The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

Just my seasonal silliness... THANKSGIVUS Thanksgivus: that's what she called it. The 'she' in question would be a very short, loud, middle aged black woman with retardation who I supervised for years. Her name is Omega...fitting because she truly is THE END! Omega didn't exactly have a speech problem but I think her hearing wasn't 100% on the mark, as certain words would get slurred together such as "Thanksgivus". Another fave was her version of Social Security, which often sounded more like "sociable secretary" (of which I've known a few). Thanksgivus (which is what I now prefer to call the US holiday Thanksgiving) is the last Thursday of November (this is for my overseas friends who may not be fully knowledgeable of the subject). It is the holiday where we Americans give Thanks to God for giving us BIG tasty birds, punkin pie & cranberry sauce...all courtesy of a tribe that we soon took great pains to wipe out. In short...

There are days when I'm amazed that I still do this. I woke up this morning, sore as hell. My arthritic hands...swollen. The foot that I crushed nearly 30 years ago...throbbing. The nerve damage in my legs...burning. I'll happily do this again and again. We were ON last night. Most nights we play, we are. At 52, I'm the youngest guy in the band. That often cracks me up. I know musicians half my age who couldn't put on a show like we do. Not on their best night! We know what we're doing. We can go into a song we've never done before (and I do believe we did) and play it like we wrote it. Members of the audience often ask how often we rehearse. Honest answer: We don't. This is one of the benefits of being a career working musician. You learn how music works. Once you know what key the song is in, you can probably fake your way through the average pop/rock/blues/country song. Lord knows I've faked my way through plenty. I had to fake my way through a Lion...

Another one gone. We lost the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin today. Her voice is irreplaceable. Oddly enough, this is the anniversary of Elvis' death. His passing is still felt across the globe decades later, as I'm sure the passing of Aretha will be. In recent years we've lost many of the greats. As a guitarist, BB King and Link Wray come to mind. Both were powerful influences on the instrument's place in music. Neither can be replaced. We've lost so many great musical artists. I guess the big question is WHO ARE THE NEW GREAT ONES ? I can't recall the last time I heard a mind-blowing NEW artist. Someone with a fresh new sound or approach. Its been a long time, that's for sure. Anything new that I hear (and yes, surprise surprise, this old guy does listen to a lot of new music) is usually just a retread of something older. Sure, some of it is good but its neither fresh nor exciting. While not a huge fan of rap/hip hop, I enjoyed the energy of it when ...

Most of my friends know that I have a young friend, all of 20. He's adopted me as a surrogate dad , of sorts, and he calls me "Pops". Throughout our adventures in ukulele playing, psychology, culture, humor and semi-fine dining, he has found that this old man knows how to cook. And dude loves my cooking! It's become a bit of a routine for me to take him dinner at work a few times a week. His tastes run pretty similar to mine, so its even easier for me. Yesterday, I was trying to decide what to make. I had just made gumbo a few days prior and that was going to be a tough act to follow. (if you've had my gumbo, you know this) I had some leftover peppers, so there was a start. I thawed out some chicken thighs and picked up some fresh onions....now what? Let the creativity begin! I sometimes just make up a dish as I go along. I'll take an idea from one dish or other, mix it up, add some things, change some things, just to see how it goes. I've been coo...

My grandmother was pretty funny. She had an often sly, sometimes bizarre sense of humor. Once, I brought a shy gal I was dating to meet my grandmother and great aunt. We went out for dinner and drinks. This same gal was so overwhelmed at meeting the rest of my family at the holidays that she needed a sedative. OK, most would probably want drugs to meet my family. Back to my grandmother. We were sitting having drinks and talking while waiting for dinner. My girlfriend was barely saying two words, due to her shyness. My grandmother reached across the table, took my gal's beer, took her swizzle straw out of her own cocktail and started blowing bubbles into my gal's beer. My gal was, um, a tad surprised. I was laughing like an idiot, understanding what she was doing. My auntie said to my grandmother, "Dammit Marg! What ARE you doing? That girl doesn't want your spit in her beer!" My grandmother dryly replied, "Her beer looked flat. I thought I'd help her ou...

Sitting here thinking back over my musical career, the ol' brain spent a fair bit of time on my love of so-called punk rock .  I don't really like to categorize music. Always feels like a sales gimmick to me. Music, at least to me, is a form of sonic communication. (Note: I said "music", not "lyrics") I can feel the same energy from Beethoven that I do from the Sex Pistols. I can glean the same musical intent.  But punk rock.... When I first started to listen to it, and play it, my basic thought (which, I guess, was very punk) was "Oh! I can do this." Basic chord progression. Repeat at rapid fire speed. Turn volume up. Go. Yep...I could do that.  I have always enjoyed classical music, so these 3 chord aural assaults were a whole new thing to me. Around the same time, I had been introduced to the music of The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. The Beatles got me with the production. Hendrix...I remember seeing footage of him on TV once and bei...

I've taught guitar before. I can honestly say that it was neither a pleasurable nor enriching experience. Yet...here I am again. Why? Good question. The answer is pretty simple. For me, its about sharing the joy of making music. People often ask how I started playing, how long I've been playing, etc. My former guitar teacher, Kevin, showed up at a gig the other night. It got me thinking. I CAN teach...provided I can teach the way that I learned. How NOT to play guitar. No discredit to Kevin. He tried to teach me the way that countless others were taught. It was already too late for me. I had been teaching myself for about 6 months at that point. While he did teach me many valuable things (forcing me to use a pick, various ways to tune, the rudiments of finger-picking, and harmonics all come to mind) the whole 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" crap just didn't move me. It's not what I was listening to or what I was feeling. After a few months, the lesson...

Just had a kitchen accident. It's OK...the cats weren't hurt. Neither am I. However, a treasured family heirloom is gone gone gone. OK..."heirloom" might be a stretch. It was one of my grandmother's old mixing bowls. Your grandmother might have had one. Hell, you might have one. These things were sturdy and built to last! And...they have roosters on them. You know the ones. I can only imagine the thousands of meals that were prepared in this thing. I've never known life without this mixing bowl. I've eaten countless servings of popcorn from it. And now it's gone. I was making dinner. I had the front burner on, searing a roast. I thought I'd turned it off...but I'd only turned it down. Roast was in the oven, and I was doing dishes. As I needed sink room, I had set the bowl on the stovetop. As I was getting ready to reach for the bowl....KA-BLAMMMM!!!!!! It just shattered. Freaked me the hell out. The cats came in to see what was g...