Rainy Saturdays give me the blues....

Trish/George (or is it George/Trish, I can never remember) just returned from their hideaway in Maine where they attended the first annual Maine Blues Festival, sponsored by the Maine Blues Society. They report a nicely staged festival with local acts and a "pub-crawl" format.

Also, just returning from a brief respite (eating, drinking, lounging, golfing, canoeing, collecting hard-to-find erotica) at The Cape, the swashbuckling Valentes rave about Tony Roberts and the Saints of San Carlos, caught at the British Beer Company in Falmouth. The band hunkers down in Key West in the winters and migrates up to the Beantown area for the summertime. The Valentes, meanwhile, keep their migrating habits secret.

While browsing the net, I happened upon a glowing review of Dion DiMucci's (yes, THAT Dion) latest album, a blues effort called Bronx in Blue. Dion always had a good deal of soul in even his early rock/doo-wop stuff (excepting the schmaltzy Abraham, Martin & John & Bobby & Tupac) and he pops up every now and then with critically acclaimed, if not popular, product. In his website notes about the album, Dion explains his introduction to the blues thusly: "Some people think I grew up on Rock & Roll (not so). When I was a kid, there was no Rock & Roll. In the early Fifty’s – late at night, I’d tune into some southern radio station that somehow reached the Bronx, listening to The Blues, Howling Wolf’s How Many More Years, Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights, Big City." Going to have to give this one a try.

Heather Mills McCartney on Sir Paul 18 years ago per interview with Peter Wilson (her co-star in infamous porn book shoot): "Everyone knows John's the one with all the talent and Paul's the window dressing."

Disappointed to have missed Jim Kane's annual Bristol Friends Reunion at Marinelli's Supper Club for reasons beyond my control. Next year for sure, Jim!