I was notified today that we've been placed on the Official Ballot for the 2010 Grammy Awards by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in four categories (see below). It's an honor to be placed on the ballot and we need your help to get into the Final Top 5 Nominees.

If you are a voting member of the Grammys, I ask for your consideration in voting for me. If you know someone who is a voting member of the Grammys, please forward the following information along and please ask for their vote.

THIS IS IMPORTANT:
The Grammy ballots will arrive to all voting members this week and must be received by the Academy by October 9, so please pass the word on to people you know as soon as possible.  As you can see, we have NO time.  Many ballots have already been sent in.  It's one hell of a long shot, but stranger things have happened...

Please note : The category has an Official Three-digit Ballot Entry Number that Grammy members will need to vote for me.  It's #018, category 66. 

Thanks so much for all your help.

_________________________________________________

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has placed The Hitman Blues Band on the Official Ballot for the 2009 Grammy Awards in the following categories:

Category 66 - Best Traditional Blues Album The Hitman Blues Band - Pale Rider Award goes to Artist : The Hitman Blues Band Ballot Entry # 018


We're also in Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, and Song Of The Year, but the one we want to really try for is Category 66 - Best Traditional Blues Album!  Please go to our web site (http://www.hitmanbluesband.com) to hear 90 second clips of the songs!

If you're a voting member, please contact me (hitman@hitmanbluesband.com) if you'd like to get full versions of the songs.  Thanks!

We're sitting in a hotel in Washington D.C., because our flight was cancelled due to weather.  We should be able to catch a flight back to La Guardia at noon, but that was the earliest one we could get. 

The return flight from Amsterdam had a five hour stopover in D.C.(which is why we're here), so we actually had to fly over New York to get here.  We were thinking about asking the pilot if he could just drop us off...

It was a great tour, and we played to a lot of new people.  Gregorio, Guzz, and Rich did a great job onstage, and really made a huge impression.  Rich went above and beyond expectations by driving pretty much everywhere, and handling the arrangements.  Cat, of course, was the one who got everything going and was on hand to make sure things went as planned.

I also need to make a big point: the Austrian part of the tour was sponsored by Damon Douglas of All-Over Entertainment (All Over Entertainment)
Damon is a true professional, who not only worked successfully under (sometimes) trying conditions, but also showed flexibility and good will throughout the tour.  I highly recommend him to any band that might be touring and needs a sound system.  He can be reached at damon@all-over.org. 

Joanne was extremely helpful in taking care of merchandising and many duties usually associated with a road manager.  This was not an easy tour, and the lines from Queen's "We Are The Champions" ring especially true - "it's been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise". 

But, we look forward to returning, hopefully in early 2009, and playing many more places and meeting more people (and drinking more beer) in the beautiful countries we've been lucky to see.  Now, back to sweet home New York (fuhgeddabowdit).

We're on the high speed train back to Amsterdam.  Rich, Guzz and Gregorio are taking the truck while Damon, Joanne and I take the train, which is supposed to be the fastest in the world.  This way, they can stretch out and ride in comfort, while we see the countryside!

When we woke up in Regau, the weather was pretty nice.  By the time we left for Saint Georgen, it was already raining.  So, the gig was off. But wait!  It turns out the gig is actually at night, so maybe it's on.  We went to a bar/restaurant that was owned by a friend of Rich's to pass the time, and sampled some authentic Austrian food and drink.  In Austria, each town makes their own version of Schnapps, both distilled and fermented.  Now, if you're thinking of the wimpy Peppermint Schnapps liqueur, forget it.  This is fire water, classy moonshine, corn liquor with style.  The kind we had was made from green walnuts, steeped in sugar and allowed to ferment for a few months.

After picking my knees off the floor, we had a couple more and got ready to go to Saint Georgen.  The weather was beautiful, and we were all psyched about doing one last gig.  By the time we got there, though, the skies were overcast.  It was an outdoor street festival, and the main street for the whole town was blocked off.  But there were only a few people around, and we were told that the festival had been called off because it was probably going to rain and, in any case, it was too cold.  Considering there is a heat wave back in New York, that was pretty weird!  So, we ended up just eating a great meal, drinking and toasting each other, and enjoying the atmosphere.

