Western MD Blues Fest is Comming!

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Dylan's Children's: Book Forever Young

This clip from Bob Dylan was a great find surfing YouTube.

Checkout Bob Dylan's Children's book     Forever Young

Remembering John Cephas

Legendary bluesman John “Bowling Green” Cephas dies at 78

“More than anything else, I would like to see a revival of country blues by more young people … more people going to concerts, learning to play the music,” Cephas once said. “That’s why I stay in the field of traditional music. I don’t want it to die.”

I met John Cephas in the early 90’s at Oliver’s Pub in Hagerstown. A genuinely friendly man, he spoke of how much he enjoyed playing in Hagerstown.

From his agent, Piedmont Talent’s Steve Hecht

A descendent of slaves, Cephas was born in Washington, D.C. in 1930, and acquired his “Bowling Green” moniker from his childhood days in Bowling Green, Virginia. Cephas discovered gospel as a child, but soon learned the blues from a guitar-playing aunt while his grandfather taught him about eastern Virginia folklore.

I have put together a little playlist of John Cephas clips on YouTube. The clips show him solo and as part of Cephas & Wiggins with long time partner Phil Wiggins on harmonica. The clips show him doing what he did best, playing and teaching. Spend a few minutes and check them out. Or if you are too busy just minimize this window and enjoy the music of John Cephas for a few minutes.

Fellow Hagerstownian Grudnik captured a nice shot of John Cephas at the Western Maryland Blues Fest in 2005. See it on his Flickr photostream.

Note that links in this post open in a single new window.

Kid Ric's Last Picks

I didn't know Kid Ric well. I met him at Merlin’s Tavern a few times over beers. Ric introduced me to Blogger there. We talked about music and old friends.

Robert Johnson "...was among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians.... ...Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Jack White and Eric Clapton…”

Add Kid Ric to that list.

Robert Johnson’s Graves , the final post on Kid Ric's Blog appeared on July 6th, 2007. I have reproduced it below.

A small tribute to The great Robert Johnson.
Not just another Taurus genius.

YouTube - Robert Johnson's Graves

Peace, love and light,
Ric

The YouTube video(which opens in a new window)and its background music are hauntingly prophetic yet eerily appropriate and it certainly feels like Ric was indeed saying goodbye.

But less than an hour after posting, Ric added Purple is the color by Milow to his internet radio stream at Kid Ric’s Picks and had this to say:

“This one is a mover. Drums are hot. Love the vocals and the interesting way they play off each other. Great instrumentation. Nice mix. Way to go Milow!”

The song, full of life and energy is quite different from the video. Both are fitting for the Kid Ric that I met.

Ric continued adding songs to his radio stream through early September. By the end of the month he was off to California. He never made it back.

On Nov 25th, 2007 this comment appeared on Kid Ric’s Blog:

It's with great regret that I must tell everyone that Kid Ric (Ric Grove) of Hagerstown, MD did pass away from his short battle with cancer on 11/14/07. He went to California on September 26th to try some alternative treatment, but unfortunately never returned. He was a very good friend of ours and will be missed. Ric & I knew each other for over thirty years, played music together in several projects. Ric was a very talented individual as an artist and a musician, and also a very good hearted guy. He also did web design on the side and won many awards for his web designs. Recently he designed and built my band's web site http://www.thephatkatz.com/, as well as taught me how to maintain it. I'm very sorry to give all of you the bad news, but I think Ric would've wanted you to know what happened to him. He often spoke of his good friends on the blogs.

-Tom Taylor

Fair well my friend. Good tunes! Your music lives on.



Clicking on my self portrait on the left will play Kid Ric's Internet Radio Stream in a new window.




While we are reminiscing, remember also friends Alan Reischer and Nelson Carpenter.

It was Alan who introduced me to Tom Robbin's novels while listening to The Bama on WPFW on Saturday mornings. He is missed (and so is The Bama). Shepherdstown and the Meklenburg Inn are not the same without him.




Nelson, I hardly knew you. It looks like you were fading away even in this picture from 1972.









Stop by Merlin's and lift a pint to Ric, Alan or Nelson. Cheers my friends.

Western Maryland Blues Fest, 2008

Hagerstown, MD
May 29 through June 1 2008

I have started to post some pictures from the 2008 Western Maryland Blues Fest into a photoset on my Flickr photo sharing site. Check them out.


Bettye Lavette Band

Note: Clicking on the photos will take you to its page in my photoset where you can se or download the full size image or view more bluesfest photos.


Bettye Lavette


Charlie Musselwhite


Charlie Musselwhite Band


Buckwheat Zydeco


Buckwheat Zydeco


Norma Jean Bruso


Guitar Shorty

You can see the full photoset here