The same free-thought process I use when writing songs. But I've never been any good at editing out the fluff. To me, it's either all important or all fluff. Anyone who finishes will probably know me as well as I do. Won't be a novel, but might be a short story.
Born in the LA area, across from Walt Disney studios. Mom said I was born the same day as one of the Disney comic characters, but I long ago forgot which one (not Mickey, for sure -- he'smuch older). Spent my first 12 years in a racially mixed LA suburb where I was a minority. Learned a lot about other cultures (much of which I promptly forgot). Won a YMCA basketball tournament, then almost lost my life to the loosers. The local Junior High called the police 300+ times in ~180 school days. One of my 6th grade classmates was pregnant. Fun place :-(.
Moved to rural Pennslvania for grades 7-12. Closest thing to another culture at my rural school were a few Menonites and Dunkards. Played football. County shot put champ. Chorus. School plays. A little basketball too. I trace most of my joint ailments to those days. Liked Jazz. Everything from Monk and Jamal to Ellington, Kenton and M. Ferguson. Hitchiked 50 miles to the Hershey Ballroom for concerts. Also spent time on the streetscorners of York PA doing doo-wop harmony with black friends. 12 year old Steevie Wonder. Diana Ross and the Supremes. Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas. Great time of innocence. Still sing many of those songs. Some I remember parts of -- can't remember the artist or find the lyrics on the internet.
Drank Blue Ribbon and Black Label by the quart sitting on porches in the black neighborhood because they didn't care how old I was. And because it was more like my neighborhood in LA. Probably heard blues, but don’t remember it.
Dad bought an old upright piano at auction. $15.00, I think. Learned to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata by looking at the sheet music, finding one note at a time on the keyboard, then listening to the music and playing till it sounded right. Ssight-reading music never stuck in my brain. I still remember EGBDF and FACE, but never could rreadily turn what was on the sheet into a tune.
Went to college in Chapel Hill, NC. Traumatic freshman year -- the Birmingham church bombing occurred during freshman orientation week, and the Kennedy assasination was a couple of days before my birthday. Became a civil rights and anti-war activist. Met Dylan and Biaz. Met Doc and Merle Watson at a small concert in the student union. Went to the Union Grove NC fiddlers convention several years. Had a friend named Dave who played a mean blues guitar. His version of Poor Boy is the first blues I remember. First blues LP I owned was a limited production Dave did with help from friends in the RTVMP department. Bought four records for 50 cents each at a fire sale: Singer/Songwriter Project with Richard Farina, Patrick Sky, Bruce Murdoch and David Cohen; Dave Van Ronk's Gamblers Blues; Blues at Newport, '63; and Big Bill Broonzy Sings Country Blues. Still have all, though they's damaged so I remastered them and them to CD.
My first guitar was an old Harmony acoustic my junior year. Straightened out the neck many times, till the nut had no further to turn. First two songs were Blowin' In The Wind (fingerpicked) and Gambler's Blues (strummed in the style of Van Ronk, but I liked mine better). Moved to an appartment my senior year. Lots of parties, lots of playing and singing. Got married quickly, then divorced just as quickly. That, too, happened just before my birthday.
After my senior year, went back to PA -- 1 course short of graduation. Helped a friend move one morning. My “afternoon” last exam turned out to be that morning, so I took an incomplete.
Worked a few weeks, sold most of what I had (not my guitar), and moved to San Francisco. First airplane ride. The summer of '67. Never did see any of my Carolina friend. Or find a job. Too much play time. Didn’t even pick my trunk up from the bus station. Lived from a bag I carred on the plane. Moved back to PA that fall. Worked at the new Sears store in Hanover. Went from salesman thru several manager positions in a year. Played guitar and sang at a York PA coffee house almost every night for a year. An eclectic mix of Leadbelly (a number of selections from the Leadbelly Songbook by Asch and Lomax), Buffy St. Marie (Cod'ine, Now That The Buffalos Roam, Cripple Creek without the mouth bow), Dylan (Masters of War was always on the bill, along with Ballad of Hollis Brown--a bit blusier than Dylan's version) and others I no longer remember.
Got married, again. This time just after my birthday. Wierd. Lasted longer, too. Went back to school at Carolina. Took a computer course. Wife got pregnant. Got a draft deferment. She had a miscarriage. The intern was pissed because we woke him at night in the middle of a snowstorm. Scary for me, more so for my wife. Lost my deferment. Finished school and returned to PA to find Uncle Sam wanted me. Applied for conscientious objector status. Local board turned me down; won an appeal. Did my alternative service in the print shop at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC. (not good for my hearing). Wife bought me a Martin D-45 our first Christmas in DC. Gave the old Harmony to a thrift shop near the hospital so some young kid could learn on a real guitar instead of a piece of bailing wire strung between nails on the wall of his house. OK, slightly distorted memory -- all the houses in the area were dilapidated civil war era brick houses. Hard for a kid to put nails in brick walls.
Got several Grossman guitar books (Country Blues, Delta Blues and Ragtime). Learned Hurt's Candyman, Willie Brown's Future Blues, Barefoot Bill's Squabblin' Blues, Fred McDowell's Gravel Road Blues and Buddy Boy Hawkins' Awful Fix Blues, among others. Note for note mimics at first. Later relaxed and played them so they felt comfortable to me – similar, identifiable, but not mimics. Easier than learning Moonlight Sonata. Tabulature was a godsend, but still one note at a time.
Finished my alternative service but stayed at the hospital, transferring from the print shop to the IS department. Nice raise. Learned to love French wine -- Bordeaux, Rhones, Burgandy primarily. Became IS Director. Bought a house. Growing middle class responsibility severly reduced my guitar playing times. Singing was relegated to the shower. Or when we had friends over. Got divorced. Helped open the new Children’s Hospital. Rember registering a patient with a bad head injury because staffing was tight. Mom's whole demeanor changed when I noticced it was her birthday. Amazing what "happy birthday" can do. Don't remember a lot from those days. I do remember throwing my Martin across the room one night in a fit of drunken self-pity. Scared me, 'cause I usually am consistently mellow. Maybe that's why the trim is now loose along the bottom edge of the guitar Maybe some day I’ll fix it. Maybe. Wrote a blues song -- Divorce Court Blues - not my first song but probably my best. Tune sort of reminds me of Leadbelly's National Defense Blues.
Moved to an appartment. Spent lots of nights drinking wine and playing the guitar. Quit my job in disgust over the way my boss was acting. Played a few nights at a local Holiday Inn bar. Did independent hospital consulting for a year plus, but hated marketing myself. Played a lot of tennis. Tennis was free, but my money was running out.
Found a job with NCR in Dayton OH designing healthcare software. Spent my spare time either at a local oldies bar, playing tennis, or playing guitar and drinking wine. Married a local girl. Got involved in local camera club and put down the guitar. Bought another house. Started breeding and showing persian cats. Big expense (time and money). The red cat one of our breeding, Lebordo is the cattery name. Wanted Les Bordeaux, but it was too long, so it got anglicised. Named our cats after French Bordeaux wines. Put up the first cattery web site in 1994. Bought CDs including Complete Robert Johnson, Complete Willie Johnson and Son House's Father Of The Delta Blues sets. I hadn't lost interest in the blues, just wasn’t singing and playing.
Lost my job with NCR in early 98. Became Y2K coordinator at a local hospital. Loved the hospital but had troubles navigating the huge complex due to arthritic hips and knees. Sadly, the hospital closed during the summer of 2000. I stayed on for another year, shutting down the IS systems and providing information to the liquidators and management team trying to sell off the hospital assets. My last day was the Friday before 9-11. Computer jobs dried up here almost immediately. Currently I’m "semi retired”, waiting for the job market to improve. Stopped breeding and showing cats. Too expensive. More time for music. Started to collect blues MP3s on the internet to match the Grossman tablatures I didn’t already have my in my LP and CD collection. Artiritis in my fingers started worsened, so I really can’t play much. Did a project for an internet friend in California who had a Blues web site and wanted to expand his "listening room". I also did CD inserts with complete discographies for him -- more than 70 Audio CDs of old blues and gospel. Lots of new artists and new songs. That led me to Gorgen Antonson's Online Blues Discography (last I looked, it wasn't there anymore) and eventually to my own copy of Goodrich, Dixon and Rye's pre-war blues discography Blues & Gospel Records 1890-1943.
I also discovered Ebay's blues 78 auctions (that’s how I learned about WeenieCampbell – member Okeh78 included a plug about this site at the bottom of his blues auctions). My third divorce should be finalized in a week or so, thank goodness.
When not searching for job prospects, I spend time tracking ebay blues, gospel, old time and jazz auction prices. Also collecting 78 label scans/photos and tracking/reporting inconsistencies and errors in B&GR 4th edition. I have a small "entertainment" budget, so I buy a few 78s each month. Ones I like, can afford, and feel are good buys. Mostly blues. And I buy an occasional CD. I listen to a lot of blues. I’ve got about 200 blues CDs, including those recorded/remastered from LPs. Here and there I spend a few hours looking for good pre-war photos on the Library Of Congress web site. They have digitized about 160,000 FSA/OWI photographs to date by photographers like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Gordon Parks, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, Roy Stryker, and Marion Post Wolcot. I digitally clean them up and use them for CD covers. Surprising how many of the Yazoo, Document and other commercial CDs used the same source.
I still pick up the guitar when my fingers allow. But I must admit, I don't have the dexterity I once had. Allergies (cats and dust, mostly) make my voice very nasal most of the time. But on those rare days when my head is clear, I actually like my voice now better than ever. I still do a good version of Hurt's Candyman and a few songs from my coffe house days, but have forgotten most of what I once knew.
My apologies for all the typos I didn't find. Also partly due to artihritis. I warned you it would be long. I actually had to do some editing since I originally exceeded the 12000 character posting limit.
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Paul
That amazing and a bit of tough thing to write. I just couldn't do that, not on paper anyway.
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Hi Paul, nice to meet you. :-)? ?Thanks for sharing some interesting tidbits (the good and not so good) from your life.? The thing I like about your post is that you feel comfortable enough with this forum (and yourself obviously, age does have its privledges.. ) to share quite a bit of your life.? Good luck in the job search - IT is certainly not what it was in the 90's - but I think there will always be opportunities - if you can get along with the boss that is.
Cheers,
slack
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Well, Slack -- not sure if "comfortable" is the right word. I think it was Popeye who once said "I am what I am what I am...". Perhaps there was a time, years ago, when I could have changed myself. Now, I wouldn't even know where to begin. So, for better or worse, I am what I am. As for talking about myself, that not really difficult. I think every time I ever put my foot in my mouth, it was because I was yacking about things I knew very little about. So now I try to talk about things I know at least something about. And, after all, I am the world's leading expert on "me". :-) Plus, I don't think I ever got in trouble because someone else knew too much about me.
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Hi! I'm Boots, have been so to everyone (except parents & taxman) for 50 of my 58 years.
I learned to play the wind-up gramaphone early on, but my musical education ended there. Some of us just don't have it. This
puts a little of centre of the Juke, but I listen well.
The blues first appeared on the radio in the early 60's for me. We had a couple of very good programmes at that time. One of
which was early on Sunday evening and we could not leave before it finished and so missed the start of many films. I spent
most of these years chasing steam locomotives rather than buying records. On a trip to my Grans in a secondhand shop I found
a copy of Lightnin' Hopkins "Hootin' the Blues" on Stateside.
First tried Internet radio when I had dial-up, not very successful. However after going Broadband I tried again. Started
with Winamp and the Blues stations there, much to enjoy. I Found Weenie Campbell somewhere on the Web. I've been listening
pretty regularly for a couple of months now.
To quote (or misquote) Slack "that's probably more than you need to know.
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Welcome Boots! It's nice to have you folks from the UK join us (fascinating use of spelling and English. 8) )
The saying I believe is: "At the risk of telling you more than you want to know." ..which I use to try and warn some poor soul that I'm about to blab away. ;D
Cheers,
slack
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which I use to try and warn some poor soul that I'm about to blab away.? ?;D
Like a shot across the bow - consider yourself warned! <g>
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Although I rarely post on web forums, my name is charlie and use cmr as my login name. I have been playing the guitar for almost 4 years, mostly catching up on music that I listened to during a long time ago. My first exposure to country blues was a Big Bill Broonzy album that I purchased in 8th grade (circa 1965). By 9th grade, we were listening to Dave Van Ronk in small clubs in NYC. In NYC high school, a few of my friends played John Hurt, Gary Davis, Doc Watson, and some ragtime blues. At this time, I was a classically trained violinist, but never could play the guitar. I even hosted a pre-war blues and country music show on my college radio station. I gave up trying to play the guitar, since it was impossible to get the bouncy sound of Big Bill Broonzy or Blind Blake. After two years of college, skiing and mountain climbing took me to the west coast. Finally, when I turned 50, my daughters gave me a Martin D18 guitar as a gift. Now after a 30 year hiatus, I am playing again. Not sure when, but I found this website in the fall of '2004. Charlie
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Welcome Charlie!
Funny how many of us put the guitar down for such a long period time - having other priorities in life like trying to make a living and raising kids (which are certainly worthwhile pursuits!) - only to return. I tell ya, I have a lot more patience with myself than I did at 20... but wish I'd found a way to keep playing.
Cheers,
slack
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Welcome Charlie!
Funny how many of us put the guitar down for such a long period time - having other priorities in life like trying to make a living and raising kids (which are certainly worthwhile pursuits!) - only to return. I tell ya, I have a lot more patience with myself than I did at 20... but wish I'd found a way to keep playing.
Cheers,
slack
A lot of us seem to be in this boat - even though we don't play guitar. :(
Boots
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I'm Randall Bott
I've been on Weenie on and off since it was called Blind Weenie. I've worked at UPS for 30 years (I'm 48 now) and have a blog where I talk about my life and my music. I've been to the Fur Peace Ranch twice (with Roy Book Binder, Jorma, and Alvin Hart) and I'm starting to the hang of this guitar thing. When I retire in 3years 2 months and 11 days I plan to go to Port Townsend. Until then I just can't get away.
This is the best forum I've seen bar none. I do more lurking that I should because I know so little in comparison to everyone else. I'm a big Pink Anderson fan and have been listening to a lot of Lonnie Johnson and Sam Chatmon. If you want ot know more read the blog.
http://www.leastbest.blog-city.com
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Hi! Randall,
No concern. Some people don't know as much and can't play anything at all.
Boots :)
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Hi. My name is Neal but here I go by Rats in my Kitchen, thinking of Sleepy John Estes. I don't play but I love old blues, in fact old jazz, old country, old gospel, and old Cajun/Creole music too. My hobby is running a Web site with mp3s of Cajun music at http://npmusic.org There are some 1920-1930s selections under that heading and under Joseph Falcon as well.
I recognize Ryan's name from the Yahoo group for John Fahey.
I saw reference to Joe Bussard. He lives in my area and I visit with him every couple of months. He's a great resource of music and information.
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Welcome Neal! Nice website - and I like your mission!
Cheers,
slack
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Hi! Neal,
Nice to have you on the non-playing wing.
Boots
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Hi,
My name is Steve and my playing journey began in the late 1960's when I went out with a girl who strummed and sang in church - I remember one night she made me hold the guitar and pushed my fingers into a 'C' shape (1st position) to take a photograph - I couldn't believe anybody would do that for fun - my God but it was uncomfortable.
A few years later I had left home and wanted something to do in the evenings - TV had the usual range of garbage and anyway I didn't have the cash or inclination to buy one. I thought of a musical instrument and remembered the girl in church. I also considered drums and electric guitar but as I didn't know any other musos I couldn't form or join a band and living in an end-terrace house meant that noise could easily be a problem. Just before making the final decision I noticed an obituary column for Rev Gary Davis (the famous ragtime guitarist) in the latest copy of the Music Express newspaper. I went into Chester (UK) that weekend and in Dawson's Music Shop saw 2 Rev Gary Davis LP's cling-filmed together for the price of one. I bought them and took them home and slapped the ragtime one on the deck. For the next 2 hours I sat there with my mouth open. How can anyone play an acoustic guitar like that - it was so new to me it was amazing and life changing. I now knew what instrument I wanted. I went and purchased a Giannini nylon-strung craviola (easy on the fingers - no one to give me any guidance) and a couple of months later a Yamaha steel-strung FG180.
About 12 months later (and having got nowhere in my quest to play Gary's music - just a few chords and pattern picking learnt) I was in work and down in the coffee lounge for morning break. A girl had brought a classical guitar in for me to tune (she had bought it 2 weeks previously and it was in tune when she bought it (she said)). While tuning it another work colleague came in (Kieran Fish) and asked if he could have a go - passed the guitar over and he proceeded to play Candyman, West Coast Blues and a number of others - I couldn't believe it. Kiearn told me he had leaned from a chap in Warrington and had picked up Stefan Grossman's How To Play Country Blues LP (on the Xtra label) which had tablature to a number of blues songs. So began an association with CB and with Kieran (who never showed me a damned thing.).
I began to have a regular meet at my house on Tuesday evenings - Kieran was a regular and other people included Alan Paddick, Mike Martin, Chris Cassidy, Martin Bell, Joe Cainen, Ian Jesses, and many others. After meeting more like minded people at a club in a house basement in Manchester we developed T'n'T (the Tape 'n' Tab Club) which met 4 or 5 times per year with everybody sleeping on the floor for the weekend, drinking a lot and playing 'till our fingers were red raw. Sunday morning was given over to recording, swapping arrangements as tab and on tape, and generally helping other players to play what you could. Great times - and it was during this period that Kicking Mule began to release LPs in the UK. Kieran and I moved into playing some of the ragtime duets and began to arrange our own rags from the original piano music.
Mike Martin became interested and as he was of Irish extraction gravitated to Celtic music - he produced some superb arrangements after joining forces with his father who he then found out had been an Irish Dancing tutor/judge in Ireland in his younger days.
After about 5 years or so the T'n'T came to an end as people got married, moved away, had kids and generally let life take over. I joined forces with Ian Jesse and we played pubs, parties and a couple of schools with some CB, some folk and some of Ian's own compositions. Life changed again in the late 1990s and Ian joined forces with another young player playing pubs andcovering Simon & Garfunkel and acoustic rock numbers.
I began to teach fingerpicking guitar at Halewood Comprehensive School Evening classes and this led to the formation of a strong group of players meeting every week in a pub in Gateacre, Liverpool. Great to pass the muse on, especially as they have a strong core of CB players.
Since then I have developed arthritis in both shoulders (worse in my right) and also fibromyalgia in my right upper-arm which now means I cannot get my right arm over the guitar to pick without a lot of pain. Consequently, I haven't played for about 4 to 5 years - BUT I MUST start again - If I don't then I will never play again as age makes things worse - I cannot allow that to happen.
I still pass on as much as I can and have tabbed out a fair few of the tunes from the T'n'T days and made them available in TablEdit format on my web-site at: www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm
Guitars: my main is a large cut-away Dinsdale and I also own a 00 model made by him, as well as a metal bodied Dobro resonator and a Yamaha electro-acoustic which I used for 'playing out'.
Found out about Weenie Campbell a couple of days after Xmas 2004 on the Grossman Woodshed site by reading some back posts.
All the best for 2005 folks - here's hoping you all get to make and hear some beautiful music. Wish I could get over for the get-together - will have to try over the next few years.
Take care, and keep on pluckin'.
Steve.
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Hi,
My name is Mel. I have been trying to learn to play Country Blues. I use Stefan Grossman material. I have no music theory and I don't read music. Quite mechanical from tab only. I play a 1973 Martin D35 that I am the original owner of. However I only played for two years back in 73' when I bought the guitar and then put in it's case unfortunately for about 28 years. I finally decided to practice again a couple of years ago. Anyway I don't know how to post my music so I have included a link to 3 one minute samples of my playing. Appreciate any criticism. I can take it.
Mel
Just use the Hifi link to listen and you won't have to register
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/writePage.cfm?myType=music&bandid=230905&bandnamesave=melaxelrod
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Welcome Bluesymel!
A link is just as good as uploading. I assume you've read "When the Roll is Called"(our pinned topic for introductions, so I'll move yours there)) and read similar stories of putting down the guitar for years and then picking it back up - quite common.
Anyway, your playing sounds very good, impressive that you've only been playing a couple of years!
cheers,
slack
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Wanted to thank Steve McBill for introducing me to this forum, I LOVE THIS PLACE !!!? ?
I am a perpetual student from Dallas Texas...? lol? I like Telecasters, resonator guitars, old 78's, junkin' in my pickup truck, and of course, Country Blues.
It's like an epiphany, all my life, I knew that there was something, and I then I came here, and I suddenly realized...? I'm a Weenie!? lol
Look forward to meeting you all and sharing our love for the music.
Peace.?
O0
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Welcome SugarJ and also welcome to the rest of you closet Weenies coming from the IGS Guitar forum!
We are a little overwhelmed at the moment from seeing 45 resgistrations in 3 days - our previous high was 46 registrations in a month! But I think we'll recover.
Again, welcome - we're glad to have you.
Cheers,
slack
Edited to Add: And Welcome from the Woodshed forum also!
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Howdy:
Yes, welcome all.
Alex
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Hi I am Jack (New Member). I am 56 years old and teach
computers in a public school in West Virginia. I have been
playing guitar since I was very young. I love blues, country,
and early rock.
Jack
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Welcome Jack!
Thanks for the introduction. We also have an introduction Topic called "When the Roll is Called" and would be happy if more new folks would introduce themselves using that topic. (I'll move your introduction there are some point Jack.)
Very happy to have you new members!
Cheers,
Slack
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hello everybody,
My name is David, I'm 23 and hail from Toronto Canada.
I have gotten into pre-war country blues pretty heavily over the past couple years (2002 to be exact, with the purchase of Charlie Patton (yazoo) - the best of, Robert Johnson - Complete Recordings and Blind Willie Johnson - Dark was the night compliation).? I have since expanded my collection rapidly (highlights include revenant's american primitive vol.1, mississippi john hurt complete okeh recordings 1929 and charlie patton complete recordings (JSP) ), and have been concurrently learning how to play blues guitar (esp. fingerpicking) in open tunings, along with listening to such finger pickers as john fahey.? As my taste in acoustic blues has expanded, my listening has become more obscure.? Currently I have actively been searching out recordings by King Solomon Hill, Bo Weavil Jackson (Sam Butler) and Rev. Edward Clayborn (although his recordings are somewhat repetitive).? I have ordered "Times ain't like they used to be" vols. 6&7 from yazoo, and am awaiting them; does anyone have any reviews or comments about those albums?? I? am quite curious to hear the recently unearthed king solomon hill tracks, along with the tommy johnson country test pressing ("I want somebody to love me").? It is great to find a website like this on the internet, and the juke radio portion has almost been on constant rotation since i stepped upon this site.
Kudos
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Great to have a youngster on board who'll be able to shout the message when us old fogeys are not around.
Boots
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Welcome David! You sound like a Weenie to me! ;D
I am quite curious to hear the recently unearthed king solomon hill tracks, along with the tommy johnson country test pressing ("I want somebody to love me"). It is great to find a website like this on the internet, and the juke radio portion has almost been on constant rotation since i stepped upon this site.
These can be requested from the Juke. Do an Album search for "Blue Images" (no quotes) and you'll get a track listing for both of the Blues Images Calendar CD's .. which contain your two tracks.
Cheers,
slack
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I've been hanging around here about a week now so though I ought to add myself to the roll call...
I'm Simon and I live in Norfolk, England, wihch (so far as I can tell) is a blues wilderness, bar a chap called Chris Steinhauer who sometimes busks in my local town.
I had classical guitar lessons as a child, and dabbled ineffecitvely in flamenco in my late teens. I developed a taste for BB King whilst at University, and then had a 'eureka' moment listening to the Paul Jones show on BBC radio. He played Chris Smither's version of 'High Heeled Sneekers' which blew me away. I bought his albums, went to his gigs and discovered that a lot of his playing was inspired by that of John Hurt and Lightnin Hopkins (as well as Dylan...). From there my interest grew, and I started buying acoustic blues guitar books, got myself a proper steel string acoustic... and here I am 7 years later, still trying to make it sound right!
Favourite contemporary players are Smither, Ben Andrews, David Jacobs- Strain, Alvin Hart etc
I'm still developing my collection of older stuff and have a big Amazon wish list of old country blues cds... So far, I am particularly keen on Patton, Broonzy, Blake, John Hurt, Son House and Tampa Red, but the list is growing all the time.
PS-
I picked the handle 'Norfolk Slim' because Norfolk is as unblues a place as you will find, and yet still sounds like somehwhere Rbert Johnson might have driven to from Memphis... The 'slim' bit is irony ;)
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Welcome Simon! Thanks for your introduction - we seem to have an ever increasing contingent from 'across the pond'. And 'Norfolk Slim' sounds like a fine blues name.
Don't feel left out - there are Blues Wildernesses' everywhere - that's why we started WC.
Cheers,
slack
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Hello , My name is Rick ,I live in Hastings UK , I have been collecting country blues records since 1963.
The first people I listen to were Sonny Terry, Brownie Mcgee, Lightning Hopkins. I play guitar a bit ,but mainly I make acoustic guitars usually the small type that the blues players used in the thirties.
In Hastings we have a very good music scene with a lot of blues, one country blues player Roger Hubbard a friend of mine is a excellent slide player and finger picker, he made a album for Blue Goose in the early seventies.
The site was recomended to us by Willie Saloman a brilliant German country blues player.
Really like the site and juke box. Cheers for now Rick
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Welcome Rick!
I'm sure many of us would like to see the guitars you build - we have a few "Country Blues" builders (could be a whole new specialty) - do you have any photos or maybe a website that has your work?
Thanks for the intro and kind words,
Slack
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Hi,
Hector Guerrero , 33 , from Spain. I got involved in country blues since about 10-12 years ago, i got a Cd by Memphis early pickers and got hooked with Frank Stokes. I thought i would never be able to play that great guitar. Searching on the internet a few years ago, i met another spanish picker called Artur Nadal who introduced me to Stefan Grossman's site... this and Homespun are my main sources to learn and i get as much music as my wallet allows me ;)
Favorite players, Blind Blake, MJH, Big Bill Broonzy, Merle Travis, Furry Lewis, Barbacue Bob, Charley Jordan... and the list goes on and on
I also play rhythm guitar and sing in the band "Little Boy Arnold & His Western Okies" an accoustic rockabilly trio, we are going to play in April in a big festival in Green Bay , Wi.
You can see and listen to us at
http://www.myspace.com/littleboyarnoldamphiswesternokies
I discovered Weenie Campbell thru S. Grossman's woodshed, and i'm fascinated with the topics, radio... you really do an amazing job.
Best wishes for 2005
Héctor Guerrero
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Welcome Héctor! Glad you found us and the Rockabilly band looks and sounds like lots of fun!
Cheers,
Slack
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Isn't that great, we'll soon have a UK branch, chapter, association, whatever :D
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The 'slim' bit is irony ;)
On that basis, I should probably change my handle to FrontPage Slim! Welcome to Weeniedom.
8)
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Just like you, I am a newly discovered weenie, and a Texas weenie at that...of the Austin variety. I signed on for the first time today after seeing a link in my Acoustic Guitar Wire newsletter, which is put out by Acoustic Guitar magazine. I 'spect there'll be a surge in the weenie population over the next few days/weeks!
Weenies Unite!!!
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Welcome jim_g! Just out of curiosity, what did the AG wire have to say?
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Hello all. I lurk on the few internet forums that have to do with country blues, and post infrequently, but after seeing that BOTH outfidel and waxhead, I mean waxwing, put intro's up, I decided to join and say Hi. I enjoy both these gentlemen's posts a great deal, especially when I see Waxwing getting slapped by the heavyweights on the pre-war-blues list which I also lurk on. I am 50yo, and have loved this music since I was exposed to it as a child. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Saratoga Springs and be the diswasher at the Caffe Lena all through my high school years and beyond. There was an incredible array of talent on stage, as there is now, and I was constantly exposed to all sorts of great american music by Paul Geremia, Rev. Davis, Roy Bookbinder, DVR, David Bromberg and so on. Andy Cohen, Martin Grosswendt and others lived in town and were inspirations as well as friends. I would watch from close range these guys play on the weekend, and go home and try and figure out what they were doing. I also bought up lp's on Biograph, Yazoo, Blue Goose, Arhoolie and studied them, learning Blake, Larry Johnson and others. It was an incredible time, and I have only realized lately how lucky I was. I guess you could call it lucky if you think growing up around a bunch of drunken, stoned ne'er do well blues and folk musicians is lucky. It took me years to recover, and I still haven't thank God. The only downside to this is that I grew up thinking that everyone plays blues as well as Paul Geremia, and I could never measure up. That of course is not true. I played a lot throough my early 20's, and then got married, grad school etc etc, and about 5 years ago got this feeling that I had to start playing again, particularly the Rev. Davis stuff. I have been pleased to discover that I am not as bad as I thought, and with the help of local guitar wizard Paul Asbell, feel like I am playing as well as ever. A friend led me to Julia Cameron's the Artist's Way, which I actually worked through and this helped me understand issues about creativity, performance and songwriting that had always puzzled me. Her approach really resonates with me, and that coupled with my having lost the fear of making a fool of myself (two teenaged daughters help this), has led me to some performing that I have been grateful for and has been very rewarding. I am very pleased to report that the traditional country blues repertoire is well accepted just about anywhere, a fact that continually suprises and delights me. I feel truly blessed to be able to play this stuff and share it, as I think it is a vital living form. I look forward to getting to know all of you, and seeing you somewhere.
Mike
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Hi Mike and welcome to WC. Never thought I'd say this to someone but boy how I envy you your past dishwashing job ;). Feel free to tell some stories of those days if you get the urge, I'm sure they'd be fascinating.
I'll note that you've also inadvertently distinguished yourself by becoming our 500th member. Congratulations, Ed McMahon will be showing up at your door any moment now...
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Mike, our 500th member!. As you know, I share the sentiments you expressed, as do most of us here. Well put.
And, ouch, don't remind me of getting slapped down by Paul Garon.<G> I get slapped around enough here, just in a friendlier kinda way. If you could get to Port Townsend, WA, you would sure meet a bunch of us there.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Mike! - glad you found us and congrats on being number 500. Ed McMahon will indeed arrive, but with only 1 balloon and no check.
Cheers,
slack
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Well...Ok I guess Ill chime in and introduce myself. My name is Christian, (user name: chun...chris-chun) Ive been lurking here for months, listening and reading. Its great to see a foum dedicated to just this stuff. Ive been playing guitar for about 15 years. (Im 35) old time banjo for about 12 and am learning the mandolin (banjolin). I live out in Ventura, California( near Santa Barbara). My whole guitar playing career I have been fingerpicking country blues and ragtime...got into it after I saw Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan playing at a company barbeque when I was working for Patagonia. Started taking lessons with Kenny Sultan, showed up with my picks on backward and a slight buzz....after Kenny set me straight,the rest is history as they say. It snowballed from there.Im seriously fanatical about pre-war blues and old time music. Walking a fine line, just this side of complete crackpotism. Have a nice collection of guitars, banjos, bonjolins, records(78s) and CDs. Ive playing in a jugband for about 4 years (the What-Me Worry Jugband and in another outfit with two other guys The Polecat Ramblers (old time, blues, jugband, hokum, cajun, mexican and irish music.) Ive been a high school economics teacher for eight years. Im always playing music and it seems like theres not enough time in the day for everything I want to learn. Lately Ive takin' to trying to learn the tunes note for note from the old recordings and trying to transcribe(not easy!). I never really was convinced that this was the way to play this music...Ive always felt that you should make it your own so to speak. However...I think this is the way to go...because I like to see how all these guys played, then naturally it takes twists and turns and becomes your own. I know banjochris...I think he convinced me(unknowing to him) that path was the way to go. He's an incredible player by the way (as are all you guys and gals).He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. Anyways..I hope to get to Port Townsend some day...that seems like just too much fun.
Take it easy
Christian (chun)
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Way too much fun. Welcome to Weenie Campbell Chris(chun).
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Chistian - glad you got out of lurkdom!
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Welcome Christian. Glad to see another delurker. BanjoChris did a monster job on the Willie McTell song keys posts. We expect no less from you. (kidding :P)
Banjolin eh? One of my dream instruments, in a great obnoxious way.
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Hi all, this looks like the place to be so I'm here My name is Keith (blind rat blues) and yes I am close to being blind from the effects of diabetes but I love the blues I guess that's why I'm here.
my fave bluesman is Lightnin' Hopkins and I do play guitar that's enough for now.
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Hi all, this looks like the place to be so I'm here My name is Keith (blind rat blues) and yes I am close to being blind from the effects of diabetes but I love the blues I guess that's why I'm here.
my fave bluesman is Lightnin' Hopkins and I do play guitar that's enough for now.
Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Keith!
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Scott Perry here, just signed on today.? Discovered y'all while doing a google search on John Miller whose Robert Wilkins instructional video I previewed today.? John, if you're out there I think you're a great player and teacher!
I bought a guitar as a kid because I thought that's how a young man might get some attention from young girls.? Didn't work so I took up football instead.? Football didn't really work for me either in the attracting young girls department, but did get me into college (Colby College, Waterville, ME to be exact -- surprisingly supporting a very active blues scene back in the early 80s)).? It also got me a bum knee and chronic bad back.? Got into country blues through Taj Mahal's "Oh So Good & Blue" album while in college.? That album knocked me and my butt and prompted me to take up the guitar and learn songs by the players on that albums credits.? Soon after taking up the guitar I quit football and a fair amount of my studies and have been playing professionally or semi-professionally for most of my life since.? Eventuallly attracted the attention of a very supportive and understanding woman and have never looked back!? I currently play out part time while I homeschool my two sons, try to get my acoustically oriented music store up and going and keep up with the chores on our little farm in SW VA.
I'm really knocked out by this sight and read with great interest some past posts.? I was especially interested in the thread "Writing Covers" as I am in the midst of writing material for an all original disc of "in the tradition" material.? I also enjoyed the discussion of G6 tuning as I'm a huge Lonnie Johnson and Bo Carter fan.? I'm very inept all things technical & electronic, but when I get some stuff laid down I'd be glad to post it on the "Back Porch."? If anyone wants to hear any of my stuff before then feel free to visit http://www.ohpapa.com.? I must say I am also really impressed by the "tone" of the discussions on this site.? Y'all seem like a bunch of great folks and I hope that despite the hectic nature of my schedule I'm able to log on from time to time and get to know you all.
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Welcome Scott!
Looks like you have your hands full with teaching kids, operating a music store and playing gigs. Some fancy websites too!
Cheers,
Slack
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Well I'll check in. I'm Doug Heard preform as Chipmonk Doug. Been playing sense '63, started as a folk singer (didn't we all in those days), moved to being a country rhythm player in the 70's, played out a good bit in those days. Took a big chunk of the 80's and 90's being a once a month player (kids, family, jobs etc.) Been working hard at it now for a few years. Playing out again but this time as a solo or duo with my wife the Bear Breasted Harmonica Player.
I'm what I call a very dirty player vs those pickers we call clean. I wish I was a clean player but I'm more interested in getting the song out than taking the extra time to make it super clean. And it just doesn't seem to be my style, so I'll have to live with being a dirty player working at cleaner. I have been mostly a Martin player, a '68 D-18 (gone), a '28 5-18 (that I played in the USMC stateside and VN -saddly gone also), '76 D-28 (still have but don't play it much, but it was great for lots of years), '01 00-15 I bought for a blues guitar when I started working hard on finger style blues, and now my go to guitar is a custom 12 fret 00 size McCormick built to my specs by Mac McCormick in Columbus Ga.
I'm not good enough to cover anybody and sound like them (well maybe early Dylan :) ) so I just do the songs my way and try to get the felling I get from the original.
My inlaws live in Sequim and someday I'll get there when the Blues Workshop is going on.
My baby is 30 this coming Aug. so we are only a few years from giving up the day jobs and playing all the time.
My day jobs are teaching computers for old farts at the community college, building web pages for small businesses and a little gunsmithing.
We live in rural N. FL and just waiting for retirement to go back to the west coast.
http://www.stone-soup.com/northleft/
If you go look at the web page remember the shoemakers kids. I never work on my website, so it's not up to date and doesn't look very good.
dougheard@stone-soup.com
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Andrew: I just laughed out loud about Ed McMahon! You are some funny , man! :D
Mike, loved your post. Welcome. Andrew is right. Over a beer or a shot of whiskey, Weenies would love to hear some of these episodes in the life. I will happily tell you about my days as a GP in rural Alabama in return! :P
Miller
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Great site! Thanks to my friends in San Francisco who turned me on to it!
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Thanks ZJ - Welcome to Weenie Campbell!
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Hey y’all --
I signed onto Weenie Campbell about a month ago. I decided to go with the moniker KC King because it’s a combination of where I spent some of my growing up years (Kansas City) and my last name – my given name is Christopher King which in the world of country blues is just too common (musicians, collectors, etc).
I picked up my first harmonica when I was 13, but had put it down for along long time til recently -- now I’m trying it out again. I played piano in jazz combos in college – lots of bebop. So I have a weak left hand and habitually add ninths to everything. ;) I worked at a record store as a buyer of jazz, blues, world, folk etc, and developed my interest in pre-war country blues (and got a lot of CDs too). Lately, I’ve been working on trying (trying is the active verb here) to play the quills – just Bulldoze Blues at this point.
My sweet wife is a fiddler with the Weenie moniker of Emma Lee. She went to PT last year and raved about it, so we will both be going this year.
By the way, the picture accompanying my posts is that of a train ferry (a river steamboat ferrying a locomotive – the train tracks in the foreground are for disembarking). My father took the picture around 1946 in Helena, Arkansas, where he grew up, in the Delta.
On a different thread, Slack said that if we talk politics it should be from the twenties and thirties so here goes – I’m frightened by the rise of fascism, and this New Deal of FDR’s sounds like a good deal, let’s keep it.
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Welcome KC, Good to have some more harp and piano on this guitar centric (so far) board. Look forward to seein' ya at PT
And I like your '30s politics, sir.
All for now.
John C.
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Hi KC,
Welcome to WeenieCampbell. and somehow, although I cannot confirm it, I think yer cheatin' on the politics. ;)
You'll have a blast at Port Townsend..... and you may be the first quill player to show up. Have you seen Link on Quills posted by Mert?
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?Itemid=47&?topic=47.msg7521#msg7521
Also, you've now got me curious, I'd like to see a full size picture of that train ferry (pretty hard to see at that size) - so please post a full size pic if you can.
Cheers,
slack
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Yes, it looks like a really nice photo. I'd like to see it bigger as well.
Welcome KC! Looking forward to hearing those quills.
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Name is Jon, 44 and counting . . . . .
Born and raised in NYC although I'm a Jersey boy now (how did that happen?).
Started playing guitar in fourth grade. Mostly the Mel Bay stuff. Tom Dooley and Jingle Bells. Was ready to give up when my mother got me a lesson with a teacher named Valerie (who still teaches in NYC). She was around five or six years older and after two minutes of listening to me try and play some Mel Bay sheet music said, "STOP. Do you know Blowin' In The Wind? It goes like this".
I spent most of my youth obsessed with guitar, although I was more interested in Les Paul's than L-00's. When I was really young we only had about a half dozen records. But among them were my father's Johnny Cash, Roger Miller and Smother's Brother's records. I only realized recently that those probably cemented my tastes for country and blues.
I had some notoriety playing in bar bands around New York and Boston during my high school and college years, but by the eighties I figured I'd learned all I could and hung them up. Then, as I've heard told from several others, my daughter started to take guitar lessons......... Hanging around the local music store I decided I'd like to fiddle around with a slide guitar. After a few weeks I realized that to do so, I'd really have to learn how to finger pick after all these years. I had faked some Norman Blake and Jorma material with a flat pick years ago. To make a long story a tad shorter, I bought a mess of DVD's, stopped talking to the family for a while and acquired a bunch of guitars.
Nowadays, I'm a bit of a finger style groupie hanging at the coat tails of Woody Mann, Mike Dowling, Mary Flower, Ernie Hawkins and Steve James to name a few. Never found a workshop or a seminar I didn't like. I'm playing loads of Bluegrass, Pre War Blues and Swing. I've picked up a good bit of Dobro, Slide and Mandolin over the past couple of years. Not quite ready for gigs, but I think I'd like to before much longer.