Joanne and I are looking forward to relaxing tomorrow (probably when I'll actually get to post this) and doing a quick tourist thing of Amsterdam.  Gotta check out the coffee shops...

Okay, it's not a biker bar.  It's a bar/restaurant ABOUT bikes.  With a Harley-Davidson theme, Buffalo is decked out with all kinds of Americana stuff, from license plates and an old Rockola juke box to a ten foot replica of an old Eastern Airlines prop plane hanging from the ceiling. 

Great gig, but we almost didn't get there:

We're driving along, enjoying the scenery.  Beautiful mountains, winding road, we go over a hill top and are looking at the mountains in the distance.  

Suddenly, Guzz screams "Look out!"

Things happened very fast after that.  A car was blocking the road, making a left hand turn - but not turning, even though he had a clear path.  Rich immediately realized that if we hit him, he'd be dead.  Our big truck would crush him in an instant.  He pumped the brakes, and managed to avoid a collision somehow, and steered into a ditch along the side of the road.  There were two bikers behind us, and the first managed to avoid us, the stopped car, and make it through.  The second didn't quite do it, and ended up laying his bike down.  He didn't hit anything, but seemed to have skidded out while maneuvering.  He only snapped off his side mirror, though, and wasn't hurt.  He was furious at the stopped car, as were we.  It turned out the car was full of ceramic roofing tiles, and the driver didn't want to dislodge anything by turning "too quickly".  Instead, he almost caused an accident that would have surely killed him, as well the the bikers behind us.  Only Guzz's warning and Rich's quick reaction and driving skills prevented a tragedy.  We got out of the ditch with no damage, after a little coaxing and some help from a local farmer.

We got to the gig on time, and had a blast.  There was a table of kids next to the stage that stayed all night, cheering for every song.  The owner was a friendly, happy guy who made sure we had whatever we needed (juice, beer, water, wine, food - whatever).  Lots of fun, and great sound thanks to Damon, our sound man.

Tomorrow's gig is weather dependent.  If it's raining, then tonight was our last gig.  If not, we have to get up early and hit the road, because it's an outdoor afternoon concert.

Another "supposed to play outside" gig, which was switched due to the weather.  This is a late night club, where the band doesn't even go on until 11.  When we hit the stage, the club was just filling up, and we launched into a hot version of "I Want To Be Loved".  When we finished - scattered applause.  Okay, right into an uptempo boogie of "Key To The Highway".  More people coming in now, but again - a few claps.  I'm starting to get pissed.  We rock into a couple of Cream covers, and the place is really crowded.  I mention that the next set will be feature our originals, including stuff from the new CD.  Still a very subdued response.

When we take our first break, I meet our Austrian agent, John, who has a big smile on his face. I don't.  I ask him what we're doing wrong, since the music on the jukebox is the same style that we're playing.  He points to the crowd and says "They love it.  If they didn't, this place would have emptied out on the first song.  They just don't clap!"  I walk around, and people are smiling, offering to buy us drinks, having a good time.  A kid named Jimmy said it was his 24th birthday, so we had fun with that, and another guy named Roland sat in on the harp (harmonica) on the third set for a couple of tunes.

By the time we did the last set, people were loosened up and clapping, and insisted on an encore.  It was very hot on stage, but there was plenty of locally brewed beer (great stuff!), and I was gulping down fruit tea in these huge cups that looked like tea cups for giants. 

Tomorrow, I'm told, we're playing a biker bar.  Yay!  That's something I can understand, no matter where in the world we are.

The drive to Austria was loooooonnnnnnnggggg.  Travel hint - when driving for 12 or more hours, make sure you get a vehicle with comfortable seats.  The truck we rented seated seven skinny people, but the seats didn't lean back at all.  Plus, we're not all skinny.  

Rich wins the "iron butt" award for driving the entire distance and not losing his mind.  He was up for about 24 hours, dealing with the whole madhouse.  

Austria is beautiful.  You're driving along a highway, not much to see, when suddenly this huge mountain appears in front of you, or to your left or right.  By the time we got here, it was early morning and raining heavily (which it continued to do all day).  When the rain slowed, it looked like the mountains were burning - tons of what looked like white smoke, which was in fact, fog and mist.  It was eerie and beautiful, and it's not hard to figure out why myths and legends are so easy to come by here.

