I've been gigging professionally (meaning I get paid to do it) since 1979. Some shows were better than others, some days I got paid more than others. But a gig is a gig. If you're a musician and you're getting paid to do your thing, it's pretty awesome. For large parts of the 1980s, I made my living gigging. I was mostly playing in punk and rockabilly bands, but as you can guess, that's only ever gonna pay so many bills. So, I played in country, Top 40, funk, wedding bands, whatever was paying. I did some session work when I could. That's a particularly tough gig to get. Unless you live in NYC, Chicago, or LA, your options on that are limited.
When I was 19, a drummer friend called me about playing bass in a blues band. Let me tell you, Ohio in the mid 1980s was not exactly a hotbed of blues music. Even with the popularity of SRV and the Fab T-Birds at the time, there were surprisingly few blues bands. As a lifelong blues fan, I was definitely interested. One of the guitar players, Robbie Wells, had quite a reputation. He'd made it (briefly) to the 'big time' as the guitar player in Rachel Sweet's band. He was about as good as Ohio had to offer. I couldn't wait to hear him play blues. The other guy, Don K (I never could spell his name), was also no slouch on guitar. His most amazing skill though was his singing. To this day, I have to say he was the best white blues shouter I've ever heard (and I know Phil Alvin!). He was also one of the loudest! Once, at a gig in Rayland, OH, I'd suggested to the soundman that he might want to watch out for Don's vocals; he could get really overpowering. The soundman looked at 19-year-old me with disdain. I shrugged and walked away. They were his speakers. If he didn't mind Don blowing them out, fine. Our first song was "Crosscut Saw". The second Don went to the microphone and bellowed 'I'm a crosscut saw, drag me cross your log' I watched Mr. Soundman dive for his control board. I also heard those Yamaha speakers start to sound frazzled. You live, you learn.
This particular combo (sometimes called Rattlesnake Shake, sometimes The Starlings) gigged around for a while but ultimately couldn't keep it together. Lots of reasons (that I won't go into here) but suffice to say, it was my first taste of playing straight ahead blues. It was valuable. I seemed to have a natural feel for it. Over the next few years, I'd go see any blues act I could, big names or not. When I went back to school, up in Kent, I would go see the likes of Robert Junior Lockwood and Glenn Schwartz. I'd go see (and sometimes jam) with Amos Stokes. Professionally, I was still mostly playing rockabilly and some punk rock. I was starting to do session work again too. But if you caught me just sitting around with a guitar, I was probably playing old country blues, or at least trying to. The blues was, and still is, what my playing is all based around. Even when I try to play something else, I hear the blues in it.
By the 1990s, I was back in Pittsburgh and spent a few years with The Rowdy Bovines. On off nights, you could usually find me at a blues jam. The Pittsburgh Blues Society used to have a weekly jam at HoJo's in Oakland, hosted by Mike Sallows and The Rockin' Reptiles. Always fun cutting heads with that bunch! Thursday nights were the weekly jam at Excuses, hosted by The Hell Hounds. That's where I first met Crippled Bobby Hawkins. He and his brother would often show up and play some loud biker blues stuff. We would cross paths here and there, just like most musicians. We became friendly in the way that guys in a bar do. Both of us sharing a rather jagoff sense of humor, I would usually greet him by calling him a 'pizza-twirling, olive oil-guzzling WOP' (due to his Italian heritage) and he would usually greet me by calling me a 'beer-swigging, cabbage licking kraut' (due to my German heritage). This would often resolve to us calling each other 'faMIGlia'.
Over the next few years, I'd hang out and jam with guys like Jimmy King, James 'Doc' Dougherty, Gil Snyder, Chizmo Charles, etc., all playing the blues. Chizmo could have taught a master class in showmanship. Pittsburgh, at the time, had a lively and healthy blues scene. And I was mostly playing what most folks called rockabilly (I personally thought The Bovines were more akin to punk rock, but I digress).
One day in maybe '96-'97, Motto called me up saying that Crippled Bobby Hawkins was looking for a
band for a few shows. Always up for paid work, I told Motto to get me in touch. The 3 of us got together, probably had a few drinks, and Hawkins explained to us that he had 'just fired his band and had a handful of shows booked and wanted to honor the contracts'. I note that because it wasn't the last time I heard it!
I talked to my drummer and bass player, and as they thought it sounded fun we became Hawkins' de facto backup band for these shows, with Motto blowing harp. We never had a rehearsal. It was pretty much here's the song, here's the key, GO!
Our first show was at a little joint in McKees Rocks, down in the bottoms. I think it was called Larry's Bar or something. I drove past it 3 or 4 times trying to find the place! Talk about non-descript! It was small but the place was packed! And we got paid. OK, it wasn't a king's ransom, but it was on par with what we were making most nights. Then came the funny bit...those original handful of shows came and went, and Hawkins was still booking gigs. We spent the next couple of years gigging with him! Some nights we had Southside Jerry Mellix on sax. Some nights, Fred 'Freddie Mack'/'Uptown Slim' MacIntosh on harp. At least once a month, you could find us at Harley's or Dolly B's in McKees Rocks.
We had our own shows as well. As MEMPHIS MIKE & THE LEGENDARY TREMBLERS, we were gigging often and managed to put out a handful of releases. We started getting press all over, even as far away as Italy (this was the pre-internet days for most of us). In one Italian magazine, there was an article about us AND Hawkins. At least a few nights per month, we were gigging with Hawkins. Another night, another Jimmy Reed song. We were playing lots of different places. Lots of small, out-of-the-way joints, biker bars, private parties, benefits, you name it, we played it. And we always got paid. I joked that we were on our McKees Rocks Tour.
