Give Me Memphis Tennesee

 

DUKES FANS:        

"Long Distance Operator, Give me Memphis, Tennessee..."....                     Chuck Berry   

  A couple of times over the last two years I have written posts reflecting on my career as a Philadelphia area bluesman. I talked about my early days and my introduction to the blues, I reviewed the history of the Dukes of Destiny, and I talked about the slew of amazing folks and the Philadelphia  blues scene of the 1970’s, 80”s and 90’s which nurtured me. I simply love playing in and around this area, and I have made some good friends, musicians and otherwise, and been to some great places.    

     All of this came together beautifully over the past few months as Johnny Never and I have been preparing for our trip to Memphis next week to take part in the Internatinal Blues Challenge. The fundraiser concerts were both amazing events with a number of great musicians being willing to donate their time and energy, friends helping out with all of the background and infrastructure stuff, and tons of people coming to support us and/or making online deposits or writing checks. I am overwhelmed by the support and good wishes and want to send sincere gratitude to all of you who are helping to make this trip possible.   

Johnny will keep people updated on the trip. In Johnny’s words:   

“John and I will be posting daily on my website - writing about our experiences from barbeque to the Amazing Other Blues Acts and all the sights and sounds with photos and video to help tell our story.  John and I both love to write so it will be fun! The blog, for lack of a better word, will be under the "schedule" menu of johnnynever.com. This will be the place to go for personal and in depth view of the week's events!  Other info can be gleamed here:  https://blues.org/international-blues-challenge/ “ 

Thank you all so much for your support and your energy. It is great to be a Philly area blues musician!