JOE & VICKI PRICE
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JOE & VICKI PRICE
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December 2007 The year ended with a bang. We did a lot of local shows, saw old friends and generally had a ball. We started in Zumbrota,MN at a concert held at the Crossings Art Gallery. This was our first show up there and everyone really made us feel welcome, what a good time. The gallery was beautiful and full of wonderful art work. What a place! Marie the owner was such a kind host. The night ended with a standing ovation, which is always a thrill. Thank you all. Next we were at JR's in Farmersburg. This is a long-time gig for us and always fun. We were in the middle of a snow storm, so we called ahead to make sure we should come down. They wanted us, so we took off in the snow. I was afraid no one would show, but of course this is Iowa. It was packed with lots of folks and lots of dancers. Jody the owner joined us on guitar for some tunes. We had a ball. We went over to Jodie's at bar time and his Uncle Tom played us some of his original tunes. Uncle Tom is a real country singer and writer. It is a joy to hear him. We made a trip to St. Louis in December. We started at Bill Chrismans, "Joe's Cafe". Bill is a superb visual artist, the cafe is packed with his work and it makes it one of the most visually striking venues we perform in. We had a great time playing and the next day Bill gave us a tour of St. Louis. We went to the Crown? Ice Cream parlor, what a treat. The next day we played at Pop's Blue Moon. The blue grass band "The Local Gents" let us open for them. These guys were really good. Our last night was a blizzard. We were opening for the "Bel Aires" at BB's Jazz, Soups and Blues. We ended up playing an extra hour, since the Bel Aires were having trouble getting to the show. The crowd just loved Joe and he loved them. I was very excited to see the Bel Aires, Mike Martin, a friend of ours had turned me on to their music earlier and I couldn't wait to see them live. What a treat!!!! Two brothers, one of lead guitar and one on bass, with a drummer. These guys have been together over 20 years and it shows. Tight and Good they really drive a groove. Joe and I danced all night. Thanks to John May at BB's for having us.
JOE'S CAFE ST. LOUIS You should see the bee garden
Christmas Eve we did a show for Kristy at the Creekside in Davenport. We really had fun and Kristy wants to make it an annual event. Our buddy Ross Crawford and his wife Karen took us in for the night. Thanks to you both, we sure enjoyed visiting with you. Ross and Karen were living in New Orleans when Katrina hit. It was facinating to hear their stories of survival and escape. Karen is an artist and their home is filled with her works. They are really good. She makes silk screen prints in brilliant colors. We did the 13th annual "Christmas at TBocks", what a night. The place was packed, standing room only. Lots of old friends getting together, and lots of dancing. This is such a magical event and it get's better every year. Old friends from Waukon, Tim and Casey Rooney showed up. Tim know lives in Portland, OR and we got to visit him when we were out there in October. Casey is in San Diago, CA. Tim is a great guitar player, in fact he gave me some of my first lessons. It was great to see him do a tune with Joe.
Tim & Casey Rooney all the way from the West Coast for Xmas @ TBocks
Joe did a show on Thursday at Checker in Cedar Rapids. I missed it, I was sick with a cold. I think all the bad weather caught up with me.
Joe and PJ owner of Checkers Tavern Cedar Rapids We ended the year in Cedar Rapids with a show at the Legion Arts. Bajae Fleming and her partner Jackie opened. They sounded just great together. They don't do a duo to often, but they sure could. They had a full sound and Bajae is a great guitarist. Pieta Brown headlined and she was joined by Bo Ramsey. These two are dear friends. Joe and Bo go back to the beginnings, they were in their first real bands together. Pieta just keeps growing and getting better every time I see her. The center had a display of Sandy Dyas' photos from her new book of Iowa Musicians, so she came down in support of the show. What a way to bring in the New Year, lots of good food, liguor, champaine and dancing!!!!