We did a bunch of shows at a weird little joint called The Riverside. I'd driven past it hundreds of times and always thought it was closed down. It looked deserted and run down. Apparently, the entrance was through a side door. Not exactly upscale clientele, but they paid well. I'll always remember that the place had a hidden doorway that led upstairs to what was essentially a green room. We did a lot of partying up there. At one show, a black guy (who I think was a trucker) said, "Man, if they call you Memphis, let's hear you play some slide guitar!" This wasn't something I did much of back then. But ask and ye shall receive, right? I had a slide with me, so I gave it a go. I was unimpressed but the audience seemed to dig it, so I started doing more of it. Just another one of those things I can blame on Hawkins.
We always had a colorful crowd. Lots of bikers, rednecks, black folks, white folks, junkies, you name it. We played after hours joints for pimps and hookers as well as Christmas parties! (I still have a Harley Davidson Santa pin on one of my guitar straps from one of those shows) There was the night that Hawkins disappeared after the first set, only to reappear a few days later. His reasoning was he "musta had a bad beer." It was never dull, that's for sure.
One night at The Riverside, I had to break the news to Hawkins; I wasn't gonna be able to work with him for a good while. My auntie had died, and I had her estate to settle, plus I was being asked to do shows down south and with a few other artists. Between all of that, my day job, and my gigs with The Tremblers, I just didn't have the time. Man, Hawkins was pissed off! He called me every name in the book and some I'd never been called. I understood it though. We had a good thing going. I told him that I'd work with him whenever I could. But we pretty much went our separate ways.
He'd play shows at a joint called The Orchard, and a friend of mine used to go there a lot. He'd always call me and try to get me to come along. One night when I was off, I finally made it. Hawkins and I picked up where we left off and drove the crowd wild for a few songs. After that, I let his regular guitar player (at the time) take over and I sat at the bar and listened. On break, Hawkins and I gabbed like old buddies. He was long since over being angry about my moving forward. After that, I'd go sit in every now and then if I wasn't booked, which wasn't often.
A few years passed and we'd lost touch for the most part. I'd started touring overseas, ended up having a heart attack, some legal troubles, and slowed way down for a while. My regular bass player, Rob, was doing some shows with Hawkins. One day, Hawkins' drummer, a guy named Jimbo or Jambo or Jumbo or whatever it was, called me to ask if I could sit in on a show. I'm always picky about the drummers I work with. If the drummer ain't up to speed, the band is gonna suck. This guy insisted he was THE BEST blues drummer in the area! He had confidence, I'll give him that. So, I asked Rob if he was any good. He told me he could keep a decent beat, so I agreed to do the show. Jimbo-Jambo literally passed out halfway through a song. OK, it was an outdoor gig, and it was warm out, but I was the guy who'd had a heart attack and I wasn't passing out and feeling woozy. We got him revived and finished the show, Hawkins and I cracked jokes about it the rest of the day. From what I understand, this drummer was excellent at booking gigs for Hawkins. He kept them all busy. He didn't seem too thrilled with me after the one show, probably because of the wisecracks. But that's what you're gonna get when you put me and Hawkins together.
Hawkins and I work well together! Always have. Our guitar styles mesh well, and I keep him on his toes onstage. I will mess with him onstage. If he's singing "Every Day I Got The Blues" I'll lean over and ask, loudly, "Every Day?????"
Around 2010, I slowed my gigging wayyyy down. My day job had become a night job, and I was OK with that. I was having more health issues (cancer) and was only doing Tremblers gigs. I managed to do some recording, and released a few songs here and there, but I was wondering whether or not I'd reached the end of my gigging days.
By 2012, all of that had changed yet again. I kept The Tremblers going, plus I was playing bass in The Bessemers. I started doing some shows with Danny Kay & The Nightlifers and Devilz In The Detailz. I was keeping busy. In 2014 I switched jobs and took an office gig. Monday - Friday, 9-5. WEEKENDS OFF!
Perfect for a musician, right? Hawkins must've thought so. He called me up one day. Apparently, he'd fired his band and had some shows booked that he wanted to honor the contracts for....and up to 2020 that line-up kept the blues alive! Sure, there are still other blues bands in the area, but none of them play the old school stuff we do, or as well as we do. In 2020, with the pandemic going on, plus the socio-political divide in the country, I decided I was stepping away from it all. I was just worn out, like most people were. Rob did the same. Again, Hawkins was pissed off, but there weren't a ton of gigs for anyone at the time. He was able to replace us, no problem.
2021, I had 2 strokes. Man, I thought I was done for. I got home from the hospital only to find that my left arm/hand wouldn't respond the way I wanted. I couldn't play guitar anymore!!!! Things were starting to open up again at the bars and nightspots and I couldn't play! I was pissed off. I forced my body to relearn everything it lost, at least regarding guitar. My left leg is still a bit of a rogue, but I get by OK. After a few months, I was happy enough with my regained abilities, that I wrote, recorded and released a brand-new song. I wasn't ready to go back to gigging much but decided I'd jump at the chance, if asked to do the right show. Hawkins to the rescue!
He had a show booked at The Bull Pen, a place we'd played bunches of time. His guitar player couldn't
Next month, December 10th, Hawkins and I return to the stage once more, out at 565 LIVE. We've always rocked this place! We plan to again! Hawkins hasn't said anything about having fired anyone, so we'll see where things go from there.
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