Since I'm always looking out for a good lesson or Jam, I'll probably see you down the road. Been hanging at the IGS Forum mostly. Getting a little crowded over there. Never been to PT, but there's always next year! How about Greater Yellowstone? Whoa nelly, that's a good faculty.
Keep pick'n and grin'n.
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Have you seen Link on Quills posted by Mert?
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?Itemid=47&?topic=47.msg7521#msg7521
Also, you've now got me curious, I'd like to see a full size picture of that train ferry (pretty hard to see at that size) - so please post a full size pic if you can.
Yes, I’ve seen that quills page. It’s my next door neighbor's. The three dots on the member page representing Seattle are actually collocated within about one hundred feet!?Here is the picture: (https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sohl.com%2FKCKing%2Ftrainferry.jpg&hash=ac872a9fca1a629e42e90f0af45acccde68e5b26)
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Wow, what a great picture and a fascinating operation. KC, you used the term "train ferry" - do you mean that this was a regular ferry run for a train? and presumably some train cars? Or was it some kind of rare occassion - that they were delivering locomotives after manufacturing or something?
Thanks for posting!
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Interestingly, Slack, if you ever come to San Francisco for my Third Thursday gig, I can show you a floating dock used for loading just such rail ferries for moving freight from SF over to Oakland, and, perhaps, Marin or further up the Delta before any of the bridges were built. It juts out at an angle right in front of the boat club where I play, creating the clubs little "harbor". And you may have ridden on the actual ferries that served just that purpose, still in use up in Puget Sound after having been retrofitted for motor vehicles.. Next time you're on a ferry up there, search around the passenger area 'til you find a photo of the ship with a legend of the history of it's service.
All for now.
John C.
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Here! Here! on that one.
Boots
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Will do JohnC - you can tell I'm a desert rat, uh?
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Big fan of country blues,my favorites are Mississippi Fred ,Mississippi John Hurt,Skip James,Bukka white,Ferry Lewis,Johnny Shines, on and on, but my all time favorite is Son House! I'm new here and injoy everthing about the site.
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Welcome Bluedog!
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Hello everybody!
Just stumbled on to this site a few days ago and I can't turn it off! I never knew there were so many folks who enjoy the same music as I do. So I'll tell you a little about myself. Been playing guitar since I was twelve in one style or another but couldn't "sit down and play someone a tune " that is until I bought a cassete tape of Etta Baker's One Dime Blues! When I heard that woman play I knew thats what I'd been looking for. I taught myself how to use my thumb, bought a Gibson L-00 and haven't used a pick since. My other big influences are John Hurt (he's THE MAN!) John Dee Holeman, Roy Book Binder (bought all his instructional tapes) Merle Travis, Doc Watson and Rev. Gary Davis. Also been listening to Hugh Pool "tear it up" on his beat up old National. I'm looking forward to posting something on the back porch as soon as I can figure out how to get the music in the box!
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Welcome to Weeniecambell, Gooch. Glad you found this site. I accidentally stumbled on it myself a short time ago and find it motivating to read all the knowledgeable posts of some real blues afficiandos. Make sure to go to the member map and place your pin. I keep hoping someone from Scottsdale, AZ will join besides my self. That would be some stroke of luck but fat chance I guess.
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Welcome Gooch .. glad you found us!
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i just found it a few weeks ago, great forum. i have been soaking up all the great info. i agree about john hurt, my idol. 8)
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Welcome, dabluz!
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My name is Ron.? I've been a country blues fan for 25 plus years.? I'm an old time fiddler, but my heart is into playing blues fiddle.? However, as a country blues fiddler,? professional opportunities are limited? ;)
I was born in California, but currently reside in Western North Carolina.? I'm an Electrician and run my own business.? When I'm at home I don't get to play much, but festival season is another story.?
I? have been to Port Townsend a few times, but never to the Blues event there, just to "Fiddle Tunes"? I'd love to go to the Blues event someday...
I only recently discovered weeniecambell, thanks to a buddy of mine in MASS (hello Bill).? I've been spreading the word since I believe this to be the best website the world has ever seen :D
I have a CD soon to be available of Jug Band Music.? It has been a lifelong project of mine, and I'll be sending it to Weenie just as soon as it's in print.? ?
Nice to meet all of you
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Hey everybody,
I'm one of the original weenies and the second longest attendee to the PTCBW. I started in 1995, the second year. Only Deacon has me beat. I will go every year. I like Delta style and slide blues. Maybe with an execption, Henry Townsend and Alvin Hart. I missed Henry at the first workshop but figured out Alvin after studying with him twice.
The PTCBW is in my opinion the ABSOLUTE BEST VALUE of any workshop in the world. Where else can you mix and mingle with the "real deals" of country blues with so many of them at the same time? I perhaps push the workshop a little too much, but when you have found nirvana.....
go for it.
Lwoodblues aka Steve Garnett
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...greetings all, I'm Tom, onewent on many of the bb's that I read ... I've been reaping many of the benefits of the Weenie site and want to contribute my part to the 'who are we' list ... born and reside in PA ... grew up in the '60's with all the usual suspects as influences, first learned rudiments of guitar at 16 from a friend, got my own (Framus) a few years later, but wasn't until college (after a stint in the Army) that I became interested in fingerpicking via James Taylor, Woody Guthrie and others in the folkie genre, then my college hosted Roy BookBinder and that did it for me, country blues and a new Martin 000-28 (even though Roy was playing 30's Gibsons at the time)... over the years I've been drawn deeper and deeper into the lure of country blues and the individuals who made the music and it's been a good hobby combining history, folklore, biography, music and vintage guitars ... was a student of Ari Eisinger a few years back which pretty much showed me I was a hack and he's a genius? ^-^? but it did boost my song list greatly, and provided insights into the playing of Blake, Davis and Jefferson ... now, w/ the relatively recent acquisition of a 12-string, I'm working on Blind Willie McTell with the help of Ernie Hawkin's video ... I want to add that, of the many web forums I visit for my various interests, the Weenie forum is, by far, the most informative and friendly site I've visited ... no attitude, no hassle, no trolling, just a stand up community of folk with a common interest to share, so thanks for providing all this ... and I hope in the near future I can post some of my playing...regards, Tom
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Nice meeting you Tom, glad you found us and you are absolutely right - it is a very nice community of folks!
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Welcome Tom. I sure do envy you being a student of Ari's! His classes at Port Townsend have certainly been some of the high points for me. How do you like Ernie's McTell video? I'm waiting for the dvd (and waiting, and waiting...).
I look forward to hearing some of your playing...
Andrew
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Yo Tom,
Looks like you caught the Spirit of Weenie well: "no attitude, no hassle, no trolling, just a stand up community of folk with a common interest to share."
Enjoy!
Jed
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...thanks, all...Ernie's video is good, he very patient and plays passsages slowly enough with explanation, split screen and all ... actually, the whole video thing for me isn't all that necessary, I'd used TAB w/ audio twenty years ago and did ok w/ that ... I think I need to hear more than I need to see ... needless to say, lessons from a master player were the best...
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Howdy Folks,
I listen to the radio station all the time.
I've only posted once.
I'll try to stop by more often.
I'd like to learn to play some country blues on my guitar.
I put my guitar down years ago, and mostly forgotten what I used to know. So It'll be like starting over again.
Deadeye
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Welcome Deadeye - never too late to pick up that guitar!
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Hey Deadeye:
Pick it up. Play it! It'll satisfy your soul.
And it's great fun!
Alex
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Deadeye,
Last Fall, I was exactly where you are today: listening to the Juke a lot, lurking in the forums, but someone who had last touched my guitars 20 years ago. Finally, just before Christmas, I thought "These people sound like they're having so much FUN playing this music, I'd like to do that". I pulled out my acoustic and started trying to find 10 or 15 minutes a day just to get back into some kind of playing shape. At first, it WAS like being a beginner again. My fingers hurt, I clould barely remember the shape of an F major chord, and my two hands just refused to work together. But you get through that surprisingly quickly. Three months later I'm just having a blast playing. Go for it! You won't regret it.
One word of warning, though. I'd forgotten that with playing the guitar comes being interested in acquiring more guitars. I don't want much: a National Style N to play Blind Boy Fuller stuff, a Fraulini Angelina to play some Atlanta 12-string, one of Neil Harpe's vintage Stellas or maybe a Mike Hauver repro for everything else... $10,000 should cover that easily. ;) If only my wife could see it that way. For some reason, she thinks that retirement account should actually be for retirement... :(
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My name is Wayne, I live near Columbia Missouri. I've been playing guitar for about 2 1/2 years now and studing fingerpicking for about 1 1/2 years. Just sorta came across SG's GuitarWorkshop one day on the internet and bought a book\CD and been hooked ever since. Had never heard any of this music, the instruction CD's was my introduction. Been having a lot of fun with it ever since. Just wanted to say hello.
Wayne
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Welcome Wayne! Sounds like a good place to start!
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...welcome, Wayno, nice to see 'new' converts to the old stuff ... and one word of caution ... this stuff can be very habit forming, so go ahead, over-indulge yourself ... >:D
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Hi All,
Just wanted to say hey.....i have posts in the past, but i think this is my first post. (though i have babbled quite a bit at Stefan's woodshed)
seems like a great group here. i am so tempted to attend PT one of these summers. As it is, i attend Swananoa Gathering in Asheville, NC
during the same week. and since i live 10 minutes from that camp and work on the campus where SG is held, it is hard to beat that! This will be my 7th year.
But i do look forward to attending PT soon.
the thread on recording classes and mini discs has been very helpful.
i have many years od class tape ona cheap recorder, and some are so broken up is is painful to listen to. the MD recordings are clear as day.
plus you can go back after the fact, insert track marks as you review the class, erase and delete the useless stuff out....and after a few days of music, beer and no sleep....there are some digressions having nothing to do with music!
they are actually good, just to give people a break form concentrating....
and although tape and analog does the trick...and rewiding is not such an ordeal, the ability to instantly access a part of class and create a trak mark there is really really usiseful when you have over 25 hours of recorded material.
best regrds,
i look forward to joining in on the chat.
Rob
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Welcome Rob - thanks for De-lurking! ;)
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welcome Rob!
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Welcome!
Asheville and a Gathering, must be Fiddle and Country String Band Music. Sounds great.
Suzy Thompson (fiddle) and her husband Eric (guitar, mando), here in Berkeley, are really into
old time and string band music, calls his group the Thompson Ticklers I think. If she goes through your area, definitely go to hear her. She is terrific, great projecting voice, real old feeling for the ladies and their blues tunes from the Pre-War period.
Met a fiddler in the East Bay (SF) Old Time Music Scene a few weeks back, and he turned me onto some jams and potlucks for that type of music. Sounds great...if only there were time!
Yet, time or not, PT is my first priority, every summer. Like a tonic! Like a immunization! It keeps me going for a year, full of love for the music, tons on MD o learn, great moments with old friends, capital beverages and libations, cool instruments and tunes played together, great cameraderie! You gotta come on out sometime.
Buzz
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Rob,
Swananoa looks fun; if you have any energy left at the end of the week, maybe you can fly out w/Steve James to make PTCBW this time!
In the meantime, have a ball on the site - check out the lyrics discussions, Weenie recordings on the Back Porch, originals on the Juke. And feel free to babble here, too - it's half the fun!
Cheers,
Jed
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welcome. I'm new here as well and have found everyone to be great.
MH
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thanks for the greetings :)
Steve James....that guy is one of the best teachers i have ever taken class with.
even if he is sort of quite and shy! hehe
truth is, i have never seen a person with so much energy, knowledge,
and the clarity to convey all he knows.
i took his blues mando class last summer.....never touched a mandolin before in my life...and managed to learn the tunes pretty well until mid week when info over load and sleep deprivation rendered me useless other than have fun at classes, record them, and hit the beer wagon at night.
highly recommended teacher! any others out there take his classes
or worked with his videos?
robster
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Oh, yeah! StevJam is an eloquent didact! Weenies have been feted by his classes nearly every year PT has been going. By the way, equal to Mr. James in clarity and interest are his own touring pal Del Rey (who can teach a 3-year old to fingerpick) and John Miller, who (JohnM, you can close your ears for this part) is not only a natural fountain of music but inspires students to go practice immediately after his classes about some of the most obscure artists and tunes.
And think about this, robster - you can only experience all of them at PT!
Cheers,
Jed
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Too right!
For example:last summer when I left PT, I had MDs (to learn :P) of 4-6 tunes on mando by Rich del Grosso in class , a few from Lightnion'Wells class on BBFuller, a bunch of tunes broken down by John Miller--some arcane and remarkable tunes--on guitar, a few Memphis Minnie tunes from Del Rey's classes. Jeesh, so much material, so little time!
More fun coming soon!
Buzz
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Well, somewhere in these pages I remember posting...now I cannot find my own intro... garsh, getting old is fun! ;) Anyhow, I'm "Fiddlin' Blues" living in North Carolina, playing blues fiddle when I can and currently pushing the chat room with no luck. I talked to Slack today and mentioned the chat room again. We discussed setting up a topic and perhaps meeting on Sundays. How about it? Anyone think it's a good idea? If you don't, then don't vote on the issue... ;)
-FB
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Hello all!
I`m a newbie. I got the link to this site from Roger Stolle`s "Cathead" newsletter. I could hardly believe I have been missing out for so long. I`m a "baby boomer" who currently lives in Boston, MA. While I was born here, I spent much of my adult life in East Texas, the Florida Keys and the White Mts of NH. I have played guitar and harmonica as a hobby for too many years to count. I have been a country Blues fanatic for just as long. I am currently planning to move to the Delta. I have spent vacations in the Delta at the King Biscuit Fest for 6 years now, and love the lifestyle and the people there. So, this year, when I go, I`m staying!
I play a mid-priced Martin 16GT and 2 Fender resonators (one metal, one wood). I stick to acoustic Blues, but occasionally play amplified harp with a band. I sometimes play harp-in-a-rack and am experimenting with a a harmonica rack mic and pre-amp set-up.
I`m looking forward to getting to know some folks here and know I`ll surley make some online friends here.
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Welcome Junior!
What is "Cathead " newsletter? is this an internet newsletter?
Cheers,
slack
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Slack
Try over at: http://www.cathead.biz/livemusic
Cheers.
Steve
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Hey Junior, Welcome to the place.. I'm new too, been lurking and listening to Weenie Juke Radio for a while now. But, fairly new to the forum.
I live in the Mississippi Delta.... Don't you know it gets hot here. Then its Floods, Tornados.
Vacationing in the Delta? (** Scratching my head**) After living here all my life.. That just sounds strange.
Things are changing, I guess. And I do attend every blues fest that happens nearby.. ( The recent Juke Joint Fest was a blast)
Well Anyway.. Welcome to the Delta..
Deadeye
Greenwood, MS
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Well, Deadeye, I lived in East Texas for 10 years and in Florida for more than a decade, so I do know about the heat! I love going to the Delta and have made some friends around Clarksdale over the years. I like the southern-country lifestyle.Believe me, if you spent any time living in a place like Boston or NYC, you`d be pining for Greenwood!! Imagne what 30 inches of snow in a big city is like!
Actually, I am hoping to start a BBQ vending service, traveling the Blues festival circuit, so during the height of summer, I will be in the northeast and midwest. (I am a chef by trade.) I was hoping to start it up this year, but "the best-laid plans of mice and men......."
About the "Cathead" newsletter:
Roger Stolle owns the "Cathead Blues and Folk Art Store" in Clarksdale, MS, and he puts out a great little weekly newsletter covering all things Blues in the Delta and Memphis area. His website is http://www.cathead.biz (Where he has some very interesting "stuff" for sale, as well as hard to find Blues CDs.) Roger will soon be taking the reins on the "Blues In The Delta" column in Blues Revue and acts as booking agent for The Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.You can subscribe to the newsletter by simply sending an e-mail to roger@cathead.biz
No, I`m not on his payroll, LOL!
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Hey all!
I'm new to the Weenie roll & forum.
My name is Chris Nightbird, and I play 12- string & slide guitar. I'm also a singer, who writes songs with my wife Brigitte.
I'm inspired by people like Son House, Robert Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell. And I live for Country Blues!
I love the Juke!
Best music I've heard on any site, or on the radio for that matter.
Hope to talk to y'all soon...
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Junior, where in FL.
I'm up in N. FL north left of G-ville.
doug
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Welcome Chris!
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Hi all I thought I'd introduce myself after lurking here for some time
I'm a country blues fanatic and player of 25 years, living in Canada.
I play mostly bootleneck on National guitars,and a coulpe of old beaters!
I look forward to talking CB related stuff with you all!
Kenny, :D
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Welcome, indeed, Kenny!
I love the photo of Son House you have on the left of your sign-in! Great and powerful, like the man and his voice. :D
Miller
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wow, what a bunch of nuts, i feel like i've found a whole huge honkin' branch of my family tree here...
anyway, depending on how you know me i'm either skip, or mark, or bro' mark, or mandolin slut, or a couple of other names.
i'm 42 and first played the guitar from about 12 to 19, when i abandoned it in frustrastion and disgust....i had taken lessons for about 5 of those years and always felt that they kinda ruined me. in my twenties i took up the drums, which turned into a pretty obsessive thing for years, but mostly i played at home --the objective was to see how good i'd get if i just gave it the time, and i got pretty good. someday i'll write a book about everything i learned about music from all that drumming, it was like a spiritual journey...no it wasn't "like" it at all, it WAS a very spiritual process.
anyway, the blues.
i've always been a huge music fan, listening to all kinds of stuff, but the blues --or otherwise old-timey music-- simply never resonated with me, i appreciated it as the source of lots of music i love, but listening to old music always felt like going to museum, and i've known my share of record geeks so i've had many experiences of people sitting me down with a stack of old records and trying to get me into the blues. basically i think blues was just way far away from my life as a white suburban kid growing up near washington dc...i was all about rock and roll, rock, pop, punk, industrial, electronic, whatever --new stuff.
like any good record geek i bought the robert johnson discs when they came out, and i'd tack him into mix tapes for friends and stuff, but i didn't really listen to him, i didn't hear him. anyway, about 7 years ago i decided that i was gonna give myself a summer vacation, a couple months off to just do whatever, but to also get some writing done. so i got in a routine of writing 8-10 hours a day, and while i write i usually listen to music, music that i'm very familiar with so it's not a distraction. now on a record buying spree i had picked up, totally on a whim, the 'georgia blues' yazoo collection, and i had it on heavy rotation in my car...and it was really getting under my skin, but i couldn't write with it playing. so i was getting intrigued by this blues thing, and i started listening to robert johnson, being very familiar with him i could easily tune him out. so a couple days of nothing but robert johnson while i wrote and i had my epiphany --at about 2am i sat back from the typewriter for a smoke and the first disc was just repeating back to the top, kindhearted woman, and i just fell right into it --i got it. it was all over. for about 2 weeks poor bob and the georgia blues was all i listened to, i never turned the cd off, it was 24/7.
i was in this place that i'd been in before, i mean it was a lot like when i fell in love with the beatles, or when i 'got' jazz, or classical, or whatever, i'd known this kind of intensity but there was something different about this, i wanted to do it myself, i wanted to play. i really didn't know anything about old blues so i went to the library and found peter guarlnick's 'search for robert johnson,' which is a very quick read and took some notes. then, for the first time in my life, i went to tower records with a list in my hand --shame-- and wandered into the blues section. booker white, skip james, tampa red, son house, charlie patton, memphis minnie.
and it was all over.
for about 2 years i was literally unable to listen to music later than the 1940's or so, and i lived around 1930. but almost immediately i started playing guitar again, primarily slide and some fingerpicking stuff, but all in open tunings. and about 9 months after my burning bush i got a national, and about a year later a dobro, and then about 4 years ago the mandolin invaded my life and has become my main instrument, and for a little over two years i have been obsessing on the fiddle. i have way too much old time music, but i can't get enough. a couple years ago i went to mecca, i spent 12 hours in joe bussard's basement.
and i play out all the time now, either gigging or get togethers, jams (like archie edwards barbershop here in dc http://www.acousticblues.com/ --i'm shooting a documentary about the place now after going for about 3 years) music has transformed my life so much it amazes me, and i listen to all kinds of old recordings now, but it always comes back to the blues.
when i 'got' the blues i simply understood that it's essentially very straightforward music informed by the boundless complexity of being human...and i simply HAD to start playing it, i simply had to find my voice, finally, in this amazing music.
so that's pretty much me, in a nutshell, when it comes to country blues.
lately i'm crazy into frank stokes and the jsp memphis box.
skip
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Hi All,
I'm new to the site and still learning how to do stuff. I was intrigued with the evolution of fingerpicking topics that I'm discovering. I'm aware of the Sebastapol blues and Spanish Fandango and did find some prints of the sheet music at Library of congress. this banjoesque tuning and parlor guitar arrangements are really a find not to mention the incredible wealth of music we have to listen to here. I fully support the site and will certainly contribute with buying accessories and other memorabilia. thanks for the resources.
Darrylhill
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Welcome Darryl! Weenie flyswatters: no self-respecting country blues fan should be without one...
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Howdy - Joe here, from Houston.? I stumbled across this site looking for free country/acoustic blues tab, and have been enjoying it quite a bit.
My guitar history goes way back into the mid '70s, when I was about 8 years old and my parents gave me a beat-up nylon stringed guitar cast off by another neighborhood kid.? After I scrapped off the Led Zepplin sticker stuck to the top, it looked pretty sweet except for the deep gouges I put there getting the sticker off.? Applying my usual perserverence and focus, by the late 1980's I had learned to tune the guitar, but little else.? I took classical guitar lessons in college, but basically packed my guitar away after graduation for the better part of the last 14 years.? Took it out again last December, made a switch to steel strings, and I've been playing daily since then.? I'm playing a mix of blues, country flatpicking, fingerstyle solo pieces, and your basic mix of CNS&Y, Simon & Garfunkle, etc.
I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to do almost nightly unpaid gigs for my kids, who are two and four years old respectively and generally lack the physical strength to make me stop unless they work together.
Great site.? Looking forward to getting to know y'all.
Best,
Joe
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I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to do almost nightly unpaid gigs for my kids, who are two and four years old respectively and generally lack the physical strength to make me stop unless they work together.
ooh, you're so lucky - mine are nearly 10 and 12 and old enough to think dad is a certifiable nut case and generally ignore me when I have a guitar (which, curiously, is most of the time... but itjust causes me to make up more horrible blues lyrics about them until they can ignore me no longer).
tom
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I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to do almost nightly unpaid gigs for my kids, who are two and four years old respectively and generally lack the physical strength to make me stop unless they work together.
ooh, you're so lucky - mine are nearly 10 and 12 and old enough to think dad is a certifiable nut case and generally ignore me when I have a guitar (which, curiously, is most of the time... but itjust causes me to make up more horrible blues lyrics about them until they can ignore me no longer).
tom
My younger daughter is named Hollis. I can't wait for the chance to play the Ballad of Hollis Brown when she brings home a boy for her first date.
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shortgun
That you're holdin' in your hand.
That ought to impress the lad.
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Hell all, I'm Geff, 19 years, blues fanatic since the the water popped. Charlie Patton is the living son of God and I'm hear to spread the word.
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv232%2Fsoulrevolution%2FCHARLEYPATTON-GREENRIVERBLUES.jpg&hash=3de00b747b47a19c684f519b9045d796193657de)
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Welcome Geff! However, you'll be preaching to the choir. ;)
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Hi everyone! I've been a member for a while but have not answered roll-call until now - sorry, sarge!
My name is Gerry, I'm 57 years old and live in Yorkshire, England. For 30 years I taught Religious Studies, English and modern languages in a variety of schools until health problems led to an early retirement in 2002. I used to be married and I have three great grown up kids - my youngest just graduated from Liverpool University with a 2:1 degree in Philosophy and Music.
I've played guitar since I was 17, having fallen for music via the Beatles and early folkie stuff. I was turned on to the blues by a jazz-loving school pal; I'd go round to his house and listen to Miles and Coltrane and the MJQ. This guy's brother was in the army, stationed in Germany, and used to bring records home, many of which he'd obtained from the GIs across the road. One bundle contained a 10-inch [!!] album by Brownie and Sonny, another by Lightnin' and a third by Big Bill... OK, OK, I'll come quietly.
I've played in all sorts of bands over the years - rock 'n' roll, country, Irish rock, school musical production orchestras (great if you want to learn to play in keys such as A-flat and D-flat), church groups etc, but I've always preferred solo work. Since I retired I've been out and about playing blues in clubs and pubs and the occasional festival - check out www.blacksheepbrewery.com/musicfestival for the one I just got back from...
These days I live on my own in a house with an attic converted to a sort of studio where I recorded my CD (check out www.NetRhythms.com for a review) and keep my collection of guitars: my Ol' Faithful, a Yamaha FG 340-II I've had over 20 years, a Yamaha 410-12A twelve-string, a Martin 000-1, an Ozark 3515 single-cone resophonic and my pride and joy, a new Martin 000-28. I'm saving up to buy a National.
Favourite artists from the past would be Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Big Bill, Sonny & Brownie and Blind Willie McTell; from the present, Martin Simpson, Steve James, Gary Boyle, John Hammond, Rory Block and Hans Theessink. Local heroes include my former teacher Roger Sutcliffe, Brendan Croker and the redoubtable Steve Phillips.
Well, I'm goin', yes goin', and yo' cryin' won't make me stay; I'm going to a Woody Mann seminar next week and I gotta get my string fingers oily and limber.
Cheerily,
Gerry C
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Hello all,
I'm very new to the site--only just a few days--but registered after being lead here by google searches for lyrics and tabs for tunes by Arthur Pettis and Sam Collins. This must be the place!
In real life I am Tom, living in Ohio, married, with one college-age daughter. To pay the bills and support my extra-curricular activities, I work in administration at a university. Now for the fun stuff...
I apologize in advance for my choice of a username; I did not see until after I registered that another very similar one has been in use among this group. Let it be suffice to say that this name was given to me by friends. Maybe I'll tell why later. I will be happy to change my moniker out of respect to Pony Boy the Elder if need be.
I will be 47 in less than a month, and have played around with the guitar since I was ten. So, not quite a bonifide child of the sixties, but most of my childhood was spent in the sixties! I prefer acoustic, both strumming and finger-picking; also play electric; can sing fairly well, play harp a bit, and used to play fiddle years ago. While I am essentially a hobbyist guitar player, it is a wonderful creative outlet for me. My interests in music are far and wide, but I am partial to "roots music," particularly blues, and even more narrowly, for lack of a better term, "classic blues," which in my definition at least, includes country blues.
Like others at my age, I'm sure, my encounters with the blues, music in general, and guitar playing, have progressed with starts and stops, often interrupted by detours in musical interests and life's other pursuits. However, these, like all true learning experiences, build upon one another, layer upon layer. I grew up with the whole 60s/70s music experience--folk, rock, acid rock, blues, soul, etc. First I was into rock and blues rock. Later I was into what was contemporary folk. I tried my hand at song writing. In the early 80s I met a local blues/jazz/folk guitarist who played the clubs. He was kind enough to let me play a bit on one of his set and thus began my few years of public performance. For several years this fellow provided me with a wealth of guidance and tips on playing, people, and the music scene in general. I've made a few pilgrimages to the Delta. Helped found a local blues society. Fairly recently, spent about a half a year of Friday nights in a garage band, playing whatever we felt like, and never having any intention of getting out of the garage!
In addition to playing and learning the music itself, I have a number of related peripheral distractions (interests): cultural history of the South, the Sixties, and the African-American experience; culinary arts in general, but more on topic as it relates to "anything southern" which generously includes soul food, Creole, Cajun, Floridian melting pot, home-style, BBQ, grilling, smoking, and "just plain good"; and reading and listening widely around related roots music areas such as bluegrass, folk, early country, rockabilly, "things played on elderly instruments," as well as their respective locales, histories, and cultural environments. ("This guy just can't focus.")
These days I have the luxury (or handicap) of over 30 years of musical hindsight, and enough empty-nester leisure time (when the "honey do" list for our 100+ year old house doesn't distract me) to concentrate on learning and playing music I never had the time to, or didn't know about when I had the time. Currently, that means Charley Patton, Paul Rishell, Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis, etc. And that brings me to this discussion group and web site, where I look forward to more of what I've seen in only this short time.
Cheers,
Tom ("Ponyboy")
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Welcome Tom!
Thanks for the nice introduction and good to have yet another unfocused member of our karass. (this seems to be a new word that's going around, a bit more dignified somehow than "weenie"). You have excellent taste in music, culture and food. ;D
Don't worry about your user name -- I think you can easily lay claim to it. The other "Poney Boy" has not logged in for 6 months -- and stayed just long enough to make 5 posts. You'll be the elder in no time.
BTW, how did you get the name Pony Boy? (which conjurs up a 'stick horse' to me)
Cheers,
slack
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You'll be the elder in no time.
How can you say that? He's another bloody youngster. ;)
Hi! there Tom. Glad you joined us.
Edited: Doggy (sic) spelling
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Thanks for the welcome Slack and Boots.
BTW, how did you get the name Pony Boy? (which conjures up a 'stick horse' to me)
I'll try to be brief. Over ten years ago, my wife and daughter conspired to convince me with all their feminine wiles that I needed to buy a really nice horse for daughter to show on the hunter/jumper circuit. Being the son of a pipe fitter, and third generation Polish American, I was raised to think that bowling was the most noble sport! The whole English riding thing was lost on me; and the cost of the horse, board, vet, lessons, exhibit shows...well, I think you get the drift.
I made my first trip to the Delta with a good friend who was fortunate enough to have been around Chicago when Muddy, Wolf, Butter, and Bloomfield played the clubs. He had invited his 20-something year old son on the trip, who was in a band, and was "going down south with pops and one of his old buddies" to "learn something." After hearing me curse and whine more than once about "the hoofed money pit," the young man dubbed me "Pony Boy." It stuck and once the word got around, anyone knowing me in relation to music, calls me that. Even after daughter found cars, boys, and college more interesting, and I was -- "sigh" -- forced to sell the horse, the name stayed.
There're worse nicknames, I suppose. And yes, Slack, it certainly conjures up stick horse. But the young man who named me--lead singer and harp player for a crazed neo-metal-thrash-grunge-blues band--nodded knowingly at me and said: "Dude, you just don't know. 'Pony Boy,.'" he hissed with emphasis. " Like, it could mean ANYTHING, man!" I'm not sure I liked that it could mean "anything" but I had to admit: the mystique with which he imbued the name was somewhat appealling (and, I obviously can't be brief ;-> ).
Cheers.
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Heh, thanks Tom - enjoyed the story!
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Hi All,
I'm new here but old elsewhere ;-) I've been listening and playing the country blues for 15 ish years now. I play electrcally in pubs but prefer my cheap acoustic guitar collection to play in the jam. I prefer the delta style and am working on the confidence to start singing (o dear).As well as picking and sliding I also play a banjo, english dance and folk on an anglo concertina and blow a harp. I'm keen on jamming and swapping tunes and joining in.
Anyone know of a juke in Beds? Well, theres always hope...
James
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Welcome James!
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thats tight Slack, thanks.
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Anyone know of a juke in Beds? Well, theres always hope...
James
I think there could well be a Weenie quite close. I think there is one in Northampton (appologies for not having a name to hand) :-[
http://www.bedfordunplugged.co.uk/ (http://www.bedfordunplugged.co.uk/)
Boots
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si is in Nothhamptonshire
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=74&action=profile;u=645
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Cheers Slack, I should have recalled. (Sorry Si).
If we ever get the map back...........
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thanks for the tip, i'll be sure to check some of this stuff out.
james
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I've been meaning to post this for awhile but haven't gotten around to it. So here it is....
I'm 21 years old and I started playing guitar when I was around 15. For the first year or so all I really played was punk rock songs ( I was a skateboarder ). One day I was visiting with a friend of mine who started playing guitar at the same time I did, and he played the intro for "Texas Flood" by SRV for me. It blew me away! I said "you gotta teach me that" so he did. He also showed a Chuck Berry style 12bar pattern and the lick from johnny be good. After that I went home and looked through my parents' cd collection and sure enough
I found SRV's greatest hits.
A few months later my friend moved to Texas and I didn't know anyone else who played guitar but I wanted to learn more blues music. Now that I was playing by myself it was more difficult to do the electric lead guitar stuff. So my dad gave me a cd to listen to by a guy named Robert Johnson. It was awesome!! I got an acoustic guitar and a Lightnin' Hopkins cd next and went to work using my ear and any acoustic blues tabs/books/videos I could find. I met two people in town that knew something about country/delta blues.....
one of which is dead now. The late Banjo Dan introduced me to the music of Roy Bookbinder and gave me a copy of his instructional video Vol. 1.
After I saw that Book video it was over for me man. I've been hooked on country blues ever since. I listen to other music too but I mostly play country blues and sometimes I play songs out of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine (modern stuff mostly but cool). I found out about this site from a link on Stefan Grossman's woodshed. He makes great lessons for people. I only have a few of them.....John Hurt 1 and 2, Elizabeth Cotten, Bo Carter, Country Blues Guitar (3 dvd set), and The Art of Fingerstyle Guitar. I've worked through the songs on all of these videos and now I'm using my ear to figure out songs until I can save some more money to buy more DVDs.
Anyway, it's been nice talking with you, but that's all for now.
Kenny
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Great to have you with us, Kenny.
Alex
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Welcome Kenny! You have cool parents. :)
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By way of introduction, I just returned from my first time as a singer at Blues Week and haven't quite landed yet. What an amazing time... How many weeks until nest year???
JTBlue
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Welcome JTBlue!
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Looks like Mary Flower is now among us--Welcome! (Why does the word "slumming" suddenly come to mind?? ;)--just kidding!!)
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Hiya!
I have finally joined this forum. I recognize some of your names, and many of you will recognize my handle, from a couple of other forums I participate in. I was lucky to get the same handle here. No one can impersonate me! I'm one of a kind. ;D
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Welcome to WC Easy Rider!
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My name is John, 51 years old and live in Macclenny, Florida, about 5 min from the GA. line. Been playing the guitar since I was 13. Got hooked on the Blues when I lived in England as a teen listening Mike Raven's R and B program on the beeb in the early 70's. Just got DSL and I'm finally able to hear the Weenie Juke. It's the first thing I now go to when I turn on my computer so I can listen to the country blues while I surf..
I play blues and old school country on my Gibson SJ and National Delphi. I like the slide guitar style delta blues like Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, etc. as well as the country blues picking styles of Furry Lewis and Rev. Gary Davis.
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Welcome John! Glad you got the Juke going!
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Hey Bluesdog give me a call and we'll pick some.
I'm in Bell with a Branford number you know the area code, 935-0289
Doug
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Nice to be reminded of Mike Raven's programme. I was an avid listener back then. The Peeler had a good show around that time.
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Hi! I'm Bob from Lyman, NH. Have been playing guitar on and off since I was a youngster. I'm just a parlour picker but find playing a great stress reliever from my job as a network administrator. Having returned from my 3rd trip to PT and hearing about WeenieCampbell.com it was the first place I visited when I booted up my computer upon my return home. Awesome site - It has become addictive.
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Welcome Bob!
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I am a new member in Raleigh, NC. Over the years, I have played guitar and piano, though not really very well. Now I am concentrating on the mandolin, and yes, playing blues on the mandolin. I listen to a lot of Yank Rachell, Johny Young and Howard Armstrong. I do some porch picking with two neighbors who play guitar, though one brings a banjo instead sometimes. We play blues and some blues inspired classic rock. We are thinking of doing a 3 song set at our local blues jam one of these days. My pick will definitely be an acoustic contry blues selection. Lately I have been playing the juke box here and trying to play along. It's not trivial; a lot of the songs seem to have a different tuning and are "unfindable" with A=440 tuning.
-Andy
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Andy.
Seems like we're getting more mando players lately, which is great.
A couple of factors that may affect the tuning on recordings are that the recording speed may have been a little off or that the musicians tuned to each other, but not to a tuning fork. Sometimes it sounds like they didn't even tune to each other, eh?
Another thing to be aware of is that Yank often tuned his mando down to E instead of G because E was a favored key of many guitarists.
All for now.
John C.
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I had heard that about Yank's tuning. I am all too familiar with how much guitarists like the key of E. I can do a reasonable 12 bar using a barred A and B with an open E but when you throw in the alternating 7ths it doesn't sound quite as good. I can also take the whole progression an octave higher but that has its own problems. If they want me to carry rhythm really well, we play in G!
-Andy
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Hello. Another new member from Raleigh NC. Having grown up in New Orleans, I'm constanly surprised by the depth of great music here in the Triangle NC area.
I'm a beginner blues guitar player, having taken some lessons from a great young local player, Tad Walters, and now trying to slog through some of Stefan Grossman's instructional dvds. I really enjoy the jukebox, and listening to a range of music from old New Orleans jazz, country and ragtime blues, through electric Chicago blues to some of the rawer hill country blues. It's all good!
Hello to Andy. Let me know when you guys are heading over to the blues jam here. I'd love to meet up.
Thanks. Stephen
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Stephen,
I PM'ed you about emailing me for some specific local info. Have you found the local blues org?
http://www.triangleblues.com/ (http://www.triangleblues.com/)
Right on the front page is an add for the Bluesfest downtown (such as it is ;) but that's one of the things I like about "Rawlee") on Oct 1st. I am planning to go to that. I am not really very good yet, but I jam with a couple of neighbors who are very good.
-Andy
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Welcome Stehpen and Andy!
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Welcome fellars!
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Well, I have lurked for a short time and registered today. I'm John, I'm 55, and I live in Seattle. I used to play autoharp and guitar when I was a Montessori teacher. At that point, I had lots of buddies, mostly other guitarists. and we would get together and play fairly regularly. As my job and location changed, I lost playing partners and stopped playing. Twenty years later, one of the lost guys moves to Spokane (about 6 hours away). HE had kept playing all these years, and besides being an accomplished player, is very generous with time and help. [I should insert here that our wives like each other, etc.] So, I started playing again about 2 years ago.
I was told my old Takamine would take ~$200-300 to fix, so I bought a Martin DM which I love dearly. Then a year later, my Dad told me to take his old Martin--he was not using it any more; this was about 8 months before his death. It is a 0018 (?), smaller than the DM, from 1952, with some playing scratches and such, but a wonderful balanced tone and surprising volume. (It is a much better guitar than I am a player!)
I confess to not listening only to Country Blues, though I have been playing the Juke quite a bit. I like Gillian Welch (and especially David Rawling's playing), and David Lindley, who is pretty hard to put in a category, and the Kitchen Syncopaters...
Thanks to all for a great site and the Juke!
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Welcome LosFossil!
Gald you found your guitar again.. and don't feel guilty about listening to other stuff - I think we all do. :P However, you are so close to Seattle that you have no excuse NOT to attend the Port Townsend workshop.
Cheers,
slack
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Hello Folks,
I thought, since I've taken to lurking in your neighborhood, I'd best introduce myself.
I'm a 42 year old factory worker from KY.? I've played Spanish classical since around '98 and really hit a hard limit a couple of years ago.? I practiced everyday and saw no improvement.? I kept asking, "What does it feel like to really 'Play'?"? Finally, after much soul searching,? I decided I wasn't 'connecting' with the music.? Technically I could get through the pieces, but I just didn't care.
I continued playing, only I limited it music based on Latin folk rhythms, music I really liked.? Also, during my self discovery period, I re-discovered (here's where you guys come in) my love of ragtime and country blues.?
My first every memory of country blues was a couple of an early George Thorogood tracks? (John Hardy and Wanted Man).? I listened to a lot of electric blues from that period.? For years I could only catch an occasion glimpse of the "good stuff".? I'd hear Leon Redbone and think, "D*mn, thats a cool sound."?
'Till finally I've been saved by the internet.
I've picked up a cheap steel string (Hohner HF-75 12-clear slothead) that seems serviceable and am working on integrating what I already know with the acoustic guitar.? The are alot of similarities and a lot of differences, but all I really know is that I have awakened an ache to play.
Gosh, I feel like I jut stood up at an AA meeting.? " Hello.? My name is Byron and I'm a country-rag Weenie."
Regards,? Byron
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Welcome to Weenie, Byron. That's a great story. Fire away with any questions you may have for source and learning materials.
We make a big effort here to get over the hump of learning to recognize what is being played by ear, but it's fine to start out with tab or other formats. You might want to try downloading John Miller's free lesson teaching a couple of Ed bell's strangely beautiful tunes in E. Look in the thread on Online Audio Lessons.
