Big Insane News 2011/2012 – Sugar Ray! Duke Robillard! Stuff!

Sugar Ray and the Bluetones’ Evening has been nominated for five Blues Music Awards!  Album of the Year!  Traditional Album of the Year!  BAND of the Year!  Harmonica player of the Year!  Bassist of the Year!  Go to blues.org to read the nominations, sign up and become a member.  Vote for us!  We’re pretty good at what we do, and the Bluetones were my favorite band (well, them and the Beatles) for years before I joined.  I’m incredibly proud to be part of this band and this record.

And then there’s Big Insane Secret Project 2012, which is now out of the bag: Duke Robillard and Monster Mike Welch. New record. Lots of crazy guitar. Stony Plain Records. Next year. It’s a little like getting a call from Batman asking if I want to team up and fight crime. Duke just has three thousand records to produce between now and then…

Have a great Christmas and/or December holiday of your choice.  Love you all.

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Tracklog 05 – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (2002)

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (click to listen, Right Click and “Save As” to download)

Featuring Jeannette Ocampo Welch on vocals

For a couple of years in a row, my wife Jeannette and I made Christmas CDs for friends and family, with a mix of Christmas tunes and other songs.  This is one of my favorites, a cover of the Darlene Love/Phil Spector classic, with Jeannette singing her heart out, and me having fun trying to recreate the Spector “Wall Of Sound” with a cheap keyboard, a Boss drum machine, and a ton of reverb.  I’m pretty proud of the bass sound, which is my Danelectro Longhorn reissue unplugged and miced.  Enjoy, have a great Christmas, and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you have the best Sunday ever next week.  Love you all.

Tracklog 04 – Blues For Hubert (2011)

For Hubert (click to listen, right click and “Save As” to download)

The recent passing of the great Hubert Sumlin hit me hard.  I didn’t know Hubert very well; I played two or three songs with him once and met him three or four other times over the years, but I knew him just well enough to understand what a gentle, amazing man he was.  Even before I dreamed of meeting him, he was a hero of mine, and his influence on my playing and musical worldview cannot be overstated.  There’s nothing to say about this song, really, other than that I had to play something for the man.  My heart still hurts, you know?  I hope you enjoy it.

December Shows

December 4 – Blues Jam @ Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA (4:30pm)

December 8 – w/Anthony Geraci, Mudcat Ward and Marty Richards, The Bailey, Marshfield, MA

December 11 – Blues Jam @ Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA (4:30pm)

December 17 – w/Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, Knickerbocker Cafe, Westerly, RI

December 18 – Blues Jam @ Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA (4:30pm)

December 21 – w/Danny and Douglas Banks, Blues Jam at the Tavern, Plainville, MA

December 31 – w/Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, NEW YEAR’S EVE at the Bailey, Marshfield, MA