My First European Blues Tour – We all have to start somewhere…

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:12:10 +0000

When I rolled the movie screen of my life before my eyes, I always pictured myself standing as the leader of blues band on a European tour. You know…a striking figure on stage in silhouette—with a guitar—the wind blowing my scarf and hair. Big dreams! But a full year before Dr Blu was formed I had a chance to do this (without the silhouette and wind). You see, I wanted to form a family band…to have my three Gen Y kids and my wife back me with drums, bass, & vocals. Just once in my life, I wanted to play live on stage with my whole family. I also have to say that deep down I had a desperate need to know that the fourteen thousand, three hundred and ninety five dollars spent in music lessons was worth it. How the family got to “performance level”, how we joined with another family Celtic band and how my German friend Lawrence cobbled together a fourteen day Europe tour is a whole other story… but let me skip to our starting concert Over Seas.

We arrive in Germany for our first gig in a small town just outside of Nuremburg. Believe it or not, we are the opening act for a “Three Day October-Fest Spectacular Outdoor Concert.” My little family band is buzzed. With hundreds of people watching, we played a solid set and the mayor of this town, acting as MC, was suitably impressed. With his German accent and cigarette waving he says:

“Thank you so much Dr Blu—let’s give a big hand for Canada’s Eric Clapton. I love the way you play…now, schnell! Hurry! Off with your equipment. You must move. Now bring out the tumbling mats”.

So we grabbed our amps from the stage, moved to the side and watched with surprise as little girls filed past us in pretty pink gym attire. That’s when it dawned on me in a “Spinal Tap” moment…Dr Blu was the warm-up act for the grade three tumbling teddy bears. Well—we all have to start somewhere.

“Back 2 Blues” with Billy Christopher

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:04:04 +0000

We were playing the “Back 2 Blues” Festival in Chilliwack BC on July 2006. Good friend and seasoned professional sax player, Billy Christopher, had flown in from Phoenix to add to our trio and we sounded sweet during a quick rehearsal. Now, earlier in the day our drummer had shyly asked Blues harp master and festival headliner Darrell Mansfield to join us on stage for a song…if he wanted.

To my surprise he agreed and, good to his word, that night as the opening riff of “Haunted” kicked in, he casually walked on stage and stood close to me. He seemed comfortable as he added a few riffs here and there but was content to let Billy take the spot light on sax. Then it happened…that magical and oh so rare moment when time seems to stop. Darrell Mansfield slowly walked downstage, put his foot on the monitor and started to wail on his harp—a breathy, urgent calling. The band responded to his energy and then … he slowly turned and challenged me with that “let’s dance” look.

He threw a smoking harp riff at me. Well I answered his question with a lick of my own. He changed the musical invitation by taking his next riff higher. And so it went, the audience forgotten, as we sonically fenced for hours……..Ok, it probably lasted two minutes tops, but I remember that extended moment–the elation, the sheer joy of playing with abandon, of offering something far greater to the audience than I had supposed.

I’m sure Darrell doesn’t remember that night or even the name of our band. But he gave me, gave us, a gift when he choose to share his talent in such a generous way. So, I keep my eyes open for new players, guitarists who might need a sweet lick, an inverted blues chord, advice on buying a solid guitar….or just a word of encouragement.