With your skills from classical playing you shouldn't have too much difficulty making the transition to country blues. Changing your hand position to allow you to damp the bass strings at the bridge with the heel of your hand, and loosening up your grip so that you can wrap your left thumb around to fret the bass string are the two major changes, but you are probably already aware of those?
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Byron - thanks for de-lurking!
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Thanks for the welcomes.
John...You folks have been answering my questions for quite a bit now thanks the search function! The expertise here is amazing. But, I'll try to play an active role.
I have two of John M's lesson in mind (not including the ear training session). I still have the guitar on my left leg, although it is sinking lower and more parallel. I'm trying to just take it easy. My main concerns are to get a grip on the fundamentals and listening (listening,listening).
Thanks again.
Byron
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No reason to change your guitar position. Left leg is where I play mine, as do many around here, even John M. Far better for your posture. I was having medial nerve issues (a component of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and was advised to switch to the "Classical" position to get better posture. Really helped.
All for now.
John C.
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Greetings and Salutations,
I've been listening to WC on a regular basis for about the last year and feel it's finally time to emerge from lurker status. I've really enjoyed the music and the discourse going on in the forums. I thought I'd take this opportunity to briefly share my own personal history and path to Weenie-dom.
I suppose the genesis of my interests in the blues is similar to many others out there: I took a couple months of guitar as a kid, but gave it up because of slow progress and other competing interests. Got into hard rock as teenager with an emphasis on Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Hendrix, and the Doors. The music of those bands sparked an interest in blues greats like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James. Music remained a casual interest while I went to school and found a career and started a family. Having finally become more settled in life I decided I wanted to pick up the guitar again (essentially, starting from square one, having retained no ability from previous lessons). During this time I had also acquired the Robert Johnson boxed set, which in turn prompted an exploration of the works of Skip James, Son House, and Charley Patton. I had always enjoyed acoustic roots-type music and was intrigued by the possibility of learning some of the songs that so influenced the electric blues and rock I had been listening to during my young adulthood. My progress in developing any decent guitarskills has been pretty slow but steady. I've learned a handful of songs from one of Steve James' instructional books (Crow Jane, Take Me Back, Sugar Babe) as well as some Mississippi John Hurt songs via Happy Traum's DVD. Visits to the forum to eavesdrop on the discussions have kept me motivated in hopes developing an 'ear' for the music and become less reliant on mechanical rote memorization.
I don't remember exactly how or when I found Weenie Campbell - it was probably via websearch for lyrics or TABs - but have turned several friends and relatives to Juke Radio since then. It's great to have access to a community with such devotion to this cool, fun music and to be able to hear some of this great rare music while I work (and surf the web).
I'm definitely interested in hearing from other members of this forum who might be in my neck of the woods (mid-central Minnesota - Brainerd area).
Looking forward to more great music and good cheer from WC and community.
Greg
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Welcome Greg! Thanks for coming out of lurkdom. If folks start posting their pins to the Member Map -- maybe it will be easy to locate someone in your neck of the woods. Otherwise, Port Townsend is a great way to ramp up your enthusiasm and connect with other players.
Cheers,
slack
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Slack,
Thanks for the prompt welcome. Definitely plan to take attend PT in the future. I've got a long way to go, though, before I'm willing to inflict my musicianship on the general public. I'm giving myself a 2-3 year timeline. By the way, what is the web address that would get me more info on PT?
Greg
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Port Townsend (http://www.centrum.org/)
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Howdy all,
I'm a new Weenie and am really enjoying this site...it is a wonderful resource for new converts like myself. I came to the country blues through Mississippi John Hurt...the first time I heard "candy man" I was hooked. I've been playing myself for less than a year but have a songs that sound almost credible...to myself at least. I live in VT and am trying to find like minded musicians in the area with little success so far.
Cheers for now,
Blue inVT
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Welcome Blue in VT!
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Hi
Since I'm new here, I thought it would be polite to introduce myself, before I start pestering you all with my zillion questions.
My name is Pan Salmenhaara, I'm 43 years old and have been playing guitar with varying succes for about 25 years. I'm from Finland (!), so I hope you'll excuse me for my occasional bad english.
I've been playing in all sorts of blues and jazz bands, but somewhwere in the back of my skull there's always been the idea that there's plenty of more good acoustic stuff to be found out there, than my few old scratchy Folkways records.
Your site is amazing! I've never found so much information about CB music in one place in my entire life!
I think I found out about you through mr. Ari Eisingers' site, can't be sure anymore.
I wish you all a very good new year 2006!
Pan
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Hello Pan - welcome to WeenieCampbell! glad you found us.
I may be sticking my foot in my mouth - but isn't Hans Theessink from Finland? Hans is a very accomplished CB player.
In any case, Happy Holidays and New Year to you and your family!
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...welcome, Pan ... best site on the web for CB ... and don't worry about your English, because it's better our Finnish ... ;)
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Come to think of it...
There's a finnish band which may be of some interest with you guys. I'm talking about a band called The Wentus Blues Band, which has co-worked with Louisiana Red. I don't know if the result can be called country blues, 'cause I've never heard them, and I suppose they are basically an electric band.
Pan
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Welcome Pan! Better English than Slack, anyways... >:D
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Howdy:
Geez, tough crowd.
Unkie Bud is evil!
Happy New Year all. I'm hunkered down with my L-00 and my 2-17, Tryin' to get FS's Nehi Mamma Blues.
Welcome Pan!
Alex
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Hi. My name is Roscoe and I just found you all. I have been playing this kind of music since my big sis gave me a Newport Folk Fest album in the early 60's. It had John Hurt on it and I was a gonner from then on. I live in Eureka Springs Arkansas and if there are any other CB nuts round here lets get together and pick a tune. I like to play clawhammer banjo and old timey too. Thanks and the juke radio is a gas.
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Welcome Roscoe!
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From Atlanta area. Focused 95% acoustic and play limited professional appearances. Trying to completely reinvent my playing and Weenie Campbell and the people here have been a wonderful resource. I've never met many people that like to talk about this stuff or know more than I do. So now coming to this place I am almost overloaded with good information and to be honest it's hard to make an intelligent post in this mix but I will enjoy reading, learning and trying to chime in from time to time. Thanks recently for all the help on the licks, lyrics and lessons. Johnm and others have been a fresh breeze.
Doug
LB
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I'm loving this website! I lurked here as a guest for several months, logged in, and have now lurked here for another several weeks, and thought I would finally post. :D
I'm in my mid-30s, have played guitar for about 15 years, and have loved blues for about 10 years. But until recently there hasn't been a lot of connection between the two.
I started playing guitar to play choruses in our church, so basic chording. Later on, I decided to play through the hymn book, and decided to try to start reading music and playing notes... and this is what I mostly play now.
Along the way I got into blues music, through listening to Clapton, and then listening to his influences. I (basically) grew out of Clapton, and kept his influences. When the online music subscription service e-music was still offering "unlimited" downloads, I downloaded everything I thought I might be interested in for three months, and let my tastes sort through it...They had (have?) some amazing offerings! I'm a big fan of pre-war acoustic blues, piedmont finger-picking, and "holy blues" (Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, etc.).
Recently I decided to try to start learning how to play some of the blues I like, so I've just started an introductory lesson from Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. While there, I discovered the Woodshed (wonderful), which led me here! I've really enjoyed reading and learning here the past while... there's so much I never knew (the entire thread on Karnes is eye-opening). I'm hoping to hear more of the Juke too, especially on Sundays...
Thanks for the great site!
Doug
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Welcome Doug! Glad you found us!
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...welcome Doug, and if you like the spiritual side of the music, you won't find a deeper well than RGD & BWJ ... also, check out Josh White and Blind Willie McTell, to name just a few...
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...welcome Doug, and if you like the spiritual side of the music, you won't find a deeper well than RGD & BWJ ... also, check out Josh White and Blind Willie McTell, to name just a few...
I do love the spiritual side of the music, and I find it interesting the range of attitudes towards it. There were those who played mostly secular and dipped into the spiritual side of things (MJH, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc.), and those who chose to play either one or the other (Son House, Thomas Dorsey, RGD, BWJ, etc.)
I do know some of Blind Willie McTell's music, but other than "God Don't Like it", can't recall much of his stuff that would be classed as spiritual. I am hoping to hear more of Josh White... I know that he has an early period and a later period that are completely different, and that in the early period he recorded both blues (as Pinewood Tom?) and spirituals (as "The Singing Christian"). But I haven't heard much of him yet.
Thanks for the tips!
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...good point about players who chose one side of the spiritual fence or the other, compared to those who 'dipped' into the spiritual side, like BWM ... I guess for those like Blind Willie, it was a matter of what audiences wanted to hear, both live and on record, and, perhaps, to express their own beliefs ... if you want to pursue this further I'd recommend you begin a post in the forum on this topic ... I'm sure you'll get tons of ideas of players to check out ... then, start listening to the suggestions on the juke..
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Howdy all - New member here and delighted to be so.
Let me tell you a little of myself - I'm 5ft 10" and 3/4, am well-built and have shoulder-length blond hair. I enjoy horseback riding, romance and..... - Wait! - this isn't *that* forum at all.. Ah, I'm getting sick of telling all those damn lies anyway.
Am seriously astounded at discovering weeniecampbell.com -
! ! ? ? !
A site *just* devoted to country blues?
With an active membership?
With an emphasis on *the music* - incl. *playing it*?
With a CB JUKEBOX? ! ?
(Deep breath)
Truly awesome!! :D
As I know old weenie-hands must now take all this for granted, I hope I don't appear too much of a panting puppy...
I've read the "About Weenie" bit and now get where the odd I mean 'distinctive' name came from and where the genesis of the site came from
Guys, I don't even know where Port Townsend IS , and I would guess have little chance of visiting as I am poor and live far far away (assuming PT is somewhere on the North American continent) - Am I still welcome as a wc member?
I hope so - It's a great site - Congratulations!
Best to all,
hugh.
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Absolutely welcome, Hugh! 'Tho' this site grew out of a list of PT attendees, we now have members the world over, and are supportive of CB instruction wherever it takes place. The CB community is a pretty small place to do something silly like take sides.-G- And it's always great to hear ther enthusiasm of a new member.
All for now.
John C.
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Yes, weclome Hugh! Glad you found us and always delighted to have new enthusiastic members with a keen wit and a sense of humor - you had me going there for a sec - Ha!
cheers,
slack
BTW Hugh -- Port Townsend is in the state of Washington - from where do you hail?
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Thanks for the kind words gentlemen (waxwing, slack)
Port Townsend - State of Washington - right, gottcha.
With an acute sense of geography that will amaze you, I deduce this to be on the "right-hand side" of the USA.
I once heard someone more learned than myself (I believe he must have been a professor) refer to it as "The Eastern Seaboard"
from where do you hail?
I'm the secretive type slack, and refuse to give away the slighest clue where I'm from.
Although I am prepared to admit that we have crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos and emus here at this secret location.
Haven't really played at all in the last 8 years, so you can imagine how good all those broke-down chops and half-remembered tunes sound.. :'(
In my "glory days" (ahem ahem) I had a 'grab-bag' repetoire - one John Hurt tune, 2 x R. Wilkins tunes, 2 Blind Lemon, one Little Hat Jones etc etc
The Patton tunes I tried to learn I just plain gave up on....
Once impressed (myself at least) by transcribing the first 2 verses and break from Rev Davis' Hesitation Blues - this was in the days when you had to lift the needle off the record and drop it back a little... I thought I was cool, though no one else gave a damn.
Oh, and as a piece of trivia, I also bought John Miller's first LP long long ago (and still have it!) - there was some Bo Carter stuff on there that really grabbed me!..... So thanks JohnM :)
best to all,
H
Edit: Re. geography (above)- I've just had a look at my atlas (N-W States of USA) - I really have no idea do I?
Washington State is not on the Eastern Seaboard is it?
There is a "Port Townsend" in "the Washington State" that borders Canada in the northwest corner of the United States - which has nothing to do with the Washington D.C. on the other coast...
Damnit!
Slack, I thought my oblique references to koalas and emus may have fooled you into thinking I was from Iowa, but ok, I confess, I really am from another country (there I've said it!) :'( :'( ::)
Sorry guys - I know this place & gathering (PT) is very dear to many of you - and I can't even figure out where the hell it is!
Well, I know now - Times Atlas of The World is a wonderful book (call me old-fashioned but I'd take it over Google Earth anyday)
peace & good things..
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Ha, glad you got that geogaphy strainghtened out Hugh... nice recovery.
We used to have a couple of fellows make the trek to Port Townsend from New Zealand about every year -- they both finally just move to the US. I see by your pin on the Member Map (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=74&action=membermap) that you live with the Aborigines. :D
Cheers,
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see by your pin on the Member Map that you live with the Aborigines
Hmm yes - looks like I might have had a couple before I threw that pin down. :P
Will sort that before too long.
Thanks for the welcome slack.
:)
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Although I am prepared to admit that we have crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos and emus here at this secret location.
The U.S. Congress? The U.N.?
Welcome Hamhound!
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If you've got one of my albums, you must have been around for a while, Hugh. Welcome!
All best,
Johnm
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Hello there. Just discovered this site...and what a find. A whole site full of people as obbsessed with this stuff as I am!
A bit about me... 30yrs old (nearly 31!) from the Northeast of England and I've been playing acoustic blues since I was abut 15/16 starting off with slide and moving off into other things such as coming to grips with standard tuning and chords a few years later! I also enjoy fooling about with the mandolin.
There you go!
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Welcome Gingergeezer -- glad you found us!
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G'day mates!
Another Orstralian 'ere. Crikey!
I believe there's a special word to describe a wonderful, exciting and unexpected find, but it escapes me.
But thats how I feel about this site. Fantastic!
I started playing in 1970, and have made a living from playing and teaching guitar.
I'm now semi-retired due to illness, but I still perform a little to help make ends meet.
I've always loved the blue's, and like a true love, my fondness for it gets stronger as the years roll by.
I admit that for many years, (long ago) I presumed Cream wrote "Rollin' & Tumblin'", and The Rolling Stone's wrote "Love In Vain", but I'm learning lots, and its refreshing to go back in time and be blown away by such great music as pre-war country blues.
I've already learned a truckload from this site, so thanks fella's, I love ya's all!
LB.
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I believe there's a special word to describe a wonderful, exciting and unexpected find, but it escapes me.
But thats how I feel about this site. Fantastic!
Serendipity. 8)
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Hi all, I'm Carl from Connecticut. I hit this site by accident last week, and have been playing it every day. I posted this site on Bob Brozemans/Woody Mann's forum at International Guitar Seminars...That way I'm hoping that we can get more contributors...I donated $5 bucks...not much but it's a start!
This week I ordered a Sony Mini disk recorder( because I'm tired of screwing around w/ my Marantz tape recorder..what a pain in the ass. I also dropped off a banjolin to get fixed...that'll run me a about $180, but I think it's worth it.
I've been playing guitar about 20 yrs, fiddle about 5 yrs. It's all a form of therapy... It's all good stuff!
But seriously, I appreciate the site and the work put into it, Thank you all!
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Hi bloozinay,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell!
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome Carl! Glad you found us!
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Welcome Mike - glad you found us with Wax's help. ;) That is quite a variety of styles you have going -- never a dull moment I suppose!
Here is a link to your page (I had trouble googling it):
http://www.sandbarmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=44
...and this would be an electrified sample - sounds good and good luck on the award!
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Welcome, Mike.
You'll find a lot of folks here felt like you, that they were living in a country blues desert, before they found Weenie Campbell. Pyrochlore had never played country blues with anyone else (for what, 10- 20 years, Alex?) until he came to Port Townsend after meeting us all here first. Now he's had Mary Flower playing duets with him in a house concert in his home in Calgary.
Share your passion here.
All for now.
John C.
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BJ:
About 18 yrs. but after finding Weenie Campbell it all changed.
And you PEI folks, We're all fellow Canadians.
Very glad to have you aboard.
Don't listen to Slack, he's a punk rocker now.
And agreeing with Unkie Bud is hazardeous...
Alex
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Welcome Cheapfeet! I'm from "away" but have spent lots of time on the Island vacationing. Beautiful place. Glad to hear there's country blues there as well. Congrats on the ECMA nomination.
You might want to take a look at the bottom of this linked message for my take on a Patton turnaround in C.
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=83&topic=1257.msg9276#msg9276
And feel free to post a new thread with whatever questions or thoughts you have about playing Patton, Lemon or anyone else.
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Hey Mike,
As UB suggested, it would be a good idea to either start a new thread, or resurrect an old one (I thought I saw you checking out an old thread om turnarounds earlier -G-). Country Blues Licks and Lessons would be the place.
All for now.
john C.
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Hello folks, new member here. I am 53 years old living in Vermont for the last 30 years - outside NYC before that. Like most everyone here I love the blues, expecially - but not only - country blues. I played folk style guitar - strumming and pattern picking as a kid and then put it down for 20 years while I raised my family. I picked it up again about 3 years ago and I have been absolutely addicted to country blues ever since. I am just getting to the point that I can actually play some of these tunes. I fell in love with this stuff in my 20s while I was in grad school and one of my buddies turned me on to Roy Bookbinder. Looks like a great forum.
Rob.
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Welcome Rob! -- glad you found your guitar again and Weeniecampbell!
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Welcome Wayne! Glad you found us!
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Hello to all !
I just joined today. I've been visiting guitar forums for awhile, but just recently visited your forum. I'm strictly an acoustic player, who plays mainly at Church & Bible Studies. I had never heard of guys like Blind Blake, MJH, Blind Lemon Jefferson, as well as others until a few years ago. My favorite has been Rev. Gary Davis.
I just really enjoy this style of music on the acoustic guitar. It's fun to listen to, and extremely fun to play. I'm not that advance, but love to play. I look forward to learning more from the wealth of knowledge on this forum. I've already been looking around some, and found some interesting reading.
Look forward to getting to know some of you better.
Mark
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Mark!
All best,
Johnm
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Hello y'all. I just found this site. I'm loving the Juke Radio, and I'm digging into the wealth of info in the forums. I've been getting into country blues with the help of Little Brother's site recently (after 30 yrs. of playing just about everything else). Between this forum, LB's, and Mandolin Cafe', I'll be picking guitars and mandolins in front of the computer a lot!
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Welcome Guitdolin - glad you found us!
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Another new guy on the board, albeit old in vintage - 57. I've been fixated on the blues since about 1965, which was a pretty good time to discover that pathway. I occasionally make forays into Cajun and Western Swing, but blues is where I always boomerang back to. I play harp quite well, guitar adequately enough to keep myself amused and perpetually challenged. My main love is triathlon, and as I am a far better triathlete than I am a musician, I spend most of my time playing to my strengths and training myself to a frazzle (which is why I am perpetaully challenged by the guitar....). I love the discipline required to become proficient at my sports as well as my instruments (there's also a mandolin in there somewhere...), but until I retire in a few years - or get seriouly injured - there's not enough hours in my life to do justice to music. Alas and woe.
Beyond all this, I spend far too much time thinking about Garfield Akers and Geeshie Wiley. You know?
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Welcome bigskies!
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Hi --
I just registered the other day. Great site! I've been a country blues fan/picker for a long time (just turned 49 last month). Can't seem to get the Juke Radio on my work PC as of yet, but I'll keep working on it.
-- Mark C.
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Welcome Mark! What software are you using to try to listen to the Juke?
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Uncle Bud --
I'm using Windows Media Player. It looks like I'll have to check with our IT group, they've got it set up so I can't modify the proxy settings.
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Hello All,
I've just discovered this website via the Woodshed; thanks for that Gerry! I'm 19 and from the UK, currently Kent. I missed my grades to go to university to study politics and philosophy (one mark... still slightly bitter and twisted) and so am on an impromtu gap year. I've changed course direction (I'll be doing English Lit. in September) and I decided to do something vaguely useful in the meantime, so I enrolled on a bunch of OU courses on creative writing and told myself I'd learn guitar. As such I've only been playing the guitar for approx. 9 months, at first I just borrowed my grandma's nylon string acoustic (how rock and roll is that! I've got a small collection of second-hand instruments of my own now) and taught myself all the chords, I then tried to strum along to a Simon and Garfunkel song and realised:
1) for some reason Paul Simon tunes his guitar below concert pitch
2) he wasn't strumming, he was picking the strings.
That was the first time I'd ever really come across finger-picking, and I resolved to learn how to do it, cue musical oddessy encompassing 60s British folk/blues guitarists (Davy Graham, Bert Jansch John Renbourn etc) and assorted acoustic blues artists. I'm still very much at the beginning of this musical experience, but am having a lot of fun along the way.
Loving the Jukebox Radio!
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Well, you have found the right place for fingerpicking - stay tuned and enjoy :)
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Welcome Odd Senex!
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I've been enjoying this site for nearly two years and have been negligent about posting here. So, let me thank everyone for the great music and the hundreds of insightful posts. I'm a big fan of old Gibson guitars, Roy Book Binder, and early country blues. I live in New Hampshire and spend as much time as I can playing and learning. Thanks again to everyone for making this such a terrific resource.
Cliff
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I've been enjoying this site for nearly two years and have been negligent about posting here.
Cliff
It's wise not to rush into things. >:D
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Welcome, Cliff!
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another new guy here. name's laurie (scottish for larry). i'm 57, live in port townsend, lucky me. have listened to cb for 40 years, been trying to play for 20. glacial progress, but progress nonetheless. i'm scheduling my performing debut to coincide with my 100th birthday. in the meantime it's great therapy.
i've attended the pt blues workshops a couple times, will be there this year.
love this site. thanks so much for doing it. great resource.
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Welcome, Laurie! We'll see you in Port Townsend this summer.
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Just recently found this INCREDIBLE site and have been going through alot of interesting threads.
I'm a lifetime guitar player and most recently concentrating strictly on acoustics (sold off the Les Paul). I'm a big fan of MJH and RGD along with Alvin Youngblood Hart and Ernie Hawkins. I live in Vermont, near Burlington, an great place for local music like Paul Asbell.
I'll be around....jb
Love the Jukebox too...
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Welcome JB! Glad you found us....
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Hi. I'm returning myself from a long hiatus. Good to have you and good to be back.
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Welcome back mojohand!
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Hi Triple OOO--aka JB:
Welcome to Weenie Campbell. You're in a very good place--I went to UVM and Middlebury, so I'm somewhat familiar with the area. Enjoy!
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I found this site a week or so ago...Slack had mentioned it as a fingerpicking resource on the Gretsch forum...I have been looking for some material to help me improve my limited finger-Travis picking skills and I liked John Millers lessons...not that Ive started working them but they're on the list...I think I'm more interested in the technique than any songs or artists per se.
I live in Anchorage AK, am 54..Ive played since I was twelve..basically moderately familiar with much and master of nothing...in fact I am probably better at signing up for internet forums than playing...
I played guitar and steel for a number of years in a comedy-parody group...sort of Al Yankovich meets Alaskana..we did alot of styles, folk, bluegrass, rockabilly, blues, swing, Hawaiian, etc so I had to learn enough of those styles to play them generically...we recorded a CD about 8 years ago. One of the tunes surfaced recently on a fishing show on one of our radio stations...wheres my royalty check???
Ive also played lead in a couple of short lived country bands..I'm a recovering cosmic cowboy with a double bodied B bender tele, a pearly snapped shirt and a New Riders of the Purple Sage CD..I currently play guitar and Dobro in a duo..we do everything from Chicago blues to rocknroll to county blues...which in our configuration comes off kinda like the Lovin Spoonful did when they played country blues...
I'm likely to be more a lurker than a real regular poster around here...I'm not familiar with alot of the artists and tunes mentioned to add a whole lot to any threads..but I'll be lurking and reading and absorbing...and maybe piping in when the topic move to something I may know something about...
Don
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Welcome again Don - glad you joined us!
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Greetings!
This is the only site I have found with such a comprehensive array of early American music on discussion. I myself play tenor banjo and uke.
Some of my favorite bands and musicians: Memphis Jug Band, Cannons' Jug Stompers, Whistlers' Jug Band, Skip James, Papa Charlie Jackson, Five Harmaniacs, Roy Smeck, Buell Kazee, Minnie Wallace, Bo Carter, Tampa Red, Charley Patton, Bessie Smith, Blind Boy Fuller and many others... More modern bands: R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders (a bit of an obsession for me), Old Crow Medicine Show, Gillian Welch, His Bobness...yadayadayada...
Cheers
Gambling Jack
ps R. Crumb heroes of the blues avatars a nice touch.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Gamblin' Jack. A man after my own heart with Gus Cannon near the top of your list. Feel free to revive any jug band threads you come across.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Jack!
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Howdy All,
Glad to run across this great site.
I play guitar, banjo, jug and harmonica in the New Roanoke Jug Band. We are doing our best to expose people to real roots music.
Looking forward to digging around the forum and adding my two cents worth.
~Jugband Scott
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Welcome Scott -- glad you found us!
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Hello Blues Children,
I am pleased to find this site. I had posted through the Mandolin Cafe blues section looking for some good acoustic blues to try and was directed here.
I am an old guy (56) playing in the BLUES HOTBED, Harlan, Iowa. I've been playing guitar a bit over 11 years and also mandolin and harp. I have gotten more and more into blues the past few years.
Sad story. My blues friend and mentor, Terry, had carotid artery surgery on June 1 to prevent a stroke. On June 2, he had a bad stroke anyway. I have hopes that he will sing and play harp again, but I fear his guitar days are over.
I am a big Guy Davis fan and also like Steve James, Mississipi John Hurt, McKinley Morganfield, Lightning Hopkins, Ledbelly, and Little Walter. I hope to learn more at Weenie Campbell- more to enjoy, some blues fellowship, and hopefully improve my play.-- Currently learning finger style guitar.
Thanks!
SmilnJackB :-\
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell Jack!
Glad you found us --- Mandolin Cafe is an excellent forum and glad to hear they pointing some folks in our direction.
Cheers,
slack
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Hello People
this is the first time i,v posted, as i don't know anyone else who listens,anyway iv been listening to weenie allmost everyday for the last year,its the best.
Just received my 2006,2007 blues calanders niceone.
Cruelkid dowling.
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Hi cruelkid,
Welcome to the fold! Normally the other mods do the welcoming seein' as how I'm such an old grouch and everything but they're at Port Townsend right now so I thought I'd step out of character and welcome you. Great avatar.
Rivers.
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HI everyone
This is the second time iv tried to post a hello on here iv never used a forum b4
so i don't really know what I'm doing,anyway I'm from nottingham england 34y,o
been listening to weenie for about a year,and love it.
Been into the blues since i was 18,and trieing to play like Sam Chatmon ever since i first heard him playing, trying i must say.
I thought it was about time i introduced myself since iv been listening so long,
take care people,
cruel kid dowling.
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Hi Rivers
Thanks for reply ,i just noticed it today(after i posted another hello)iam just about
managing to work out how to use this forum,its great to be able to talk to other country blues fans/players,what is port townsend a festival,or a blues course, i was looking at some pictures of the 2004 port townsend in the forum it looks great.
cheers Rivers great name(i know a graffitti artist called River,a Jamaican guy i hope your not as mad as him,ha,ha.)
Cruelkid Dowling.
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Hello, all
My name is DocJohn, from Florida. I've been into country blues since I was about 16, which was a long long time ago. I have taken a long road to where I am today. Fred McDowell was probably the strongest influence n my playing aside from John Hammind. After all these years my wife is starting to understand my twisted way of hearing music when I hear something like Joe Cocker or Michael Jackson playing and I say, "wow, I could play this kinda like Fred McDowell with a slide swoosh right here and thumping my foot on a wood box and make some REAL music."
I play a 70's model OMI Dobro usually tuned to open D, sometimes G. I have some other guitars including a takamine 12 string, a microfrets calibre electric which I love and a Gibson made Dobrolectic. I recently bought some factory rejects off E-bay which include a wood reso body and neck as well as an unplated brass OMI dobro body. As I creep toward building them perhaps I'll figure a way to show the process.
I've been lurking here a few days and like the Little community you have here. I look forward to getting to know y'all and hopefully developing some friendships.
Best regards
John
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Welcome John! Glad you found us and thanks for De-lurking!
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thanks for the welcome, Slack, I am enjoying reading the old posts and getting to know y'all. hius is a neat place.
John
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Hi Blues nuts,
"Dr. G" sounding off for the first time (discovered this great website yesterday when trying to Google lyrics to the Patton song "Goin' to Move to Alabama") -- Weenie Campbell, where have you BEEN all my life!
Started out in life as a clawhammer banjo player (after years of violin lessons), but at age 14 or so (back in the early '60's) I bought the first country blues "anthology" (called simply "The country Blues") by Sam Charters. Blind willie McTell and "Statesboro Blues" knocked my socks off (as did "Fixin' to Die" and practically every other cut on that still-unsurpassed sampler) and within a few weeks I had traded a banjo for a 12-string guitar and my life had changed forever. (Anybody out there who wants a 6-string interpretation of "Statesboro Blues" that sounds like a 12-string, I'm your man!)
Four decades later, and I am just as nutty about the country blues as ever...but by now my initially tin ear has become more refined (as have my fingers), and I get better and better at discerning the subtleties of both guitar and voice in the originals...and in developing interpretations that I strive to make neither slavish imitations, nor hopelessly watered-down versions, of the original(s). To me, the "holy grail" for a 3rd millennium country blues interpreter (especially of the middle class, caucasian variety) is to respect and perpetuate the originality and "hooks" of the early recorded versions -- but not to pretend that you grew up a sharecropper in Mississippi in the 1920's...unless you did -- and add a variation or two of your own that is consistent with the original, and adds to it [just the way classical composers would write their own "variations" on themes originally written by other composers]. I also favor modifiying the lyrics slightly (in performance) in similar ways, if the originals simply cannot be sung with any kind of credibility by someone who did not grow up a sharecropper in Mississippi. (Tommie Johnson's songs come to mind, in particular re: this point.)
Oh yeah -- the "Dr." in my nickname is because I'm a psychiatrist. (If there is one thing that has kept me reasonably sane over the years, it is the country blues).
Happy to join you all!
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If there is one thing that has kept me reasonably sane over the years, it is the country blues.
Welcome to the club, Doc. I think that you'll be surprised to know that many of the members have a M.D., Ph.D., J.D., etc. after their names. The others are just plain smart--smart enough to understand that they didn't have to join the ranks of the over-educated fools to enjoy the Country Blues!
Dr. Stuie, Ph.D.
P.S. I have several theories re: the above quote, but uh, let's just say that one can overthink any problem...
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Welcome Dr. G!
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Oh yeah -- the "Dr." in my nickname is because I'm a psychiatrist.
"Psychiatry? That's crazy! -- Radar O'Reilly
Welcome to the board, Doc!
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Welcome Doc -- glad you found us!
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Stuart - as usual, someone has said it before.
"Well you can go to the college, you can go to the school;
But if you ain?t got __________ you?re an educated fool,
And that?s all, I tell you (tell you) that?s all."
Denomination Blues by Wahington Phillips
Washington Phillips used "Jesus" in his verse, later modified by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who used "religion" in her rendition. I think we can all find our own word to make this lyric personal. I'm afraid I probably fall in the category of "educated fool."
;)
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Stuart - as usual, someone has said it before.
I heard the phrase growing up--it seemed to be part of the rural lexicon that I was exposed to from my mother's side of the family. The first time that I heard it sung was when Ry Cooder did the song on his "Into the Purple Valley" LP in the early 70's. As I was in college at the time, it struck a chord with some of us as you might imagine, being in an environment that exposed one to a wide range of personalities. We've all been there.
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Welcome Sarah Jane -- watch those bad men! ;)
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One of my all time favourite Jazz Gillum songs is called Sarah Jane....but won't cite any of the lyric for fear of causing offence. I can hear it playing in my head as I type. >:D
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Welcome, Sarah Jane. I take it you've found the Juke so you can at least listen to those bad men 24/7. If not look to the menu on the left and select Weenie Juke.
All for now.
John C.
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Hello Everyone
Congerman here (don't ask) this seems like a fine place.
If you need some background, I live in the UK, I'm 55 (it's a shock when you write it down) and I'm a radiographer in the NHS- so my guitars are cheap.
I was introduced to ragtime and country blues by a work mate when I was 18 and although I got involved with all kinds of music and seriously neglected my guitar playing I never got it out of my system. So whilst I could always play a little, now I want to play a lot and I'm getting there but it's slow going although a lot of fun.
There's a huge amount of valuable stuff here so thanks for making it available and bringing all these like minded people together.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Congerman!
All best,
Johnm
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Hi All,
I'm Mike from Nottingham, UK, first heard counrty blues when I was 15, now i'm 32 I'm trying to learn to play it using books and DVD's. Been playing guitar since I was 15, blues for about 2 years.
I Like MJH, Lemon Jefferson. Haven't heard anything I really don't like......
Anyhow I mainly lurk here, so hello!
ta
Mike
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And a hello to you!
Welcome Mike!
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Welcome Mike!
Haven't heard anything I really don't like...
Ever heard Ruth Willis sing with Blind Willie McTell?
:P
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Welcome Mike!
Haven't heard anything I really don't like...
Ever heard Ruth Willis sing with Blind Willie McTell?
:P
I'll keep an eye out for that one. Is it a regular on the Juke? ;)
Mike
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Greetings from Rome, Italy.
I'm 51, I've been playing fingerpicking since 1978 thanks to the teaching of S. Grossman, he was living in Italy at that time.
I'm the co-founder of www.fingerpicking.net, an Italian website dedicated to the acoustic guitar.
In the past years I've been exploring lap style guitar in the style of K. J. Phelps, it delivers a great sound.
It's nice to share the enthusiasm.
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Ciao, Alex! Welcome to WeenieCampbell.
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Well, I got a tip on this website from a great blues guy I met.
About me, I have been playing guitar about 4 1/2 years now and play mostly blues at this point. I just got into fingerpicking a year ago and I fell in love. I almost gave up Electric :P
Here is a site with 3 different samples of blues tunes I ve done.
The recording is very bad because I do not own anykind of good recording equipment.
http://go.berkleemusic.com/frankieowls (http://go.berkleemusic.com/frankieowls)
Thanks
Frankie
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Frankie!
all best,
Johnm
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Hello there you'all....
I just stumbled into this place and had a look around, found a link to my website in the links page so thought I'd stay a while. It looks like a fun and informative place to hang out.
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell John -- nice looking guitars! Very nice website too!
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Hello All,
Really Great Site,I live In Canada I`m 30 Years old,I`ve been in to pre war Blues for about 8 years or so mabe a little longer,also into Hillbilly,Hawaiian and some hot Jazz,some of the players i play most are Doc boggs,Charlie Patton,Son House,Luke Jordan,Fury Lewis,Joe Calicott,Ikey Robinson,Richard Harney,Skip James,Uncle Dave Macon and King Bennie Nawahi etc............,my main guitar is a 1934 National Duolian,also i try by best to collect the old 78`s of all the great players from the 20`s
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Welcome Nawahi!
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Surely you mean "Aloha Nawahi!"
:)
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Surely you mean "Aloha Nawahi!"
:)
yes i did mean Aloha! to all :)
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Didn't make myself clear - sorry. I meant that I thought Slack should have greeted you with an "aloha", given your Weenie soubriquet.
Anyway, welcome to the Weenie, Nawahi.
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Yes, I meant to say: Aloha Nawahi!
;D
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Hello;
I discovered this site about six months ago and think its terrific. I have made a number of posts in the forums including quite a few MP3s of my playing but haven't yet gotten around to introducing myself. Well, I am 54 years old and have been listening to and learning to play old time hillbilly and country blues since 1970. I began collecting 78s when I was 16, mostly comedy or old popular material that I was able to find junking, this satisfied me until I discovered the roots music which has led me down the path which I travel today. In the early 70s I hitch-hiked around the country for two years, supporting myself as a banjo playing street musician, traveling from coast to coast two times, living for a time in Key West and Los Angeles. Aside from these early travels, I have spent most of my life in the frozen north of Pennsylvania until a move a year and a half ago placed us in deep southern Texas. Allways a rambler, love road trips, meeting other musicians and searching for those old records!
RB
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Thanks for posting RB and an offical welcome!
When you say deep south Texas - do you mean the Laredo, Harlingen McAllen area? If so, that is an interesting part of Texas and quite a change from PA!
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Hello Slack;
Yes we live in Laredo, a very interesting place more like living in Mexico. We love the culture, the food and the climate and the music here is such a vital part of the culture "pure and alive": I can tune to a local AM radio station from Mexico and listen to "true living"folk music. I find it of interest also that most (Mexican) guitar and Bajo sexto players in this region play with the thumb and index finger which is also most common with country blues players.
PS,
I see that you live on the border as well.
RB
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Yes, native El Pasoan, both spouse and I left El Paso for about 10 years but came back as we love the culture/climate/food as well. I envy your proximity to Big Bend -- a favorite of ours also!
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As a birder (hence waxwing) I wouldn't mind spending some time in Big Bend, one of the major birding spots I haven't yet visited.
Welcome RB.
All for now.
John C.
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Hi I'm Roi, 18 years old from Israel. I'm an avid country blues fan, and also play this music myself. Hope I have a good time here!
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Welcome Roi!
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Hi, I'm Carl or Daddy Stovepipe, I'm 51 years old and I live in Belgium. When I registered and had to choose a username my first three attempts bounced so I chose something silly, life is too serious most of the time anyway.
I came to know this wonderful site through a guitarplaying friend some of you may know : Mr Natural.
For me CB started when I was 14 and heard Big Bill Broonzy on the radio. I immediately went to the library and was lucky to find Paul Oliver's book "Story of the Blues". I hardly understood any English then but getting to know all the exotic names in the book s.a. Blind Lemon etc got me started on my record collection.
Two years later I got me a cheap nylon string guitar , which I managed to change into a "bow" when I put steel strings on it later, and started to play the blues. A friend showed me some chords and the Leadbelly songbook got me strumming on my way. Fingerpicking came later that year when I visited London with my mother and found Stefan Grossman's Country and Delta Blues books. Since then I've been picking mostly blues but also some ragtime and contemporary guitarmusic like Leo Kottke and Chet Atkins, but I always come back to the CB, that's what I know the best. I consider myself extremely lucky that I always kept playing (and I'm still married to the same woman for 30 years :) and I always seem to find a new angle of the blues to discover and explore. Now I've just bought a Weissenborn style guitar and that's keeping me busy again.
I'll post some music in the coming days so you can discover the man behind the words but I'll need my son to help me with the converting to MP3's - I'm so lowtech...
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Welcome Carl! Glad to hear Eddie is spreading the word in Belgium...
And nothing wrong at all with Daddy Stovepipe as a username.
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Yes, welcome Carl!
Eddie, it's about time you made it back to Port Townsend - bring Carl!
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Hello folks--I'm a new member who found WeenieCampbell thru a tip from Warren Mayo a few weeks back. Thanks Warren-- its great.
Ive been playing country blues-- this time-- for about 10 years.--hadn't played at all for about 50 years-- that's right, I said 50 --since as a 10 year old kid I backed up my dad playing old folk songs on his fiddle--as long as he played in the key of D.
In high school I listed to Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith, Leadbelly, Louis Armstrong and lots of Dixieland groups. When I started playing again during a period of forced immobility, I listened to Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, then Brownie McGee, RGD, Mississipi John Hurt, and lots of others.--"the old masters"--
In the past few years I like what Happy Traum and Roy Book Binder are doing and like to think my style is sort of like theirs. I like a lot of the songs Stefan Grossman presents in a couple of his books. I'm a great fan of Ernie Hawkins, too.
I'm definitely a "rough" player--get it out there and keep it moving--, finesse and note clarity come second. I couldnt do it any different even if I wanted to. I like what Roy BB says-- he pauses in mid -lesson and says "the way Im playing this it sounds kind of muffled--if you dont like how it sounds dont play it that way"--or " my idea is that the first finger that gets there gets to play the note." My kind of player.
I like to work on old guitars, too. Have done several neck resets, quite a few bridge replacements,installed a couple of new truss rods, have done 3 or 4 replacements of ladder type bracing with X-type, and so forth-- but not on my good guitar, a 1964 Gibson J-50.
That's it folks--I"m glad to be "on board."
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell. Glad you found us. As you read thru old posts, you'll find many of us have returned to the guitar, and blues, after a long hiatus, altho' your's is quite a long one. This is the place for you.
