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BIO
(cont'd.)
In 1984 I formed the band "Juke". The name comes
from Little Walter's only number one hit by the
same name.
We played a lot lot around Vancouver and
eventually, we became the band of choice to open
for "name acts" at what was then gem of the
Vancouver Concert scene, The Commodore
Ballroom.
So, during the 1980's I had the priveledge of
opening for: Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Willie
Dixon, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Norton
Buffalo, Hollywood Fats, Albert Collins, and
other living legends.
I also jammed a lot with some of Canada's
premier blues bands of the time, including
Downchild Blues Band, Whiskey Howl and The Powder
Blues Band.
The hottest nite club on the local scene in the
80's was called The Anchor and I used to practicly
live there. At the Anchor, I got to work and play
with: Sunnyland Slim, Jay McShann, Lowell Fulsom,
Joe Duskin and many other great bluesmen..
During the Expo 86 world expostion in Vancouver, I worked the entire duration of the fair with The John Cooper Blues Band.
During the 1990's, I continued to play, mostly on
weekends and to develop my improvisational style of
playing.
In 1990 I joined a band called "Party Pigs" for
a short time. We mainly played parties. Our theme
song was "Makin' Bacon'".
In 1993 I moved to Nelson, BC and lived there
for 2 years. The local blues bar in Nelson "the Civic Hotel" was
known as "The Zoo". I played with pretty much every
blues act that came through Nelson, including: Amos
Garrett, Harpdog Brown, Dr. Fun and The
Nightcrawlers, Johnny Vee and Don Johnson.
In 1995 I moved Back to the Vancouver area and
was playing a bit less, since I live about 100
miles from the city centre. I also put up the
Bluesharp Page on the net in 1995.
In the summer of 1999 I toured BC with Canada's
"Prime Minister of the Blues", Dutch Mason.
During the years 1999- 2005 I palyed with a band that hails from
Maple Ridge BC called "The Shakers". The Shakers
are very cool becuse they play at a reasonable
volume and do very few "White Boy" tunes. Their
repetoire includes Roots Rock, Blues and Swing.
Lately, I have been studying the roots of Rock'n
Roll a lot and peer-to peer file sharing has made it easy for me to
listen to my current fave artists like Wynonie
Harris, Louis Jordan and Bull Moose Jackson.
Update: In the Summer of 2003, I discovered an
internet radio station called "Mr.
Poboy New Orleans". By listening to this
station, I discovered many great artists I had
never heard before, like: James Booker, Wayne
Toups, Boozoo Chavis, Skip Easterling, Al "Carnval Time" Johnson, Danny Gatton and many, many others. I listen
to this station all the time now. For me it offers
the ultimate mix of Blues, Roots Rock, Zydeco, Cajun, and Jazz from
New Orleans. I urge you to give it a try.
In 2006, after Katrina, I went to live in New Orleans. I currently live there about half of every year. You can find me on Frenchman St. or at Cathedral Square...
In October 2009, I moved to New Orleans permanently. These days, I'm kind of a hired gun who plays with a lot of different acts here. Mostly tho, I am playing with John Lisi and his band Delta Funk.
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