Bo and Pieta Legion Arts New Years
November 2007 We stuck pretty close to home in November and too be honest it felt good. We played our old haunts and saw lots of friends. We started with our home away from home Murph's Southside in Dubuque. A neighborhood bar that hosts good music, it's a place were Joe and I fell comfortable. Pam the owner is so good to us, can't wait until we return in May. The next night we headed over to Bierstube in Moline. It was good to see old friends Jeanne and Mike, Bob Covemaker stopped by and our new friend Pam. I drank some really good wine there, nice selection. We had a wild time in Lanesboro at the Bike Conference. We played for folks from across the country that organize bike rides cross country - like Ragbrii in Iowa. They sure have a good time, I know the rides must be a ball. Benji and Aaron stopped by it was good to see them and then we ran into a Waldron at the bar later that night, they are everywhere. We played a new venue for us the Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield, IA. This is a great little coffee house that host concerts. Merit and Steve are welcoming folks. They had just returned from an extended vacation in Italy were Steve bought a great pair of pants. Steve moved from California for college in Iowa in the 70's and made Fairfield his home. Glad he did since they bring that west coast feel I love to the Midwest. The next night it was George's in Iowa City. This was one of those magical nights when all our friends come out. Greg Brown, Pieta Brown, Bo Ramsey, Ben Ramsey, Dave Huckfeldt, Mary Larson and Sonny Lot were the musicians in the audience. Good friends including Jerry (who arrived late) Sandy and Sara, Bumps (enjoying his retirement) and many more all kept us our toes till 2 in the morning. What a fun night. Thank you Mike for having us. We went down to Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls and began recording new CD's this month. Tom and Kitty are great people to work with and we really like the new studio. Joe and I will each be releasing new CD's sometime this year. It is exciting to be back in the studio.
We did our first Thanksgiving show at a new club in Decorah, IA; Club Pyramid. The night was a success and we are hoping to make it an annual event. We also did a show at the Main Entrance this month. I can't say enough about this club. I have been going there and playing there for 25 years. It is a music venue known throughout the upper Midwest. We ended the month with a Monday night show at Luther College in support of Sandy Dyas book signing at the college. It sure was a Friday night feel on a Monday night. Not bad for a Non alcohol establishment. We got to jam with our good buddy Radislov Lorkavic. Listen for him on Mountain Stage on Public Radio. He will be playing piano for Odetta. October 2007 Well we did our first coast to coast tour this month and boy are we tired! We had the real pleasure of opening shows for Greg Brown the entire month of October and it was exhilarating. Of course things don't always run smoothly. We were just getting ready to head out to Washington state when our van decided it wasn't going to start. We had it towed to the garage, but they just couldn't figure out what was wrong (it ended up being a distributor cap). My little Neon's engine light had been on for a few weeks, so I took it the garage to find out what was wrong the afternoon before we had to leave. It was nothing major and could wait until we got home to be fixed, so we loaded all our amps, guitars, CD's and luggage and took off on our 4,775 mile tour to Washington and Oregon. The Neon is a great little get-around-town car, but not so much fun long distance. When Joe was driving his knees kept hitting the steering wheel and you had to nap sitting up. We have a bunk in our van and are used to taking turns driving and sleeping, allowing us to make good time. Also, we don't get a hotel every night on the road, the truck stops now offer parking for campers, so we just pull in and sleep for the night. We get up in the morning and shower at the truck-stop, eat breakfast and we are on our way. Not that I'm complaining about a hotel every night, but it does seem a waste when your only gonna sleep and shower. We would take Interstate 90 coast to coast this month. We had never traveled to the west on this highway so it was new territory. We saw Little Big Horn and the movie set for "Dance's with Wolves". We really had to fly out though since we were way behind schedule because of our car trouble. We literally drove all the way out and got to the first show in Winthrop, OR about an hour and a half before sound check. We saw a lot of fire on the way out. A large grass fire in South Dakota, a forest fire in Utah and right as we came into Winthrop we drove through an area that was still smoldering from a burn. We began the tour playing at the Winthrop Barn in Winthrop, WA. On the drive from Spokane to Winthrop we stopped to see the Grand Coulee Dam. When you see it you just can't imagine us creating something like it today. If the people who had designed and constructed this were alive today, New Orleans would already be rebuilt. As we stood on the bridge looking at the dam we both thought about Woody Guthrie. Traveling here to write his collection of songs about construction of the damn. "This Land is your Land, This Land is my Land."