One small request. Please don't convert any more ladder braced guitars to X bracing. There are kazillions of X braced guitars out there and you'll find that quite a few of us here cherish the distinctive sound of those few ladder braced guitars that are remaining. My favorite player, a little '20s Stella, was actually converted back to ladder bracing by Neil Harpe.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Stephen! I agree, Roy has good advice...
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Welcome to Weenie Stephen .. enjoyed reading your musical history, your experiences cover a lot of ground .. Besides playing the guitar, we have a common interest in 'tinkering' with them, too .. in the past few years, and especially the past two years, I've done a few of the things you've done, with the exception of re-bracing. I've replaced unattached braces and glued loose ones, which are a pain .. and have one neck set under my belt, a number of bridges and saddles, nuts, crack repair and so on. It's a whole 'nuther set of sub-skills, just like playing the CB .. There are some good sites for guitar repair, and frets.com stands above all. If I get stuck in some guitar project, I may email you for advice and you're welcome to do likewise .. nice to have you aboard.. Tom
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Thanks for your perspective, JohnC, but I should point out that no one would have enjoyed the sound of the ladder-braced guitars I worked on, as they had no sound nor any prospect really of ever having one again. They were beyond repair for other reasons.-- I got them out of a trash heap, and was just trying to build up my skills for disassembling the body of a guitar, working on the interior, and putting it back together.
Like you, I enjoy playing the old ladder braced guitars and have heard someone is building them now once again.
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Glad to know you wouldn't wantonly change a good ladder braced guitar over.-G-
There are a few folks building them now. Todd Cambio, at Fraulini is a regular poster here and you'll see his banner ad from time to time. Another is Mike Hauver, who can be contacted thru Neil Harpe's Stella guitars site.
All for now.
John C.
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Hi.. My name's Jean-David and I'm new here... I'm from Switzerland and I've been living in Norway for four years.. I started off playing the guitar 17 years ago... I used to play a lot of folk and traditional tunes (especially Bob Dylan)... One year ago I saw a norwegian guys playing fingerstyle blues in a pub... I was delighted to listen to him and I started training my rolls... I've discovered many great artists among the early bluesmen.. I like a lot Mance Lipscomb, Lonnie Johnson and Bukka White...
I will have some inquires in the futur, I reckon... :)
Jean-David
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Welcome Jean-David -- glad you found us!
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Hello All,, I am Mike (Peghead Howell) and am 3-4 years late for posting this,, 2002 Port Townsend changed my life,,, I was a hooked Blues nut before but didn't realize it,, after a week of listening, playing, and making acquaintance with "like minded" people, I was a goner down the road.. I had (1) CD,, but some vinyl of Country blues players which sound like the old 78's now from hard play. I started playing guitar (self taught) on a cheap Epiphone 3/4 size, I bought with paper route money (14 years old).
Let music drop through military time and for 20 years roughly,, marriage, first child, farm
'remodeling etc. Then job stress got to me,,, tried excercise, diet, etc. then I tuned up my old guitar, new strings and played my old tired reportoire,,, but I felt GREAT!!!!!
Well, long story short,, No more stress, no more meds.,New guitar, playing with my neJphew, recorded some songs, gave my mother a cassette of all I had learned,, she passed on as well as my dad (1) year apart. More playing,, tavern on thursday nights, all musical friends of mine,, tough work days Fridays!!!!
Retired,, time to play more,, remodeling,, fun stuff,, settled on slide style, open D or G
Jam once a month,, trying to learn more songs,, love Furry Lewis, Lightning Hopkin's
and Pegleg Howell (no relation) among a hundred others,,, thank's to all my new friends from Port Townsend,, see you all this summer.. Mike
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Bienvenue, Jean-David!
Howdy Peghead! ;)
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Hello there :)
Nick Jones here from South Wales UK.
I play National Resophonic and a Martin and lurve blues, ragtime - in fact 'music' in general.
I may have met a couple of you fine folk at the swindon meet late last year.
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Welcome Nick!
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Hi there Weenies! I'm kinda new to forums and such....I am a country blues (mostly) guitar player/performer and small time concert promoter and bohemian coffeehouse owner in Wild WV.
Been listening to Weenie Radio for awhile and enjoying the forum, and I'm really tickled to find a community of country blues heads out there.
I invite you all to peruse the coffeehouse website http://www.thebluemoosecafe.com (http://www.thebluemoosecafe.com). I also ran The Rosewood Theatre http://www.rosewoodtheatre.com/ (http://www.rosewoodtheatre.com/) in Morgantown, WV, which unfortunately bit the dust about this time last year. I've had the honor and pleasure to present (and play with some of them), the likes of Rory Block, John Hammond, Roy Book Binder, Jorma Kaukonen, Ernie Hawkins (Morgantown is right between Fur Peace and Pittsburgh, so I get to see these characters fairly regular), Mary Flower, Paul Geremia, Corey Harris, John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, Ann Rabson......
We also did folk, bluegrass/ old time, world music, some jazz, even some college indie rock stuff and a couple of hiphop shows (hey, if it gets people in the door!). I continue to present music at the cafe and a little bit of outside promoting, but now I enjoy playing out more..... alot easier!
I like to play guitar about every chance I get, morning, noon and night, in between running the business...... my girlfriend is very understanding. She's had to listen to the Hesitation Blues (several versions) every day for years, and she still likes me. What a gal. I host an open-mic night and play out occasionally at clubs, coffeehouses and restaurants.
Several blues guitar heroes: first and foremost is Reverend Davis, Jorma's been a great big inspiration to me (since like 1968),Ernie and Roy. I enjoy listening to Blind Blake, Bo Carter, Charlie Patton to name a few, and oh yeah, I got a rise out of finding the video posting of Sam Chatmon here on WeenieCampbell forum.
Anyways, nice meeting y'all in advance and I look forward to adventures in country blues! Viva le Bleus, Cracker
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Hello all from San Jose...where nothing important happens that doesn't have to do with tiny silicon chips...
I've listened to weenie juke radio for a year or two now...Finally decided to see what was happening forum-wise on the site.
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Hey Slim good to see you here!! It's Roi.
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Heya Roi!
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Wow, I just stumbled on to this site. It looks great and the content even better. I won't go near a computer when I'm home, so I guess my productivity at work is going to drop a while as I sift through all this material.
I'm 47, working out of Cambridge MA and live a few towns away. I've been playing off and on for close to 30 years now. We passed through Port Townsend once a few years ago. Beautful place. The economy seemed to be based on B&B's, every other house seemed to be one. I'd love to come back out for a workshop, but probably never going to happen.
I have been to several of the Augusta Blues Weeks in the past and enjoyed those very much. Currently I'm taking lessons about once a month with Paul Rishell. I've just rediscovered Blind Blake and haven't listened to anything else for weeks. I've also been saving my pennies for a new NR Style 1 Tricone (joining my others, a '63 Gibson J45 and an '86 OMI Duolain), so it will be a while before I go back to any week long workshops or even fly anywhere. When I do you can be sure that my other big influence these days, Steve James, will be one of the instructors.
Time to go look around some more, this is going to take a while. Again, nice job!
Edit: Oh, I'm not Blind, but somebody else apparently grabbed plain old Jim_G. Had to come up with something I would remember down the line.
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Welcome Jim! Glad you found us. Lucky you taking lessons from Paul Rishell on a regular basis. He's a fabulous teacher and very entertaining in the workshops he's done at Port Townsend (he's coming back this year).
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Hey Bud, just make sure you send Paul (and Annie) back to us when you're done. ;D Paul hasn't said it outright, but I get the feeling those two would relocate to the West Coast if they thought they could swing it. I know they love travelling out that way and would do more if they could find the gigs.
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Hi my name is Lenny
Just found this site last week. Found it thru Roy bookbinders site.
Played guitar since 1980. Lots of Neil Young Grateful dead acoustic duo stuff. Played in our local park alot and some bars and college parties. Always liked David Bromberg.In the late 80's I was at a Hot Tuna show,and I heard some people talking about Jorma's going to put out a instructional video tape. Talked with him after the show. I guess that really started it for me. later he opened Fur Peace Ranch in Southern Ohio. Where I met Roy Bookbinder. He's Great!! Very nice people. Took a class from John Hammond jr there. He's a monster.
If you've never checked it out ,they have a nice website and very good instructors. I like all the old bluesman, Love to watch them play. Now that I've found Weenie Campbell I'm havin a ball.
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Hi everyone... I'm new :)
Altered to your existence on another internet radio station: woxy.com
I'm over-the-moon to find this station!
:D Megan
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Welcome Megan!
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Hi everybody my name is Tommer and I am Israeli. I actually saw the film on the youtube thread with Carl Martin and was wondering whether it's available on dvd. I started playing guitar about 4 months or maybe 5 months ago I don't recall exactly.
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Hi, my name is Lampens. I'm from the netherlands. Playing guitar for about 18 years. Started getting interest in playing old country blues about a year ago. I liked the music for a longer time but never thought of actually playing it myself, but I just grew tired of the electric guitar plectrum picking stuff and wanted something else. Always thought fingerpicking would be tough but I bought me an acoustic and had a go at it.
Found this site by looking for some stuff on Mance Lipscomb. Google FTW. :D
Already found some good stuff via this site. keep it up.
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Hoi Lampens,
Welkom bij Weenie Campbell. Er is hier veel te zien en hooren.
Groetjes uit Engeland,
Parlor Picker
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He, dat is grappig. :D
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Hi, I'm Matthew Presti. I've been a member of the Weenie juke forum for over a year, but never realized there was a place to introduce yourself.
I found this website when I was researching the blues magazine Mamlish Blues and Mamlish records, and suddenly felt the desire to hear "Mamlish Blues" by Ed Bell. I googled the title, and the Weenie Juke came up.
The blues has always been with me as a musical form ever since I began playing guitar back in 1997. I was raised in New Orleans in the late 1980's and come from a musical background. I played piano as a kid and became an expert at playing Scott Joplin tunes and improvised tunes along the theme of the "Habanera" bass. So I've had what's called a "formal musical education". I first became interested in playing guitar when my parents decided I was far too noisy on the piano, and when I got my first blues album as an Easter present from my mother. The first blues song I ever heard was Taj Mahal's "Leaving Trunk". I realized a lot of Mahal's music had country blues roots, but I didn't really like this music yet until I went to middle-school and had a falling out with all the people I thought were my friends. At the same time my dad who used to be in a garage-band in the 60s, began teaching me how to finger-pick tunes like "Freight Train" and "Warm and Windy" as popularized by Doc Watson and Chet Atkins. Like most white people who get into blues music, I started out listening to a lot of classic rock music and folk. So this means, I followed just about every pathway into blues, jazz, and folk music that Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Eric Burden, Alvin Lee, Paul Butterfield, Jack Elliot, Arlo Guthrie, Janice Joplin, and countless surf guitarists took. So I was well grounded in the works of Leadbelly, Blind Lemon, Sleepy John Estes, and had a few CDs by urban sounds like John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray, when I met a guy named Charles at my middle school who had heard from other kids that I liked blues music, which was an eccentricity, considering the kind of popular gobulous crap that most other kids liked to smear their ears with. Charles introduced me a Muddy Waters album he had called "King Bee" and to the retrospective Chess recordings of Howlin' Wolf. I borrowed these albums, which completely turned me onto the "urban" sounding blues music. Around this time three albums I happened upon by freak accident turned my attention to blues music for good. One was an Elmore James album called, "Cut It", Sleepy John Estes' "Electric Sleep", and the third was John Lee Hooker's "Urban Blues".
That's when I first began dividing blues music into categories "country", "urban", and "white" psychedelic or folk music. These categories soon faded away when I started learning more about jazz music, and studied extensively jazz guitar styles. During this time I lost track of the blues, and began taking such rubbish as Theodor Adorno's theories of "Jazz music as a fetish commodity" seriously. I began to transcend what I thought was the fetish character of jazz and went on about microtonal subjects for a long time, yet not really knowing what I was talking about. Then I renewed my studies in surrealism, after a brief period of stagnation in other currents of supposed radicalism, in music and other areas. I began realizing the importance of black music in general as a moving and poetic force, which I had internally known for a number of years. Paul Garon's study of blues as a poetic and psychic medium Blues and the Poetic Spirit, turned me onto the revolutionary poetics of blues which I had suspected all along. All of Garon's works have influenced my predilections for blues music, but has also helped me to understand that the blues permeates our present day popular culture and subculture(s) and is one of the best kept wildest secrets of the everyday mundane life in the civilizee world order.
I just finished seeing Taj Mahal at the New Orleans Jazz fest today. As he said between songs, "I'm going to play the blues, a lot of people don't know what that is, they hear it and they think, 'What is that? Smells like some stinking catfish' (sic)"
That's kind of how I feel when I talk about blues music to which a large majority of people won't open their ears because they think it's either gutbucket country trash, or some stereotyped image of two macho men in fedoras singing "soul man".
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Howdy,
I was looking for lyrics to Nobody's Business and found this great forum I thought only existed in my dreams. There are other people out there like me! :D
It's been a long haul with the blues. Back in junior high school, I found out where all the Led Zeppelin songs came from and followed them back down the Mississippi and around the Gulf Coast and up the East Coast and around and around (prewar blues delirium). I like it all. I admit I only really liked Delta Blues for awhile, but the more I learned, the more my ear opened up. It really helped to see Catfish Keith live on night. He made it all work and gave me a new appreciation for "Buffalo Gals".
Right now, I am seriously focusing on building up a repertoire of songs. Hopefully, I can share something that I learn.
NonSectarianBlues
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Welcome NonSectarianBlues, glad you found us!
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Hi,
I stumbled on your great site, doing research on Mr. Fraulini's guitars..he's not too far from me here in the Chicagoland area. I really haven't scratched the surface in terms of what you have going on here - But I love all kinds of music, and plan on learning plenty. I recently traded for my first '20s-something Oscar Schmidt parlor, and I'll be looking for more songs to play!
Lyrics, licks, lessons, reviews - WOW!
Regards,
Jim
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Welcome Jim!
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Howdy all-
I've been lurking around here for a while now, and thought I better properly introduce myself. I hail from the hometown of Babe Karo Lemon Turner (aka Black Ace), Fort Worth, Texas. Some day when I figure out my new digital recorder and muster some courage, I'll post some songs on the Back Porch.
Joel
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Welcome Joel!
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I ain't new, but we all know Roi's gone for a little while, right?
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Man oh man...can't tell you all how happy I am to have found this place. I wish I'd known about it from the beginning. I've been missing out.
Name: Griffis Hames
Background: Been playing stringed instruments for almost 30 years. Grew up in a punk rock atmosphere, but came to pre-war music around 1990.
I have a deep love for Old Time music...rural blues, early stringband country, early hot jazz, early "world" recordings such as Mariachi, Hawaiian, Calypso, etc.
Huge collection of Document and Yazoo and Arhoolie label discs as well as a small collection of 78rpms.
Lately I've been playing a lot of ukulele, but still play my old 6-string acoustic guitar at least 50% of the time. I just ordered an old Silvertone tenor guitar because I've been having some hand and wrist pains. Hope to pick up the tenor guitar and acquire a tenor banjo at some point.
Have also dabbled in fiddle, mandolin, 5-string banjo, washtub bass, washboard, harmonica, etc. I also wield a mean kazoo.
My favorites bluesmen and songsters: Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi John Hurt, Bo Carter, Papa Charlie Jackson, Skip James...really too many to mention.
My favorite groups of all time are Memphis Jug Band, Canon's Jug Stompers and Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers.
Now, does anyone here live in Roanoke, Virginia? I just moved here and I'm ready to start making som emusic again!
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Welcome Griffis!
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Well alright! You've got great taste, you can't beat the black string bands or Bo Carter!
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greetings weenies!
i've been lurking around here on and off for almost two years, so i figure an introduction is long overdue.
when i first found y'all i was overwhelmed and intimidated by the amount of knowledge and experience on this forum. now that i've been playing a little longer, i can actually LEARN from y'all instead of just wallowing in my ignorance.
a little musical bio: i started out playing hand drums 12 years ago (congas, djembes, etc.). totally self taught, never got very far with it but had a lot of fun.
picked up a cheap acoustic/electric bass guitar a few years later. learned how to read tab and how to use my ear to figure out how to slaughter some of my heroes' bass lines/solos (mingus, bootsy, dixon, ray brown, et al).
as with drums: totally self taught, never got very far but had a lot of fun.
messed around with guitars the whole time i was messing with bass (mostly practicing bass lines and figuring out melodies).
discovered country blues around the same time that i started drumming. it all started with a cheap tape i found in a discount bin: "acoustic blues gold" or something like that. MJH, leadbelly, BWMcT, BLJ, and some woody guthrie and JLH (electric but still great). i loved it all, but i listened in amazement to john hurt's stagolee over and over and over so much that i still can't believe i didn't wear the tape out.
when i finally met some guitarists i always asked them about country blues and usually got comments like "f*#! that! that stuff's too hard!" or "f#@! that! i just wanna play my OWN music." (i.e. i just wanna strum chords)
felt discouraged about ever trying to teach myself to play CB.
finally bought a guitar in 2001 thinking i would try to learn to play bluegrass. quickly realized that me and flatpicks don't get along very well.
continued messing around with bass lines and melodies (separately that is) until i finally decided that i needed some instructional material (only took me a couple years to figure that out. i'm a lil' stubborn sometimes.).
first it was acoustic guitar magazine and then the holy grail: grossman's workshop!! if only i had found those videos 12 years ago....
i've been playing almost everyday since 2003 and now it's hard to remember life before guitar.
really wanted to make it to PT this year, but things were too hectic. hopefully next year....
nuff rambling.
i'll most likely just go back to lurking now, but eventually i'll find the nerve and the technical knowledge to post some of my sloppy pickin' and ask some questions that have been on the tips of my fingers for some time now.
i'd just like to compliment you all for collectively making this the most informative and the most respectful blues guitar forum that i have encountered. something about the internet seems to sometimes bring out the worst in some folks (myself included.... but i've learned.). from what i've observed in my limited lurking, y'all seem to manage to keep things far more civilized and i really can't thank you enough for that.
long live the weenies!
mike
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Welcome to the forum Mike!
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Yes, welcome Mike! Glad you found us. There is a lot of great instructional material out there no - some of us wished we could have had something like Grossman's workshop 40 years ago! ;)
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Hello all.
I just wandered in off the street, if someone could show me the door, I'll be moving along.
Just call me Dave, I love to play, but not so good, my style is what you could call "banging". What I really love to do is build guitars, guitars like an L-00 and a "long body" 00 and the "grand concert" style guitar. My hero is Todd Cambio, when I get younger I want to build like him.
I front a little string band at church, and we do a little church blues like "I shall not be moved". Once I got to say "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here". That was a high point in my career.
You'll find me in the gitfiddle forum mostly, I love to talk about the instruments. I have a website about my guitars, but I won't bother you with that now...
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Welcome Dave! From what part of Tejas do you hail?
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Welcome Dave!
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Thanks for the welcome.
I live in Beaumont, the soggy southeast. There is a small music scene here, blues means rock, but we have a song "Beaumont Rag". Once I went to Galveston, not too far, and played my guitar on the sidewalk, and people were looking for a can to drop money into.
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Mabuhay! Been lurking for a while and enjoying it!
I'm Joric Maglanque (aka Delta Slim) originally from Manila, Philippines. I'm 38 yo and have been playing for more than 20 years. I'm a big fan of country blues, ragtime, jug band, spirituals/gospel, old-timey, and even a bit of folk and early bluegrass. I have a decent collection of country blues and gospel albums (mostly Yazoo) and books. Before the Web became popular, I was on the Blues-L and used to be a regular at the Thomas Jefferson Library in Manila, as well as other public libraries, scouring for recordings and books about blues.
As a performer, I love (and play) Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Geeshie Wiley, Blind Boy Fuller, Muddy Waters, Fred McDowell, Johnny Shines, John Hurt, John Estes, Tampa Red, Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry, Leadbelly, Casey Bill Weldon, Rosetta Tharpe, and many more. But my biggest country blues influences and idols are really Big Bill Broonzy, Gary Davis, Blind Blake, and Blind Willie Johnson. I've been playing solo or in a band/duet since the mid 90s. I play fingerstyle as well as bottleneck slide in open G or D. Here's my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/deltaslim (http://www.youtube.com/deltaslim)
In the early 2000s I played informally in a blues bar and busked on the street in Old Town Virginia, as well as the famed Archie Edward's Barbershop in DC.
Nice to meet y'all!
- Joric (aka delta slim)
EDIT: Since 2011, I have been in NYC (UES) for work. Occasionally I bring the guitar/reso and play in Washington Square Park, Central Park, etc.
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Welcome Joric! Thanks for de-lurking!
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hello everyone,
long time lurker first time caller
i 1st heard about weenie some time ago through stefan grossmans website, & i recognize some of your names from there.
briefly, my name is chris, i'm 30 (good god -already!) & i've been playing guitar for several years now. i've been listening to this kind of music for almost that whole time.- having grown tired of the music i had been exposed to, either from my parents, the radio, mtv,etc... i really had a need for something more. it was the winter of '94 when i bought the robert johnson box-set, (the 1st non-pop/rock selection i'd ever purchased.) it was like a religious experience to me. i had no idea someone could sing or play like that - in a way that got intoyou so deeply. i couldn't get enough, & soon was listening to as many musicians from that era (or earlier, actually) that i could get my hands on. to this day i still do. & while my musical travels have taken me in to other areas, from rockabilly, western swing, trad jazz, chicago blues, old timey, jump blues, etc... country blues has always remained at the center of my little musical world.
so i say hello to each & everyone of you, & am glad to now be a member - finally ;)
chris
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Welcome Chris! Glad you de-lurked!
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Hi im an 18 year old pre-war music fan from York in England :) Country Blues is my favorate sub-Genra (especially the likes of Bo Carter & The Mississippi Sheiks), I also like a fair amount of country music from this era (Fiddlin' John Carson is my favorate)
I've been into this kind of music for over two years now when I started with Robert Johnson when I was fifteen, and progressed from there as alot of people do. Anyway just discovered this forum and I hope I can make a contribution here :D, take a look at my Last.FM profile to get an idea of my musical preferences> http://www.last.fm/user/CoolJack/
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CoolJack - welcome to a fellow Tyke (assuming you're a Yorkshireman, as you live in York - if not, that's your hard luck, but you're welcome here anyway!). Great taste in music for one so young.
You'll doubtless spend hours reading stuff on this forum.
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Welcome CoolJack!
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Welcome, Ragged time!
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome RaggedTime. Do you know Lonewolf? He is a regular here, from Israel, and about your age.
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This must be the place for introductions. I enlisted yesterday. I'm too tired to write a profile now but briefly I have a pen name of ~V~ Phangeaux which is a pen name that I'll probably keep for songwriting. I'll be 58 on January 21, 2008. I've always been close to the blues, since I first started playing music (looong ago) trumpet in 57 age 7, acoustic guitar about 61-62 electric about 65. After my teen years about 68-69 I set guitar playing aside for decades, playing only intermittantly through those years and then in about 2,000 I had sort of a revellation about playing blues. I became thoroughly obsessed with the Blues, having certainly lived the hard times for it, and blues guitar had always been the base for me. I decided that this is all I want to do for the rest of my life, study music, learn, play and write/compose some good songs. It's the last thing that I want to excel at. I'm not interested in becoming a public performer (due to current medical disability) so creating some good music that will be appreciated for many years into the future is what I have been planning, organizing and working to do.
The rest is pretty simple. I am here because of my fascination and affinity for blues and the depth of the cultural experiences that brought it.
Later,
Phangeaux
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Some of y'all know me, I recognize some names from the Blindman's Blues Forum and other places out there. I'm NOT a musician, I'm mainly a fan but I have worked in the music business most of my life and I was a professional jazz trumpet player 1,234 years ago.
I'm in Portland, Oregon and I'm here to learn more about pre-war blues.
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Welcome BluesSlave!
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Some of y'all know me, I recognize some names from the Blindman's Blues Forum and other places out there. I'm NOT a musician, I'm mainly a fan but I have worked in the music business most of my life and I was a professional jazz trumpet player 1,234 years ago.
I'm in Portland, Oregon and I'm here to learn more about pre-war blues.
Hey, nice to see ya here!
Welcome to Weenie Campbell.
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Hey ... it's YOUR fault I'm here, I mean it's because of you .... heh. :D
Hey, nice to see ya here!
Welcome to Weenie Campbell.
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Hey, I'm a 16 year old blues fan (more specifically pre-war blues) from England. I've been deeply involved in the blues for a few years now and I play guitar, bass and a little harmonica. I'm glad I found this site and look forward to spending time on here.
Joe :)
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Welcome young Ol' Scratch! Nice to find another example of the younger generation getting into this fine music. We seem to breed blues fans in my native Yorkshire.
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Me mam was from Sowerby Bridge!
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Me mam was from Sowerby Bridge!
Well I hope she taught you to pronounce it correctly. It's not "Sow" as in female pig. Trouble is I can't think of a comparable pronunciation in conventional English. Anyway, more like "sew" which is close but not right.
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Hey, I'm a 16 year old blues fan (more specifically pre-war blues) from England. I've been deeply involved in the blues for a few years now and I play guitar, bass and a little harmonica. I'm glad I found this site and look forward to spending time on here.
Joe :)
Welcome Joe! Enjoy the site.
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Sawby silly.
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Howdy folks and folkettes (if any). I just joined. Great place you have here... so many deeply knowledgeable people! By way of introduction, I've been a Blind Blake fan for most of my 46 years, can play some of his stuff even, and made a living playing more electrified blues in the 80s with people like Joe Beard. Meeting Son House at age 8 had a big impact on me... worst breath ever though. Anyway, hello to all you fine humans :=}
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A hello and welcome to you ClaudeCat!
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Hello\wellcome etc to Claudecat, BluesSlave and as for PP and Ol' Scratch talking about Yorkshire, isn't that north of Cheltenham ;D
Will we be seeing you at EBA week then O'S ?
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Used to play quite often at the Puzzle Hall Inn in Sowerby Bridge.
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I don't mean to butt in on the conversation, but new member checking in. I have been a blues lover/player for over 35 years and I look forward to meeting ya'll and learning what more I can. Looks like a lot of knowledge here on my favorite music.
Pic
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Welcome Pic!
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Slack,
Thanks a million! I have been browsing through some of the different forums and am simply amazed at what I have been reading! I am a big fan of the Reverend Gary Davis and have already learned a lot more about him and his playing than I thought possible in such a short time. What a resource. Hopefully I can contribute in my own small way to the knowledge contained on these forums. I feel like I've come home...
Pic
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Welcome home, then, Pic.
All for now.
John C.
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Howdy!
I have been lurking for a while now and thought it was time to register.
I have just recently gotten into pre-war music (after listening to every other genre on the planet) and, as far as blues goes, I especially seem to enjoy Piedmont performers. "Songsters" as well, assuming a songster is someone who accompanies himself/herself on an instrument and sings a song that is not the blues or that is pre-blues in origin.
I'm still pretty new to this stuff, but I'm caught in its rut and learning fast. I'm sure I'll learn even more from you guys.
Now, let's whip that thing a long time.
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Welcome Dave!
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Welcome Dave - thanks for de-lurking!
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Minnesota Dave,
I'm new here too, but welcome. There's a lot of knowledge available here and a lot of supportive folks. Dive right in and let these folks help ya along.
Pic
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Minnesota Dave,
I'm new here too, but welcome. There's a lot of knowledge available here and a lot of supportive folks. Dive right in and let these folks help ya along.
Pic
Hey, you're the second Pic I know now. :)
Yep, these folks are mighty helpful. I've learned a lot already.
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Hello Everyone,
New member here. Love country/delta blues (pre-war acoustic blues in any form) and am glad to have found this forum. Good to see people keeping it alive and well. I play guitar, acoustic fingerstyle blues, like most people here I'd imagine. I love Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Skip James, Robert Wilkiins and John Hurt most of all. Can't forget Rev. Gary and Furry too. Huge fan of Grossman and John Fahey as well.
thanks. see you on the boards.
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Welcome Blind Irwin! Glad you found us!
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Hey I must have missed this thread, but I'm relatively new as well. I've been here for just over a month and I love this site. Like all of you I love country blues and have since my late teens. My favorites are Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy, Clifford Gibson and many more. I also love people like Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Mike Seeger, Ry Cooder, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, Paul Geremia, Mary Flower, Ari Eisinger and of course John Miller!! I guess I could go on and on. I have been playing guitar since I was nine and usually play an hour or more a day. Thanks for allowing to be a part of this great family. This summer I will be attending Country Blues week in Port Townsend, I'm hoping to be able to meet and play music with a lot of you guys!!!
RJ
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My name is TJ. I'm 14 and from Portland. Last summer was my first time in Port Townsend and it was awesome. I heard about the workshops when I lived in Omaha, Nebraska. But I heard more about Port Townsend once I moved to Oregon from Stu Kinzel, LynnAnn Hyde and Dean Mueller. After I met Terry Bean at the workshop last summer, I saw him in Helena. Then we both played at Pinetop's homecoming in Clarksdale. I can't wait to see him again he's really fun. It looks like new teachers this summer. I am going to start working with Mary Flower who I heard is great. Has she ever taught at Port Townsend? I just got back from the bottleneck slide weekend in PT, definitely something I'm doing again!
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, TJ. I think you might find a pic of yourself, from your stellar performance in the participant's concert, if you select the Weenie Photo Gallery and peruse the PT 2008 Gallery. Look forward to seeing and hearing you again next year.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome TJ! Very cool that you are getting into country blues at age 14. Mary Flower is a master player and teacher, you are very lucky to be in Oregon and to take lessons from Mary.... very exciting! Yes, Mary has been to Port Townsend at least twice, maybe more. She's an incredibly talented pro - I'm jealous of your opportunity!
And welcome to you too RJ, even though you are an old hand at weeniecampbell! ;)
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And, yeah, Mary has taught at PT, a couple times at least. She is a great teacher. I enjoyed her take on raggy circle of fifths blues. Say 'hey' for me when you see her.
All for now.
John C.
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Hello, My name is Sam, and although I am not yet an alcoholic reading about country blues is getting in the way of my performance at work. I am 24. When I was in college a gaggle of people would hang out in the living quarters and play video games, but my roomate had two guitars and a mandolin. Music trumped technology and still does. I learned from my only resource, 21st century deadheads, and thank them for my taste for the blues - luckily just a portal.
I was lucky to meet some great old-time musicians in and around Franklin County, MA who saved me (not completely) from bluegrass, but more importantly introduced me to string band music. Through these folks and an eventual move back to my homeland of beautiful NJ I met Frank and Kim of frankie fame - both musical heroes of mine.
My first mandolin was a weymann flat-top and having a stupid youthful yearning I sold it for $100 worth of disposable fun. Despite being bequeathed with two great mandolins from people, I yearn for something as unresounding as that Weymann. If anyone has an extra one on hand GIT with me.
I play mandolin, but I am young.
Also, I have been really into wilderness disaster stories along the lines of Jonathan Krakauer and Nathaniel Philbrick if anybody has any leads contact me off topic.
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:D :D
Welcome Sam...sounds like you've landed in the right place!!
Cheers,
Blue
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Welcome Sam! We've really enjoying your YouTube playing!
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I guess step one is admitting you have a problem...
Hi, my name is Jeremy and I have been addicted to the country blues for ~7 years. It all started when I heard a jug band playing on the street on sunny afternoon. On that day I bought 1 album thinking it's just one album. Now I'm constantly looking for my next fix. It's gotten so bad that I've been forced to learn fingerstyle guitar and form a band in order to get my fix. I've gotten as low as playing the washboard in a jug band jam.
I hope this place helps ;)
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Welcome JugStruggler!
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Welcome Jugstruggler! Good luck with your addiction. This place won't help...
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Hello, I'm new to the forum. Like everyone here, I'm really into Country Blues. Last name is Campbell, possibly a relative of Weenie's, & live in Charleston, WV. Been looking for awhile for a Country Blues forum where one can learn more, teach, & meet other fans like myself.
I notice that Andrew uses a picture of Frank Hutchison for his photo. I only live 45 minutes north of Logan, WV -- Hutchison's (& my wife's) home town. (PS: Dick Justice & Williamson Brothers-Curry were also from there. I believe that Henry Whittier lived there for awhile.) It is sad that Hutchison is pretty much forgotten there & is almost neglected in the local museum.
I'm going to check out some of the other threads now.
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Welcome Mr. S Campbell! Glad you found us!
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Newbie here! Name is Reuben. I have been playing country blues for about 15 years---started after hearing my dad's John Jackson album. I am really into the Piedmont style but like and play all styles of blues, folk, americana, whatever you call it, just good and real music. Nice to find this forum and look forward to some good discussions with like minded folk. Cheers!
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Welcome Reuben - glad you found us!
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Hello,
I'm from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and am interested in learning more about the early blues. This Weenie Campbell Forum looks like the place! Luckily there are a couple of good record, I mean compact disc, stores here that have helped me out considerably in my listening adventures. Although I have heard some really good live acts playing the old stuff in other cities, there is not much "blues roots" music here that I've found, except for Henry Gray, of course. There are plenty of electric "blues" bands in town, all of which seem to play the same songs. I put a link to a youtube video taken at the local blues fest last weekend in the youtube section of the forum that might be of interest.
Anyway, have a good Saturday night.
lin48
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Hello,
I'm from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and am interested in learning more about the early blues. This Weenie Campbell Forum looks like the place! Luckily there are a couple of good record, I mean compact disc, stores here that have helped me out considerably in my listening adventures. Although I have heard some really good live acts playing the old stuff in other cities, there is not much "blues roots" music here that I've found, except for Henry Gray, of course. There are plenty of electric "blues" bands in town, all of which seem to play the same songs. I put a link to a youtube video taken at the local blues fest last weekend in the youtube section of the forum that might be of interest.
Anyway, have a good Saturday night.
Welcome. There may not be much blues in your neck of the woods but it has a wonderful Zydeco/Cajun music heritage both pre and post war. In his 1983 book "South To Louisiana The Music Of The Cajun Bayous" John Broven observed that apart from the recordings made by Jay Miller of Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester etc most of the country blues recorded in Louisiana were made within the walls of the State Penn. by Harry Oster (see http://www.wirz.de/music/osterfrm.htm)
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Welcome Lin48!
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Apologize for hitting the wrong key to post something incomplete.
Anyway - tom from Vashon Island, playing for the past 40 odd years off and on.
Really got revved up after my first blues camp last summer. Now playing in three different kinds of groups. an acoustic trio and an, dare I say, electric band as well. Mostly bloues with a little country style thrown in as well.
Did the bottleneck workshop this past winter. Totally dug it and learned way too much for the brain to retain, but did get some awesome licks and of course the jammin' was way outta control.
super great group of people at camp as well as those who took good care of us.
Really would like to hook up with a mandolin player this summer to work on some Dawg Blues.
I'll be showing up on Monday bright and early as I can't get into town until super late sunday night.
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Welcome Beanman. You are well situated to take advantage of Centrum's workshops - I'm jealous!
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Hello folks,
I would have logged back in under 'Gamblin' Jack' but it won't let me...
My obsession is pre-war tunes in general - from dance orchestras to string bands to klezmer - , though I have a special love for the blues. I have been collecting Yazoo records for many years now, though I recently discovered Old Hat - especially their brilliant Good for What Ails You, and Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow (The Jazz Fiddler!!!).
I have played ukulele and tenor banjo for a number of years, and started playing blues guitar last year, mostly bottleneck but more ragtime these days (thanks to uni procrastination!).
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Welcome J. Baxter! When you say it won't let you log in as Gamblin' Jack, do you mean you had registered previously as Gamblin' Jack, but now are somehow blocked from logging in using that username? Just to be clear, so we can fix any glitches or help you figure out what went wrong.
As for uni procrastination, I'm not familiar with the term, but I'm assuming it has nothing to do with sea urchins...
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You don't have to fix it, but the site didn't like the apostrophe in Gamblin' when I tried to log back in.
Oh sorry, being from Australia, instead of colleges they're called universities, hence uni.
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They're universities here too (Canada). Just wasn't up on the lingo...
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Hola!
Hey gang! I'm a 37 year old geeetar player wannabe in Ontario Canada. I've been playing guitar for 19 years (mostly just a noodler), fingerstyle and slide guitar for the last 2 or 3 years and I am just getting my big toe wet in pre-war blues. I just ordered a bunch of instructional DVDs and can't wait to dive in!
I've been lurking for awhile and to be honest I'm intimidated by the volume of knowledge and level of musicianship in these forums! You guys / gals absolutely know your stuff! Great forums and great vibe here - thanks to all that make it a cool place for a lurker like me to hang out :)
FM
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Welcome, FretMonkey!
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Yes, welcome FM! - glad you de-lurked!
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Hi I'm new to the board and really like the old country blues artists and its good to find a site like this. I play guitar and sing enough to know its not easy...like I have to keep things simple. THe old blues players are like magicians the way they sing and play and express don't you know it!!
Anyway I puchased a couple of pre-war ladder braced guitars and I love them. I just learned the intro to crossroads...heh-heh sorta... Youtube with Rory Block...wow that is fun stuff!! Nice to be aboard..
Bill
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Hi folks,
I met Waxwing at the San Francisco Jug Band Festival in August 07 and he first told me about the site. Since then, I've posted a couple of events, and browsed other threads from time to time, but haven't jumped in on any conversations yet. I'm lucky enough to have a good community of traditional blues fans here in Chicago, but I'd like to start branching out to the online community as well.
My main instrument is guitar, but I'm just getting started with some of the country blues techniques. I especially like the East Coast style, but other than some basic syncopated rhythms, a lot of the playing is over my head. I'm mostly a "lyrics guy" and I really love learning clever songs and seeing how memorable lines and verses migrate into different songs.
Anyway, I have to commend you all on maintaining what appears to be an extremely friendly community here. I followed the presidential election closely all year and I'm feeling a bit toxic from the venom that was spread all over the Internet on that topic. Even forums related to some of my other interests get surprisingly nasty at times. So, keep up the good work and I hope to be back soon!
Arlo Leach
Chicago, IL, USA
http://arlotone.com
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Welcome Arlo.
Yes, I've seen you hovering around at times. I'm sure all the moderators here thank you for you observations.
Keep up the good work with the Chicago jug fest. I'm not playing in a band at the moment but am always keeping my jug and washboard chops up, so I might make it out there one of these years.
Always room for more lyric discussions. More fodder for Weeniepedia.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Arlo!
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Welcome, Arlo! Good on you for organizing the Will Shade tribute.
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Hi gang, New forum member, listen to all manner of music but am currently deep in an american "roots" music groove. Longtime guitar owner but finally starting to bear down and really try and learn to play music (practicing daily). Fingerstyle blues for now.
Livin' in Zigzag, OR.
Looks like you've got a real nice forum and group of folks here.
Cheers! Bob
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Bob.
Living in the NW (me too, kinda) you have the great good fortune to be within driving range of one of the greatest learning opportunities for this music: Centrum's Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop and Festival, which takes place every summer at the end of July. Check out the entire board we have for discussing this event. If you really want to give your playing a boost, with inspiration and experiential learning you should think about it. And it's one of the least expensive camps around. You'll get to meet a lot of the fine folks from the site, too.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Bob!
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Thanks guys, yeah I've already been scoping out the Port Townsend event (I also have friends living in the area...).
Bob
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Kia Ora, my name's Greg Fletcher. I'm originally from Australia (Bega Valley, hence "mumbulla" - Mumbulla Mountain is part of the Biamanga National Park on the Far South Coast of New South Wales), but have been living in New Zealand for 33 years.
I took up playing lap steel when I turned 50, 2 years ago, and now have a collection of instruments that I can't play particularly well yet, but every day brings mighty change, as they say... my latest lap steel is Steve Evans first carbon-fibre prototype tricone - # 001 - that's it on my profile picture... think I'll call it Jezzabeltona.. Steve lives about an hour north of me.. he's an incredible musician, and luthier, and has been a very positive influence for me..
Anyway, I've been looking at Weenie Campbell for info for a long time now, so thought it only fair I register..
What a great site! I am also a member of the IGS forum, so the 2 combined really give me all I need at present as i mutt my way around in open D and open G like a learner driver practising in a busy city carpark!
Come see me at the Matakana Farmers Market every Saturday - unless it's raining.. the carbon fible don't mind if it rains, but I do..
mumbulla
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Welcome, mumbulla!