We were supposed to play outside in the village square at Schladming, but the weather made that impossible.  Instead, we played inside a place called Papa Joes, where we were treated to free food, drinks, and a great crowd of enthusiastic people.  My voice is still not fully recovered, which meant I had to change some of the melodies and keys in order to hit the notes.  Even then, there were some pretty tough songs to get through.  The audience was understanding and supportive, and I drank about ten cups of hot tea throughout the performance.  Plus, the owner came over in the middle of the set with a tray of some sort of Schnapps, which we all drank after toasting the audience.  The next song after that, I was able to sing with no problem at all!  Odd...

We leave today for another gig about 2.5 hours from here.  There were six of us in the truck before, because our English agent, Cat, took the train down from Amsterdam.  Well, all seven of us will have to cram in for the ride, with Guzz and Joanne (and me) still coughing and sneezing, Rich starting to cough - our own little pneumonia factory.  Still, it's a great tour and we're having fun playing for everybody and meeting people.

It wasn't a disaster.

It could have been, but luck was with me.  First off, it was a jam session, and didn't start until 10:30.  And then, there was a band that sat in for the first half hour, so we didn't actually go on until about 11, maybe a bit later. 

As I mentioned, I woke up Sunday with a cold, which got worse as the day went on and was even worse by Monday morning.  It settled in my throat (of course), so I was able to talk but it felt strange.  I was hoping it would be okay to sing.

Nope.  We started off with Thunderbird, which is an uptempo blues, and usually not much trouble to sing.  I immediately felt something wrong, like a dry spot in the middle of my throat.  I tried working around it, and got through the song, but my vocal range was cut by at least half.  The next song was an instrumental, then I called "The Letter" (Joe Cocker version).  Got through that, but barely.  It's like walking on a sprained ankle - you don't know how bad it is until you put pressure on it, and then it's too late.

Luckily, another band arrived to show their stuff.  They were onstage for about a half hour, then I got back up and a female vocalist got up and sang "No Woman No Cry" and another tune.  I was hoping more vocalists would come!

And then, the very talented Terry Mann (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=137048409) came and saved the day, at least for me.  He did a bunch of tunes, and by the time he was finished, it was almost time to go.  I ended up playing a couple more songs, one of which was an instrumental, and that was that.

Got home, ate raw garlic, drank water, and went to sleep.  Woke up today and bought about 40 Euros worth of herbs and teas from a shop.  I tried not to speak today, but it's tough because we had a bunch of business that needed attending.  I really wanted to go the Red Light district, but Joanne and I are just going to stay in and rest (she's not doing that great, either.  Coughing and sneezing.)

Tomorrow night we leave for a 12 hour drive to Austria, to do four gigs.  That means I have roughly two days for my voice to come up to 90%.  Wish us luck!  I'll try and write from Austria if I can get an internet connection.

- Hitman

The festival went better than we had hoped!  The group before us was a 16 piece big band, playing swing and some funk.  For whatever reason, there wasn't much of a crowd.  They finished about 9:45pm, and I was starting get worried. 

Where was the crowd?  It was a huge festival, spread out over many acres with a train to get from one section to the other.  I was told that most people actually showed up later, after 10. 

We took the stage at about 10:15, by then there was a good number of people in front of the stage, waiting for the music.  We started off with "Your Blues", which is on the new CD (not the Beatles tune, this is our song called "Your Blues".)  The stage lights were blinding, so I couldn't really see past the monitors.  When we got done, I heard a lot of loud clapping, so I stepped to the front of the stage.  The entire area was completely filled with people, stretching back further than I could see!  No idea where they all came from, but it was very cool.

We played about an hour and a quarter, then got off stage and Gregorio (the bassist) spoke to someone from the festival.  Suddenly, there were about five six packs of beer!  So, we were overheated from the stage lights, it was about 45 degrees F., and I drank way too much beer.

