We were very pleased to learn that two of our original songs, Hill Country Roll and Too Many Cuts were aired on the Oxford, Mississippi radio station, 95.5 WOXD.

  We had a great "mini-tour" down to Mississippi last weekend, playing at Rooster's Blues House in Oxford on Thursday night and then twice at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale.  Melissa was again invited to sit in for a set with Big Jack Johnson at Red's.  As expected, she tore up the place!  We know we're just a bit biased, but Pork Chop Willie seemed to be the surprise talk of the Festival.  Can't wait to go back next year!
  You can check some pics from the Juke Joint Festival here:  http://www.bluessource.com/slideshows/2009/JukeJoint/Steve/index.htm

  That's right!  We will be playing at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS on both Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18.   On Saturday we will be outside the BluesSource store located at 344 Delta at 11:00 am.  The Juke Joint Festival is a wonderful weekend!

   We will be playing at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS on both Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18.   On Friday we will be outside BluesSource, 115 Third Street, at 5:00.  Can't wait.  We LOVE the Juke Joint Festival

  One set starting at 8:00 sharp!  The Sidewalk Cafe is a terrific little club.  Not too big, not too small.  Please come check it out.  Located at 94 Avenue A at Sixth Street.

   10:30 start time.  Two hour set this time.  Lot's of time to shake em on down!Banjo Jim's is located at 700 East 9th St. (at Avenue C). 

  Don't know the start time yet.  We are putting together another mini tour through Mississippi.  Will be at Martin's in Jackson on April 17 and hope to be at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale that weekend. 

   One set at 8:00 sharp.  Note the new start time.  Banjo Jim's is located at 700 East 9th Street (at Avenue C).  Great news!!  Melissa will be with us that night after all.  Her original conflict went away so she will be there doing her magic.  And we'll have an extra treat.  Paul Olsen, the founder of the fantastic band Scrapomatic (http://scrapomatic.com/), is going to make a guest appearance.  Paul has played with all sorts of other Allstars, including Derek Trucks.  Scrapomatic's new CD, Sidewalk Caesars has been nominated for a Grammy in the category of best contemporary blues.  It's going to be a very special night.  We're real excited.  Can't wait to see you all!

7:00 pm

    I was able to attend the third annual Hill Country Picnic in Potts Camp, Mississippi over the July 4 weekend.  For Hill Country music fans, this is the event of the year.  Two days, 28 hours of great, great music.  Sara Davis and Kenny Brown do an amazing job organizing this event and getting some of the best musicians around today to come and play.  I got to spend some time chatting with Luther Dickenson, who is now playing with the Black Crowes, which was a thrill.  And I got to catch up with lots of friends, including Duwayne Burnside, Jimbo Mathus, Kinney Kimbrough, Eric Deaton and of course Kenny and Sara.  All of the performances were great.  Kenny Brown did an all-star jam at the end.  The sets by Jimbo, Duwayne, Afrissippi, Burnside Exploration, T Model Ford, Cedric Burnside with Lightnin' Malcolm and Blue Mother Tupelo were especially good.  As you can imagine, this was pig heaven for me!  I got there a little late getting there the first day and was very disappointed to miss Robert Belfour and Shannon McNally, two of my favorites. 

   Sharon McConnell was backstage at the Picnic.  Sharon is an amazing artist who has done what she calls life-casts of blues musicians.  These are casts of the muscians' head and face.  I'm sure I'm not describing them the way she would, but they are incredibly expressive.  Sharon has done 55 of these life-casts, including Bobby Rush, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Bo Diddley, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Odetta, Pinetop Perkins and Blind Mississippi Morris.  Sharon is doing more than anyone to keep the blues alive.  Check out her website at  http://sharonmcconnell.biz/

   I also met a guy doing a solo act under the name Shake It Like a Caveman.  Kind of a cross between Hill Country and punk.  It's real good.  Check him out too.    

   While I was at the Picnic I was interviewed by BluesSource.com who was covering the event and was interested in the new CD.  That interview will be published by BluesSource when the CD comes out (it's being mastered now).  Also, the local Memphis newspaper is doing an article on Como, Mississippi and spoke to me about why I chose to come down to Como to do the CD and what keeps me coming back.  That's an easy answer:  The music and the people!