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Hey there Greg,
I lived in Auckland for 21 years from '84 to '05, yes, I admit I was a JAFA... amazing we never bumped into each other. We probably did actually, do you know Al Young?
To cut a long story short me and the missus moved to Austin TX in '05
Welcome to weenie. I know Steve of Beltona fame, we overnighted with him and his lovely wife at their place in the BoI when we went to the Whangarei Jazz Fest one year. Steve is a gentleman and a scholar. Chezztone, one of our members, has, or had, a Beltona reso.
I'm sure you'll enjoy the site and its eternally interesting denizens.
Rivers (aka Mark)
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Welcome Bob. Zigzag, Oregon. Is that a cool name for a town or what?! There's an interesting story there I feel sure.
Rivers,
Rizla, TX
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Especially since Zigzag is unincorporated and has its own wikipedia entry.
All for now.
John C.
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Hey Rivers,
I have heard of Al Young, but don't know his work - might go look him up.
Think we have mutual friend - Dave Hoskins at Herons Flight Vineyard - he was talking about Al and concerts they used to hold there some years ago, so Dave will be a good start.
Every so often a good muso will come to the local farmers market, or someone like Hammond Gamble will play at one of the local restaurants.
One local musician in Matakana holds a small intimate concert series, which are great.
Jeni and i have a small organic farm called Waybyond, and it keeps us very busy, that and work, practice, and trying to get my poet's eye honed. Jeni also paints, though the art "scene" here is soft at present.
May have seen you around though! I lived in Auckland for 8 years from 1987 - 1995.
I was an occasional performance poet in the late 70's, early 80's, particularly at the Globe Tavern in Wakefield Street, then worked as the backdoor man for the Willie Dayson Blues Band at the same place for what seems like years. Brian Glamuzina from Willie Dayson went on to form Stingray with Glenn Ross Cambell.
I mainly lived out of Auckland at Bethels Beach (Te Henga), Karekare, and more recently at Tauhoa and for the past 8 years at Wayby, between Warkworth and Wellsford.
These days, I have to go into Auckland 2-3 days a week, but generally avoid the drive if I can. My job lets me work from home.
I agree re Steve and Maggie - could not ask for nicer people.
Take care and I hope to meet you one day!
Greg
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I know Brian G and Willie D. Once changed a string on Willie's strat halfway through an Auckland Blues Soc gig at Java Jive, I was on the ABS revival committee wth Brian Glamuzina. Willie's a very nice unassuming guy and I love his tasteful guitar playing.
Brian made a miraculous transformation from harp player to guitarist, man he must have worked hard to get so good so fast. Last seen wearing a cool hat at the Mission Bay Jazz fest wailing on a black 335 like he'd been doing it all his life.
I know Glenn C, friend of a steel-playing friend, as well. Amazing he ended up in NZ, I bought the Juicy Lucy album first time around and had always wondered what had happened to him. We had a 'wow! you're Glenn Campbell!' moment. Superb musician.
As a diver involved in training activities I would head for Goat Island or Tawharanui just about every other week for a while so I must have been through Matakana a hundred times.
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Rivers,
Small world...
When I first came to New Zealand in 1975, i met Brian playing in his first band, Bloodshot - he and Wendy had just got out of teachers college, I think. I used to sit in front of Bloodshot when they played at the Windsor Castle, handing Brian up his next harmonica! They were playing a lot of J Geils in those days, but also Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters.
Brian was my best man at my (now defunct) marriage in 1981. I helped him build his house a little, then when we moved out to land at Bethells, Brain supplied a lot of the timber for our "storage shed".
We kind of lost touch for a while but it's on my list to catch up with him soon.
Is the "steel-playing friend" of Glenn's Janek Croydon by any chance?
Greg
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Greetings ladies and gentlemen......I'm new to the forum, and am looking forward to interacting with you all, and sharing about the blues. I'm coming from the Delta blues side. I've played guitar for many years, but last year, got going on the blues for the first time. Have a few Robert Johnson's under my belt, and am looking forward to learning more about blues and to get acquainted with you all. Have a great holiday by the way......
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Greg, yeah, Janek! We were in a band together for a while. Then I got married...
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Greetings ladies and gentlemen......I'm new to the forum, and am looking forward to interacting with you all, and sharing about the blues. I'm coming from the Delta blues side. I've played guitar for many years, but last year, got going on the blues for the first time. Have a few Robert Johnson's under my belt, and am looking forward to learning more about blues and to get acquainted with you all. Have a great holiday by the way......
Welcome, onewilyfool!
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Hiya gang,
Dave here from Seattle. I know John Miller, have taken classes from him. Hi John :)
I attended the first ever Port Townsend Blues Workshop. Went back the next year, I think, to see the concerts. Haven't been back since. I go to the PSGW sponsored Jam Camp every year, you all should check that out, it's a lot of fun, a lot of styles, and cheap.
I play blues and swing, and bits of other genres, solo jazz arrangements, ...
TTYL,
Dave
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Hi Dave,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell! It's good to have around these parts, and I hope Robin and Zoe are fine.
All best,
Johnm
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Toby:
Welcome to Weenie Campbell. It's good to have you here.
Alex
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Welcome Toby!
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O0
HI Guys,
New guy here although I have lurked for a long long time. My name's Darren Johnston, married, in my early forties, no kids live in the great state of New Jersey ( orginally from the Bronx ) and my first love was art and painting though I have always loved the guitar and picked that up about 3 years ago. Took lessons, my father has a serious record collection so I know about the blues ( Leadbelly, Lightin' Hopkins..ect. ) but really got into it about two years ago. I play 'regular' guitar and lap style ( hence the 'Git-fiddle'...old country slang for lap playing. ) I am glad to find a place were a bunch of really nice people love the same music that I do. I have a ever growing collection of blues CD ( I think I am on the verge of having every JSP box set the even remotely mentions the blues )....I am working my way through the document catalogue now and you guys know you could go broke trying to get most of them! Anyway glad to be here and SO glad the 'Juke' is back!!
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Darren!
You've just explained why several of us here are broke.
All for now.
John C.
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Welcome Darren - glad you de-lurked!
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Hi all
Name's Mark, live near London, England. Been playing acoustic guitar for about 3 Years now after a 20 Year break (although my younger self only really bashed out three chord punk stuff on electric.) Been increasingly getting into pre war blues (esp Delta) over last few Years and now beginning first signs of obsession with it. Great site and hope I can contribute something going forward.
NB chose my user name cos am trying to get to the bottom of the Willie Brown (s) situation.
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Mark - Welcome to Weenie Campbell.
Have you seen the thread about the Euroweenie Weekend in the New Forest this coming weekend? You'd be very welcome to come along. Somebody cleverer than I am will doubtless be able to show you the Muddy Waters lick you're searching for. If you have any specific questions about the event, you can send a personal message to Blueshome or Richard, as they are the joint organisers (and a mighty fine job they do too - grovel, grovel).
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Brand new here - found Weenie as result of a Google search two days ago, poked around a bit, registered yesterday and today here I am. :)
My name is Christian Stanfield; I am a Memphis native, born & bred. I first learned to play in the traditional manner - my dad tuned up his guitar & left in the corner with strict instructions not to touch it. Twenty years later, I'm still obsessed. :P
My path toward country blues has been circuitous, to say the least. I was a chord strummer for most of my life, then about three years ago I learned fingerpicking rudiments a la Paul Simon. An introduction to contra dancing shortly thereafter changed my life, and I began to learn to flatpick fiddle tunes. I was invited to join a group of local old-time musicians, and the Potlikker String Band was born. Suddenly I went instrument crazy, and began to learn clawhammer banjo, mandolin and (very badly) fiddle. I thought old-time music was the end-all, be-all of it all, then a couple of things happened.
First, I picked up a copy of the Friends of Old Time Music boxed set from Smithsonian Folkways. Amongst all the Doc Watson, Maybelle Carter and Stanley Brothers was this jaw-dropping acoustic guitar stylist I had never heard nor even heard of: Mississippi John Hurt. I promptly forgot all about old-time fiddle tunes and started chasing country blues.
The second thing was that a local guitarist took me under his wing. He played piano in our local contra dance band, but it turns out that he's something of a known quantity in the world of country blues. His name is Andy Cohen, and unless one or both of us is out of town, Monday's find me at his home for as many hours as it takes before he throws me out.
I got lucky & got offered a happy-hour residency at the Ground Zero Blues Club one block off Beale Street - I share it with Andy Cohen and William Lee Ellis, and one of us is onstage there from 6 to 7:30pm every Friday and Saturday. I am WAAAYYY out of my league, but since I was the one who got offered the gig in the first place, the other two fellows have said I could stay. :D
Let's see... I'm a bit chatty, and I have a slight obsession with buying acoustic instruments that drives my wife-to-be a little crazy. The current stable includes a 1995 Martin D-15, a July 1962 Gibson LG-1 (before they went to the pastic bridge), a new Crafters of Tennessee (Mark Taylor) TN Blues wood-bodied resonator, an unknown 1920's/30's parlor, a 1950's Silvertone tenor that I have completely remade, and a Chinese 6-string guitjo/banjitar-thing, to say nothing of several 5-string banjos, fiddles, banjo-ukes, and a gorgeous Breedlove Quartz OM Mandolin. Oh, yeah - I also began to build/repair instruments a couple years ago, having been taken in by a local luthier as well. So far I have completed two banjos and am working on a third, plus lots & lots of guitar rehabs & restorations, including the above-mentioned Silvertone makeover.
I am still very new to all of this, and I barely know enough tunes well enough to get me through my two happy hour sets. Andy says I hold my right hand all wrong, and I'm sure he's right though there seems to be bugger-all I can do about it. I am most proud of my rendition of Big Bill Broonzy's "Shuffle Rag", amateurish as it is. I would really like to get out to this PT festival everyone is on about, but I already travel so much to dance and attend old-time weekends, I'm not sure where the time will come from. Maybe one year down the road...
PS - I really like the Juke radio station on Loud City!
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell, Christian! Sounds like your obsession is coming along quite nicely!
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Hi everyone, new here, signed up after lurking a while. I've been learning and playing this country blues for three, four years now after a happily misspent youth with electric guitars and excessive volume ;)
I'm british, residing in Lyon in France these days, lamenting the lack of interest here in this old-time music, but people are pretty open and receptive and I guess that's what counts the most. I've just started doing a couple of open mics, playing some Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Rev. Gary Davis. I was the only one there who'd ever heard of these usual suspects, but the response from folk has been pretty good.
To be honest, the depth of knowledge here seemed a little offputting at first, back when I stumbled on this place thanks to someone on the Stefan Grossman guitar workshop board. You'll be pleased to know I still feel pretty out of my league when I read posts on another blues player I've hardly heard of and folk here seem to know every note of their songs - but I like that, it's good to learn. Anyway, thanks for having me on board.
Cheers -
Gordon
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Welcome Gordon. We don't all have that depth of knowledge. All that counts is a love for the music.
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Hello all you blues junkies. I was born and raised in Chicago and some of my earliest memories are of Maxwell Street and listening to the street music of blues musicians in the 50's. I used to ride my bicycle to blues clubs and stand outside just to listen to the bands play. It was a custom at that time for the bands to play in the front window area to attract customers. Around 1966 when I was 17 I was listening to a great band composed of Koko (RIP yesterday), Junior Wells and others that I just can't recall right now....gotta love getting old. So here is this 17yr old kid standing outside with his bicycle and out walks Junior Wells in a pink fuzzy bolder. He say's, son, I've seen you all around town standin outside listening to us and now is the time for me to bring you inside to listen to the music and buy you a beer. My first beer was from Junior. Well, that was the start of a blues career that has lasted for forty years so far. I have always played electric bass as a back up player and a few years ago I started on the mandolin. Since I already knew all of the songs, I am now a blues mandolin player and singer, or so I tell everyone. Really I'm just a hack. You gotta live the blues to play the blues and I say God Bless the Blues....Real Music.
Johnny Ray
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Johnny. That is a great story about Junior Wells getting you your first beer!
All best,
Johnm
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Well, I do confess that I feel rather reluctant to add to this illustrious register, even though I've been lurking for a month or so. Everyone seems to have a story about how Son House used to live next door or Big Bill Broonzy bought them a hotdog or Little Walter was their music teacher :D
My story is comparatively low-key. My name's Becky, I'm an 18 year-old English girl and I've been a devotee of the blues for about three years.
I had no exposure to the blues at all growing up, unsurprising for my time and place. If you'd asked me aged 14 what the blues was, I would have probably just gone: "I woke up this morning - DUH-DUH-DUH DUH-DUH!"
It changed when I was 15 and Vauxhall used Lonnie Donegan's version of 'Rock Island Line' in one of their TV adverts. Myself and my 12 year-old brothers loved the song - it was so damn catchy - and when we came across a Donegan CD at our grandma's house, we immediately seized it. We listened to it almost every day for over a month, eventually knowing every word to every song. Soon I became curious about the 'folk blues' mentioned in the liner notes...
Well, my first foray into the blues was what you might call a swing and a miss. Searching 'blues' on Limewire, I quickly downloaded the first result - 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' by Bob Dylan :D. It would have been a completely missed chance to meet the real blues had I not loved Dylan's song and looked for more to download by him. One of the songs I found and liked was called 'Blind Willie McTell'... I got curious about this mythical figure...
Thus 'Statesboro Blues' was the first true blues ever to leave its footprints on the crisp snow of my musical consciousness. To me, without any context whatsoever in which to place what I was hearing, it was a revolutionary experience lyrically and musically, the most unique song I had ever heard. Entranced, I downloaded the first McTell album that I found, which happened to be 'Tryin' To Get Home', his Library of Congress session with Lomax in Atlanta, and my violent conversion to the gospel of the blues was instant. 'Delia' was and remains my favourite McTell song, and soon I had downloaded a package containing all his recorded output and was in love.
And now I forget where I first went from there - I attacked the blues from so many angles that I can hardly remember who the next artists I fell for were. Leadbelly, certainly - I had to investigate the man Donegan took so many of his tunes from. Robert Johnson, whose material was so easy to find. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Brownie McGhee, Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes... I evetually got to know and love them all. And of course, the journey goes on. My particular interest at the moment are the Lomax prison recordings, male and female.
A few of my favourite songs:
Delia - Blind Willie McTell
The Soul of a Man - Blind Willie Johnson
Lawyer Clark Blues - Sleepy John Estes
You Don't Know My Mind - Leadbelly
Sleepy Man Blues - Bukka White
Cool Drink of Water - Tommy Johnson
'Lectric Chair Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Police Dog Blues - Blind Blake
Mama T'ain't Long 'Fo Day - Blind Willie McTell
Hard Workin' Woman - Mississippi Mathilda
Dangerous Blues - Mattie Mae Thomas
Richland Women Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
Bottle Up and Go - Tommy McClennan
Lovely to meet you all!
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My particular interest at the moment are the Lomax prison recordings, male and female.
A few of my favourite songs:
Delia - Blind Willie McTell
The Soul of a Man - Blind Willie Johnson
Lawyer Clark Blues - Sleepy John Estes
You Don't Know My Mind - Leadbelly
Sleepy Man Blues - Bukka White
Cool Drink of Water - Tommy Johnson
'Lectric Chair Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
Police Dog Blues - Blind Blake
Mama T'ain't Long 'Fo Day - Blind Willie McTell
Hard Workin' Woman - Mississippi Mathilda
Dangerous Blues - Mattie Mae Thomas
Richland Women Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
Bottle Up and Go - Tommy McClennan
wow - what a fine list that is... you certainly wasted no time seeking out the true vine, that's for sure. Nice to meet you, too!
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What a beautifully written and open intro! It is clear that you are more than entitled to joine the weenies. Don't worry - you're not alone in being English and born after most of the musicians you listen to were dead ;)
Do you play / sing, or just indulge the ears?
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Yes great list indeed. Welcome! Lonnie Donegan-Bob Dylan- Blind Willie McTell, perfect backwards musical engineering!
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What a beautifully written and open intro! It is clear that you are more than entitled to joine the weenies. Don't worry - you're not alone in being English and born after most of the musicians you listen to were dead ;)
Do you play / sing, or just indulge the ears?
It's my greatest shame and disappointment that I have the most horrendous ear and hand for music - can't keep a rhythm, can't tell the difference between two notes - I'm afraid it seems to run in the family.
As for singing, I drive my family crazy singing blues around the house. In fact, I'm pretty much constantly singing a blues , or just making it up from bits of different ones, whatever I'm doing.
Thank you for the welcomes - I knew I'd found a perfect retreat here :D
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Welcome again Becky and thanks for sharing your "reverse engineering" path to country blues - the internet is a great advantage these days for those willing to spend a little time. Glad you found us!
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Do you play / sing, or just indulge the ears?
It's my greatest shame and disappointment that I have the most horrendous ear and hand for music - can't keep a rhythm, can't tell the difference between two notes.
Join the club! You could almost be describing me. :( At first I was painfully aware that being a non-musician in an environment such as this I would be in a minority but nobody has ever held my lack of musicianship against me! :)
Have you browsed the TAGS? I think this feature is a perfect resource for newcomers. For example, clicking on, say, Alan Lomax you'll find all nature of discussions and may well discover an appropriate thread in which you can tell us about the Lomax prison recordings you are currently listening to.
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I'll second Bunker Hill's recommendation of the tags for browsing (though they are a constant work in progress and not comprehensive), and I'll point out that you don't need to pay any attention to any warning messages about a topic being old should you decide to post to it. Just the software settings being fussy...
And I'll add my welcome to the site.
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Welcome, Becky! You have your entire adult music listening life ahead of you and hopefully Weenie Campbell can introduce you to musicians and music that you have yet to encounter and will find to your liking.
There are a lot more resources available today than there were back when I was your age (in 1968). Of course, many of the masters were still with us back then and I was fortunate to meet some of them. However, while there were reissue LPs, there was not nearly the quantity of music available that there is today. In addition, there were no on-line communities that connected people from around the globe with similar interests and passions for the music - and in virtually real time, no less.
Take advantage of the Weenie Campbell community and don't be shy about asking for information and advice. We're all in this together. And don't worry about not being a guitar player. Maybe you just haven't met the right teacher yet - you can never tell what the future holds. Remember: No one is born knowing how to play the guitar.
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another newbie - it's a long story, but after an interesting and somewhat uncomfortable interview with a well-known jazz musician last fall, during which we disagreed strongly on the issue of the blues and the old tent/minstrel shows, I decided to get to work, and am producing a 36 CD history of the blues, covering 1893-1959; doing all the mastering and restoration, and the project will be issued, of course, from Europe, sometime in the Fall. I am hoping to finish the notes in the next month or so. I think it's a pretty comprehensive collection that has 935 cuts and covers everything from early vocal quartets, to pop, jazz, western swing, hillbilly, country and western, film, ragtime, etc. Basically I have working night and day over the last year to get this done, and am close to finishing, if the world doesn't come to an end -
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another newbie - it's a long story, but after an interesting and somewhat uncomfortable interview with a well-known jazz musician last fall, during which we disagreed strongly on the issue of the blues and the old tent/minstrel shows, I decided to get to work, and am producing a 36 CD history of the blues, covering 1893-1959; doing all the mastering and restoration, and the project will be issued, of course, from Europe, sometime in the Fall. I am hoping to finish the notes in the next month or so. I think it's a pretty comprehensive collection that has 935 cuts and covers everything from early vocal quartets, to pop, jazz, western swing, hillbilly, country and western, film, ragtime, etc. Basically I have working night and day over the last year to get this done, and am close to finishing, if the world doesn't come to an end -
Welcome. This mammoth endeavour of yours sounds as if it could be a belated set to accompany your 1997 book "American Pop; from Minstrel to Mojo: On Record 1893-1956"! The discography on pages 263-67 is laid out almost as one would a series of CD releases. :)
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coincidence?
;)
actually, in a way the projects I've done since then have been an odd but somewhat logical progression - about 5 years ago I did a jazz history, also 36 cds - this blues one has thoroughly wiped me out, as I just felt the need to get it done and over with; the notes are going to be ok, but relatively modest. I'm hoping to get a book proposal together once everything else is done here.
The blues thing had been at the back of my mind for some time; finally, due to external stimulus, I decided it was time to gathering everything I had been thinking about for some time and put it into some historical timeline. I think it works well, though the problem with these kind of sets is that as soon as you think you have it all together you find something else that should be included. Or as soon as it's out, you remember something you should have included. My purpose is to generally avoid the obvious, though there are always certain standard performances you have to consider. But I've got a lot here, from Ethel Waters to Bobby Darin, Charles Ives to Henry Mancini, and I think it holds together pretty well.
I've been spending time at Blindman's Blues, and I just found you guys. Very happy to be here - a smart and intimidating bunch.
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell, Allen. Quite a project there! Here's hoping the world does not end...
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Yes, welcome Allen - glad you found us!
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I am Frank Matheis, a new member to the forum.
My love for the country blues goes back 42 years when I first saw Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Since then it has been in my blood. I am a harmonica player (semiprofessional) and slide guitar player (not so good). Currently I am inactive as a performer.
I own a huge blues CD collection and a large blues book library-- you might say I am a blues musciologist of sorts. For 10 years I was a radio DJ in New York, focusing on roots & blues music. Also, I produced a radio documentary about the blues which was aired on three continents in 2 languages.
In the past, I was also a contributing writer to one of the best blues magazines - Blues Access with the wonderful John Sinclair as editor. Unfortunately, that great magazine folded (not because of me).
I was invited to this forum by a musician from Finland.
As you might tell from my user name on this forum, I just launched a website called
www.thecountryblues.com
I did this because I was tiered of always hearing that the acoustic blues are dead, irrelevant, expired, defunct, archaic and long gone.
So, I set out to build a Who's_who list of artists worldwide who perform this music.
My intention is to build a comprehensive directory of CONTEMPORARY acoustic & traditional blues musicians. Right now I only have about 45 full reviews (with descriptive text, photo and TouTube link. Over time I plan to develop full reviews for hundreds of artists. Right now the Who-is-Who list only has 350 or so musicians listed. It was easy to get the major, well known international performers, but I want to include everyone.
I can use your help and friendship.
If you are a musician and you are not on the list, please let me know. If you want to submit someone I have missed, please do so.
I hope to find kinship with this forum and ask for you to visit, participate and become friends with my site. I believe it does not compete with weenie, but it complements it. I hope to hear from you.
Peace and Love, FM
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I was invited to this forum by a musician from Finland.
Oh yeah? I wonder who that might be? ;)
Welcome from my part.
Let's hope we can help you out here with your ambitious task. I'm sure many country blues performers visiting this forum are still missing from the Country Blues guide.
Cheers
Pan
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell Frank - glad you found us by way of Finland. ;) Your new website sounds like a worthwhile project - good luck with it, I'm sure we'll enjoy checking it out from time to time.
I've merged your topic with our introduction topic: "When the Roll is called..."
Cheers,
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Welcome Frank! Nice website you've got there.
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Thanks for the welcome.
I am actually not in Finland (though I am very fond of it).
Pan pointed me to this site, which I had visited before, but had not yet joined.
I am in New York.
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Welcome, Frank. We'll do our best to make you feel right at home and hopefully make a few contributions to your site.
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In the past, I was also a contributing writer to one of the best blues magazines - Blues Access with the wonderful John Sinclair as editor. Unfortunately, that great magazine folded (not because of me)
Welcome aboard. Despite being a limey I subscribed to BA from issue one and think Cary Wolfson's rapid move to "glossy" with issue twenty was over ambitious. It was a nice, unpretentious, well informed mag that really didn't call for "pizzazz". Do you know what he's doing now?
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Hey Frank,
Welcome To WC.
Just an FYI: There is a place on your profile to add your website, that way if someone sees the .com in your username and clicks on your name to see your profile (as I did when I first saw your post on the RJ pic thread) they can go right to your website.
Now to go check whether I'm already on your site.-G-
Wax
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Now to go check whether I'm already on your site.-G-
Wax, I already did and you are! ;)
Frank, this "WeeniePedia" list of CB artists and their websites might come handy:
http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/index.php?title=WebLinks#Artist_Websites
Also check out this thread discussing young Blues artists:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=128&topic=5222.0
You'll find lot's of information on this forum. Enjoy!
Cheers, Pan
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Wow, I had 232 people come on my site yesterday!
I posted up my blues documentary Podcast, but there are some glitches becasue of the many segments-- 6 hours in 12 half-hour segments.
When people download, they all have the same name. So now we need to rename and upload all those gigs! ::)
Anyway, it should be up by this weekend. It is a documentary primer that was aired in the US and Australia. Check by and look at the Podcast page.
I also posted a review on this site of the CW Stoneking "Jungle Blues". Go check it out in the reviews page.
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Hey TCB/FM,
I love your new category - Contemporary/Traditional! Say hey to Doug for me!
Cheers,
Jed
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Hello everyone!
Johan Eliasson is my name, my nickname is Bottleneck John.
Just found my way here to this awesome forum, I like the ol'timey acoustic blues very much and I also play it a lot, my way, touring in Europe..
38 years old, living in the cold north, Sweden, haha..
I also have a huge interest for old guitars and mandolins, especially resonator instruments.
Some clips below showing my 1935('ish) Dobro, a very nice mojo-loaded guitar!
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and present myself!!
I'll be postin' around here! :)
Here's a clip featuring me and the Old School Drum Machine!! ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmRypjAUcU
If you find time, check out some of my links below:
http://www.johaneliasson.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/BottleneckJohn
http://www.myspace.com/bottleneckblues
http://www.johaneliasson.com/BJDT.htm
http://www.johaneliasson.com/bjhd.htm
http://www.bottleneckjohn.com/mojobox.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MqJHOkEco0
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Hi Johan and welcome!
I bet you 'll find interesting stuff in the 'gitfiddles' section - and maybe you'd consider posting pics of your fine collection of old Levins??
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Welcome Johan - glad you found us!
I moved your 1907 posts to the Gitfiddles board. Thanks.
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"Here's a clip featuring me and the Old School Drum Machine!! "
Hey, BJ,
Is it difficult to carry that thing around to gigs?
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Hi Allan!
Thanks for the welcome, sure seems like a nice place to be!
Yes, I can post some Levin stuff!
(I did post some Levin pics right here and they've been moved..)
Btw, I have an old 1907 Levin parlor that wants to be traded later on.. ;)
I know we spoke of this some years ago..!!
Nice to be a member here!!
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Thanks Slack! Good to be here!
Melon, luckily we have an old tractor to carry it around, and like 8 roadies, haha!
Seriously, next summer we'll actually use it for a gig..
That will be interesting...!! :o
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Hello all...
I've been a member of Blindman's Blues since April, where some of you already know me, but am just now getting around to joining here.
I've been collecting blues/R&B for about 25 years. I have a lot of postwar stuff, esp. Elmore, Wolf, & RP Williams, but I have an especially comprehensive CD/LP collection of guitar blues, piano blues & sanctified music (+ the more rootsy/bluesy old-timey stuff) from the 'golden era' of 1926-1933. I don't play any kind of musical instrument, but I have a nerdishly extensive discographical knowledge of that time period which I am looking forward to sharing. ;)
Dave
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Welcome to WC, Dave! You too, Johan!
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I don't play any kind of musical instrument, but I have a nerdishly extensive discographical knowledge of that time period which I am looking forward to sharing. ;)
Dave
Could almost be a description of me! :) Welcome.
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Hi ya'll. Rev George here. Been a member for a while but mainly been lurking. I'm a country blues/ragtime guitarist and teacher. Also played a lot of blues/rock, country, pop and jazz gigs over the years, but I've seen the error of my electric (eclectic?) ways and now I concentrate on acoustic blues, rags and old-time New Orleans jazz. This is, IMO, the best blues forum on the net. I look forward to much in the way of interesting discourse and lot of shooting the bull as well.
Rev George
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Rev George:
Welcome to Weenie Campbell! Many of us cross post to the Woodshed, so we're already acquainted, but a big Welcome just the same.
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Welcome Rev George! On behalf of all weenies - thanks for the kind words!
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Hi All
I've been listening to some country blues for a few years now and recently started learning it too. Found this great forum by chance and figured I'd join up.
I hope to learn a lot from you experts, have fun and maybe have something to contribute too.
Kristian
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Welcome Kristian!
But I'm curious, how did you find the forum?
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Welcome Kristian!
But I'm curious, how did you find the forum?
Funny you ask that...
I was researching John How's guitars some months ago and found some posts about his guitars here.
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Howdy All,
I'm checking back in and want to try and start contributing a bit more to the conversation around here.
I played for 8 years in New Roanoke Jug Band, and since the demise of that project have started Rootstone Jug Band, and up a couple of other things you can scout out at www.rootstone.net.
I'm primarily a guitarist and singer, and also play old time banjo, harmonica, jug, and kazoo. I'm also learning quills, and I'm off right now to join the conversation going on about them.
~Scott
www.rootstone.net (http://www.rootstone.net)
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Welcome, Scott!
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Hello Everybody.
My name's Jim Crutchfield and I'm new here. I'm thrilled to discover this site. I'm a Virginian from South Carolina stock, but somehow I've landed in New York City, where I've lived for the past ten years or so. I'm in a folk band called Dramtreeo, based in Norfolk, Va., which still plays three or four times a year. We don't do much in the way of the blues, but I've always loved that music, and especially country blues. I'm looking forward to reading over the forums and learning stuff from you all.
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So this will be my first post on this site. I am new to the forum. Live in western Idaho and have had a lifelong fascination with country blues, old country, ragtime blues and ragtime music. Was encouraged by another friend to join this forum. I am glad it's here and that I am not the only one interested in this music.
john
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Welcome John!
Lots of country blues, old time and ragtime nuts around here. :)
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Greetings!
New guy here. Not a big blogger (as of now). I am a guitar teacher in the suburbs of chicago. Love all types of music, but especially blues. Looking forward to contributing my $.005 and seeing what is going on.
Jonny
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Welcome Jonny!
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Long time keyboard player who started around 5 years of age & came to guitars via Hawaiian Slack Key about 3 years ago at 57. With keyboard/piano classics such as Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Mozart and all the other classic masters, these get mixed up with all the other genres of music to my own style.
Was fortunate to have lessons with one of the Slack Key Masters and wow, so many tunings!
Started with a Yamaha and am now with an R Taylor w/the guitar.
I play from tab and then improvise from there to my own style blues, slack and whatever else comes out. Played some of the Flamenco style too, because I discovered with slack key the influence of Flamenco is in some works, blues, rag and then the true Hawaiian style of slack key or Ki Ho Alu is something of it's own type of genre.
Since playing the piano from classics to old standards, pops, Hollywood, delta blues, boogie woogie and whatever else I am finding that time is the biggest issue - not enough of it to pursue more with the guitar.
Great little corner of the web here so I'll be reading and learning more. Thanks in advance for all the input!
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Welcome ricmoran!
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Another new guy here. I guess this is where you are supposed to say hey, so Hey! 63 years old, been playing guitar for about 12 years (as well as I can recall-lol). Got into country blues when my first teacher taught me Freight Train (I know not really country blues) and Casey Jones. I've been taking lessons from John M for a long time and have learned a bunch of stuff from him.
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Welcome, Mike! Good to see you here!
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome to Weenie, Mike! You hit the jackpot with your teacher selection.
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Hey ya'll from the big dry ditch here in Las Vegas. Got this link to the forum from a cool cat across the pond, Stumblin Andy K. Very keen site ya'll got here. I love country blues....well..any blues for that matter! I've been looking to improve my fingerstyle and slide skills and after seeing all the great info on here, I'm not only hooked but...in the net!
I'm lookin' forward to experiencing ya'll's brand of blues.
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Welcome lesjim!
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Hi All,
Newbie here saying hello. I'm a long time delta and country blues fan and player. I live in the midwest, in a city known for it's blues history. I'm in my early 40's and consider myself a decent but not great delta slide and country blues player. I do love to play me some slide guitar though. I'm a big fan of the usual cats: Furry, Son, RJ, Charley, et al. Love Fred, too.
Of the contemporary players, wow, the list is long, we have some greats going today: Rory Block, Bob Brozman of course and a few dozen more. It is a time of great players and great, affordable guitars so we're very lucky.
Peace,
3K
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Welcome 3K!
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Howdy guys I'm Shovel from Dallas.
Heard Robert Johnson when I was 12, it kind of scared me.
Waddled through some compilations and found Skip James. Now THAT scared me.
Sent me running to Charley Patton.
More recently I've been discovering so much new stuff via youtube, now weenie jukebox is a big player.
So much great stuff so little time.
-Shovel
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Hey, shovel, welcome to weenie..we'll do our best here to scare you, too.. ;D Tom
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Welcome, shovel.
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Welcome Shovel- It's nice to see another member from the DFW area!
Joel
Fort Worth
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Thanks folks.
Yep I'm out in Grapevine, Songster.
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Hello from sunny Roanoke VA. Big Delta blues fan here. Looking forward to the banter.
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Welcome - nice to know somebody else in Roanoke likes to scream and holler their blues.
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Hello from sunny Roanoke VA. Big Delta blues fan here. Looking forward to the banter.
Welcome to WC, Screamin and Hollerin!
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Thanks yall
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Hello,
I'm Jussi from Finland. I was born 1962 and blues bug bite me in late 1970's. First I found Leadbelly, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Boy Williamson II and I, Muddy Waters and then Robert Johnson and then a lot of blues artists from country blues to r&b and soul. The local library helped first, then Finnish Blues Society. I think Chuck Berry was first artist who made me aware of blues in early1970's.
This is great forum. I've been following this couple of years, mostly listening the Weenie Juke Radio. Keep on the good work and fine discussion.
Yours,
Jussi
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Welcome Jussi! Thanks for de-lurking!
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Yes, welcome Jussi!
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Terve Jussi
Nice to see a fellow countryman here. :)
Cheers
Pan
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Hey everybody. I'm David, 22 years old from Merced, California. Been listening to roots music for about four years now, all through compilations because Joe Bussard and all the other rich collectors have everything. I tend to gravitate the most towards Yazoo, County, and Old Hat, but recently got JSP's Richer Tradition set which I absolutely loved. My interests extend well beyond country blues (as many of yours do too) into songster stuff, ragtime, string bands, western swing, cajun, etc. I could never pick favorites, but as for ones I have just discovered from all these areas, I would say: Lane Hardin, Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, Ed Bell, Harvey Hull and Cleve Reed.
Favorite song of all time might be take 3 of Joe Evans and Arthur McClain's John Henry Blues. It's good to join here, I have nobody at all to talk to about this type of music where I live.
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Welcome David! Another lost soul found! ;D You have excellent taste in music.
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Howdy Y'all,
Sorry I'm late, but I got here as soon as I could. I've been a member over at Blindman's for a few months and noticed some cross postings from here. When I came over to check it out, Banjoreno from the Dixieland Jug Blowers was playing on your juke radio and I knew I had to sign up.
I like all the old stuff with a particular fondness for Bessie Smith (the only woman who ever made me late for work), Memphis Minnie, Big Bill Broonzy, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red, all the blind guys, yadda yadda. I also dig folks who are doing new music in the old style. Since 1983 I have been doing a blues radio show on KNON FM in Dallas. I mostly play contemporary and classic blues, but the pre-war and acoustic stuff gets played, too.
I look forward to learning a lot from y'all.
Here's a few photos from a recent visit to Blind lemon Jefferson's gravesite in Wortham.
http://bluesdfw.com/sub1/bljvisit2010.html (http://bluesdfw.com/sub1/bljvisit2010.html)
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Welcome to WC, Don, and thanks for those photos from Lemon's grave.
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Hi Don, welcome.
Nice TX BLJ license plate. Slack in El Paso and yours truly in Austin are also sporting them. I'm envious that you shelled the bit extra for the custom number, I should have done that. 'BLUUZ' is a lot cooler than 'FB99S'.
Your website will come in handy for the next time I'm in the DFW-Dallas area.
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Welcome Don,
You've got the coolest plate on the planet! ;D
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I would almost move to Texas to get that Blind Lemon plate!
Almost...
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Thanks, all! I'm happy to be here.
I know several other folks in DFW who have the Lemon plate, but they are still rare.
If you live out of state, you can actually order a special SOUVENIR plate. Below is from the Texas Music Office website:
15.Out of state but still want a plate?
Enjoy Texas Music souvenir license plates featuring Lemon Jefferson are now available to out-of-state residents for $20. For an additional $20, you can also personalize your plate with up to two lines of eight characters each. To order, contact the Texas Department of Transportation at (512) 374-5010 or send a check, money order or cashiers check to the address listed below. Payments should be made payable to the Texas Department of Transportation. Be sure to indicate that you would like to purchase the SOUVENIR "Texas Music" plate and include your name, address, city, zip, and daytime phone.
Texas Department of Transportation
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Special Plates Branch
Austin, TX 78799-0001
Additionally, please specify whether you would prefer the standard souvenir plate or the personalized souvenir plate (additional $20). If you order the personalized plate, remember to include the characters you would like printed on the plate. Symbols may include the following: # ? $ - /, a silhouette of Texas, or a space. Personalization deemed to be offensive will not be approved.
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Assuming it's legal (I would have to check with the TDT whether gifting plates overseas is allowed), if anyone outside the US would like one of the souvenir plates to hang on the wall in your music room or bar (or wherever), hit me up with a PM and I'll see if it's possible to get one to you for the cost of postage and fee(s). I work a few blocks away from their offices.
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What's up people! Screamin' John here, from beautiful Louisville, KY, the home of the Kentucky Derby and the birthplace of Sylvester Weaver. I actually live about half a mile from his old house. Anyway, check out my websites, if you please!
BTW, I'll be performing in Memphis this February at the International Blues Challenge. Anybody here making it to Beale street for this event?
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What's up people! Screamin' John here, from beautiful Louisville, KY, the home of the Kentucky Derby and the birthplace of Sylvester Weaver. I actually live about half a mile from his old house. Anyway, check out my websites, if you please!
BTW, I'll be performing in Memphis this February at the International Blues Challenge. Anybody here making it to Beale street for this event?
Welcome to WC, Screamin' John.
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Hello everyone,
I'm Devin Champlin. I surely know some of you in person. I currently live in Port Townsend, although I lived in Bellingham, WA for most of the last eight years, and have also called Tucson and Chicago my homes in the past. I'm 32 years old.
I play in a couple bands, The Gallus Brothers, and The Crow Quill Night Owls most of the time. I'm lucky enough to travel a lot playing music, and sometimes it actually pays the bills! I have a healthy obsession with old music in general. Country Blues is certainly top of the list of what comes out of my speakers, and I've been compulsively playing mandolin and fiddle lately trying to tap into the juice of greats like the Mississippi Sheiks, and Howard Armstrong. My primary instrument for over 20 years has been the guitar.
I also repair and build instruments. I started trying to fix/customize my own instruments around 2002. I made a handful of cookie tin banjos and the like too. In 2006 I attended Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix. After that I returned to Bellingham, staying busy doing repairs in between hitting the road. I spent last winter in Madison, Wisconsin to learn from Todd Cambio of Fraulini Guitars. Todd is an excellent luthier with keen creative intuition and a practical sense of old fashioned craftmanship. It was a joy and an honor to work with him, and my own building has benefited greatly from his tutelage.
Howdy all.. I hope to see you out there in the world soon!
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Welcome Devin!
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Hi Devin,
Nice to see you hear at the Weenie site and I hope to see you at Port Townsend this summer.
All best,
Johnm
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Greetings from Argentina!
My name is Thiago, I'm 18yo and been playing guitar since last year. Only in the last months I've started to listen and play pre-war Country Blues. Amazing guitar playing, some tunes almost resemble a piano. Now I know more or less some songs from Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Blake. Got lots of questions about Blind Blake too, especially about his right sportin' thumb. Anyways, I'll try to gain as much knowledge from this forum as I can; I see quality stuff here.
Keep playin',
Thiago
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Welcome to Weeniecampbell Thiago!
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Greetings from NJ! My name's Steve. Love singing, playing and listening to Memphis stuff: Robert Wilkins, Frank Stokes, Memphis Minnie and Sleepy John Estes. Have to say I'm more towards the pre-blues side of things and music in transition, of a mixture.
Great site! Great folks!