Woke up the next sniffling and sneezing (so did Joanne, who didn't really drink, and Guzz the drummer.)  We piled into the van for the four hour trip back to Amsterdam, after confirming that the promoter (Dragan) was happy with the performance and will be working with us in the future.

We drove about an hour, looking for a gas station along the way.  Didn't find one, since Luxembourg is a Catholic country - that means everything is closed on Sunday morning.

Yup.  We ran out of gas. 

After numerous trials and tribulations, we got back on our way about 3 hours later, and got to Amsterdam around 10pm, sneezing and coughing.

Tonight, I'll be playing at the Last Waterhole as the special guest for the Monday Night Jam.  Tomorrow we have off, then Wednesday we drive 700 miles to Austria for Thursday's gig.  I'm going to try and upload a tune or two from the new CD before we leave.

- Hitman

Okay, we've got a few minutes before we have to leave for Luxembourg.  Thursday night we drove 200 kilometers to play at the Het Blues Cafe in Appledorn.  

Great place, with a cool owner named Jan.  Great sound man (sorry, I've forgotten the name), and we started around 9:30, with a quick sound check.

I immediately blew up the amp. 

No, I wasn't playing THAT loud. it was on, maybe, 5.  Funny thing was the solo came out okay, but as soon as I went back to playing chords it sounded like a transistor radio on a bad day.  Fortunately, there was an extra amp, so we did a quick change and went on from there.

We met the singer (James) and bassist (Poplar) from the Road Dogs, a touring group that's been around a few years.  We invited James, the singer, to sit in on the first set - he did a great slow blues and worked the crowd. 

Then we did the original set, to practice for the festival.  Everything was good, with a couple of little bits that have to get fixed up.  Last set we invited Poplar, the bassist, to sit in and we had a great time.  Guzz, our drummer, seemed to know everyone in Appledorf because he's worked with a lot of musicians from there.

Got home about 4 am, got up the next day and went to Hoogvliet, Rotterdam to play at the Flamingo.  They were kind enough to have dinner for us - Chinese food!  I can eat Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, so it was great.  We started about 9:15, and the room had about 20 people.  Suddenly, it filled up - I'm not sure how that happened, but I looked around a few minutes later and the tables were all full!

My voice was off on the first couple of tunes, I went for a high note and it didn't quite happen.  By the third tune, it found the right place and stayed there the rest of the night.  We did an encore and got bought a bunch of drinks.  Fortunately, Rich doesn't drink and he did all the driving.  We rented a PA for this gig, and had to bring it back at 4 in the morning.  Just when we were all fresh and ready to lug equipment...

Got home around 4:30, woke up at 7:00 when a blast of thunder rattled the windows.  It was like a car bomb going off!  Just the one blast, and that was it.  Got back to sleep at 7:30, woke up at 9:30 to get ready to leave (and jot this stuff down.)  There's no way I'll be able to perform tonight on so little sleep, so maybe I can catch a nap later. 

Wish us luck.  This whole part of the tour is based around this festival, so we have to kick ass!  I'll write when I can, hopefully the hotel has internet access.

Tonight was a blast.  It was only the second time the band played my tunes, and they went through everything with almost no problems.  There's Guzz on drums, who looks almost exactly like Rich (on guitar, and also is the long suffering agent putting this all together with Cat.)  Gregorio is on bass, and he seems to have a photographic memory for tunes.

Joanne (my wife and agent) was working the door, which was a pretty tough job.  The cover was 5 Euros, but she got people to cough it up.  Yorrr, the owner, is a cool dude who plays keyboards and was extremely generous with drinks.  We had a bazooki player (!) sit in, as well as a female vocalist who did a slow triplet blues tune - think something along the lines of "Silhouette" or "Tears On My Pillow". 

It's really weird having people go outside for "a smoke" and knowing that means either hash or pot, which is completely legal.  Tobacco, on the other hand, is frowned upon.  You gotta wonder why it's not like that at home...

Will write again tomorrow.  It's  4 in the morning now, and sleep is no longer an option.

- Hitman

Well, we're here!  We landed at 2pm yesterday after a 7 hour flight from JFK to Frankfurt, then a six hour stopover, then 1 hour to Amsterdam.  Note: don't EVER book a six hour stopover in Frankfurt.  Not unless you can get out of the airport for awhile.  Bars are a ripoff, moneychangers are an unbelievable ripoff.