Grand Coulee Dam Winthrop is a beautiful mountain village. It has been redone like an old west movie set. Kind of a strange feeling, I would imagine, if you lived there; but fun for the tourist. We headed back to Spokane for a sold-out show at the Bing Crosby Theatre. Bing Crosby began his career as the drummer in the house orchestra at this theatre. One day the band leader heard him sing and took him off the drums and put him out front. The rest is history. The theatre has been lovingly restored and is beautiful to look at and one of the best sounding venues we have ever played. Joe and I were warmly received here and got a standing ovation. I just can't tell you what a great feeling that is. It really makes you feel humble that you get to do this for a living. I have to admit to you that I found eastern Washington a barren moonscape. When we drove from Spokane to Eugene the landscape was just desolate until we hit the Oregon border. You follow the Columbia River almost the entire drive. The Columbia is magnificent. I had no idea the river was this large and long. Growing up on the Mississippi this was the first river I have seen I felt could compare. Once you hit Oregon the landscape becomes a lush tropical deciduous forest. We saw beautiful waterfalls, big horn sheep and lush vegetation. In Eugene we played the McDonald Theatre. Once again Greg sold the show out and that would be the case the entire month. Greg has a large and loyal audience. They were very kind to Joe and I, especially since they were there to see Greg. I do want to say that Greg is one of the most generous, kind people I have had the pleasure of knowing. He is pretty easy going and tells wonderful stories that kept us in stitches. He would end the nights shows by having Joe come out and play a song with him. Then he showed Joe the kindness of letting Joe do the last song of the night and Greg would accompany him. I don't know many musicians that generous or that confident in themselves. Thank you Greg for being such a good friend. My cousins on my Dad's side of the family all showed up in Eugene. It was sure good to see Jeanie, Cathy, Mary Jo, Ray and Tim. Sally I'm sorry you didn't make it and hope your surgery came out well. Next we went to Portland. I have an old friend Tim Rooney who lives there. He came down to the Aladdin Theater to see us perform and invited us to a BBQ at his house the next afternoon, which we took him up on. Tim is married to a Japanese American, Connie. He collects oral histories in the Japanese community in Portland (an Iowan that speeks Japanese!) and had just finish a project interviewing Japanese Americans that fought in WWII. The BBQ was a great time and we met a lot of interesting people. The food was wonderful and so beautiful to look at it was almost hard to ruin it by eating. Thanks for the great time Tim and Connie!!!
Greg had left us on Sunday morning, but we stuck it out another
day to play the Kenton Club. This is the bar were Rachel Welch went during
the filming of the Rollerblade movie. Andy Fish is a young musician who
saw us at T-Bocks last year for Christmas. She had mentioned she would
help us get a gig if we came out her way. I gave her an email and she
booked us the show. She and her friend Dylan were just wonderful. You can hear
some of Andy's music here:
Andy & Dylan @ the Kenton Club There were quite a few Iowa people there including Jim Mellick formerly from Waukon, Ia. and Codie Sanders who went to school in Lansing with our boy Keni. Whenever we run into Iowa folk traveling, which is quite often, they usually express how much they miss it. I sure wish our state could develop enough economically to keep it's young people. Anyway thanks to all of you for coming out!!!! We made the long drive home and got back on Wednesday, October 17th. On the evening of the 18th we headed out for a show with Greg in Bloomington, IN. We got caught in traffic about an hour from the gig and ended up being a little late!!!! Something we haven't had happen too often. We were playing the Bluebird Club. It was our first time playing a bar show with Greg and we did have fun!!!! Once again the audience was welcoming. Thanks to all of you. On Saturday morning we drove back to Davenport,IA to do a show at the Redstone Room. This was in support of Sandy Dyas' book signing. She had her photos up in the Gallery and gave a presentation. Then it was into the Red Stone for a show with "the Pines" (Ben Ramsey and Dave Huckfeldt), Joe and I and Dave Zollo. It was good to see everyone and get the opportunity to hear them play. We got home on Monday and Tuesday afternoon we left for Vermont. We played the Bobcat Restaurant in Bristol on Thursday. Joe and I had played there about a year ago and it was good to come back. We stayed with our friends Jen and Curtis. They have a lovely home in the woods, off the grid with a wind generator and solo panels. They have 4 boys and need a lot of elbow room. Low, a Buddhist monk was staying at their place. He was very entertaining and gave a wonderful description of a hang over. When asked the next morning how he felt he replied," Very Heavy." Joe said, "That's funny, Low, you were light as a feather last night." They also have a young friend Aidan, who plays lap steel, that spent the evening with us. The next day it was a short drive to Burlington to play the club Higherground. Vermont was spectacular this time of year. The colors were breath taking in the sparkling fall sunshine. Joe saw a moose on the way over, his goal for the trip. I was driving and missed her. The next day we headed to Somerville, MA for a show at the Somerville Theater. Despite the competition with the world series Greg packed the place again. We ended our tour at the perfect venue. A very small club in Great Barrington, MA called the Club Helsinki. It reminded Joe & I of our favorite bar, The Main Entrance in Prairie du Chien, WI. Very small and intimate. Marc the owner and all of his help were so nice. It was Halloween and some of them were in costume. One waitress was dress as a Samari and cracked me up everytime she came by. It was the perfect ending to a great run. Thank you Greg Brown!!!!
