at JJ's Bohemia in their home town of Chattanooga TN. I think this show was recorded for a potential live album release, but never came together.
Set I
Fever In My Blood Take A Ride With Me Poor Brown Sugar All To Hell White Bitch Sinnerman Might Be Right Stitched In Sin Leave It In The Road Down Down Down Hard Times
I learned quickly that the travel plans for the Black Diamond Heavies meant leaving to drive to the next gig was at the last possible minute. They left no room for error. Hit the road and show up at load in and sound check. This isn't how I typically travel. I'm cautious. I leave time for traffic, sightseeing, unplanned stops, etc. But when you want to caravan with the band, you follow their lead.
This day, it first meant tracking down one of the band who found a place to stay with a local. The local happened to be a dancer, and we met up with them at her place of work. We spent the afternoon until we just had time to make the drive to Atlanta.
Here's Chris Crofton at the Star Bar in Atlanta GA
Someday Baby Green Onions/Cold River banter - if you own a white pathfinder I Can't Be satisfied Shake 'Em On Down You Gotta Move Around The Bend Blood Sweat and Murder 18 Wheeler Fever Been Down Too Long Graveyard Shift banter - my alcoholism is acting up again banter - Leadbelly story Go Down Ol' Hannah Whoa Back Buck/Black Betty Raisin' Hell Again Am I Evil Muleskinner Blues banter - we hate you Plow You Under banter - I'm glad everybody left Ain't It A Shame banter - I ain't sold one thing all goddamn night Hard Times Church Babies
Fever In My Blood Take A Ride With Me Poor Brown Sugar banter Sinnerman All To Hell White Bitch Might Be Right banter Leave It In The Road banter Traditional Blues Song* with Chris Crofton Down Down Down
I left Nashville and had a day before the Biram/Heavies show in Birmingham AL, so I drove to Jackson TN to visit another musician Elam Mcknight. We got beer and bbq and hung out at his grandfather's house and talked music. For some reason, Elam had an amp of Steve Greer's and I picked it up and returned in to Steve the next week as I came through Nashville again.
I can't remember the route from Jackson to Birmingham, but I'm guessing it was back roads. The club in Birmingham had a RV/greenroom next to it. This was the start of a really fun tour with Biram and the Heavies. Also, the first time I got to meet Chris Crofton. Chris will be touring with Deer Tick soon. Really looking forward to their Minneapolis show.
Mark had left the Black Diamond Heavies a year earlier. He was living in Nashville and busking on Broadway. He had a couple gigs booked in at the Family Wash on Feb 4th and Feb 11th. I timed my trip to attend both these shows. This was the first time I saw him play solo.
Set I
Coal Black Mattie Delia's Gone That's All I Know About Love In My Time Of Dying Me And The Devil Blues Special Rider Blues My Black Name Going To Brownsville
In December of 2006, I completed my obligations with a business I sold and I entered 2007 unemployed. Also betrayed and cheated by friends and family, I turned to music for comfort. The next twenty something recordings are from this tour. I don't remember the reason for changing the Feb 10th stop from Louisville to Raleigh, but the trip began and ended with Nashville on Feb 4th and 11th.
I planned a road trip for early February. It started with driving down to Nashville to visit a friend having a house party. Steve Greer has documented more live music than anyone I know. Someday this collection needs to come to light.
Here's the flyer for his preSuperbowl party, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Superbowl.
At the Minnesota Music Cafe in St Paul MN. A fundraiser for the Road To Memphis for the IBC.
This is my last recording for 2006. I finished my commitment that year to help my brother with his Chicago bonding office. I entered 2007 being unemployed. 2006 was a great year for seeing music and trading audience recordings. The neighborhood block party with Scott H. Biram and the Black Diamond Heavies was a lot of fun for me and eventually inspired an even larger project for 2007.
At the Minnesota Music Cafe in St Paul MN. A fundraiser for the Road to Memphis for the IBC.