However, Amsterdam was like an old friend welcoming you home.  Right away, we met Richard (my agent here) who put us up in our own mini apartment.  Richard will also be playing guitar with the band on the tour.

Last night, after getting some rest, Joanne and I met up with Rich at the Last Water Hole, which is where we were booked to rehearse today.  We had both crashed out about 4pm, then woke up at 9.  It was still bright daylight out!  It doesn't get dark here until about 11pm.  So, we hung there for a bit, spoke with Rory who runs the Monday jam there, and now I'm booked there next Monday as a guest guitarist.  I had another gig booked, but it fell through, so at least I'm still working.  Then, we went to a club called Bourbon Street and met the bassist, Greg (Gregorio) who was playing a latin gig.  Marcos, the keyboardist, was also there so we got to hear them both.

Today we had our first and only rehearsal, at the Last Water Hole.  It's empty in the afternoon, so they let bands use it to rehearse.  We ran through the original set, which we'll play at the festival in Luxembourg on Saturday.  In the meantime, the quartet (Rich, Greg, the drummer Gus, and myself) have a gig tomorrow night.  I'll write about it tomorrow, right now it's 4am and I'm shot.

Well, it's 3:30 am (almost), and we have to be at the airport around 1 pm tomorrow.  Haven't packed yet (of course), but I did manage to get the new CD run off - 50 copies.  It came back from the studio too late to send it out to be done, so I burned these pre-release copies on my new Lightscribe.
Speaking of which - Lightscribe.  Sounds good: "You can burn a label right onto the CD!"  They didn't mention it takes 15 minutes.  So, after doing a few of those, I switched to paper labels, which came out great and printed 50 in about ten minutes.
I had a Calypso gig tonight with Super D, which was fun.  Drums, bass, guitar (me), and a steel drummer who kicked ass.  Glad I did the gig, but I lost about six hours that I really needed to pack stuff.  Guess I'll sleep for four hours and get everything done in the morning.
Yeah, sure I will.
BTW - we got a new logo!  Picked up the tee-shirts on Thursday, and they look great.  Here's a smaller version of it:


It was hand drawn by the artist Michael Vincent.  Waddaya think?  Gonna go collapse now.

Yesterday was an unusual day - let me tell you about it.

Started off okay.  We were supposed to go into the studio at 7:00 pm to lay down the final keyboard tracks, possibly a new bass track on "Death Letter", and maybe finish off the few remaining guitar solos, if possible. 

At 2:00 I get a call from Mike, the studio manager.  "Our 1:00 session just called - he's claiming that he didn't book for 1, he booked for 7:30.  We can still get you in, though, but not until after 10 or 11." 
Great.  Our keyboardist would be dead tired by then, since he gets up at 6:00 am.  "Well, if you want, you can come in now."

Frantic calls, ending with plans to run to the Mineola train station, pick up the keyboardist, bassist (Mikey P) will meet us at the studio.  We get to the studio about 3:50, and I'm thinking we've only got three hours before the session gets there, after setup time and everything.  But Mike lays down that new bass line, sounds great, we're getting the piano ready, and it's now 5:20.

The phone rings.

"This is the Black Forest Brew House.  We're getting a little worried - nobody has shown up yet."
"Well, nobody would show up.  We're booked there next Friday, the 27th."
"No, you're booked tonight.  You have to start in 40 minutes."

Called Ed the Hat (drums), who was busy but cancelled his plans.  Left Kevin (keyboards) at the studio to do the keyboard tracks.  Mikey P has a PA at home, Joanna (wife & agent, who was with me) calls her son Keith at our home to grab my amp and mike stand, and we tear through New York Friday afternoon rush hour traffic to get to the gig.  We're there, somehow, in about 25 minutes, so it's now 6:15.  Five minutes later, Keith pulls up, followed by Mike and Ed the Hat.  It's an outdoor gig, so we're pushing through the packed crowd to get to the stage that's set up on the deck.