GREG AND JOE END THE NIGHT AT THE HIGHERGROUND September 2007 We have had the pleasure of playing for several weddings this summer. Because I am not sure if someone would want their wedding discussed here, I haven't said anything. Just know that these are not just special events for the couples, but for Joe and I. It is a real honor to be included in someone's wedding plans. It is a special day for everyone and it means so much to be a part of that. We love you all and wish you all many happy years together. The month started with the Big Top Chautauqua Tent Show in Bayfield, WI. Joe opened for Greg Brown. The Big Top is played on National Public Radio so listen for the show. It was a full house and we saw some familiar faces from Madeline Island. The crowd really enjoyed Joe. One guy told Joe he had never like the blues, but Joe made him change his mind. Greg's performance was soooo goood. There is a reason so many people love him. When they closed the night out together it was over the top. It was good to see Jody and his family and our buddy Carl Holmstead, the artist from Decorah.
Pictures taken by Bill Ball at the tent We did a two week tour of Colorado around a our performance at the Telluride Blues and Brew Festival. We did our first show at Swallow Hill Music in Denver. The turn - out was small but fun and they want us to come back. We are hoping for a better crowd next time around. Next we did our first show in Colorado Springs at the Front Range BBQ. Brian the owner moved from Alabama, having a love of real BBQ he decided to open his own place. I got to try my first Artichoke Heart. He smokes them, then serves them with a ranch style sauce, delicious. I will definitely have those again. We performed outside and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Next we were up to Dillon at the Red Mountain Grill. Andrew at the Summit Daily did a nice article on us and we had a good crowd. Then we went to visit our old friend Dave McIntyre in Lyons. Dave books Oskar Blues and we have done several shows for him. We are always treated so well at this club, we feel like we are visiting old friends. We made some new friends including Chad who works at Oskar's and was going to be serving the Oskar Brews at the Telluride Fest. Some Iowa folks and Luther alumni showed up too, thank you! On Monday we came down from Lyons and were coming through Denver when the "White House" (our van) broke down. It was 5:00 rush hour and we are on the interstate, bummer. We're clipping right along when Joe says, "Oh, F!!!!!!. I have my foot to the floor and nothing is happening." He managed to get over and off and got us pulled into a parking lot. We called triple A, they sent us a tow truck. The guy driving was a young kid who had moved from Tennessee (no on is actually from Colorado, I don't think they are allowed to give birth in the state.) He got us to a Chevy dealer, by then it was 6:30 and they were closing in a half hour. They let us sleep in the van in their lot, Joe wasn't leaving it there unprotected. In the morning they got us right in. It was the fuel pump which is in the gas tank. They fixed it and we were back on the road; it did shoot our day off. About a week later Joe says, "Vicki, I think our gas gauge is working." This was a surprise since it has never worked and we have to keep track of our mileage so we don't run out. I said, "They must have fixed it when they did the fuel pump. Leave it to us to take a week to notice." On Thursday we were playing the Taos Inn in Taos, NM. Deonne at the Taos News had done an interview with us for her column The Hum. We actually called her from a roadside rest area on the way out to Colorado and did the interview. We also did Brad Hockmeyer's show on the KTAOS radio station. This station is solar powered. They also sponsor the Taos Solar Festival. Brad's show is relaxed and fun. He likes people to feel like they are just over hearing a conversation, I think he pulls it off. Friday we were at our old stomping grounds in Durango, CO the 8th Avenue Tavern. Phil we missed you!!!!! Saturday we left for Telluride we had to play at 3:10 in the afternoon. It is about 2 hours from Durango to Telluride. Somehow, Joe and I got turned around in Durango (this seems to happen often, may have to investigate) and ended up taking the scenic route to Telluride. This involved 60 miles of narrow, snaking mountain road. The guy that built it had never heard of a guard rail or a center line. We were not the only people that had to be lost. I just can't believe anyone would knowingly drive an RV on this road and we kept meeting them. Joe and I were pretty frazzled by the time we made Telluride and had to drink a few Guinness' before we went on stage just to get our hands to quite sweating. I had a terrible time when we took Highway 1 in California. Joe was afraid he would have dropped me at the shrinks, but he couldn't pry my fingers loose of the "Oh Shit" strap. I did better this time. Greg