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Set I
Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave Tip On In, Part 1 I Ain't No Doctor Can't You See I'm In Love With You? Ninety Nine I Smell Trouble Yes, She Sends Me
Thickfreakness Girl Is On My Mind Just Got To Be The Breaks Stack Shot Billy Busted You're The One Elevator Set You Free Your Touch Strange Desire The Flame 10AM Automatic No Trust Have Love Will Travel
01 intro 02 Set Me Free 03 Rollin' And Tumblin 04 ? 05 Stack Shot Billy 06 Heart And Soul 07 ? 08 Shake 'Em On Down 09 KFD 10 banter 11 Amerika 12 Big Mama 13 Left Lanetallica 14 ? 15 Heart And Soul 16 Cheyenne 17 ? 18 All Night Long, Nobody But You, Everywhere I Go 19 Goin' Down South 20 ? 21 Skinny Woman 22 That Ass 23 Truck Song 24 outro
Harold Tremblay supported the Deep Blues Fest even before there was a Deep Blues Fest. When I brought LLC to the twin cities in late 2006, he gladly had them on his KFAI radio show.
Set I
off air Harold on air interview KFD interview Big Mama interview Set Me Free interview Wash It interview off air
I arranged for Left Lane Cruiser to have a show at Dick's Bar in Hudson WI.
I recorded with two cameras plus a separate audio recording.
set 1 01 intro 02 KFD 03 Riverwalk 04 Wash It 05 Rollin' And Tumblin' 06 ManHunt 07 Cheyenne 08 She Don't Come 09 Boogie Chillin' 10 Skinny Woman 11 Set Me Free 12 ameriKa 13 Big Mama
set 2 01 intro 02 Shake 'Em On Down 03 Busket 04 Stack Shot Billy 05 Nobody But You > Everywhere I Go 06 Heart & Soul 07 Left Lanetallica 08 Goin' Down South 09 Traveling Riverside 10 Overdrive 11 Slingshot 12 That Ass 13 Miss Maybelle 14 Truck Song
At the Majestic Theatre in Madison WI. I met up with Brenn and Joe of Left Lane Cruiser and bought them tickets to see this show.
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Set I
Thickfreakness Girl Is On My Mind Just Got To Be The Breaks Stack Shot Billy Busted You're The One Elevator Set You Free Your Touch Strange Desire The Flame 10AM Automatic No Trust Have Love Will Travel
encore
Grown So Ugly
Til I Get My Way
1928 Rooster banter Reverend Eviction's Blues Ode To A New Dealer Old Rub Alcohol Blues Public Record Rag Annie Melton Birdman The Country Blues Possessed By The Devil Samuel Grady banter 1922 Dead Cat On The Line West Bank Rag Jesus At The Kenmore Cheap Wine One Eyed Jack Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me introduce Cowboy Dave (joins on washboard) I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground banter Worried Blues banter Mule Rider Sampson and Delilah banter V8 Ford Blues pt. 2 applause to encore Original Stack O'Lee Blues
At the Turf Club in St Paul MN opening for Charlie Parr
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Set I
Hey Good Lookin' Hello Stranger Brave New World Shallow Grave Wildwood Flower ? Lizabeth Brown My Poor Son I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry ? Jackson I Want To Be A Cowboys Sweetheart In The Pines ? White Horse ? ? If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day I'll Fly Away
I was able to see Drakkar Sauna and Split Lip Rayfield at First Ave and then get to the 400 Bar in time to record the Heartless Bastards.
Set I
Done Got Old New Resolution Brazen All This Time Valley of Debris Blue Day Came A Long Way Into The Open The Will Song My Maker Searching For The Ghost Swamp Song
The internet sometimes helps me find these names, but I couldn't come up with a thing. Someone opened for Chooglin' and the Buffalo Killers at the Turf Club.
They did say their name after the last song, but all I can make out is "Boot Loops"? Maybe when I listen to the Chooglin' and BK recordings, they'll name them and I can edit this.
This is a terrible recording. At least, it took a huge amount of editing to get it this far along. I had gone from a sony minidisc to a nomad jukebox3 recorder. The njb3 lasted about two years. I recall using an optical input and started creating a lot of noise and little gaps. Anyway, this was the 2nd to last time using that set up before switching to a microtrack recorder.
At the Triple Rock Social Club opening up for Lucero. Pretty sure I only went to this show to see William Elliott Whitmore. I only have three songs from Rocky and didn't record Lucero, so I'm guessing I left early.
Scott H. Biram playing at the River Roots Festival in Davenport IA. It rained for a good part of the show. The sound guy really kept moving the levels around.
"alright. let's get this thing over with"
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Set I
Green Onions/Cold River Graveyard Shift Blues In The Bottle Goin' Home 18 Wheeler Fever Downtown Chicken Been Down Too Long Muleskinner Blues I Can't Be Satisfied Shake 'Em On Down Blood Sweat and Murder Truckdriver I See The Light / What's His Name? Throw A Boogie / Black Betty Ain't It A Shame Church Babies
A friend gave me a sampler cdr that included a few songs from Left Lane Cruiser from Fort Wayne IN. He had pulled the mp3s from their myspace page.