Did I mention the Mike had fractured his finger last week and has a splint on it?  That's his middle finger of his left hand, the one he uses to finger the notes.  He was planning on resting it so he would be ready for our Saturday night gig at the Thistle and Shamrock.  And, Ed totalled his van a couple of weeks before and had to borrow another one to get his drums into.

Anyway, we get everything set up, do a rocking first set.  Take a break, get a couple of the Black Forest Brew House fantastic custom made beers (and Joanna had already gone back to the studio to get Kevin so she could drive him home).

That's when the rain started.

Huge, cannon-like blasts of thunder and some lightning.  At that point, Shane (the wonderful woman who books the club) just sort of threw up her hands and said "Well, you can either pack up and go or have a few more beers and see what happens."  We chose the beers, naturally, and after about 20 minutes it seemed to be clearing up. 

Set everything back up, and did two more sets.  Great crowd, lots of fun, and we played a little later than we were supposed to since we started late. 

Joanna and Kevin came, and it turned out the guy who had the 7:30 session never even showed up!  But, someone did show up at 8:00 for a last minute booking, but Kevin thinks he nailed all the parts, so now I just have to get in and finish up the guitar tracks.

Now that it's over, I'm going to see if my blood pressure can come back to anywhere near normal.  Looking forward to a fairly nornal gig tonight (it's a biker bar).

First off, the birthday thing went pretty well.  Unfortunately, my Mom had to go back into the hospital because her heart started to race again.  She was ticked off that she had to miss my birthday, but other than that she seems okay.  Hopefully, she'll be out in a couple of days.  Better than last week, when we didn't know what was going on...

Yesterday I went back into the studio.  I wasn't sure if I was going to lay down guitar tracks (leads) or vocals, so I was equally unprepared no matter what.  As it turned out, we did lead vocals.

All of them.

Hey, once we got rolling, it just sort of worked out that way.  Jim Sabella (studio owner and producer) used THREE mikes on my voice - big honking fat ones that probably cost more than all my equipment combined.  It was like singing into a press conference podium.  There were twelve songs, and one of them has two lead vocal parts (high and low, sort of like Squeeze).  I was there about 7 hours, but I think everything was a keeper.  Damn, I hope so.  We have a lot more to do, and the next slot he has open is next Thursday (the 29th). 

There's definitely a couple of bass lines that have to be re-cut, the keyboard solos have to be recorded - Kevin laid down the rhythm parts at the first session, but didn't want to do the leads because he didn't have time to really experiment with sounds on the organ.  Some piano parts have to be laid down, I have to do my leads - again, we recorded "scratch" rhythm tracks, many of which we'll probably end up keeping, but I didn't have time to get a good lead sound on the first session, since it was mainly directed at getting the drums and bass done. 

Plus, there's a couple of tunes where I want female background singers, and one where I'd like a horn section.  It's a New Orleans type blues, and I was thinking of clarinet, sax, trumpet and tuba.  Maybe a trombone, we'll have to see.  But, I have to write the arrangement first and then it's all got to be done the old-fashioned way (in one shot, live).  Should be fun, though.

As soon as we get through this and I have a mix, I'll post some of the tunes for your feedback.  It might be here on MySpace, or I might put up a special page at our website (hitmanbluesband.com).  Anyway, I'm going to spend as much time as I can getting ready for next Thursday, so I can be prepared (for a change).

Went into the studio last Monday, and started trying to do a couple of bass overdubs (to save Mike, the bassist, the trouble of coming in for just a few notes.)  My mom had gone to the doctor to find out why she was so tired, since she's already on a ton of medication and has a pacemaker.  Short story - doc said to come and pick her up, and take her to the hospital.
It's now Sunday, and she got out yesterday.  They ended up shocking her heart to make it work correctly, and it seems to have done the job.  It was the same hospital my Dad was in - we spent five months watching him die there.  Obviously I don't have a lot of warm fuzzies about that place.
So, for my birthday tomorrow, I get my Mom back for awhile.  Is there any better present? 
On Tuesday I'll go back into the studio and pick up where we left off.  Wish me luck! 

By the way, I'd like to thank my lovely wife Joanne, who has been supportive in everything I do and insists on having a bbq tomorrow (so I'll have a hangover for the session on Tuesday).  Ribs, anyone?