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Welcome and enjoy :)
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Hola -- joined yesterday after I found the site by searching for the lyrics of Joliet Bound. Honestly it would have been easier to find with a name like Country Blues Crossroads, something like that. In any event I'm a middle-aged guy coming back to guitar and concentrating in country blues. Ditto mandolin, though I'd never played that instrument before. I like White, House, McDowell -- the usual suspects. Bought my first slide the other day -- boy is that a new world!
Am working on the mandolin with the help of Rich DelGrosso but would love to find a blues guitar teacher in the metro NYC area -- any help appreciated.
Robert
("un5trung" is a banjo pun)
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Why is this -- or any other discussion in this forum, listed backwards? The most recent posts are the most relevant, and are the most likely to stimulate discussion. I've never seen a forum that mounts the recent posts 37 pages in!
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Hi Robert, welcome to Weenie Campbell! Glad you found us, despite the name. Why have a name like "Country Blues Crossroads", when fun ames like WeenieCampbell are available. :P Here is a little about the name:
http://weeniecampbell.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=57
I've never seen a forum that mounts the recent posts 37 pages in!
Hmm, I read a number of forums and new posts always go on the end. Most of us use the "Unread Posts since Last Visit" to jump to the posts we have not read. There are ways to jump to the end using the page number links.
Rock on,
slack
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Honestly it would have been easier to find with a name like Country Blues Crossroads, something like that.
Welcome, Robert - glad you found the site! C'mon... was it really that hard to find?
How to find a country blues forum on th'internet (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=country+blues+forum)
;)
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We're number one! ;D
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Hello,
My name is Dave but everyone calls me Stoney. I live in Monterrey, Mexico although I am originally from Ottawa, Canada.
I play guitar in a variety of styles but right now I'm trying to get my head around the Country and Delta blues styles.
I look forward to chatting with people here. Outright I guess I have to thank you guys in advance because it looks like there are a lot of resources here that are going to come in handy so thanks for the hard work.
Stoney
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Welcome Stoney!
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I just joined up. I got here by googling "crepe on my door" a couple of days ago. Nearly forgot to eat that day, but i've been out since.
I play a bit of guitar, mostly strumming ... that might change since you can all tell me what tuning to be in, or which songs are in standard!
I'm especially looking forward to the day when they find the other two hours of Sleepy John Estes that (I hope) were recorded by Sam Phillips in 1952 (jk). :P
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Welcome Gumbo!
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Welcome Gumbo! And Stoney!
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Hi all,
Actually not a newbie. Found my way to Weenie back in 2005 via then Acoustic Guitar Forum. Had made friends with Brian Kramer (another Weenie poster) and Bob Brozman and came to promote several gigs with Brozman in Sweden (Scandinavia, Europe).
I?m one of those guys who picked the guitar at an early age, never to put it down again. Been a pro musician for some 30 yrs, with a fairly successful international career in the alternative rock genre.
My dad was an avid (predominantly pre-war) jazzfan, collecting some 600 78?s throughout the 40?s (late teens/early 20?s). His guru of sorts in those days), was a young journalist at Orkesterjournalen ? a swedish jazzjournal that had been going since the 30?s and was the bible to the swedish jazzkids of the 40?s. This journalist, Olle Helander, posted the first two features on blues back in 1947. Obviously for commersial reasons, as blues was sort of old-timey and jazz was ere the money was. Due to these featurestories, my dad added a number of blues-78?s to his collection. I assume Olle Helander was very instrumental as for which blues-78?s to go for. I?ve posted questions elsewhere on Weenie as for some of the artists and records in my dad collection. He passed away a few years ago and I took care of the blues-78?s, being a born?n?bread pre-war blueskid.
(Considering the upcoming Robert Johnson jubilee, I notice there were no Robert Johnson 78?s in my dad?s collection. My dad and I never spoke of Robert Johnson, but I assume he would have been essential in the collection if Robert Johnson had been held in such a high esteem then as he is today. Go figure?)
In 1964, Olle Helander did the first radioprogrammes on blues, on the national swedish radio. Olle Helander was the first swedish radioproducer to actually go to the US and do fieldrecordings with essential, then working bluesmusicians. I was just 8 years old. Me and my dad used to sit there by the radio. To him, it was like going to church.
The music Olle Helander recorded were decades later released on three cd?s: I Blueskvarter Vol 1 ? 3 (http://www.jeffersonbluesmag.com/sv/butik/635-i-blueskvarter-chicago-1964-volume-1).
Between the age of 8 ? 12, I toyed with my dads guitar playing slideguitar. Only God knows where that inspiration came from. But I assume Johnny Shines was right about slidebluesguitar preceeded Charlie Patton. If you don?t know how to tune a guitar and little less fret chords, you play one-string guitar. And you pick up objects (bottlenecks, bottles, knives etc) to play the notes instead of fretting them. As a pre-teen kids, that?s how I went about the guitar.
In 1967 and at the age of 12, Jimi Hendrix was the craze of the day. I couldn?t afford a Hendrix-record, but found this cut-out LP in the supermarket with a black guy playing the guitar. Assuming it may be similar to Jimi Hendrix and since I could afford it, I went for it. It was a VeeJay LP ? The best of John Lee Hooker. My life was changed and I never walked the road of Jimi Hendrix again. Never been much of a fan to Clapton, Cream, Led Zep and other bluesrockgroups neither. Pre-war blues and storytelling music have been the thing for me, ever since. Which is why I went straight from JLH to Lou Reed to irish Rory Gallagher. Rorys way of playing pre-war acostics blues, felt much closer to the roots than the polished, academic versions of Clapton. I met with Rory several times throughout the mid/late 70?s, and oftenly ended up talking about pre-war blues. I?d been looking for someone to teach me countryblues since the beginning of the 70?s, but apart from a few tv-appearances and a workshop by Stephan Grossman, noone bothered with acoustic pre-war blues. Whenever I met with Rory Gallagher, he should me some stuff ? which I rapidly forget as I couldn?t make much of it.
In 1976/77 I turned punkrocker and persuited a fairly successful musical career. In 2003 and much fed up with musicbusiness, I returned to my roots. Decided to focuss on acoustic blues and slideguitar (which I?d been playing on and off since the 60?s). Just wanted to close circles, pick up the pieces and glue it all together. Crossed path with Brian Kramer and Bob Brozman. Started to play the mandolin, fiddle, banjo. Experimenting with open tunings.
Today, at the age of 56, I can go about the bluesguitar the way I wanted 40 ? 45 yrs ago. And I can kick-start teach anyone in a few simple lessons. No big mystery. Just wish there would have been someone to teach me, when I was a kid.
Still predominantly listens to pre-war blues. And I?m not a Robert Johnson-devotee but I can understand the latter days-craze.
And Yes: I have five generations of trad fiddlers in my family, running back to the mid-1700?s. Music is bigger than life and I?m only scartching the surface, so to say. Still consider myself a learner and a musical explorer in the tradition of John Fahey and Ry Cooder. With old-timey music and early pre-war blues, everything in my life connects. It?s almost existential and religious. With music, I?m at peace. Instead of praying, I?m playing.
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In 1964, Olle Helander did the first radioprogrammes on blues, on the national swedish radio. Olle Helander was the first swedish radioproducer to actually go to the US and do fieldrecordings with essential, then working bluesmusicians. I was just 8 years old. Me and my dad used to sit there by the radio. To him, it was like going to church.
I remember when Helander's activities in Chicago were detailed in an issue of Blues Unlimited around 1965 and thinking to myself "I wish I?d been there".
I still have a 1980s issue of Jefferson which was devoted to Helander.
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Welcome Jonas!
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Hello everyone. I've been lurking around here for a couple years, but haven't really taken the time to contribute. My name is Pete and I live in Cambridge, MA. I've been working primarily on blues and rag mandolin and guitar these days, but I've been playing a lot of old time banjo and fiddle in the last couple of years. Not sure if I can peg my country blues interests, as I'm kind of all over the place these days, but these are the tunes I'm working on at the moment:
Dallas Rag - Dallas String Band
I Do Blues - Robert Wilkins
Two White Horses in a Line - Two Poor Boys
Travelin' Railroad Man - Alabama Sheiks
The Lonesome Train that Took my Baby Away - Mississippi Mudsteppers
This forum has always been hugely helpful to me and I greatly appreciate the knowledge that everyone shares here.
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Welcome lastfirstface!
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Hey folks,
New guy here. Just wanted to introduce myself.
My name's Nick and I live in Portland, OR. Like y'all, I'm crazy about American roots music, specifically country blues. I've stumbled across this site in the past while looking for info on how to play Papa Charlie and Henry Thomas songs, and thought I'd join.
I'm in a jug band that I just joined about a month ago. I primarily play blues harmonica, banjitar (guitjo?) and baritone ukulele, in addition to singing.
Papa Charlie Jackson was definitely my motivation behind getting a banjitar. and lately I've been experimenting with open tunings to make it sound more "banjo-y" while playing blues progressions. I think I can learn a lot from the people here, and I hope I can contribute something.
Look forward to being an active participant here! :)
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Welcome, Apoc!
There are a couple of other Weenies in Portland that I hope you get to cross paths with. Someday come visit us in Port Townsend during the first week of August for the Centrum Acoustic Blues Workshop. You'll likely see 1-2 other banjo guitars there.
Lindy
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Hey everybody, Parlor Picker said to come and introduce myself. So, er, hello.
Certainly looks more friendly than other forums I've seen, so I'm off to have a good look around.......
Looking forward, Adam.
www.adamfranklinblues.com
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Welcome Adam!
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Hello, my name is Al (Alan) Young; I'm from Auckland, New Zealand and I've been playing and collecting blues for ... well, a day or two -- I bought "Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues" as a new album. So yes, I've got a few miles on the clock. On the playing side, I'm fairly eclectic, but with a strong leaning towards Mississippi and Memphis, and towards slide and steel playing. Long ago I made one LP -- back in vinyl days -- which won the New Zealand Folk Album of the Year award. So I'm one from one ... I never have got around to making any more blues recordings. Big influences: Booker White, Robert Wilkins, Lead Belly, Charley Patton, Son House, Ishmon Bracey, Buddy Woods and Black Ace, Casey Bill, Robert Lockwood .... oh, all the usual greats. I've made a few trips to the United States; even played in three Beale Street Messarounds. I spent about 20 years in various electric bands, but now I'm back to all acoustic. A few years ago I developed an associated interest in gospel music; as part of that I've written two books, "Woke Me Up This Morning" and "The Pilgrim Jubilees", both published by the University Press of Mississippi (and available thru Amazon ... plug, plug). Also had a few wee pieces published in Blues & Rhythm ... just occasionally. I've already found lots of interesting stuff on Weenie; I'm enjoying learning more and hope I'll be able to contribute some.
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Welcome Al! We have a weenie (Rivers) who used to live in Auckland!
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Welcome Al! We have a weenie (Rivers) who used to live in Auckland!
Yep ... we are acquainted from back in the day.
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Al - I seem to remember being shown your LP by Dave Temple who used to live in Reading and was part of the excellent Kennet Sheiks with Stuart "Marshcat" Cumberpatch. Think you may know Mick Knight as well.
(I'm in the UK - never been to NZ)
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Welcome Al. Good to have a gospel expert around these parts.
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Al - I seem to remember being shown your LP by Dave Temple who used to live in Reading and was part of the excellent Kennet Sheiks with Stuart "Marshcat" Cumberpatch. Think you may know Mick Knight as well.
(I'm in the UK - never been to NZ)
Ain't it a small world... and isn't this a remarkable list? Yes, Dave and I did a lot of work together years ago in New Zealand and Australia (where we even made a living out of it for a short while), and he plays on my old album I know the Kennet Sheiks made at least one album, which wasn't a thousand miles away from the stuff Dave and I used to do. Haven't heard from him in in yonks; I believe he's in France now. And yes, I used to know Mick Knight; again haven't heard anything of him in ages -- since he left to live in the US
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Yes, Dave lives in France. I've lost touch, but you could always ask Marshcat on this forum, who I believe may still have an address. Mick Knight is from Hastings, the next town to me on the south coast here in England. He moved to Seattle and I believe is still there, having won a green card in a lottery or something.
Yes, it's a small world, Al, especially amongst country blues lovers. Stick around Weenie Campbell, as it has to be the best forum for this type of music and is frequented by some very knowledgeable and influential people.
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Hi Al & welcome!
I'll send you a private message with contact details for "Dordogne Dave Temple".
I'd just like to say a big thank you for many years' happy listening to your 80s LP "That's no way to get along" - in the 90s, as the Kennet Sheiks, Dave and I shamelessly appropriated much of that repertoire and I still play a lot of it with National Steel & Delta Echoes.
There's a few mp3 tracks of the Sheiks on our "digital gravestone" at http://www.lemonrock.com/kennetsheiks (http://www.lemonrock.com/kennetsheiks)
Stuart "Marshcat" Cumberpatch
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Hi y'all.
Just discoverd this website and it looks like the place I'm searching for.
I'm from Belgium and have a history in playing Chicago Blues (Little Walter, Sonny Boy, Magic Sam, Wolf, ..). Due too circumstances I quit playing electrified 4 years ago.
For little more than a year I'm learning to play acoustic blues and hoping to be able to have the same kind of freedom on my guitar as I had in the past. Hopefully I'll be able one day to play some decent rags as well.
For the moment it's a lot of hard work and fun.
Tom
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Welcome to WC, Tom!
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Hi folks!
Been lurking for a while, but finally added my name. I have been an instrument builder for over 40 years, mainly a mandolin builder in the past, but have started building classic fingerpicking guitars again after a 30+ year hiatus. Most of my instruments are Larson style, but have been venturing into Stella 12's, and Prairie State style instruments.
Love 12 string, big Dave Ray fan along with Huddie and Willie. Six string favorites are Big Bill and Blind Blake.
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Hi Haans, and welcome to Weenie Campbell!
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome Hans - nice website and nice instruments.
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Thanks!
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Hi, my name is Patryk. I'm 19 and, as I briefly looked at this topic, it makes me one of the youngest lads here.
As a result of that, lack of knowledge and my very weak language skills I'd rather restrict myself to reading and learning, but you may sometimes expect some lame, newbie questions.
Here I just wanted to let you guys know, how great and useful this board is. Well done, keep going.
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Hi, my name is Patryk. I'm 19 and, as I briefly looked at this topic, it makes me one of the youngest lads here.
As a result of that, lack of knowledge and my very weak language skills I'd rather restrict myself to reading and learning, but you may sometimes expect some lame, newbie questions.
Here I just wanted to let you guys know, how great and useful this board is. Well done, keep going.
By about 30 years (40 in my case).
And don't be afraid to ask away. You should of seen some of the dumb questions I asked when I first came here (no cracks, Unkie Bud).
And welcome!
Alex
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Hi folks!
Been lurking for a while, but finally added my name. I have been an instrument builder for over 40 years, mainly a mandolin builder in the past, but have started building classic fingerpicking guitars again after a 30+ year hiatus. Most of my instruments are Larson style, but have been venturing into Stella 12's, and Prairie State style instruments.
Love 12 string, big Dave Ray fan along with Huddie and Willie. Six string favorites are Big Bill and Blind Blake.
Haans:
Could you please explain what "carbon fiber tone tubes" are?
Thanks,
Alex
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Welcome Patryk!
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but you may sometimes expect some lame, newbie questions.
I echo Alex's comment, so fire off those questions however lame or newbie they may appear be, we've all been there at one time or another.
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we've all been there at one time or another.
And still are frequently, in my case. It's cool to have someone from Poland on the map.
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Hey everyone,
Just registered here & wanted to say hello. Found this forum searching for John Byrd lyrics while listening to the Paramount Records box set on JSP, & saw a post from John Miller, who I was fortunate enough to have studied with all through high school growing up in the Pacific Northwest. Began to dig deeper into the forums and simply had to register.
I'm Sean --- a bit of a younger pre-war blues student. Started playing guitar at nine. Twenty-nine now. Wound up in Nashville for college and just stayed, doing the freelance musician trip. Got heavy into Chet and Jerry as a kid, and met John Miller thru our mutual pal John Knowles of the Chet circle.
Years later a dear old friend and mentor to me here in town has gotten me freebasing pre-war music again; and it's all coming around. Re-visiting a lot of old guitar lessons and working on absorbing as much as I can ---- in terms of overall musicianship and songwriting. Past few years, getting back into it has simply...changed things. That old cliche about "less is more" and, at the same time, how self-contained and complete so much of this music is. I try not to pick favorites or discredit anything, though...after having gone through Stevie and Hendrix --- heavily ---- adoring and studying their records & styles (not to mention Bloomfield, BB, Freddie, Albert, etc. etc. etc.) ----- it's all great, but...there's an element in Barbeque Bob or Memphis Minnie that's transcended --- and informed ---- every musical avenue on this musical pathway. Like I said, it's just changed things. In a really really neat way.
So I wouldn't call myself a scholar or buff; just a lifelong student & couldn't be happier to have found this corner of the web. Look forward to learning more from you all.
Best,
Sean
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Hello gang-
After years of strumming, I took up fingerstyle guitar last summer and found this site looking for Geeshie Wiley lyrics. I'm just finishing up the last song on John's Elizabeth Cotten dvd, and am waiting for shipment of the first MJH dvd - can't wait!
I've been into 1920s-1930s music for at least 20 years, I love it all. Country blues & ragtime, early western swing, hot jazz, and old timey. There's just something about it, though I'm sure no one here needs an explanation on that. The WC juke is my constant companion now throughout the day, I just need to figure out how to get it in my car...
Thanks,
Marc
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Hi all - Annette from Aylesbury here!
I've been a blues for over 40 years - somehow got hold of a copy of Vol 2 of Paul Oliver's "Story of the Blues" LP when I was 16 or so - and it had Little Hat Jones, Emery Glen, Lonnie Coleman and lots of other stuff.
I play banjo, guitar and mandolin - but not well.
Nice to be here.
Annette (oh and by the way my surname is Elmore - so I was DESTINED to be a blues fan).
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Welcome to WC, Annette!
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Welcome Annette!
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I play banjo, guitar and mandolin - but not well.
You're in great company, especially in the banjo & mandolin departments, with some very notable exceptions. Gotta start somewhere, eh? Learning to play a brand new instrument, that fits in the country blues genre, every year or so is my recently formulated goal.
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I've been playing for 30 odd years - just never seem to get any better - did do one 1/2 hour set at The Acoustic Cafe in Colne once - which went ok - but haven't done as well since.
Annette
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You'll get better if you hang out here, Annette! The osmosis is top notch :)
And welcome (though i'm fairly new myself).
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I stumbled across this forum when looking up the origin of the Joe Turner character in John Hurt's song. So I wanted to introduce myslef. I have been playing blues for about 4 decades now - and up until 4 years ago played exclusively "country" blues styles - a lot of MJHurt, Robert Johnson, Muddy, and Rev Gary Davis, and a little of Skip James (much of his stuff I've found very challenging) - even though I listened to all blues styles. The last 3 years my playing has been focussed exclusively on electric blues - manily T Bone, jump, swing and west side soul. Yesterday I rode the bus to work and ended up listeneing to John Hurt all the way up Manhattan from Chinatown to 94th street. It made me pick up an acoustic last night - and I couldn't remember Joe Turner or Funky Butt. Researching these songs landed me here. Great to meet you all.
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Welcome d. spree - glad you found us!
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There aren't too many fellow New Yorkers on the site so welcome d. Spree. East or West 94th?
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Hello,
My name's Si and I live in Southampton, England. I've used this board several times over the past year, but only got round to registering a few days ago.
I've been playing guitar mainly casually for the past 5ish years, strumming, but after trying to listen to old blues recordings for years and never really "getting it" I chanced upon Mississippi John Hurt's 1928 sessions and couldn't believe how good it was. The very next day I found some online instruction for the basic principles of fingerpicking and after several days of independent right thumb exercises, and weeks of beginner lessons, I struggled my way through Blessed be the Name and haven't looked back since. I've been playing country blues and ragtime for just over a year, mainly following tabs online or in a few books I've picked up.
The past couple of weeks I have been attempting to learn some slide, and am just able to make a note or two without it sounding like a dying cat. If anything, learning slide has taught me to better listen to songs and work the guitar part out without relying on tablature. Can't say I'm any good at it, but it isn't such a mystery any more.
I will probably lurk in the background, having not much useful knowledge to add to the conversation, but thank you for having me all the same.
Si.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Si.
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Indeed- welcome. You're not alone in that part of the country either. I understand Bob Long runs an open mic / blues jam session in the Platform tavern in Soton which might interest you.
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The Platform website http://www.platformtavern.com/ (http://www.platformtavern.com/)
When I relocated to Southampton from London I thought I found Nirvana. There were four pubs which catered for blues - Onslow, Joiners, Hobbit and Brook. The Joiners may still be blues active but not the others.
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Hi,
Thanks for the warm welcome. I've been to one Open Mic at the Platform (I didn't play) on recommendation from some members of the Michael Messer forum. Unfortunately Mr. Long was not running it that particular night, but I thoroughly enjoyed the music, atmosphere and beer! Planning to head back up there shortly.
BH, I'm within spitting distance of the Brook yet haven't visited yet. I never really look to see what acts they have coming up, perhaps something I should do. Not heard of Onslow or Joiners, so I will look them up and see what is happening.
Si
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BH, I'm within spitting distance of the Brook yet haven't visited yet. I never really look to see what acts they have coming up, perhaps something I should do. Not heard of Onslow or Joiners, so I will look them up and see what is happening.
The Onslow is now called Lennon's and blues doesn't figure.
Here's the Brook website - see if you can spot any blues!Then look at ticket prices! Anything from ?10 to ?25 depending on the status of the acts....and the drinks prices, hmmmmm.
http://www.the-brook.com/ (http://www.the-brook.com/)
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Hi Everybody, just want to say hello and thanks for running such a great forum.
I Look forward to mining this place , seems like a treasure trove of great stuff.
I make my living playing music, mostly as a songwriting performer, and I dont really consider myself as adept at country blues as probably most of the guys in here , but I do love it, and listen to it more than any other kind of music
. I feel like I have already learned about so much new music listening to the weenie juke radio, its great to hear all the stuff that isn't just Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt, (although I love their music dearly.)
I feel like country blues is such a vast universe. Thanks again and look forward to participating in this community!
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Welcome J Car - glad you found us!
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J Car, I'm new here myself, but welcome.
Bunker Hill, ah right, Onslow because it is on Onslow Road. I do know of Lennon's and have never known it to be a blues hotspot. The Brook seems to be as I thought, tribute bands (not always a bad thing). I do like music in pubs, much more relaxed though I expect it can be pretty unrewarding for the artists if they have a bad crowd.
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I finally found some time to register. I see some familiar names.
Erwin
www.myblues.eu
www.ourblues.net
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Welcome JungleMap and Erwin!
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Welcome JungleMap and Erwin!
:)
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It's a real pleasure to have found this place. I'm Tim from Berkeley, CA. When I was 10 years old I was given a Lightnin' Hopkins record & fell in love with the sound. A few years later I taught myself fingerpicking. The first song I learned was "Delia" by Gary Davis. Much later I took weekly lessons for a few years with Duck Baker. Duck doesn't play country blues, but man! Those lessons took all my playing to a whole 'nother place. I love country blues and am always learning something new. My main guitar is a '32 National. Nice to see Mr. Miller here. I've learned so much from the material John has released. I am indebted to the man. My hat off to all y'all!
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Welcome finn!
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My name is Daniel. I'm from Mexico City and I just had to say hello to you all.
I hope soon to be able to contribute to this forum, maybe not in knowledge but surely in any other way I could.
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Welcome Daniel!
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The venerable Bunker Hill told me about this place a few years before I became Gary Blue. He knew me from the surveys I compiled of compact discs on the shelves by John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and Sonny Boy Williamson. Back then I started writing reviews for Blues & Rhythm magazine and they are kind enough to indulge me further even now.
I had also been given a four week trial on a commercial FM radio station to produce and present a blues show. Twelve years later, though the station (Star Radio in Cambridge) is now part of the national broadcast group UKRD - I'm still there.
STAR BLUES is pretty much the only blues show on a commercial station in Britain (as opposed to internet only or community stations) - though the content isn't just country blues, it isn't furious plank spanking from failed rock stars either. I go on air straight after the rock show on Sunday nights and I try to make sure the two shows are different. I count myself as the luckiest man in radio by being able to rummage through the traditional blues heritage to play some artists that are overlooked by other blues shows.
Thanks for having me here. gb
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Welcome Gary!
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The venerable Bunker Hill told me about this place a few years before I became Gary Blue. He knew me from the surveys I compiled of compact discs on the shelves by John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and Sonny Boy Williamson. Back then I started writing reviews for Blues & Rhythm magazine and they are kind enough to indulge me further even now.
You've forgotten the B.B. King! Each booklet were 50 pages and, if I recall righty, your initial intention was to sort the wheat from the chaff when it came to the umpteen CDs of these four which flooded the UK marketplace at the time (1992-3).
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Welcome to WC, Gary.
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You've forgotten the B.B. King! Each booklet were 50 pages and, if I recall righty, your initial intention was to sort the wheat from the chaff when it came to the umpteen CDs of these four which flooded the UK marketplace at the time (1992-3).
Sorry, inexplicable brain freeze on the BB King booklet. The proliferation of the despicable MP3 media has shifted the challenge to assigning a provenance to those pesky little blighters. Guess thats a topic for another day.
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My turn. Hi, folks. After lot of time lurking around I want to tell you guys are fantastic. I feel pretty at home here.
I'm Pio (pronunced like Pee-o). I live in Italy, born 1962. I started to play guitar at 8 and met the blues at 20, the prewar stuff. I'm happy to be here. First time I met Weenie I was searching for Little Hat Jones Lyrics.
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Welcome Papa John - thanks for coming out of lurk mode!
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Howdy folks. Long time blues (among other country/folk/old time, not to mention many of "music"'s louder formats) fan, short time WC peruser. Kept finding Weenie in my Google searches on Casey Bill Weldon, so I figured I'd glom on. I've got a few questions I'm dying to ask, but I'll find the relevent forums for those, so for now I'll just say this bit of autobiog: I've long time owned a few chestnuts like John Lee Hooker, Blind Lemon, Charley Patton, Barbecue Bob and the Bottleneck Guitar Trendsetters CD, but a recent year or so of discovery of early Western Swing brought me around to seeing Casey Bill (and much more) in a new light. So then I spent the past three months or so listening daily to an abridged version of Casey Bill's Document stuff, and am now branching out into related stuff like Washboard Sam, Big Bill and the Hokum Boys, glad that so much of this stuff is on eMusic, but frustrated that I can only afford my $11/mo worth.
And I've already started a list with about 12 names of stuff from WeenieJuke I hadn't heard before. Great stuff.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Roadapples. It's always nice to have another Casey Bill fan around.
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Hello out there.
I stumbled my way into Country Blues about a year & half ago by way of way of watching "It Might Get Loud".
when Jack White played that Son House record that got me started.
There was NO turnin' back...
Now,i'm a huge Fred McDowell fan,along with quite a few others.
i am a half way self taught guitar player,like sittin' ta play just ta do it.
There's soooooo much here to go through and read and LEARN
GREAT SITE !!!
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Welcome to the byways, highway66blues :)
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Hello out there.
I stumbled my way into Country Blues about a year & half ago by way of way of watching "It Might Get Loud".
when Jack White played that Son House record that got me started.
There was NO turnin' back...
Now,i'm a huge Fred McDowell fan,along with quite a few others.
i am a half way self taught guitar player,like sittin' ta play just ta do it.
There's soooooo much here to go through and read and LEARN
GREAT SITE !!!
That's a great film, Highway66. I speak to a lot of people who discovered vintage music through Jack White. You have to love a person who segues from the hit record to 'Shake it & Break it' on Top Of The Pops (now sadly defunct UK chart show)...........
"...and now without the effects....." has to be one of the greatest lines in any film.......
A.
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A friend told me about this forum so a few weeks ago I started checking it out. I finally signed up.
I've been a fan of blues music ever since seeing Kenny Neal and Deanna Bogart a few years ago. I went on my first Blues Cruise and saw Taj Mahal among others. He was very friendly.
Since then I bought a 4 CD set called 'Century of the Blues' and learned about the older players like Robert Johnson.
I get out and see live blues music every chance I get now. Here in Kansas City there are tons of places to do this.
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Welcome bluesfox!
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I've been reading for a few weeks and signed up today. I'm a beginning tenor guitar player and I know that much of what y'all discuss requires a bit of smooshing and reconfiguring to apply to me, but I've learned a lot already and wanted to say hello.
I've tuned my tenor DGBE (the top four strings of a guitar), instead of using standard tuning. If any of you have resources you'd like to point out for me, I'd appreciate it. Links, lessons, mockery . . . I'm up for it all.
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Hi, lulu. Welcome to Weenie Campbell.
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I've been a member for a while now. Nice to be part of all this. Ain't got no guitar, harmonica or nothing and couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. But a big fan. However I do help to put together a newsletter, blog thing at pomeroyblues.org.
Most recent experience with some "live" blues was Kenny Neal at Big Bend Blues Bash July 28th. Also saw a great young guitar player doing some old standard acoustic/country blues at Canal Winchester Blues & Rib Fest this past Saturday. Alex Poteet from Oxford, OH is a talented young man.
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Welcome CKS, and for sure you don't need to be a muso to enjoy Weenie Campbell, except when we're goin' on about strings, thumbpicks, capoes, bottlenecks, ad infinitum...
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Hi all. I don't know exactly how I found this site, but I'm glad I did! I grew up a classic rock fan, mostly Clapton, Johnny Winter, Allman Brothers, and as I grew a little bored with hearing the same songs over and over again, I started searching out the players that influenced the classic rock greats.
I worked through the electric blues greats and kept going back until I hit the delta and piedmont guys. My favorites are Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Leadbelly, and Robert Johnson.
After playing electric bass for a number of years, I started playing electric guitar about 2 years ago. I found satisfaction in the progress I've made playing but realized with a 2 year old and 5 week old at home, I wasn't going to be starting a band and gigging any time soon.
I realized that what I loved about country blues is the fact it is just you and the guitar, playing the bass, rhythm, lead and singing. I bought Griff Hamlin's Acoustic Blues guitar course and have been going through it for the last month.
I can honestly say, I love playing and seeing my progress playing acoustic country blues more than I ever have playing electric guitar.
And after finding this site and hearing about the Port Townsend Blues Festival I am more excited than ever before! It's great to see all of you country blues fans here!
Cheers all!
JW
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I can honestly say, I love playing and seeing my progress playing acoustic country blues more than I ever have playing electric guitar.
You have definitely landed in the right place JW, welcome to weeniecampbell
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Hi folks,
I've posted a couple of times, and read a lot, but never introduced myself properly. I'm Mark, from Oak Park, IL. Just started learning guitar about three years ago--I hit age 45 and decided if I was ever going to do it the time was now. Since I started learning, my musical interests both for playing and listening have gone straight to two traditions: old-time/bluegrass and country blues. On the fingerpicking side of things, I've been working through a bunch of John Hurt tunes (working on the 1928 version of Stagolee right now--very cool), a couple of Elizabeth Cotten ones, and Frank Stokes' It Won't be Long (with help from some members here)--sticking to straight-up alternating bass for now as I get comfortable. Just wanted to say howdy and that this is an amazing forum!
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Welcome mole - glad you found us!
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Greetings all :) Just wanted to say hello. I'm glad to have come across this forum as it is very seldom that I find people with a similar passion for country blues . Lookin' forward to your companionship and comraderie! :)
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Welcome to the forum Mamie Leigh.
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Just figured I would properly introduce myself. The name's Larry, come from the Champaign IL area, 24 years creaky, been playing a decade. I started playing bluegrass guitar, learned some other instruments along the way. After an accident 7 years ago which left me with memory trouble, I wound up hearing Son House for the first time and have been hooked ever since. Thank you all for making me feel welcome, I'll stop my ramble now. ;-)
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Hi Its about time to introduce myself. Ive been a memeber and have been reading alot for a couple of months.
My name is Per and Im from Sweden. I have been playing guitar for about 14-15years and started gettin into the bues about
four years ago. I started diggin deeper and when I thought I knew what the blues was all about I found you guys, and now there is no
turning back.
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Hey Townes, Welcome to the forum.
Adam.
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Welcome Larry and Townes!
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Hi All I'm Dusty from the UK, Essex to be more accurate, I was pointed in this direction by Adam Franklin and I have really enjoyed myself, great place to be and I have already fortified my music collection with some fine recordings suggested on this site.
However i need some help I'm looking for a country slide and picker who lives close to me in Essex, I have a tutor lined up a fine player and widely respected in the UK but a little to far away any suggestions I would be really grateful
Dusty
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Real name is John from the Detroit area.
After hearing about this mysterious church congregation photo, that may or may not have Patton in it, from Dust To Digital, I started snooping Google and found this.
Actually a big punk/hardcore fan with a penchant for the banjo which started me on a little bluegrass. I quickly fell into old time. Really love Appalachian Anglo-American folk. I guessed I would like old blues music too, having never heard any. That was about five years ago. It turns out my assumption was correct and I like old blues.
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell, John!
And a belated welcome to you as well, Dusty.
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Hi all. I started playing guitar about 9 months ago but I've always been a fan of country blues. When I started playing guitar it wasn't with the blues in mind but that is where I ended up. I bought Stefan Grossmans Country Blues book this past fall and the rest is history. Ive got a Gretsch brass body single cone reso that I use mostly for slide and open tunings (D, G, Dm) a jumbo acoustic for standard tunings. I stick mostly to slide and open tunings though. Working on probably standard stuff but I love it. Current rotation includes Skip James, Son House, Robert Wilkins, Willie Brown, Tampa Red, etc. But Charlie Patton is what got me hooked. I saw his picture for the first time in Grossman's book. Does anyone know his age when it was taken? I had to do a double take. We share a similar mix in ancestry I guess. (My family has the "Cherokee" rumor too to explain light skin and "good" hair). I don't know how old he is in that picture. I don't scowl like him and my picture is me as a youngster. Anyway I look forward to reading and learning more. Hopefully contribute down the road.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
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Hi, RedWillie. Welcome to Weenie Campbell.
Details of of Patton's life and of the photo are a bit uncertain, but "late 30s" is a good approximation of his age there.
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Thanks DJ. Any idea why he was called the "Masked Marvel"? (I do not know but if he was mixed like me I have an idea)
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
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The "Masked Marvel" name came from Paramount, Patton's first record company. It was a promotional gimmick. Screamin' And Hollerin" The Blues/Mississippi Boweavil Blues was released as by "The Masked Marvel", in a sleeve that promised a free Paramount record if you could guess the Masked Marvel's identity.
Patton claimed to be of mixed Black/White/Indian descent. We have no reason to doubt that claim.
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Aha. That makes sense. Thanks. I'm not saying anyone is wrong, but my family claimed Indian descent too. My grandparents were really light and my grandma had straight hair. They said Cherokee also. I think it was a common thing to do. We know from testing there. isn't any Indian in our family though.
Anyway, not trying to start any controversy or anything. I was just curious. Thanks for the welcome and for answering my questions. Appreciate it.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, RedWillie. If you like Charley Patton, you've come to the right place--we've been arguing over the transcription of his lyrics for years.
Henry Louis (Skip) Gates, Jr. did some genealogy / genetic testing and research regarding his guests on his shows in the past, with interesting results. He had a prof whose specialty is the historical study of inter-racial marriage on in one show--can't remember a whole lot, but one thing that sticks is that in certain historical periods, areas and social contexts, economic class and occupational status were more important than race in defining groups, thus inter-racial marriage. It's something that is almost counter-intuitive when measured against the stark racial divide that is presented as the historical norm.
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Thanks Stuart. I'm a huge fan of Dr. Gates and his work. His shows gave me the motivation and some of the knowledge to find my family using DNA testing. Extremely long story for another time and place. My family's mixture came from before emancipation though. Owners and property. I have pictures of my great great grandfather who was born in 1827. He was about as light as me.
I can understand Charlie just fine. Who needs words? :)
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
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Hi folks. I'm a newcomer to your forum; I found a reference to it in an old post on the Acoustic Guitar Forum. I've been an old acoustic blues fan ever since coming across a recording of Mississippi John Hurt about 25 years ago. Lately I'm listening to a lot of Rev. Gary Davis. I play, not so well, probably at an "advanced beginner" level, but I'm trying to get better.
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Welcome to WC Funkapus!
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Greetings folks,
My name is Greg and I am a new member. I am crazy about the country blues and have been learning to play country blues guitar for a little less than a year now, and am loving it, although it is a struggle at times. What I lack in natural talent, I make up for in passion and perseverance. Some of my favorite old blues masters are Son House, Skip James, Scrapper Blackwell, Henry Johnson, Johnny Shines, Fred McDowell, Blind Blake, Willie McTell, Mance Lipscomb, well I could go on...
I stumbled on this video on YouTube and I have a feeling some of you will enjoy it as much as I did, though it is not technically country blues. The tune is apparently traditional. Her name is Sherry Lee Wisor of Edmonton. She's got somethin'. Enjoy.
-Greg
Sugar Babe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tLtmyK-eKs#)
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell Greg.
I thought you were posting a video of yourself and thought Greg was an unusual name for a girl. :P
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I should go ahead and introduce myself - my name is Mark, I live in Davis, CA, teach 3rd grade, and play guitar. For the last couple years, my focus has been on learning Hawaiian Slack Key and country blues guitar, with an emphasis on open tunings. (It's really fun to see the similarities between the two.)
However, I've become rather obsessed with learning the style of Mississippi John Hurt lately. I am fortunate to have a friend who grew up in New York in the 60's, and who spent time with MJH and learned from him. The little corrections are pretty amazing, and I seem to finally be getting the hang of it.
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Welcome:
(Canadians love moose!)
When you "get the hang of it", please teach it to me.
Alex
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It's no big deal - I just have to get the strength to hang in the G key without cramping up, get perfect rhythm, and learn how to sing along with the syncopation. Should only take 20 years... ;)
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mutantmoose & missouritiger-
I hear ya...i'm not much of a singer, I get too lost in what i'm tryin' to learn that I don't think about tryin to sing along with myself not to mention lately,i sit down with the intent to learn somethin' that I just heard and end up goofin' around & comin' up with my own stuff that I make up for some reason instead of gettin' on with what I wanted to learn in the 1st place
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If you watch those vids of John Hurt on Rainbow Quest doing Spike Driver and Lonesome Valley watch how he puts his shoulders, head and back into the song, it's like he's dancing a boogaloo on the backbeat while sitting down.
Since I noticed that quite recently I've tried it and it works. It made me realize how static I am usually when playing. Not only does it draw in the audience it helps with the time, and, since we're nominally supposed to be enjoying ourselves while we do this, smiling occasionally is also a huge plus!
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Hi there. New to the board - blues obsessed. Nice to be around like-minded folks.
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Hi,
I've enjoyed reading posts here for awhile now, so I thought I should join. Over the past few years I've been slowly learning some blues on guitar - some Tommy Johnson, Robert Wilkins, Blind lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, etc., and it's been great to pick up some further insight here.
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A belated welcome to BizzyB and East!
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Terryj welcome to the forum hope you enjoy it here. Word of advice, lay off of RJ photos and don't rock the boat too much. Oh crap too late. Sorry pal.
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LOL!
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hi, fellow country blues lovers.
Just introducing myself. i am a 41 year old dutch guy and living in cape town. I played some guitar the last 20 years on and off, mainly off. starting playing again and l learning now the very basics of the country blues. This is a very nice website and I am happy that I found it.
Greetings,
Bluenote
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Bluenote!
All best,
Johnm
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Good Morning. Thought I would just say hey.
Not much to say about myself. Being a geezer my story is pretty typical. I started off as a folkie and then drifted into the blues when I stumbled across a 78 rpm of Victoria Spivey and Lonnie Johnson's "Toothache Blues" while going through a friend of my father's record collection looking for folk songs to tape on a reel to reel. That voice and that guitar - like nothing I had ever heard. I spent the better part of a year taping everything in his collection from Tampa Red to Lawyer Houston to Lucille Bogan. I then spent many more hours backing the tape up over and over again trying to figure out what the guitar was doing while I sat there with an old arch top a friend of the family had given me.
I got sidetracked for a bit after seeing the Beatles on the Sullivan Show with those electric guitars. Man, I had to get me one of those. Spent a lot of years dividing my time between a journeyman streamlined Chuck Berry-esque blues rock band and acoustic blues outfit. The rock band got paid in real money. The blues band generally in free food.