I enjoyed their music so much, I decided to make a road trip down there to see them live.
I have both audio and video recordings. The video from the first set has become corrupted. Video recorders were evolving back then, and no one knew how long the media would last. The equipment would only work for a year or two. I sent a few cameras back for warranty repair, but they never lasted. I tried to burn a dvd right away of all recordings, so I'd have a backup. Maybe I can find that first set video dvd. Here's the audio
Set I
Riverwalk Big Mama KFD Rollin & Tumblin All Night Long Washboard Heart & Soul Skinny Woman Goin' Down South Shake 'Em On Down
Here's the 2nd set. The first six minutes or so aren't much more than set up. I do hold up the setlist to the camera. You might want to skip up to the performance.
Set II
Set Me Free Cheyenne What He Ain't Got She Don't Come Heavy Truck Song Amerika Stack Shot Billy Travelling Riverside That Ass Let My Baby Ride untitled new material jam
I got to the picnic early on Saturday afternoon. I didn't want to miss a thing. The Turner family, neighbors, music fans, were already arriving. Someone was playing an acoustic guitar and I recorded a bit.
This last set I recorded Friday night was really a "jam" with all sorts of musicians going on and off the stage. I decided to name it for Calvin Jackson because I'm pretty sure he played through all of this. The first song is with Blue Mother Tupelo. Sherena Boyce, Lightnin' Malcolm. R.L. Boyce. and others performed too.
I've been thinking back on this weekend and now I'm pretty sure these first recordings were Friday night Aug 25th. I came back on Saturday and recorded the whole day and shot a little video too. I did not come back for Sunday.
This set is the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band late in the evening.
This was the first time I went to the Otha Turner Family Picnic in Gravel Springs MS. My notes aren't too clear, and there's not a lot of internet info available about the event. I'm not exactly sure if it was Fri/Sat Aug 25/26 or Sat/Sun Aug 26/27.
I shot a little video (about a half hour over the two days), but I do have audio recordings of most of the weekend.
In My Time Of Dying Fo' Tell My Why Legend Of John Henry Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning Caney Valley Blues Death Letter Date With The Devil Meet Me In The City Preachin' Blues
At the 400 Bar in Mpls MN. Gleam and Heavies opened.
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Set I
Get Me Religion Graveyard Shift Plow You Under Selling Wine In Arizona Green Onions > Cold River 18 Wheeler Fever You Don't Know My Mind Raisin' Hell Again Been Down Too Long Blood Sweat & Murder Hit The Road Going Home I Can't Be Satisfied > Shake 'Em On Down You Gotta Move unknown instrumental If You Love Somebody Enough Whiskey Long Fingernail Lost Case Of Being Found I See The Light > What's His Name? Church Babies
Neighborhood block party. Scott named this the very first Deep Blues Fest. The last couple songs are cut from this video.
Set I
soundcheck Blues In The Bottle Green Onions/Cold River 18 Wheeler Fever Have You Ever Loved A Woman Single Girl Been Down Too Long I Can't Be Satisfied/Shake 'Em On Down You Gotta Move unknown instrumental Boogie Chillen/Backdoor Medley White House Blues Sante Fe Plow You Under Ain't It A Shame You Must Have That True Religion Dust My Broom I See The Light/What's His Name? Ella Speed Spoonful Pastures Of Plenty Selling Wine In Arizona
Scott Biram and the Heavies were touring through the twin cities and had a day off. I decided to host a block party and have them play for our neighborhood.
The Heavies were now a two piece. I remember Van taking the phone call from Alive Records that afternoon that they were getting signed.
It was quite a day.
Set I
Take A Ride With Me Poor Brown Sugar My Daddy Said Signs Followin' Me Stitched In Sin Leave It In The Road No Easy Money Furor In My Blood All To Hell Down Down Down
At the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic in Potts Camp MS
Set I
? I Should Have Quit You ? ? You're So Mean To Me ? Dust My Broom Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out Turn Back The Hands Of Time ? Things Ain't Goin' My Way ? Snake Drive Crazy About You Have Mercy On Me ?
At the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. Dan Auerbach joins in for the last couple jams. I've got some video of that plus the entire set with audio.
