We're making another trip from Chicago to our neighbor to the east, Michigan, in a couple of weeks. The band will hit the Jackson Blues Festival stage at 9:30pm on Friday, June 6 at the Jackson County Airport (a.k.a. Reynolds Airfield).

Jackson is a small town, just off Interstate 94, about 35 miles west of Ann Arbor. It's birthplace of the republican party and superbowl coach, Tony Dungy.

The fest includes outstanding national acts like Duke Tumatoe, Chris Beard, Harmonica Shah and Mike Espy, plus many more. Three days of blues, blues, blues!

Hope to see y'all there!

--blue dave

Well, it's been a week since our March 15 show at the Hideout in Chicago. Better get some thoughts down while I can still remember it!

Kent Lambert of the TAMMS Prison Coalition organized a great event, and from what I understand, it was a great fund raising success for the group whose mission is to dramatically turn around or ultimately shut down the maximum security prison in downstate Illinois.

One of the best moments was the heartfelt, eloquent speech from Mary Johnson, mother of a TAMMS prisoner.

Our band played two sets of hard driving blues. The musical highlight was probably Cummins Prison Farm Blues, due to its obvious relevance to evening's theme. Elmore James Jr. set up the song with a personal recollection of the Cummins Prison's impact on him and his community.

Rupert, the opening act, performed some amazing avant guard jazz, led by trumpeter Jamie Branch. Cool stuff!

The place was packed all night. The crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in a truly remarkable event. And thanks to Tim and the Hideout for hosting a most excellent evening. (Great job on the sound, Mike!)

On Friday, January 18, we were honored to appear at the Kalamazoo State Theater in Kalamazoo, MI. The headliner was Larry McCray, who was absolutely fantastic!

The venue seats about 1,500, and it looked pretty full, although it's hard to see the audience clearly with all those stage lights shining down. The crowd was enthusiastic, friendly and very responsive to Elmo's brand of deep Chicago and Delta blues.

It was a long drive from Chicago, but far longer on the return trip. We encountered freaky icy conditions for the first 40 miles. Thank God our drummer Harvey was at the wheel -- that was some intense shit!

The event was part of the WRKR Bud Blues Series. Upcoming artists include Tommy Castro, Magic Slim, Lurrie Bell, Coco Montoya, Tab Benoit, and E.C. Scott.