These days I limit myself to some sitting in and putting together something to play at this or that benefit.
In the past 50+ years of playing I have managed to make it all the way up to Advanced Hack.
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Welcome sabocat!
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My Profile- Kenneth Cooke
As my profile indicates I have played Guitar since I was 15 which is 50 years during that time there lave been long layoffs as I have not enjoyed the best of health. In the 60's I played actively around folk clubs which were usually located in the upstairs rooms of pubs. Folk music and folk clubs were springing up all the time in the 60's and in Leeds UK were I grew up there was a club every night of the week in fact The Grove Inn Folk Club was the second oldest in the country outside London only beaten by 3 weeks by The Topic Folk Club in Bradford. Both of those clubs are still running and the Grove also hosts a Bluegrass Club the last Thursday in every month. Old Timey/ Bluegrass were a difficult genre to pedal in those days, most clubs were very traditional and in one or two clubs one rarely saw anyone play guitar it was all finger in the ear unaccompanied song.
My first decent guitar was a Levin Jumbo with a blonde front. It was sometime later that got my first Martin, a Brazilian Rosewood D35. I got the chance to play Tom Paxton's D35 at Cambridge Folk Festival and decided there and then that a D35 would more than suit my needs.
I was also playing a little bit of mandolin, autoharp and fiddle and fronted various Old Timey/ Bluegrass bands with a leaning towards Old Timey stimulated by bands such as The New Lost City Ramblers. We learned alot through them and I remember playing with a guy called John Healey who owned 3 fretless banjos. We played various small festivals and visited The Cambridge Folk Festival for a good few years. Cambridge had a strong Bluegrass following and some excellent musicians. My first wife and I played duets similar to the style of Sandy and Jeanie who toured here from the States and were a big influence on many of us
I came back to playing again in the 80's but having sold all my instruments I bought a Brazilian Rosewood HD28 and a Brazilian Rosewood 0021. My musical tastes continued from the 60's playing finger-style with National finger-picks and a Dobro thumb-pick and Flat-pick guitar. In the late 80's I had 4 strokes that disabled my left hand making it impossible to play so with very great sadness I sold the Martins.
At the beginning of 2013 a longtime friend and Dobro player suggested that I might try to play again and after some consideration I bought a new Martin D35. Progress was painfully slow but at least I was trying and that pleased me . About a month later I read an article on the net about a limited edition Bozeman Montana Gibson LG2 3/4 Arlo Guthrie Guitar. I envisaged that a 3/4 size guitar might help me form chords easier so I bought on and in fact it did help. I was then able to transfer that skill over to my D35.
The Gibson is a beautiful guitar, Sitka Spruce tone-wood top with Mahogany back and sides. The neck is also Mahogany with a Rosewood finger-board. I am now considering looking into open tunings which I have no knowledge of, hence me joining a forum like this. I have acquired a glass slide and a brass slide and I propose to get a Dobro slide and nut raiser but I will discuss that with my Dobro friend.
He has played Dobro for many years, longer than I have played guitar and he has a beautiful 1927 Dobro plus a new one he bought when last on holiday in Nashville. He also bought a couple of Gibson F5 mandolins, why 2 I can't answer, and he has recently acquired an Indian Rosewood D45. In fact I am planning to visit him on Wednesday this week as I have not seen him for some time. I am not planning to take the music back out again it will just be really good to be involved once more, and wow the internet was not around when I last played. There is so much great stuff out there, this forum included. And also unlimited access to records, or should I say CD's. My favourite label has to be Folkways Records out of New York.
Anyhow I think that covers my playing life. I have had 2 marriages and I have a daughter to each. I also packed in the booze in the 1990 as I was drinking myself to death. It was the best move I ever made and I am pleased to say that I have remained sober although sobriety threw up a whole heap of life issues that I had masked with the booze
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Welcome to Weeniecampbell Kenneth - and I'm so glad you found your way back (or keep finding your way back) to playing!
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Hi Kenneth, welcome from a southerner (Hampshire). If you have limited use of your left hand, playing lap style can be a great option. Have a look for Tom Doughty on YouTube, he has developed a great style and is a great player, I have one of his CDs and plan to get more. Quite inspirational.
Best of luck with it!
Regards Mike.
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Hello all.
Wes from Ontario Canada.
28 years old.
Been listening to delta, country and pre war blues since 13.
Playing guitar since about 16.
Always wanted to learn to play fingerstyle blues. Could never find anyone that even heard of the artists let alone teach the style up here unfortunately. Since the rise of Youtube, I've been watching and learning every lesson I can find. I'm really enjoying playing guitar for the first time since I picked it up. Have a whole bunch of songs down already and teaching myself how to apply it to my own progressions.
Waxwing John sent me here after he set me straight on the progression for Pattons Some Of These Days in an e-mail. What a great site! Glad to be amongst y'all.
Hoping to really get deeper into the style and specific songs here.
Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello!
-Wes
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Welcome CSP, glad you joined us.
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Hello all, just discovered this forum, I've been looking for something like this for a few years now! I'm a 41 year old guitar player who dables in other stringed instruments as well as singing once in awhile. I founded a jugband/hot jazz/blues mash up 4 years ago in Southern Oregon called The Bathtub Gin Serenaders. Relocated to Ventura CA two years ago and founded a new band there doing something similar called The Barrelhouse Wailers.
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Welcome Wayne, glad you finally found us! Looking forward to your website when you get it up and running.
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Hello! Just discovered this place from a reference posting on Stefan Grossman's forum. Been playing acoustic guitar for about 2-1/2 years now, taken up as a retirement hobby. I started with bluegrass flatpicking but have since been concentrating on fingerstyle, especially the music of Mississippi John Hurt and others. I'd played bluegrass banjo for a number of years and after a 20 year hiatus, I've found that some of my picking skills have come back and made MJH's music a bit more attainable. I plugged my location onto the map...it appears I'm the only Arizona member there for the moment. I'll probably be more of a lurker than contributor, but I'm looking forward to reading all of the posts and absorbing what I can.
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Welcome to the forum CanyonHiker.
There might be other Arizonans present, since not everyone places their pin on the map. We would like them to though. So not wishing to miss the opportunity of doing a shameless plug, if you're a logged-in weenie and haven't placed your pin please consider doing so, somewhere in the general vicinity of where you live. We respect everyone's privacy, it doesn't have to be right on your pad, just the general area would be fine.
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=googlemap (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?action=googlemap)
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Welcome to WC, Doc! Anything you want to know about the blues, or stringband music can be found here. -Larry
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Hi I have been viewing this site for two years. I live in NC and one of the few gurls who listen to country blues. Skip James is my fav but I really like almost all of em. Will chat with yall later. Tootles
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And welcome to the forum tinpanallygurl
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Howdy Folks,
I'm Joe Seamons, a musician and teacher based in Portland, OR. I perform with three different groups, the pertinent one here being my blues duo with Ben Hunter:
http://benjoe.bandcamp.com/ (http://benjoe.bandcamp.com/)
All five tracks you'll find at the link above are pay-what-you-will downloads, and all proceeds there are funneled into our Rhapsody Blues and Folk Music program, the goals of which are laid out below.
I got plugged into this community when I attended the Sheecarp Regatta three years ago. Lauren Sheehan saw me singing along with Waxwing's Charlie Patton tunes and told me about the Pt Townsend Festival. I haven't missed it ever since. Eventually, I'm interested in attempting to do with Country Blues the same type of thing that Welch & Rawlings are doing for America's folk music, but I believe I need to spend a decade or two more just absorbing songs first before I can do it right. For now, I'm just trying to hone my skills while developing the Rhapsody Program.
I'm really excited to think that some of you might be willing to get involved, but as you can see from the links below, the thing is just in its infant stages right now. Please do let me know if you'd like to get involved in some way, though!
http://www.communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/Rhapsody.html (http://www.communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/Rhapsody.html)
http://www.communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/Rhapsody.html (http://www.communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/Rhapsody.html)
Here are the goals of our program:
- Deliver school residency programs to stimulate awareness & inspire participation in American blues and folk music tradition. Focus these programs on underserved districts and communities. See our video (link above) describing the first of these programs.
- Unite, strengthen, and inspire communities through communal live music events on a regular basis (initially monthly shows in Portland and Seattle). Ideally, each performance will serve as a follow up to a residency that immediately precedes it. Furthermore, these community concerts will be free to folks under 18, and feature traditionally-rooted performers discussing their craft and their role in musical tradition (as well as performing relevant tunes from their repertoire). Where possible, concerts will be preceded by a jam / potluck to help accentuate the communal dimension of the music.
- Using social media, we will continue the momentum established by these interactive residencies and concerts to nurture ongoing interactions between young community members with masters of traditional music & folklore that live in students' neighborhoods.
- For instance, if the residency program was delivered in a more rural school, we would encourage students to begin filming and uploading their own interpretations of traditional songs, and receive encouragements and/or critiques from our wider community of educators and participants. Communities that took up this challenge and demonstrated their ongoing involvement in the program would then qualify for more residencies and concerts.
- The other major goal for Rhapsody is to strengthen and develop the network of organizations pursuing similar goals in the Pacific Northwest. That is, connect the resources and people of organizations--such as Centrum, Dusty Strings, Artichoke Music, Community Arts Create, and the Freight & Salvage--so that their communities gain access to a greater diversity of performers and opportunities, while worthy performers get access to better gigs. Our dream is to make the great experiences and education provided by fully developed programs--such as Centrum's Blues or Fiddle tunes week--and make the integrated workshop/jam/concert/community-building model into something that is brought to--and ultimately fostered by--the students.
Currently, we are working to enlist private donors and business sponsors to create a sustainable budget for these programs and events. We are also spreading awareness through friends like you, social media, and our blues duo recordings.
It's thrilling to discover that there are So many folks out there that are not only deep into country blues, but also starting to form a sizable community through this website. This is amazing, I really feel like I can click on any thread of conversation on here and be tickled pink with both the content and the characters--you all are great.
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Welcome Joe, Rhapsody looks like a great project.
Folk music is built on the notion that everyone can participate in music
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Hello from Devon, England, I'm Ian, 53, guitar and bass player, about eight years ago found Chasin' That Devil Music by Mr. Wardlow of this parish and the door opened..................big Patton enthusiast, Tommy Johnson, Garfield Akers, Willie Brown...........glad to be here.......good wishes
cheers
Ian
[madly saving for tricone resonator]
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Welcome. Good to have another West Country Weenie! :)
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Welcome Devon!
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Hi, I'm H.
never really been into playing music, but enjoyed listening to the blues. Attempted guitar but couldn't get along with all those strings. Couple of years ago found the Uke and started playing with a local club. My first song on the open mike was Rabbit Muse's Darkness on the Delta. It was through researching that that I found Weenie. Love the site, it's bringing to my attention lots of music I have not heard but like.
My playing is currently limited to strumming but hope to get picking eventually!
So if you don't mind having someone around who is two string short of a full set...
h
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Welcome HMS, glad you found us!
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Hey hey,
I'm a musician and record enthusiast, just graduated from college last year. At this point, I'm very much into pre-war blues and old time appalachian music. I play old time banjo and guitar and go by the moniker He Howls ( hehowls.bandcamp.com )
I found this community by bumping into it from all my blues lyrics searches. Jeff Harris' program Big Road Blues is my go-to driving soundtrack and I can't thank him enough for helping me discover artist after artist. Can't wait to start digging in!
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Ole! Ole! Welcome!
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I'm Bob Loomis, a retired journalist and longtime would-be musician ... love old-timey stuff and OT blues ... found this site via the San Francisco Folk Music Club e-mail list ... I play ukulele, guitar, banjo, harmonica, flute, Native American flute and tinwhistle. I'm in two bands, Awed Ducks and The Irish Newsboys. I also play farmers markets and open mics when I can. Glad to be aboard! I've already started sampling members' vids ...
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Welcome Bob! Thanks for de-lurking and introducing yourself!
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I'm back after a few (at least) years, under a new name because I forgot the old one. Look forward to interacting with y'all. I'm a semi-retired musician doing mostly PC stuff now, but started out playing fingerpicking blues a la Mississippi John Hurt and eventually and especially Blind Blake (my daughter's middle name is Blake if that tells you anything). Played in electric bands mostly for years in the Rochester NY area, with guys like Joe Beard, Steve Grills, and others.
Guess that about covers it...
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Hello - somehow various long-simmering interests came into alignment and I'm living in a dissociative country blues state, playing the guitar as much as I can. And naturally I found my way here. Enjoying your posts, collective knowledge and the excellent site.
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Thought I would post here to signify my prodigal return and because there are so many new logons I don't recognize. Been away from performing for a while, two years in grad school becoming a social worker at age, well, 63 in a few weeks, hopefully to work in hospice. Getting back to playing more, having to contend with more arthritic pain than I remember. But getting the chops back somewhat. Now part of a large jug band, The Amazing Dr. Zarcon's Breathing Machine, in which I mostly play jug, but occasionally front a song on vocal and guitar. They're an absolute hoot. Starting to play out solo again, and picking back up on my experimentation with right hand techniques.
Thanks much to all who have encouraged me to return.
Wax
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Welcome back Wax!
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Waxy's back! Great to 'see' you again!
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Nice to have you back Wax!
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Happy to see you back, Waxwing!
Cheers
Pan
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Welcome back, Wax. Glad to hear that school's out. Hopefully, you'll find your new vocation rewarding.
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Waxwing flies home! Welcome back, John.
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two years in grad school becoming a social worker at age, well, 63 in a few weeks, hopefully to work in hospice.
Several years ago, I and my siblings took care of my sister at her home for her last three weeks of her life. It's not remotely sufficient to say that the assistance and support we received from the local hospice program was essential; beyond that, it helped to take care of us (and kept us sane) while we took care of her. Thank you for choosing to pursue this vocation.
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I have been a fly on the wall for a while now. I love the music and have since my grandfather would play 78s for me as a kid.
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Welcome hardtime!
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G'day All,
Been lurking for a couple of weeks so I thought I would join up & introduce myself.
My name is Malcolm (Mal for short) & I'm 51 years old.
Born in the UK, hence my nickname Pommie Mal, then moved to Australia in 1970. Now living in God's own country, Queensland, Australia.
I began listening to the Blues when I was around 20 years old when a mate played me a George Thorogood album. After hearing George make reference to bluesmen like Hound Dog Taylor, John Lee Hooker, etc I began my journey into Blues music .
I have a particular love of slide guitar & have just bought a guitar to try & learn the blues. After 33 years as a mechanic plus pretty bad arthritis, my hands & fingers don't move like they should but I hope to be able to learn to play at least basic blues.
My 2 absolute favourite bluesmen are Blind Willie Johnson & Mississippi Fred McDowell. They are my inspiration to learn the guitar.
Over the last year or so, I've been attempting to decipher the lyrics of the 2 men above (especially BWJ), which is how I came across this wonderful site.
I hope I can contribute to the site & help where I can.
Cheers
Mal "Pommie" Platt.
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Welcome Mal! Glad you found us!
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Thanks all for the welcome backs.
Funkapus, I appreciate your encouragement. Yes, the focus in hospice, particularly that of the social worker, is to care for the entire family, and I have been very involved in the bereavement aspects of hospice. I find it a very rewarding field. The hard part right now is getting a job.
Wax
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Hello everyone,
I've just signed up and it seems introducing oneself is the polite thing to do.
I live in the UK. I'm 33 and have played guitar for about 20 years, but only got into blues and acoustic guitar about 5 years ago. Incidentally, it was seeing Matt Andersen play in a local pub that kicked it off - that and hearing Rory Gallagher's 'Unmilitary Two-Step' and realising that if I achieve nothing else in life, I have to learn to play that tune. In both cases, seeing that one person and a guitar can create something so powerful had me hooked.
I've been learning from books, videos and tabs for a while and seem to have just reached a stage now where I can figure songs out for myself, which is useful because for a lot of stuff there's no tuition out there. The main reason I'm here is to participate in discussions about lyrics. Often, when I can't find lyrics to a song online and can't work them out for myself, Google leads me to a discussion on this very site that sheds at least some light on the matter. It's always particularly gratifying to find something sung more clearly in another song and realise that the same stock verse is being used in the song I'm working on. Makes me feel like some kind of lyrical detective.
Anyway, I'm very glad to be here. I'm off to the lyrics part of the forum now to see if you lot can help me with something!
-Rexel Matador
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Welcome Rexel!
After working on lyrics here in the forum, we organize and move them to Weeniepedia - where they are much easier to search -- so just in case you missed Weeniepedia:
http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/ (http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/)
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Rexel - maybe you could make it to the next Euroweenie gathering next spring. Don't know where we'll be yet (watch the relevant thread) but it's a great social occasion with some mighty fine players - and me. The atmosphere is invariably very relaxed, informal and friendly.
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Welcome Rexel!
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Hi there good people,
I am already 40 posts in, but only just realized what this thread is all about......
My name is Zohar Bareket (a mouthful, I know...), I am 36 and I am from the troubled Middle East. Been playing guitar for quite a while, but CB only a few years. between working full time, being a father to 5 year old twins, and trying to keep some sort of jogging routine, finding time to play ain't the simplest thing, but I cant complain, really. I am SOOOO happy to have found this forum, I have been learning from you guys TONS. Thanks!
See ya!
Z
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A formal informal welcome to you Zohar!
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Hi Zohar: Good to hear from you. Stay safe.
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Hello all,
I'm a relatively new convert to interest in blues music, but it was likely inevitable as every few years I'll suddenly have my interest piqued by something or other and have to go learn as much as I can about it. This time, I was looking at the website for the punk rock band The Damned, and followed a link to a notice about their guitarist's new solo album, which had just been released on a label that was also advertising a re-release of music by Son House.
For some reason, something clicked, and I realized there was this whole area of music I'd never explored, and I started digging in. I discovered Weenie Campbell fairly early on, and have lurked/read many posts, mostly related to what releases are the best ones for certain musicians.
My main blues interests right now are pre-war blues, and I've become more enthusiastic the deeper I dig in and the more musicians I listen to. My absolute favorite at this point is Blind Willie Johnson (though technically the songs themselves are gospel). I've also become strongly attached to the music of Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake, Charlie Patton, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Sylvester Weaver and Tommy Johnson, and have quite a few others I'm still exploring and familiarizing myself with.
I look forward to continuing to read and learn, and may chime in occasionally if I have a question that hasn't been addressed or an opinion on an artist with whom I've become familiar.
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Welcome belewfripp, thanks for de-lurking!
I like your artist picks, it sounds like you have very good taste in music. ;D
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Hello all. Happy to have found this place (though have been a member for a little while - am now ready to post on the boards).
Back in early 2012 I decided to finally pursue a long-held goal of mine - I wanted to able to play a few Mississippi John Hurt and Robert Johnson tunes. At that point, I had only hear 4 MJH tunes from a mix CD I had and was vauguely famliar with Robert Johnson. I just knew that I wanted to get into playing acoustic blues with a slide.
So I bought RJ's complete recordings (newer version) and a short little book on RJ with a suggested listening section in the back. I ended downloading Yazoo's "Founder of the Delta Blues" and "King of the Delta Blues" on itunes and WHOA....my life changed.
Artists whose songs I'm working on at the moment:
RJ
MJH
Son House
Blind Willie Johnson
Lightnin Hopkins
I started out as a former guitarist and now at the point where I can get through some of these tunes AND sing. It's not pretty but it's a start. Will post some performance real soon.
Glad to be aboard.
Nick
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Welcome Nick! And thanks for de-lurking.
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Hello all,
Greetings from Victoria BC!
I've been playing and singing acoustic blues for about 5 years, mostly lapslide. Just starting to learn finger picking, working on Shake Sugaree right now. I went to Pt Townsend in 2013 for the first time and felt like I'd gone to music heaven. Planning to make it back in 2015.
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Welcome Sue!
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I cant believe it took me so long to learn of this site.
what a treasure, what a resource.
I play an old martin dred, which is my guitar of choice for country blues. I play finger style country, with slide too. I love the deep bass my dred delivers, with or without finger picks. Huge on john hurt, Robert J., and blind willy mctell, with a bit of Son too.
I love this site. so much to learn, so much fun to read about the music that, im my experience so few know, no less, love.
I also play rock, jazz, old time and ...from time to time, bluegrass and blues and old time mando.
thanks thanks thanks!!!
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Welcome Steve! Glad you found us!
Out of curiosity, how did you find us? And what part of the country are you in --- maybe some other weenies are in your area..?
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stevedenver-???LOL
Denver
I found you via someones reference on the martin forum
been collecting blues recordings and playing blues and country blues since....1969! twas out of step with all my little Hendrix worshipping peers, not that I didn't like jimi, just liked Charlie Patton, Bukka, even Fahey, and Skip James a bit more. :)
I have, over my forty years of playing, found that country blues players are kinda rare, or so it seems to me. I think it became popularized a bit with the release of the first RJ vinyl, and then some Stones tunes, and Hot Tuna taking it sorta mainstream, among others, then, it passed to some extent as music progressed.
it seems to me that the return to 'Americana /roots" is in swing. Jack White certainly is helping introduce many, as did at one time, Zep, Clapton, and others.
The only other country blues players I knew were Mary Flower, while she was still in Denver, (great teacher and person and performer) and my first guitar teacher, aka 'Barbeque Bob', (Don Debacker - 60 Million Buffalo and Dusty Drapes and the Dusters).
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Greetings all...
As a new user, I thought the appropriate thing to do would be to participate in this roll call prior to all else so as to introduce myself proper.
First off, my name is Matt, though I've gone by Matty Slim in the past. This nickname was received begrudgingly back in the days when I fronted my own band or gave side support to another's. In that time, amplified harp ala Chicago 1950s was my gig. However, those days appear all but totally over for me as I haven't taken to a stage or blown a lick in three years running. Also, it seems my desire to do so has run out.
My earliest memories include a love for music but I didn't aspire towards learning to play an instrument myself until the late teens, over twenty years ago when I took up guitar and harmonica around the same time.
I found it too challenging to serve two masters if you will, and so gravitated heavily toward the harp. This I presume had to do with the attractive obscurity and relative ease of that instrument, the latter being quite the deception by the way.
Anyhow, within a few years I was getting paid and making a name for myself locally and a bit beyond. I ran this course from 1993 to 2010 but the last few years of it were spotty at best. In fact, the entire career was half assed to say the least for I was clueless in regards to the severity of my drinking problem. In the end, no one wanted to play with me and I couldn't care less as I had been pulled into the eye of my addiction by this point.
Things change though and so did I, I sobered up! That was in 2011, and though I have many fond memories of "the good old days," life today is better than ever.
I honestly don't have much of an interest at all in blowing harp or playing in a band anymore, but one thing that has been significantly resparked in my imagination since getting sober is the guitar. Where as I hardly picked one during the band days, it's been near impossible to put it down during these past few years.
Still, I lack the same level of intuition with the guitar that came with playing harmonica. I'm at a plateau and a crossroads with my playing and my sense of direction...
So, that's what brings me here, to call on the support of those better experienced than I. The feeling is an undeniable inclination to reintegrate myself into a musical community and perhaps learn once again how to cause a soul or two to dance. But I'm not too proud to say it, "I need your help."
Now, that I've laid out what's probably more than enough for a "proper" introduction here, I am eagerly looking forward to learning and progressing with you all as a resource and to perhaps, when I can, pass something along and give a little back.
Regards,
Slim
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Welcome Slim! Glad you found us.
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Thank you Slack! Actually the truth is, I found you all quite a while back. However, I never became a lurker. It's taken me a while to get over certain prejudices regarding the internet and it's social networks. Glad I've finally laid that burden down. Now, to just work up the nerve and courage to record a tune, post it and wait for the feedback...
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Hi my name is allrounder and I have a blues problem. I'm 30 and I've been listening to blues for seven years. I have to listen to blues everyday. I listen to guys like Frank Stokes, Furry lewis, robert wilkins, mississippi john hurt, charlie patton. henry thomas, and more. Here's a song that i listened to the other night and liked. i tried to learn harmonica but never actually did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En680dggMjU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En680dggMjU)
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Hi everyone,
I'm Phil Doleman, and I'm a ukulele player/ singer from the UK, playing blues and early jazz. I often pop by looking for lyric help, etc. so I thought I really ought to become a member!
Here I am playing Police Dog Blues after a uke workshop I gave to Ver Players in St' Albans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oFlcRyr1FU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oFlcRyr1FU)
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Hey y'all!
I am ecstatic to find this website. I don't know how I've not run up on it before, because it's the exact thing I was looking for. I always figured the only people who felt like I did about folk blues were musicologists!
Anyways, my name's Justin, I'm 19, and live in Alabama. I blow a little harp, and occasionally mess around on my "diddley bow" (an older cousin's guitar that only has one string left on it ;) )
Well, I just wanted to say hey! I'll let y'all get back to whatever you was doin'. Y'all have a good one!
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Welcome Justin! Glad you found us!
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Hello Weenies (or whatever we call ourselves here)
I have been a devotee of Little Brother Doug Jones for years. Recently he appears to have closed the doors on his Blues Shack (we were Shackers over there) Anyway, hoping to join the fun here. I notice some of the member names here are familiar. Shoutout to you Shackers
Lotta respect for John Miller. Have one of his DVDs and have seen some of his Youtube stuff. Another master blues teacher for sure!
Ben
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Welcome Ben!
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Hello everyone. I am Eduardo, from Spain.
My guitar playing background is mostly jazz (at a pretty undecent skill), but I am really touched by the hearty sounds of the country blues, maybe due to the fact that here in Spain we also have our music roots (say flamenco guitar) which has always been played in our country by players with almost non music theory education.
I do have a spanish nylon guitar, as I do have an acoustic guitar (steel strings), and of course my electric Ibanez for jazz. However weird may seem, I really prefer the sound of my electric jazz guitar for playing this country blues music.
Why is it that most people play this style with acoustic guitars? Is it due to respect of the tradition? Or is it due to any kind of sounding posibbilities of the acoustic axe imposible to achieve with the electric one?
On the other hand, I am trying to learn the style following some DVD and books by David Hamburger and Steffan Grossman... any input on these?
Anyhow, I guess I should post this question on the main forum.
Hello everyone!
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Hi all,
My name is Eddie, I'm a 26 year old from Canada. I've been playing guitar for 11-12 year. I started out playing punk rock. I moved through some different styles and genres and one day I heard some insanely fast blues played on a 12 string guitar. A friend of mine was watching Stevie Ray Vaughan unplugged. It blew me away. I didn't know anything about the blues then but that's where it started. I learned how to play pride and joy and rude mood. Then I traced back a lot of SRV's cover songs and found Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Albert King, Freddie King etc. So I was playing electric blues for a while.
Then I was watching the documentary "It Might Get Loud" and when the clip of Reverend Gary Davis playing "Death Don't Have No Mercy" it blew me away. I tracked down everything I could find from the Rev. It completely changed the way I played guitar. I tracked down all the old Country Blues, Piedmont, Delta, Ragtime, and Gospel recordings. I can't get enough of this stuff.
Rev Gary Davis is my all time favorite these days along with Blind Blake and Blind Willie McTell. Charlie Patton has been on heavy rotation of what I've been listening to lately as well.
Ernie Hawkins is one of my favorite teachers for obvious reasons. He knows the Rev's stuff inside out. Ari Eisinger is also great. He is very authentic and a great teacher. I have been using some of Tom Feldmann's lessons and I have been enjoying them as well. I like to pick things out by ear as well. But when I started with Rev Gary Davis I needed help big time. haha
I play a Gretsch New Yorker arch top acoustic and a Dobro resonator for slide. I also have a Gretsch centerblock electric guitar. The electric hasn't been getting much attention lately though.
Anyway that became long winded. Glad to be here. There is lots of great things going on here. I love that Blind Willie McTell tuning/position/key chart.
Thanks,
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Well, I'm not that new, but I haven't really been on here much and certainly haven't posted much, so I feel an introduction is in order. I am 14 and have been playing guitar since I was 10. When I was 11 I first heard the blues in a music class and began listening to muddy waters, BB king, Albert king, SRV, etc. Later that year I heard Robert Johnson for the first time. Robert became my favorite, and in the last 2 years I began digging further and have a pretty large repertoire of country, delta, Piedmont and other types of pre war blues. My favorites are Son house, Bo Weavil Jackson, King Solomon Hill, Bukka White, Robert Johnson, Willie Brown, Skip James, Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy and many others. Hopefully I'll be here more than I have!
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Welcome Eduardo, Eddie and Arg! glad to have you with us.
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Hi, my name is Larry Rand and I tend to play songs that are funny or topical, many of which I have written myself, and some country blues that I've picked up along the way (I'm 68, so it's been a long way). I was lucky enough to perform full-time for 12 years in the 1970s after the Army and college, and I've been gigging for 50+ years. I think the first blues performer to get my attention was Josh White, with his distinctive voice and a right hand style that used all five fingers, but i grew up listening to all the pre-war blues people because my dad was a liquor salesman. His black customers here in Chicago didn't get 45rpm juke boxes until the mid- to late 50s, so they played 78s of people like Lil Green, Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, and lots of jazz people from Duke Ellington to Slim & Slam. I took immediately to Slim & Slam and Tampa; I loved the humor. When I became a folkie like so many of my peers, I gravitated towards funny stuff. Being a performer, I got to meet tremendous blues musicians -- Ted Bogan, who taught me his chord style, Carl Martin and Howard Armstrong, for whom I opened many a show; Howlin' Wolf and Albert King, for whom I also opened shows; Blind Jim Brewer, whose chops I tried my best to cop by watching him at No Exit; Paul Geremiah, Blind John Davis, Donny White (Josh's son who performs as Josh White, Jr.), Siegel-Schwall, and Eric Noden. I got to see many great blues performers, too many to list here; living in the blues Mecca of Chicago has been a gift in that regard.
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Welcome Larry! Any son of a liquor salesman is a friend of ours! 8)
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Hey y'all!
My name is Sam and I'm a 31 year old guitar player. I'm pretty self-conscious about my playing, but still too stubborn to quit. I've also spent more time reading your posts than posting myself! I made my first pilgrimage to Avalon, Mississippi two years ago, and was lucky enough to get a volunteer position with the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation.
I've noticed that a lot of you mention Mississippi John Hurt as a primary influence on their guitar playing. I just wanted to invite everyone to the 2015 Mississippi John Hurt Music Festival, held at the MJH Museum in Avalon. It's free, it's fun, and is probably the safest, kindest, least stressful place to jam on some country blues ANYWHERE. Hanging out with Mary Frances Hurt is as close as you'll get to hanging out with John himself. Just like her grandfather, she is kind and gracious, and we hope EVERYONE will make a point of coming out if they can.
The Festival is always held on Labor Day weekend. Please contact me at swellis@live.com if you'd like more info. I'll post hotel and travel info on a separate thread soon. I've enjoyed reading everybody's posts! Thank you all for your enthusiasm and dedication to the blues.
Samuel W. Ellis
The Mississippi John Hurt Foundation
www.mississippijohnhurtfoundation.org (http://www.mississippijohnhurtfoundation.org)
swellis@live.com
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Welcome Samuel and thanks for the MJH Foundation update!
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Hello fellow Weenies, just happened upon this forum. Can't wait to help contribute and learn what you all have stored away in the archives. I've been a student of the blues for about a decade now. Age 26 now. Didn't know I should have been calling myself a "weenie" all this time but that changes today!
Lets see... I can play on guitar the following:
*Blind Lemon Jefferson - Easy Rider blues
*Mississippi John Hurt - Richland Woman Blues
*Skip James - Crow Jane
*Outside Woman Blues -- the Cream version but I would love to get the Blind Joe Reynolds one down someday
My favorite country blues artist at this time is Luke Jordan. His version of Cocaine Blues is my favorite rendition of that song.
I am constantly on the hunt for YouTube videos of blues/soul/funk tracks. <shameless plug> Come visit me on plug.dj room "The Delta" sometime. It's a free, really small, but great community where we take turns DJing YouTube and Soundcloud gems. </shameless plug>
Thanks for reading! See you on the forum.
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Welcome elds, you've definitely come to the right place. There are several admirers and exponents of the great Luke Jordan's playing here.
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Howdy! John here, 18-year-old from Chicago (yep, another innocent young man corrupted by this mind rot ;)). I've been playing guitar and mandolin ever since I was a little kid, and I've been a country blues (and Old Time/early jazz/folk/country) maniac for a couple of years, but I only stumbled on this forum recently. Looking forward to getting to know you guys!
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Welcome Blind Uncle S!
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Hi, everyone.
I'm Dave and have been interested in Blues music since I borrowed the Folkways Anthology from the Detroit Library back in 1965. When I got to Mississippi John Hurt's version of Frankie, I said to myself, "Wow, I gotta learn to play the guitar!"
Mostly I've just been lurking and getting background info. The amount and quality of freely-offered expertise on this Forum is absolutely astounding. When I was getting started, there were two paperback Oak Publications books, an occasional page of tablature in Sing Out magazine, and whatever we could get by recording 33-1/3 rpm transcriptions of original 78's on reel-to-reel tape recorders at 7-1/2 in/sec and playing it back at 3-3/4 in/sec to try to figure out what was happening.
Thanks for setting up this site and your participation. I'll no doubt be asking questions when I get the background digested and try to add my bit when it seems appropriate.
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Welcome Dave! Love your description of the available resources and trying to figure stuff out in 1965... it pretty much nails the motivation behind this site.
Don't be shy... join in!
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My Profile- Kenneth Cooke
As my profile indicates I have played Guitar since I was 15 which is 50 years during that time there lave been long layoffs as I have not enjoyed the best of health. In the 60's I played actively around folk clubs which were usually located in the upstairs rooms of pubs. Folk music and folk clubs were springing up all the time in the 60's and in Leeds UK were I grew up there was a club every night of the week in fact The Grove Inn Folk Club was the second oldest in the country outside London only beaten by 3 weeks by The Topic Folk Club in Bradford. Both of those clubs are still running and the Grove also hosts a Bluegrass Club the last Thursday in every month. Old Timey/ Bluegrass were a difficult genre to pedal in those days, most clubs were very traditional and in one or two clubs one rarely saw anyone play guitar it was all finger in the ear unaccompanied song.
My first decent guitar was a Levin Jumbo with a blonde front. It was sometime later that got my first Martin, a Brazilian Rosewood D35. I was also playing a little bit of mandolin, autoharp and fiddle and fronted various Old Timey/ Bluegrass bands with a leaning towards Old Timey stimulated by bands such as The New Lost City Ramblers. We learned alot through them and I remember playing with a guy called John Healey who owned 3 fretless banjos. We played various small festivals and visited The Cambridge Folk Festival for a good few years. Cambridge had a strong Bluegrass following and some excellent musicians. My first wife and I played duets similar to the style of Sandy and Jeanie who toured here from the States and were a big influence on many of us
I came back to playing again in the 80's but having sold all my instruments I bought a Brazilian Rosewood HD28 and a Brazilian Rosewood 0021. My musical tastes continued from the 60's playing finger-style with National finger-picks and a Dobro thumb-pick and Flat-pick guitar. In the late 80's I had 4 strokes that disabled my left hand making it impossible to play so with very great sadness I sold the Martins.
At the beginning of 2013 a longtime friend and Dobro player suggested that I might try to play again and after some consideration I bought a new Martin D35. Progress was painfully slow but at least I was trying and that pleased me . About a month later I read an article on the net about a limited edition Bozeman Montana Gibson LG2 3/4 Arlo Guthrie Guitar. I envisaged that a 3/4 size guitar might help me form chords easier so I bought on and in fact it did help. I was then able to transfer that skill over to my D35.
The Gibson is a beautiful guitar, Sitka Spruce tone-wood top with Mahogany back and sides. The neck is also Mahogany with a Rosewood finger-board. I am now considering looking into open tunings which I have no knowledge of, hence me joining a forum like this. I have acquired a glass slide and a brass slide and I propose to get a Dobro slide and nut raiser but I will discuss that with my Dobro friend.
Barry has played Dobro for many years, longer than I have played guitar and he has a beautiful 1927 Dobro plus a new one he bought when last on holiday in Nashville. He also bought three of Gibson F5 mandolins, why 3 I can't answer, and he has recently acquired an Indian Rosewood D45. In fact I am planning to visit him on Wednesday this week as I have not seen him for some time. I am not planning to take the music back out again it will just be really good to be involved once more, and wow the internet was not around when I last played. There is so much great stuff out there. And also unlimited access to records, or should I say CD's. My favorite label has to be Folkways Records out of New York.
Anyhow I think that covers my playing life. I have had 2 marriages and I have a daughter to each. I also packed in the booze in the 1990 as I was drinking myself to death. It was the best move I ever made and I am pleased to say that I have remained sober although sobriety threw up a whole heap of life issues that I had masked with the booze
Regard- Kenneth- West Yorkshire- UK
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Welcome Kenneth!
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And welcome from me as well. I'm a fellow-Tyke, born and bred in Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds and long since displaced to the south of England.
Check out Diamond Dac (diamonddac.com) who mainly seems to play around the Halifax area.
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.... and he has a beautiful 1927 Dobro...
Hmmm ... a year before the Dopera brothers started producing them????
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Good afternoon.
Pleasure to be here. Hope I won't annoy anyone :D
TT
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Welcome TT! We do too! ;)
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Hello all,
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, ideas and opinions at the forum. I have been lurking - or even stalking - it for a while.
Otherwise, English is not my primary language. So if I would ever come through as arrogant or stupid that is probably the reason :D.
I find it kind of surprising that I am at a place like this. During the 90's I was a blues fanatic and played harp in several amateur bands and some jazz towards the end. I also played some bad fingerpicking guitar at home. Then I suddenly lost interest in music, quit it and felt a great relief.
Around new year 2015 - out of the blue - I started to feel an urge to play blues, got a guitar and started to learn again. It still sounds bad, but I am really enjoying the process and I am constantly learning new ways to make noise. Btw, it is fantastic with all the Internet resources on blues nowadays - this place stands out as a good example.
I wont post a lot - but I will be here 8).
Have a good evening!
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Welcome, Kadens! It's good to hear you're getting back into the music.
all best,
Johnm
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Welcome Kadens! From where do you hail?
Your come back is not too unusual - many of us had a long lay off and then came back. Mine came about because my eldest son wanted to learn guitar at age 12, he is now 34.
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Thanks Johnm and Slack!
Nice to hear about your son, Slack - then you have a long time back in the saddle. I come from Gothenburg in Sweden. Not a very big town, but there are some aficionados that keep a decent blues scene going - mostly electric.
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My name is Jim and it's a pleasure to join your forum. Currently I'm a member of bluesguitarunleashed but it's nice to find a place where old time acoustic classics are appreciated. Nice to sit on the porch and play bass, rhythm, and melody all by yourself. Thanks for having me aboard!
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Welcome Jim! Thanks for introducing yourself!
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Hello everyone, my name is Richard and I was captured by the blues, back in I think 1964 by the most strange of introductions. I was listening to an LP that had the song The St. Louis Blues by a Lily-White Waspy String orchestra called the 101 Strings. But there was something about that song, no matter how far removed from the proper way such music should played (if you can imagine a blues song with absolutely no soul in it what-so-ever).
Never the less I went and bought my first real blues album, which was Homesick James, Blues on the Southside (1964). (My first country blues LP, I'm pretty was Mississippi Fred "I do not play no Rock and Roll. I only play the straight Natural Blues" McDowell.
I found this website by happy circumstance. I was listening to Charlie Patton's song High Water Everywhere Blues but there were a few of the lyrics I could not quite make out, so I made an internet search for the lyrics and found my answer here at this website.
I was surprised by how knowledgeable the members were about the blues, and I have considerable knowledge myself and am quite cable of listening to my blues collection, which covers all different eras of the blues, as it grew and is still evolving, for seven or more hours at a time studying themes, styles, lyrics. ideas, expressions, following the footsteps of African-Americans as they moved north looking for work in the major urban centers and maybe finding disappointment and temptations of a negative kind as expressed Jimmy Reed's immortal "Bright Lights,Big City went to My Baby's Mind" and Country Blues is a large part of my collection.
My most recent collection I just purchased is from John Tefteller's Blues Images CD's from#2 thru #12 of blues music from 1920's 78 rpms (#1 is out of stock), and all of these are extremely rare recordings and some of them are of bluesmen whose only sign that they existed on this planet earth is what remains on an old scratchy 78 rpm rather like that image we all have seen, of some unknown early ancestor of ours who placed his hand on a deep and dark cave wall and blew a concoction red ochre around it as much as to say to world he found himself in "World I Was Here!".
