2008 has been a very busy year! Between January and March, we had seven weeks of company, including both our moms, Liz’s niece Alicia and her husband Elijah, as well as Liz’s sister Mary, all from Ohio. Our son Andrew had two surgeries in January and April, and is recovering at home in Virginia.
In December 2007, we traveled down to Bradenton to hear our old friend STEADY ROLLIN’ BOB MARGOLIN at Aces Lounge. What a great show of deep blues, and Bob had us sit in with the band for a few tunes. Bob’s new CD, IN NORTH CAROLINA, is phenomenal.
Also in December, we were sorry to hear that songwriter BOBBY HICKS died. We also lost pianist TRACY PURCELL, the “Saltwater Bluesman” in May. These two contributed greatly to the Florida music scene, and we miss them.
Liz and I were featured along with JAMES PETERSON in Issue #64 of Britain’s JUKE BLUES magazine. The story and photo were submitted by Belgian writer ANDRE HOBUS.
Speaking of print, two books we recommend are MAKING RECORDS by Phil Ramone, and THE PIANO SHOP ON THE LEFT BANK by Thad Carhart; if you love Paris and/or pianos, this is a fascinating read.
The state of West Virginia has declared August 30th as DIAMOND TEETH MARY DAY! We’ll be part of the festivities in Huntington, WV. Mary would be so proud!
After weeks of rehearsal and planning, we laid down basic tracks for our next album on April 1st and 2nd at PROGRESSIVE MUSIC studio in Tampa. We recorded a few more tracks and mixed there in May. After a photoshoot on May 26th, the artwork and graphics are now in progress. With a release set for late July, our summer tour gigs will be all CD Release parties. It’s been a tremendous amount of work, details & decisions, but now that it’s almost done, we’re getting very excited for all of you to hear it.
A lifelong dream came true on April 25th when we opened for LEON RUSSELL at Bourbon Street Night Club in New Port Richey, Florida. Liz has loved Leon since her uncle Ron Clark turned her on to him at the age of fourteen. He became a major piano influence and inspiration. After first seeing Leon live in 1973, Liz has been to many Leon concerts since, but this was the first time to appear on the same bill- what a thrill! Leon sounded as amazing as ever & had a fine band with him. Leon also said a few words to Liz backstage after the show, which hasn’t happened since we met him briefly after a show in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1988. Visit Leon Russell’s website (on our LINKS page) to order his albums and learn more about this legend’s incredible career.
The rain on June 18th, 1983 must have indeed been good luck, as next week Liz & I will celebrate our 25th Anniversary! We hope that you will share our joy at our June gigs, as we love you all and consider you part of our family. Thanks for being there and sharing our musical ventures!
