"Colonel" Promoted to "General" ....Musical Fun
Colonel Bruce Hampton,(Ret.) sits and strums at the far left with his band Quark Alliance.
(COSR) Commanding Officer stage right.
That's Kris Dale plucking bass and Perry Osborne on guitar. Of course you recognize the drummer.
Bruce started back in 1963 and really is
"retired" but came back to show his roots are in the
Blues at the Sullivan Island Home Team BBQ.
He's no slouch at
Jam Band either as they proved recently on a wild Tuesday night on the island.
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(If the drummer's face reminds you of Derek Trucks, it's because he's Derek's younger brother Duane.)
It's the last night of the 20th annual
BLUES BASH and a fitting finale.
The Ben Sawyer bridge was closed for replacement but many fans drove that long way around to listen to the Colonel.
You might say the troops had assembled and were massed in formation.
"'Ten-Shun!"Labels: Col Bruce Hampton, Duane Trucks, Kris Dale, Perry Osborne, Quark Alliance
Red Sky at Night Means Pizza ... Right ?
That headline is not exactly what sailors say but the sky WAS tinted red the night of our recent
Snow Storm.
Reddish at 2:00 in the morning.
Actually I was just getting home after an evening of live music at the Pour House and had my new
"low-light" camera with me.
My neighbor's yard across the street caught my eye and the camera caught the image nicely.
Unfortunately, the line of palm trees in my front yard were droopy.
Snow is quite heavy and we had a really wet snow fall.
The real surprise that evening, er, I mean, that morning was in my back yard.
The 40-foot cedar had boughs hanging low and several oaks came close to challenging power lines. These trees were scheduled for a severe trim later that morning.
I thought the tree service people would wait until the snow melted. I was right.
They came at noon instead of 9am.
(For some amazing nighttime details, click on the photos. My Canon S90 did good.)
Labels: 40-foot cedar tree, Charleston Snow, ice sculptures, pizza pie, red sky, snowy boughs, stately oaks
Woodman...Spare That Tree. Well, OK, trim it.
20 years ago Hurricane Hugo clipped the top of this cedar.
It grew
out instead of
up and pointy.
It grew more on the side close to the house and this is not a good thing.
Mother Nature really needed a trim.
A small army of guys showed up to tend to the cedar tree as well as my two oaks with thick limbs that were not being good neighbors.
Oh, and they brought along a huge "chipper" that chomps branches and limbs up to 10" thick.
Among the branches, several birds had taken refuge from the previous night's surprise snowfall.
The sound of many chain saws starting up signaled it was a good time to find another resting spot.
At one point there were "cutters" wearing safety harness in each tree with chain saws buzzing and sawdust flying.
Men on the ground under each tree handled ropes that gently lowered large cut limbs to the ground where they were dragged to the maw of the giant chipper.
Ever see the movie
FARGO?
The stately oaks were cut back so they did not hang down in yards next door.
Or brush against my house or scrape shingles on the roof.
Everywhere you looked, there was activity.
Limbs being cut, branches being trimmed.
A man with a big leaf blower appeared to clean up loose debris.
It was all over in one hour.
(If you click on the photos, you'll see more detail. Thank you.)
Labels: cedar tree, chain saws, Chipper, Fargo, maw, safety harness, sawdust, stately oaks, the movie, tree-trimmers
New In Town....Welcome!
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Blues star
Shemekia Copeland enjoyed her first visit to Charleston.
"I didn't get to tour around but I'll be back. You're a great audience in a great city." She belted out the Blues - including her hits
"Never Going Back To Memphis" and
"Who Stole My Radio?" - Saturday during the 1st annual
Blues Festival onstage at the Charleston Music Hall.
Miss Copeland headlined a show of headliners including guitarist/singer Zac Harmon, Billy Gibson, harmonicia extraordinaire and Dan Wright & The New Beat.
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The evening was presented by newcomer resident/concert promoter/Blues lover
Steve Simon.
Steve gave a special salute to veteran local Bluesman
Shrimp City Slim (aka Gary Erwin) who is in the midst of his successful 20th annual February Blues Bash.
Nice moment new guy.
Steve also announced his plan is to create a 2-day outdoor event later this year "when it's warmer."
The snowy night before,
Jimbo Mathus came to town with his 4-piece backing band for a rollicking night at the Pour House.
That would be one
PBR for the leader and 5 shots worth of great music and dancing.
Well, a PBR
and a shot for the leader of the band.
(You know the drill..click on the photo for details. Thanks for visiting.)
Labels: Billy Gibson, Dan Wright and The New Beat, Jimbo Mathus, PBR, Shemekia Copeland, Steve Simon, Zac Harmon
Low Light Delight...
Big Bill Morganfield comes over from Atlanta about once a year to play the Blues for his many fans.
He was at Home Team on Highway 61 for the
20th annual Blues Bash.
My new camera encourages me to shoot in dim settings without using a flash so I had a good opportunity under stage lighting.
Big Bill, son of the legendary
Muddy Waters, channeled his Dad on a few songs. Obviously he has that sound in his genes.
The place was packed and the music was strong.
My Canon S90 also lets me do some "editing" in the camera so I shot a few in black & white.
I think using the theatrical light is better than popping a harsh flash.
Muddy's son sounded great either way.
Labels: Big Bill Morganfield, Canon S90, Muddy Waters' son, stage lighting
Happy BLUES....
Huh? What?
What's a Coke can got to do with the Blues?
Or being happy?
It's all part of "context."
Tab Benoit was playing Cajun Blues at the Pour House Friday night.
He paused in his show to "mention" the team he was rooting for in the Super Bowl.
So, he's a happy man after the Sunday game and can still play the Blues.
See...it makes sense.
Just as he did when he appeared here about 6 months ago, Mr.
"Benwah" dazzled the crowd with his straight ahead music.
Very professional but also very personable.
He shared a lot of his Louisiana Bayou thoughts with the joyful crowd that danced and clapped its approval.
Not a frown in the place.
Wonder if he got home for the game?
I sure hope so.
Labels: Bayou, Cajun, Coke can, Super Bowl, Tab Benoit, The Saints no longer The "Aints"
A Bicycle Built For Two
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That's my Dad on the right. Waiting his turn.
His older brother Eddie has control of the bicycle.
Bike expert Dave Moulton sent me a catalog so I think that may be a 1918
Columbia Superb. Apparently they have to share it.
Wearing short pants means never getting cloth stuck in the chain and I seldom saw my Dad wear a tie. Guess he stopped early.
When I was about 9, my older brother and I received beautiful - yep, you guessed it -
Columbia bicycles for Christmas. They came with all the bells and whistles. Literally.
The 1948 models had a headlight (battery) and a red tail light (battery) built into the luggage rack and a horn button(battery) and lots and lots of chrome.
Within a few days we had modified them to look like all the other bikes our friends rode.
Both fenders were gone. We removed the horn. We no longer had the luggage rack/tail light. We kept the headlight.
Dad never said a word.
He never was able to control bikes. Or tie a tie.
Labels: 1913, 1918 Superb, Columbia bicycle, Eddie, luggage rack, necktie, neighborhood boys, red tail light, short pants
Colonel Bruce Hampton,(Ret.) sits and strums at the far left with his band Quark Alliance. 
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