And now, here in the 21st century, thanks to modern technical knowledge, the music of these lost pioneers of the blues can be heard 2oo years from now and enjoyed by future generations as long as our civilization shall exist, and the music of that great Texas bluesman, Blind Lemon Jefferson, is on an interstellar voyage into the great unknown via the Voyager satellite which has now officially left our solar system.
I hope to visit here often. To the creators and moderators of this website congratulations and many thanks!
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Richard. One correction, though--it's Blind Willie Johnson's, "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground," that is on the Voyager.
...the music of that great Texas bluesman, Blind Lemon Jefferson, is on an interstellar voyage into the great unknown via the Voyager satellite which has now officially left our solar system.
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Yipes! I stand corrected. Thanks Stuart.
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Welcome Richard - glad you found us!
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Hi Folks,
I'm new here so I wanted to introduce myself.
I'm 56 and have just started learning to play guitar a few months ago. I grew up on rock, but got interested in listening to blues in my 30s. I've always thought it would be cool to play guitar (and harmonica), but never thought I could learn.
But I had some time when I couldn't work on some other activities that normally occupy my free time (BBQing, building a smoker, working on my hot rod project, building furniture) and started trying to teach myself to play with a Fred Sokolow Beginning Blues DVD. I took a few lessons, but my teacher was not helping me learn songs or even technique, mostly explaining the fretboard and how chords are built. Good information, but not what I needed to stay interested.
I learned a few songs from online videos, and just recently started with another teacher who is more plugged into blues, but I'm not sure he's the right teacher for me either.
Anyway, I'm very much a beginner but I practice every day and hope to get enough better that I don't wince when I hear myself play.
I just learned a version of Lightnin Hopkins' Baby Please Don't Go. it's my teacher's arrangement, and I really want to learn the version from Ernie Hawkins' DVD (I got the first dozen or so bars of that version down already, but got stuck on something). I don't have the timing right when I play it, but at least I can play the notes. Ish.
I'm also working on "Shake That Thing" which is the first song in Stephen Grossman's "Complete Country Blues". I can play it straight through, but again my timing isn't right or consistent. More practice. More practice.
I'm thinking pretty seriously about going to the Port Townsend acoustic blues workshop in August. I'm a little concerned about being over my head and intimidated. But I also think this might help my playing a lot.
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Hi there boys and girls, My name is Dave and I've been playing poorly for 47 years now. Not continuously however, hence the poorly part. I currently play with the Columbus Folk Music Society, and play Folk, Blues, Jug band stuff, Gospel and pretty much whatever else we like.
I've got a bunch of guitars, including a few Martins, a couple Gibsons, an Epiphone MasterBilt, a Taylor 12 string and and few more. I also play Ukulele and a Tenor Banjo tuned in Chicago style, DGBE.
This looks like a great forum, I love old-timey and hokum music, and just old stuff from the twenties and thirties.
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I'm thinking pretty seriously about going to the Port Townsend acoustic blues workshop in August. I'm a little concerned about being over my head and intimidated. But I also think this might help my playing a lot.
Welcome to the forum. Re. Port Townsend, don't hesitate, just go!
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Welcome Dave, always good to have new blood around here, as Dracula used to say. :P
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I pulled the trigger last night, I'm registered for Port Townsend!
I'm thinking pretty seriously about going to the Port Townsend acoustic blues workshop in August. I'm a little concerned about being over my head and intimidated. But I also think this might help my playing a lot.
Welcome to the forum. Re. Port Townsend, don't hesitate, just go!
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Good decision Joe. My first year I prepared by seeking new influences, songs and players, anything to expand horizons. Put me in the right frame of mind for Port T, not in the way I planned, just for being already open to more of the cool & unknown. It's hard to describe how Port T supports players' each-to-their-own, you just got to be there. I'll be there if I possibly can but it looks unlikely right now due to.. a very long story. My fingers are crossed though.
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Hello everyone,
Weenie Campbell was a google search result a few months ago when I was trying to figure out what a Bamalong could be. Since then I have been lurking here absorbing some of the accumulated wisdom of this wonderful, encyclopedic website.
I am not a musician or record collector, just a casual listener. I probably will not be posting very much because I have little to contribute. Nonetheless I want to introduce myself and thank the other members for sharing their knowledge. You guys have built something remarkable here.
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Welcome Mr. Crump! Please feel free to chime in at any time, expertise is not needed. In any case we are glad "Mr. Crump Do Like It"!
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I'm not sure, now. I heard Mr. Crump don't allow no easy riders here.....and I likes easy riders....(and if that don't bring a smile to some faces, I'm doing something wrong!)
Welcome. Willkommen. Bien venue. Failte. Bienvenuto. Hey, hello and how are you.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Mr. Crump!
Here's a book fer yez:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=10603.msg91997#msg91997
I read it a while back and enjoyed it thoroughly.
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Thanks for the warm welcome! Stuart, that book looks excellent -- I think I will read it.
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Hello All-
Been lurking for a little while. This forum is fantastic. I've discovered a ton of new tunes, and I've taken a closer look at many gems I already had in my collection. Been listening to and playing country blues off and on for over 23 years or so. Mostly on my own. I had kinda put it away for a while before recently deciding get back in. This forum has really kickstarted the process.
If anyone cares...
- A used copy of the Robert Johnson box set got the ball rolling for me.
- What really got me hooked was listening to the Yazoo Roots of Robert Johnson CD. I was at a store that let you sample CD's before buying them. Hearing Skip James "Devil Got My Woman" blew me away! And I sat there listening to all these other guys with cool names playing out-of-this-world music that I couldn't believe even existed: Kokomo Arnold, Charlie Patton, Son House etc.
- For the next few years I bought most every Pre-War country blues disc I could find.
- Also got into later-recorded guys like Mance Lipscomb & Fred McDowell and many more.
- Discovered Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, and that really changed everything for me. Not only were that lessons on how to play this stuff, but videos of these legends existed!
- Learned to play quite a bit from the dozen or so workshop videos I bought, but honestly at the time, I never really paid as much attention to detail as I should have. I don't remember what I've forgotten.
- I was also really into what Fat Possum was doing at that time with Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside, T-Model ford & others.
- Over the years I've come and gone from country blues, but right now I'm totally hooked again.
- The Ballad of Geeshie & Elvie article a couple years back made me revisit my collection and dive back into playing again.
- Favorites: Mance, Blind Blake, Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, RL Burnside... geez this list could really keep going.
- Other musical interests: Surf Rock, Punk Rock, Garage Rock and so much more.
Anyway. Glad this site exists. I've got a lot to look through.
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Welcome FJ!
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Hi all,
I?ve been lurking on this site for years, picking up a wealth of information and pointers to great music, and thought it was about time I joined in.
My name?s David and I live on the North East coast of England. I started getting into blues in the late 80?s, partly through a radio show where the folk singer Ralph McTell played records by some of his inspirations including Willie McTell, Blind Blake, Robert Johnson and Joseph Spence. Sometime in the 90?s I wanted to try making some of those sounds, so I bought a junk shop Hokada guitar and sawed some copper pipe off a lab furnace I was working with. I have been slowly learning ever since, although the guitar soon got upgraded a bit.
So, I?m no expert and no great player, but I enjoy the music and hope I can chip in something constructive here and there.
Cheers, David
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Welcome David! Thanks for de-lurking!
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I am the archivist for a defunct radio station, KRAB of Seattle. Bob West, who passed away July 31, 2016, produced a radio program on KRAB from 1966 until 1984. He went on to create Arcola Records. A number of his programs are now in the archive and posted on the web site. The most recent post was Bob's interview of Furry Lewis in May of 1968. There is also a tribute to Bob written by a close friend.
In the realm of post-war blues, we also have some of Richard Shurman's Urban Blues programs.
If you are curious, please take a look at www.krab.fm (http://www.krab.fm)
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Hello creinsch,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell, and I'm very sorry to hear that Bob passed away. He did a lot for the music and the interviews he did with musicians during the period you describe are fascinating. Thank you for pointing out their availability.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for telling us about the archive and the sad news of Bob's passing. I am one of many hundreds of volunteers who did occasional shows at the Firehouse and at 23rd/Jackson.
For those of you with some free time, check out the archives. In addition to Furry Lewis, there are interviews with Son House, Pinetop Perkins, Big Joe Williams, Bukka White, Mance Lipscomb and Fred McDowell.
Lots of great material that's not country blues-related: recordings (some live in Seattle, some taped elsewhere) of Allen Ginsburg, Aldous Huxley, Theodore Roethke, Jean Shepherd, William Buckley debating Giovanni Costigan--a snapshot of cultural stuff happening 50 years ago and more.
Lindy
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Thank you for the information creinsch. Mr West was a wonderful influence on me and always up for a chat via email, sent me a lot of great CDs at his cost and I was gearing up to purchase his guitar (though it would have taken me a while to save to buy it). I wondered why I hadn't heard from him last month as I sought out tips before a recording trip I took over the past week and am deeply saddened to hear of why. I keep the letters he wrote me as readily available as all the CDs and I'll truly miss him as a mentor in both the learning about the blues, performing and in my passion for archiving and recording. In my neck of the woods, there aren't any places where a 14 year old kid with a guitar can just show up and have a chat with someone that met his blues heroes dead long before he was born, but for the past few years I've been in direct contact with Bob (and been a member of the site of course) and it's been fantastic. May he rest in peace. Also sorry for writing all this in this part of the forum.
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Bob West - In Memoriam:
http://seattlefloatinghomes.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Bob-West.pdf
(It will open or download as a PDF file)
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I am glad to hear that Bob West is remembered fondly here. My first encounter with Bob was in 1967 when he started doing a program of pre-war blues on KRAB. He would come into the station Sunday afternoons to tape the show, and I would engineer. Seventeen years later KRAB went off the air and I left Seattle. It wasn't until 2013 that we met up again, back in Seattle, at the 50th anniversary of KRAB's first broadcast. Then I started the KRAB archive, and Bob shared tapes and CD's he had digitized.
I see a copy of John Och's "Remembering Bob West" has been shared here (just above this post). If you are curious why it comes from the Floating Homes Assn, Bob was a long-time resident of a houseboat on Seattle's Lake Union. You can also find John's article in the KRAB archive on the http://www.krab.fm/KRAB-has-the-Blues-King-Biscuit-Time.html (http://www.krab.fm/KRAB-has-the-Blues-King-Biscuit-Time.html) page, where there is also a 2006 piece by Jann McFarland about him and houseboat life.
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Thanks for your posts, Chuck. I heard about KRAB back in '78 when I was in Seattle for a few months, and after I returned in '83. I probably crossed paths with Bob at music events in Seattle, but unfortunately never met him.
Perhaps we should have a separate thread for posts about Bob and KRAB, but I'll leave that to the moderators.
Thanks for all your work on the KRAB site. There is plenty of listening ahead.
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Several of us met Bob at Port Townsend, was it 2008? What a character. There was so much going on on officers' row, in terms of the many other strong characters and scenes happening, that Bob just kind of had to become part of that whole patchwork quilt. I believe he was not used to that. I had several good interactions with him myself, directly and also just observing.
That year the whole thing, it seemed to me, and I'd been away for several years, seemed to be in danger of sliding naturally into chaos. Just part of the natural cycle.
RIP Bob West.
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Very sad to here about Bob West passing.
That was an incredible week at PT. "The best" I heard it said. The Weenie house was a house party almost nonstop from about Wednesday until Sunday morning. Bob was a part of that, blowing jug with a half gallon whiskey bottle, reminiscing about players he had recorded, almost coming to blows with an equally inebriated Lightnin' one night. It was quite the mix of faculty that year. I think Elijah's first. I remember jamming my washboard and jug on a rack with him, Suzy, Del and Steve in the pantry. Seemed like every room had a small jam going on, not like those 30 player jams. Farren managed to get a musician from town (with the same last name as me) to donate a cool vintage wooden electric piano (with a modesty panel) that I carted up to the Weenie house that enabled a great jam by Johnm and Erwin.
My favorite memory was of the then raven haired, pale skinned Pilar McCracken at 6am, as I was telling a few youngsters they could keep playing in the yard but I was gonna lock up the back door for a couple hours, in that gravelly McCracken growl, just like her old man, "Waxwing, you Weenies know how to Party!"
You'll be missed, Bob. Thanks for a handful of great memories.
Wax
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Hello all, New member here. My name is,Tony and I'm in Ipswich, UK. Been playing blues guitar (electric, acoustic & resonator) for years and I've now decided to try some blues mandolin.
I particularly like a clip of Ry Cooder from the BBC Old Grey Whistle Test where he's doing Going To Brownsville on a Gibson mandolin. It's on YouTube if anyone wants to check it out. I'd love to learn this version, anyone know it?
All the best,
Tony.
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Hi Tony,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell! I don't play the Ry Cooder version you cite, but as I remember he plays it in G. it should sit pretty easily, just copy the video.
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome Tony. How about a trip across country to the Euroweenie Weekend in Somerset in April? There will doubtless be people there with a similar interest in blues mandolin (I'm interested but don't play mandolin). We're a mad lot, but very friendly.
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Hello all.
New guy on the forum. I took over for Skip Henderson as director of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, which erected memorials on behalf of many notable figures for seminal blues artists in the state of Mississippi. We've kept going as far as memorializations for the purposes of not only honoring musicians and their families, but also ensuring that abandoned burial grounds are not plowed under into row crops. We have had to engage in several legal actions for different reasons, but all our work is about preservation and respect for the people who are well-deserving of it.
Aside from that, I'm a PhD candidate in History at the University of Mississippi. I am writing the narrative on the black freedom struggle for the Burns Belfry African American History Museum in Oxford. I contribute to Living Blues and have contributed to Jim O'Neal's research for the MBT. I organize the Oxford Blues Fest panel discussions every summer in July, and I update content for the MZMF Facebook and webpage. http://www.mtzionmemorialfund.org/ (http://www.mtzionmemorialfund.org/)
I didn't know about this introductions roll call before I posted about the Nitta Yuma Cemetery project...Apologies
--DeWayne Moore
Deacon Booker T. Young and MZMF director DeWayne Moore in front of the present day Mount Zion MB Church (our namesake).
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Welcome DeWayne... no apologies necessary, we are an informal group. I very much admire your preservation efforts!
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Stumbled across this forum looking for info on Barbecue Bob.
I'm relatively new to Country Blues. Always thought I didn't like Blues music because the majority of Blues songs I had heard simply bored me to tears...especially the British bands from the sixties then one day last year I decided to listen to Robert Johnson on Spotify. The thing that struck me was his subject matter and style reminded me of Jimmie Rodgers of which I was already a fan and had been for years. I grew up on Rodgers music and my grandpa had his Victor records. Johnson led me to Blind Lemon Jefferson and I discovered I liked Lemon even better than RJ then I discovered Blind Blake and Charley Patton who both blew me away and only last week I got into Barbecue Bob and Tommy Johnson. This music is SO much more varied and interesting than I had always associated with the term "blues" and Barbecue Bob reminds me of a Country Blues Grandpa Jones in a strange way :) I have a CD by each of these artists now and a friend who runs a record store gave me an original Paramount 78 of Ida Cox which I am going to pick up tomorrow "Graveyard Bound Blues/Mississippi River Blues". I honestly believe I am hooked on this stuff...like a Jake-Leg on a shot of squeeze. Look forward to all the posts here!
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Hi sandmountainslim,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell! I hope you find the site interesting. I'm just going to move our posts over to a thread where folks introduce themselves to members here.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks John! I would have posted in this thread had I seen it first.
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I would call this a re-intr. I was a lurker here a few years ago, by, alas, was unable to log on. No worries. I have just returned to playing guitar after a shoulder issue had me out for several months. I mostly play country blues (thanks to John. on guitar), but am more of an old time, Celtic and country/bluegrass kind of guy on the mandolin.
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Welcome back, Mike, nice to see you around these parts again!
All best,
Johnm
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A quick hello. I have no idea why I've never come across this community before!
Blues fan for about 25 of my 42 years, focus on the old stuff, one of the biggest Son House fans. Avid reader of books, collector of ideally complete discographies in ideally most modern restored quality (not those evil things from the 90s).
I play a bit myself:
https://youtu.be/twhC92CSqcU
Will explore and see how I can jump in!
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Welcome DerZauberer! Nice intro!
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Hi all -
I found this forum looking for information about "Red River Blues" by Charlie 'Dad' Nelson I heard on a JSP Records 4CD set I just got, The Paramount Masters 1924-1932.
What a great site: Thanks to all those responsible for creating and maintaining it and also, to all the participants. The threads I've visited contain a wealth of information about country blues and related music.
Country blues is one of the styles of American vernacular music that I have been a fan of since the early '70s. Other styles are old time mountain ballads and bluegrass. I play guitar but don't consider myself an especially adept performer, per se; I use the guitar to write. I also recently rekindled my interest in the banjo and have a fretless with nylgut minstrel strings (tuned down a fourth from standard pitch). I have a blog (https://fdleone.com/) where I post articles about a variety of music, most recently about music which is appropriate to Weenie Campbell.
I am preparing to launch a new site (https://highway80stories.com/) devoted to telling the history in song about the region where I grew up: Northwest Louisiana and the Highway 80 corridor which cuts across the South from Dallas to Macon, Ga. Reading about how this region was settled, from the 18th century, through the war years and into the early 20th century has been something I've enjoyed immensely. Of course, country blues and other vernacular music is a big part of that history.
I look forward to following more threads and will probably lurk for a while until I get the hang of the place. But I wanted to introduce myself and say hello.
F.D.
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Hello everybody,
I was having one of those age-related blackouts, trying to find some Scrapper Blackwell lyrics, when I very happily found this wonderful site!
My tag is "omar," but my given first name is Simeon - been listening to old New Orleans music lately & modified the name of great clarinetist Omer Simeon. But you can call me whatever you want, as long as you don't call me up late for supper.
I'm an exiled New Yorker living in France. I'm old enough. My family was musical & I found this music as a kid in the mid-late '60's via Dylan, Butterfield Blues Band, Fresh Cream, Lovin' Spoonful, Van Ronk,
Kweskin Jug Band etc, although I'd already heard Weavers, various Seegers & Leadbelly records and the Smithsonian Anthology now referred to by its compiler, the terrifying Harry Smith. My parents thought maybe "folk" music would deflect the malignant influence of the dreaded rock'n'roll. The Smith anthology fascinated me as it did and does most people - sounded like ghost music from beyond the veil. I know I'm not the only person to describe the impression made by that collection with that analogy, but it fits better than anything else.
After a very long hiatus, I play guitar, mandolin and couple of other instruments, all poor to middlin'. I'm lucky to still own an old Gibson L-00, probably 1933-35, and it still sounds beautiful and plays well. At various times when I was young, I've had a National & a few Stella's, Harmony's etc pass through my hands when they were still available in pawn shops and yard sales. Unfortunately, neither I nor my friends treated them very well (except for the National, which was already pretty banged up - at some point in its life somebody thought it a good idea to paint the body yellow and glue flowered wallpaper on the back!). I'm afraid I couldn't give you model numbers, and aside from hanging on to the gibson, I'm not really a guitar fetishist, although I admire and value the knowledge of people who are.
My musical tastes are pretty eclectic, but old blues and jazz have been lifelong loves. As I've gotten older, I've become much more interested in the history and social/cultural contexts of the music, although I'm no musicologist! Just a dilettante, as in someone who takes delight from something. Maybe it's also my last real link with the United States. When I was young I mostly wanted to learn songs and techniques.
Thank you to everybody who keeps this site going and contributes so much precious knowledge and enthusiasm . I hope I can contribute something at some point, but for now I'll probably just lurk around.
Cheers,
omar (Simeon)
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Welcome to WeenieCampbell, omar, and welcome to Hwy80, too!
All best,
Johnm
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Afraid I haven't been around for a while, but hope to frequent a little more. For those that don't know, I used to build mandolins and guitars. I have retired from retirement.
Can anyone steer me toward a section for Piedmont?
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Haans! There is no section specifically dedicated to Piedmont Blues, but if you go to the tag index in the menu line at the top of the page and click there, you will be taken to a page where you can access threads devoted to your favorite Piedmont artists, sorted alphabetically by first name.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks John!
Look forward to finding some good stuff...soon as I get the site figured out.
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Hi Everybody!
I learned about the forum through the John Miller and Michael Roach led Country Blues Intensive workshop at Centrum last month. What an inspiration that was, drinking from the fire hose and watching those guys play up close!
I've played blues guitar for decades if you count "Wild Thing" played with a pick. I've made a record with my Seattle based blues band "Willie & the Whips" I'm proud of but only started getting my thumb and fingers going a few years ago. Independence is a slow train coming! I've long been inspired by RL Burnside and that trance groove thing. I've been to the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic and the guitar workshop there in Holly Springs three times.
Having missed a flight connection in Houston due to a plugged up toilet in Memphis and suffering from the five hour layover blues I started looking for closer-in places to learn and found the Centrum programs. Ferries may break down I know but Port Townsend is a bit easier for me!
These last few weeks I've been clinging to the Michael Roach taught basic picking patterns I learned at the workshop. The last few days of going around on I IV V, I spontaneously started humming Frankie and Albert so... I'm gonna print me out the Joe Callicott version of the lyrics from Weeniepedia right now...
Thanks y'all for the great resource!
Will
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Will! It was good meeting you and working with you at the Intensive.
All best,
Johnm
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Hello one, Hello All,
I am Deke, Or otherwise known, That3FingeredGuitarist
I'm a UK born, unlucky young chap with congenital heart diesase (tetralogy of fallots) and hypoplasia. I had 2 pinky's amputated because of it and my hands are really bleedin' small... And my thumbs only have one joint!
Phew, now that the boring stuff is out the way, Let's get down to guitar!
I'm a huge fan of Delta blues, classic rock, folk/singer-songwriter songs, even though there are the occasional branches I'll stem out to, such as a few heavy metal songs (only really by slayer or avenged sevenfold, wherestill A7x aren't really HEAVY metal)
I play alot of Delta alongside straight up blues, that really gets me grooving (as best I can) from Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson (my favourite), Mississippi John Hurt, Tampa Red, Son House etc. B.B King is great aswell and many, many more.
I am far from the greatest in the world but I peaked interest from my Grandad of 81 who has been playing for nigh on 60 years, one of the best guitar players I know of. He even gave me my first electric, A gibson epiphone Dot.
He told me about some musicians with less than 5 fingers, I was dumfounded when I heard about other musicians with less than 'normal' amounts of fingers, Tony Iommi, Horace Parlan and of course, Django Reinhardt.
This kicked me into gear and really got me playing.
Glad and friggin' proud, to be apart of a guitar community and call myself a guitarist.
Here's one of my first public videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnQzJFAF60 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UnQzJFAF60)
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Welcome Deke! Thanks for the video too!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Thankyou! Glad to be here!
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Deke.
I really enjoyed your video. Your vocals are excellent--really emotionally expressive, as is your playing. Sometimes the roll of the genetic dice doesn't come up in our favor, but you are doing just fine. Keep playing--you have solid musical sense--and I'm sure your talents and musical sense will take you wherever you want to go.
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Welcome Deke! Way to go... to both you and your granddad, to not let congenital problems hold you back!
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Welcome Deke! Way to go... to both you and your granddad, to not let congenital problems hold you back!
<3 Thankyou! Means alot to me!
Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Deke.
I really enjoyed your video. Your vocals are excellent--really emotionally expressive, as is your playing. Sometimes the roll of the genetic dice doesn't come up in our favor, but you are doing just fine. Keep playing--you have solid musical sense--and I'm sure your talents and musical sense will take you wherever you want to go.
Wow!! Inspirational and complimentary, Thankyou!
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Nice to see somebody of a younger age here on the Weenie. Welcome, Deke.
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Nice to see somebody of a younger age here on the Weenie. Welcome, Deke.
Thankyou, Thankyou!
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Except for one post, I've been lurking for about a year. I was introduced to the blues through the folksong revival of the 1960s, which led me to Leadbelly and further to the blues singers that I found on the reissue labels. But my attraction to the blues was academic as well as aesthetic. At college, I was studying Anglo-Saxon poetry, which is one of many literary traditions around the world that uses formulaic language, and realized that the blues was also part of this tradition?for ?I woke up this morning? think Homer's ?rosy-fingered dawn.? To explore this aspect of the blues further, I enrolled in the Folklore Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where my teachers were, among others, Herbert Halpert, one of the major field collectors of the blues in the 1930s, and Neil Rosenberg, a leading scholar of bluegrass. My dissertation was on the blues formula, but my interests turned more towards Canadian folklore and archiving. But many years later, I became Head of the archive of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, where I was the ?blues expert? and brought into the archive several blues-related collections (an unknown Leadbelly recording, the Pete Welding collection, the Tom Hoskins-John Hurt collection, Robert Johnson test pressings, etc.). I retired about 6 years ago and moved to Ottawa, Canada. I was approached by a publisher to produce an anthology of blues lyrics, and in doing my research, I came across Weenie Campbell. The book fell through because of copyright and permissions issues, but it was a great pleasure to work, once again, on a blues project?and to discover Weenie Campbell. Michael Taft
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Welcome Michael! Thanks for de-lurking and sharing your fascinating blues history. Sorry to hear that your blues lyric anthology fell through... it would have given us weenies another source of lyrics to disagree with! But more seriously, I hope you find another blues project to work on... anything else in the works?
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Warm Weenie Welcome!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Nothing else in the works. I'm helping out with the Roud Index--the major online index for traditional songs--but there's almost no blues-related material on that site.
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I would like to add my welcome to Michael Taft. I've always been impressed by your very early realization that lyric phrases and words, cross-referenced, could reveal much of what was previously indiscernible.
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hi all
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russian bot, banned. Tons of them incoming but we're onto it.
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Hey all. My Name is Cub and I am from Connecticut USA. i Just found this website looking for Dixon Brothers lyrics. Cant believe I never found it sooner. I spent all my downtime at work today reading the forums. So glad a community like this exists for county blues lovers and so glad to be a part of it. Here are a couple songs I've recorded with my pinecone camera. the first is Henry Thomas's "Old County Stomp" and the second is Alan Wilson's "Sloppy Drunk"
https://youtu.be/y6aA27MzujY
https://youtu.be/vcv6DXiMSGM
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Welcome Cub! Thanks for posting. I enjoyed your tunes - good stuff!
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Yowza! Welcome to Weenie, Cub. I went to your YouTube collection and watched one vid: the Knoxville Rag duet with a fiddler. Nice!
Save your pennies and come out to the Left Coast for the Port Townsend workshop, you'll be surrounded by kindred spirits who love country blues and old-timey and ragtime ... the good stuff.
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Cub - I like it!
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Thank you Slack, Lindy, and Parlor Picker! Port Townsend sounds great. Maybe one year I will get to make it out there. Is there an East Coast equivalent? I went to the Harry Smith Frolic for my first time last year in Massachusetts. Met a lot of blues pickers and now impatiently waiting to go back this year.
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Hello all! I have been following the Weenie Campbell forum for several years after reading John Millers comments about it. I had played guitar since I was a kid, but stumbled across RGD and Blind Blake more recently and have been happily lost in pre WWII Blues ever since. I have read and studied a fair amount but nowhere have I discovered more than on this site. I have not noticed many weenies (none?) in the Dakotas, but maybe there are a few that haven?t posted yet. I am looking to get the word out about a weekend guitar event in SW Minnesota this fall, but do not want to violate any rules regarding advertisement. Can someone advise me whether or not it is acceptable to encourage members to check out an guitar event website on this site and if so, where? I am a novice at such things. In any event, thank you for all you do here to inform, entertain and inspire.
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Hi Scott,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell! It's perfectly fine to post about the workshop in Minnesota, and the board called Saturday Night Fish Fry is the place to do it. Feel free to give all of the pertinent information.
All best,
Johnm
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Thank you John! Saturday Night Fish Fry it is. Appreciate the help.
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Hello Everyone...Patrick Anthony in Las Vegas...I got here through a Leroy Carr song called Arlena...Got lyrics and chords...Thank You...I play keys and a number of his songs his songs at clubs and Blues jams in town...Great looking site.
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Welcome Patrick! Thanks for the compliment and glad you found us.
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Hello Everyone
I found this site researching resonator guitars. I've spent a good chunk of the morning reading the site then I decided I might as well join. I love folk, roots music and blues. Thanks for having me.
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Welcome Sarah! Glad you found and joined us!
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Hello, All!
I’m from Central Illinois, and I stumbled on this site a while back while doing a search on information concerning the lost Willie Brown sides, or any other great discoveries. They still do turn up, apparently! I’ve been an acoustic blues enthusiast, both as a guitar player and as a “armchair musicologist,” since high school, and that would be about 40 years. I think that was before anyone knew what Robert Johnson looked like! It’s amazing how much has been uncovered and learned in that time. I look forward to combing through the WC archives and catching all the latest.
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Welcome Spotnik! It looks like you've found your tribe. :P
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Welcome Spotnik. There was a rumor a while back that a missing Willie Brown Paramount (Grandma Blues/Sorry Blues) surfaced but I never heard anything about that lately.
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Hi Guys and Girls
I am Jono from sunny Kent in the UK
Been lurking for a bit ..thought it was high time i said hello
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Well, your second post was a good one! Welcome to the forum.
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Welcome Jono!
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This is a reintroduction. I was on this forum briefly a long time ago. I recently found an old list of passwords to some forums, including this one - it still worked. Long-time fan of old blues and jazz, and a guitar picker. Took several classes with John Miller at the 2019 Port Townsend Blues Week, and I also have several of John’s DVD lessons.
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I am Jono from sunny Kent in the UK
A belated welcome Jono. I'm just over the border in East Sussex and I know of at least one Weenie also in Kent.
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Welcome back Mark!
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Hi all, I’m David. 57 years old. Returning to guitar playing after thirty plus years off. Although I never was any good, some of the muscle memory returned pretty quickly. I’ve always loved country blues, coming at it via the usual suspects, Duane Allman, Dead, Hot Tuna, have come to really love the originals like Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, etc. I’ve recently decided to concentrate on fingerstyle blues in my own playing, am currently working on Shake That Thing as taught by Stefan Grossman and Spike Drivers Blues. I’m pleasantly surprised that I seem to have a good feel for Mississippi John Hurt’s style. Hoping to continue to learn and improve and have fun.
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Welcome David! You found a good resource! And it's never too late.
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Hello everybody! My name is Dave and I am new here. To be honest been reading this place for a while and finally decided to join. I love blues, it's been my passion since I was a child. I used to spend my summer school holidays at my grandfather's property in Sicily here (https://tranio.com/italy/sicily/) and there he had a huge collection of different blues music and we used to listen to it during all summer while I was there. He had a great taste and music I have to say.
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Welcome Dave!
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Hi Folks,
I’ve been here 16+ years so maybe it’s time to introduce myself. Like many of you, an encounter with the music of John Hurt and Lightning Hopkins, among others, led to a lifetime fascination with this music, and eventually attempting to play it. I got to meet a few of old timers back in the day. For quite a while, I collected blues, jazz, old-time and ethnic 78s, but those have all been passed along to other collectors.
A lifetime of work in the intermountain west has been winding down for a while, leaving more time to spend with the music here in our fortress of solitude in New Mexico. That includes attending PT, taking a couple of pilgrimages to the land where the blues began, and lessons with our very own musical guru John Miller.
This is great site with knowledgeable and generous contributors. Thanks to them and folks behind the curtain who make it work.
Stay safe and be well y’all.
Eric in New Mexico
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Hello Folks! Since this is my first post, I should introduce myself. My name is Joe and I'm a brand new member to this forum. I look forward to browse through the pages, find inspiration and meet new blues enthusiasts from near and far.
I'm a blues player, too. Feel free to check out some of my stuff:
Videos: https://bit.ly/3i9zWQV
Homepage: https://www.badtemperjoe.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badtemperjoe/
See you along the road!
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Hi Joe, saw some of your songs on Youtube.
Excellent. I particularly enjoyed "don't mess with a mule".
I'm sure you're gonna like it here.
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Hi Joe, saw some of your songs on Youtube.
Excellent. I particularly enjoyed "don't mess with a mule".
I'm sure you're gonna like it here.
Thank you, Harry. Glad you like it.
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Hello, I'm Bud. I was just checking this place out. I play, study, and am fascinated with country guitar Blues. The only real thing I'm looking for are others who share the same interests. :D
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, you've come to the right place!
Chris
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, you've come to the right place!
Chris
Thanks!
Cool deal!
Bud
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Welcome Bud!
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Hello everyone. I'm new here although over the years I've referenced weeniecampbell many times for lyrics, etc. I've been playing guitar for about fifty-five years, about the last forty-five or so almost exclusively country blues. I was lucky enough when I first got into the genre when I was a lot younger to be able to find, meet and learn from some of the original old-school blues-guys when they were still alive. Over the years I've gigged a bit, taught a bit and tabbed quite a few pre-war blues tunes for others, trying to "pass it on." Not as young as I used to be, but I still play out a little (until the Covid-thing), like open-mics, fund-raisers, etc.
Anyway, hello!
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Welcome Dadfad! Glad you joined us.
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Welcome!
Chris
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Hello!
New member here!I've been reading this forum long time as a guest and i've learned so much from all of you how are shared your knowledge here. Thanks to you all!
My name real name is Iiro and i live in Helsinki, Finland. I've been playing guitar about 3 years... I started to play bass guitar when i was 14 (i'm 47 now!) in year 1987. As a bass player i played many bands and many styles of music, from punk to funk and i even played some west-african music few years. About 15 years ago i tried to learn some guitar, at that time i was into Snooks Eaglin's New Orleans Street Singer album and then i found John Fahey's music. I bought Stefan Grossmann's "Music of Mississippi John Hurt"- book and tried to learn to fingerpick guitar, but it just didn't work. I learned to play John Fahey's "Some summer day", but that was about all...Soon after that i went to musical shop to buy my then 3 years old daughter a birthday precent. I bought her cheap ukulele and i was totally hooked by that little instrument myself! So next 10 or 12 years i played ukulele and mandolin and later steel guitar and tenor banjo. Three years ago started to learn to play guitar again and this time with better results. I hope!? :)
Here's the link for my playing (i'll ad more songs to this play list when i have time to record more...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR-UQelZVFM&list=PLlcJ-c678j-eJwWby0kyMrxEyYZBlBnR1
..and here's link for the playlist that precents my old stuff..if some of you are intrested...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlcJ-c678j-fAFUSVWW8wereMxfCQzRDo
Cheers, Igor
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, Igor!
All best,
Johnm
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Welcome Igor! Thanks for de-lurking!
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Hello from Northern Michigan! I've been a huge fan of early Country/Delta blues since I was a kid, glad to have joined.
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Hello from Northern Michigan! I've been a huge fan of early Country/Delta blues since I was a kid, glad to have joined.
Welcome!
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Hello from Northern Michigan! I've been a huge fan of early Country/Delta blues since I was a kid, glad to have joined.
Glad to have you with us.
Hope you'll stay active at this forum. Lately there have been some new members doing there introduction but subsequently vanish without a trace.
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Hi all,
I changed my username from "Harry" to "Blues Vintage".
When I signed up about 10 years ago (time flies) I just made up the quick and easy "Harry". It's not my real name, it was never my intention to deceive anyone.
I'm just sick of that name now.
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I visited this site for 10 years and only now found this introduction topic. I followed this forum for its wealth of information, mostly quietly because I don t have that much to contribute. My name is Rein, Dutch but currently living outside of Bergen, Norway. An interest in history guitars and where things came from (and a Stefan Grossman book from the Library )led me to attempt country blues guitar when I was 15. 30 years later my interest has widened and deepened ( I would now be more hesitant to even call this music country blues when so many of its great lived and worked in cities for example), but steel deeply in love with this music. At the moment I am very much into Tommy Johnson and his associates, and starting to explore the mandolin.
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Hi Everyone! I am not sure how I DIDN't find you 10 years ago!!!! I have long studied the blues and I learned from this group as soon as I found it!! I enjoy your shows and network! and I plan to learn many more country blues songs with yall's help :)
Eventually I will post up some of my music... but if your dying to hear it (like I know you are) look for Martin Hruz, Barrelhouse blues or Blues127 :)
Looks like I owe the Britts a second time around for keeping my country's music alive and well :P
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Welcome rein and Barrelhouseblues, great to have you on board. Please feel free to jump into the discussions on the site.
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Indeed, a warm welcome to rein and Barrelhouseblues - glad you found the Introductions topic!
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Welcome aboard, rein and Barrelhouseblues. We look forward to seeing more of you around these parts.
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Welcome, folks. This is a great place to learn and share this music.
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Hi all - long time lurker here. Played guitar all my life and yet feel like I know nothng. Discovered Rev. Gary Davis and others from a Stefan Grossman VHS tape at the local library 20+ years ago. Thanks to the pandemic I found myself playing and reading more about country blues. Love the forum - many thanks!
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Welcome rra... thank for de-lurking!
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I've been on the site occasionally for years, but never ran across this thread. So... being perilously close to the "older than dirt" category, I first encountered country blues at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969 (Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Joe Williams, Arthur Crudup). I can boast of two degrees of separation from Big Bill Broonzy--my best friend's father knew him when he was a cook at the Circle Pines camp and learned a couple of songs from him. My own style owes a lot to Big Bill, Lightnin', Brownie McGhee, and Blind Willie McTell.
I'm going to be at Centrum in August, so maybe I'll run into some of you there.
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Hey y'all,
I've been lurking a little bit for a couple of years. I find the conversation very interesting and have recently had some lyric/chord progression questions of my own, so I figured that I would register.
I grew up in the south - Alabama, for a short time, and then eastern Texas - and in particular, the story and enigmatic musical styling of Leadbelly fascinated me.
I started playing guitar at the very start of the pandemic in the U.S., with one of those wonderful $50 E-Bay special boxes - you know, the ones that make a 70s Stella seem like a Martin (or an Oscar-Schmidt Stella, if that's your jam!) in comparison. I moved up to a cheap mini-dreadnought, then to a Yamaha 12-string that I sold in hopes to buy a Harmony Stella h-922. That hasn't panned out yet, and for now I am sadly stuck with a tiny plywood Kay box that has the right vibe, but not exactly a "Leadbelly" sound.
I like Blind Willie McTell, but sadly my fingers are a bit too dumb for his treble-string trickery.
Still trying to figure out what's going on with BBQ Bob.
I hope I'm a valuable contributor to this constructive and interesting forum.
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Welcome to Weenie Campbell, ThatGuy.
For the "possible lyrics questions" you mentioned, be sure to spend some time looking through the list of lyrics on weeniepedia -- almost 3,400 songs! Wah!
The within-weenie search engine has some quirks, but between it and the tag system you should be able to find what you're looking for. I noticed that the link for "Ella Speed" in Weeniepedia takes you to the version by Wallace Chains; for the Mance Lipscomb version I had to use the tag index. For the Leadbelly version I surprisingly did not see any lyrics, but there's a wonderfully detailed article about the song here:
https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=3584.0
Revised to add: I see BluesVintage has already suggested this thread to you.
Lindy
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Hello all.
I have been lurking around here looking up many valuable resources on the site for a while now and thought it about time to introduce myself and hope in time I can repay the debt I owe.
I have been playing the guitar for many a year now but really only the last few years finally started to dedicate some serious time to it. I have always had a strong interest in blues music even when I was more of a heavy metal/rock listener in my youth, but now I seem to have found the missing link to the sound I always had in my head. My personal tastes are more of the hill country style.
Thanks again for all the info people have shared on here. It has been a big help, especially when trying to find out things of a sub genre of a sub genre.
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Welcome, hope you'll have fun here.
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Welcome BHTR!
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Hi guys!
Just made an account here after finding myself lurking for over three hours -- glad to be here!
I'm Jay, I'm 14, and I collect 78s.
I have a radio show on space101fm.org (101.1 on your FM dials in Seattle) 9pm pacific! It's also carried by Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/6PLnHIwaFBKbUojNasfbOe
I've been playing the guitar for seven years at this point - and also dabble on the banjolele, mandolin, banjo, washboard, & spoons.
Glad to finally be here!
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Welcome usha! Cool radio show!
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Welcome usha! There are several Weenie members in the greater Seattle and PNW area, myself included.
Dave
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14, collecting 78s, and a radio show. Very cool Jay!