Brown had told me he doesn't like to fly, so he has to turn it down to 2 until the flight is over, then he can turn it back to 9. So for the entire ride to Telluride, Joe drove and I sat in my seat visualizing my amplifier and continually turning the knob back to 2, it kepting jump up to 11 (see Spinal Tap the movie) and I would have crank it back down. I was so busy working the knob I didn't have time to look around. The shows at Telluride were a ball. The first day we had a wonderful reception. People were banging on the stage and dancing, it was so exciting. At 9:00 Sunday morning we played the Elks Club. They were serving a breakfast. This was a great sounding room and much more fun than we expected. We really had fun playing, but I doubt we will ever make morning shows a regular thing though, your so sleepy it is almost an out-of-body experience. (Dave Hurley if you read this get in touch we want to come to Texas). That afternoon Joe played solo after Honey Boy Edwards. This was a tough spot. People were loving Honey Boy and didn't want him to get off the stage. The stage manager sent Joe out, I was sure glad it was him and not me. Joe did his best and I think they liked him. Telluride is magnificent!!! This is awe-inspiring views and sure makes you feel small. When they named them the "Rockies", they must have seen Telluride.
TELLURIDE POSTER 2008 On the 22nd we played the Monmouth Heroes Blues Fest in Monmouth IL. This is the first year for this fest and Paul and his crew threw a good one. There was a good selection of players including our old friend Catfish Keith. It's been years since we got to do show with him. The fest was held a the Rivoli Theatre, which has just been remodeled. It is a beautiful venue, and A real surprise in this small community. We sure hope they can keep this fest going.
CAT & JOE MONMOUTH FEST
August 2007 The first weekend of August we were back at Tom's Burned Down on Madeline Island. Every year my sisters, Connie and Amy, pick a weekend a come on tour with us. This year they made the trip to Madeline Island to celebrate Connie's first mammogram after her cancer treatment, which came back good. We had our usual good time; made new friends and they fell in love with the island, the bar and of course Tom. My favorite sign at Tom's (the club is full of them) says: "Last person to leave, please turn off Tom". He is one great guy and has a new son who is just a doll. Madeline is a magical island, a place were you would never regret spending some time. Next we went to Minneapolis and did our friend Harold's radio program. Then we headed to the 331 to share a bill with his band the "Stunt Pilots". They play old time blues - right up our alley. The next day we all took off for the Bay Front Blues Fest in Duluth. The fest grounds are right on the Lake, hard to beat the view. We ran into an old friend Charlie Parr, who did a great set of Delta blues. Cephias and Wiggins were our favorites, they reminded us of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. Old School! That night we played the Dubh Linn, Harold got up and did some tunes with Joe, don't be surprised if you hear him on Joe's next CD.
Joe & Vicki with Charlie Parr @ Bayfront On our way home we stopped of at the Joint in La Crosse and shared the show with "Cheech" Hall. He got up a played some tunes with Joe and sounded great. If you are in La Crosse look him up. http://www.thesmokinbandits.net/ We did our first show at the Sugar Grove Winery outside Newton, IA. Our son Keni and his wife Andrea came down with us. It was great to spend some time with them and they had enough fun, they want to do it again. Joe and I would love that. Bajae Fleming opened for us and got things going. She is a fine musician and greatly unappreciated in Iowa, we hope more people will go see her!!!! The winery has a great outdoor venue but if the weather is bad things can move inside. They do music all summer, you might want to check it out. River Roots Music Festival in Davenport was held on August 24th. It was good to hear our friends "The Pines". Dave Huckfeldt and Ben Ramsey are fellow Iowans now making their home in Minneapolis. They were just signed to Red House Records. Bo Ramsey sat in with the band. It was so much fun to watch the father and son making music together. Kevin Gordan also played so it was reunion time. Someone posted Joe and I playing our set on YouTube, you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEJfw8cmbP0&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8-PDfTn-ik
June/July 2007 Somehow I got a little behind on this blog. Life has been very hectic these last couple of months but I will try to bring you up-to-date. We started out June at the West Towne Pub in Ames. This is a new club and very nice. They have good food and a great selection of beers. Bejae Fleming and Jackie came down to see us. It is always so good to see them. We will be doing a show with them in August at the Sugar Grove Winery in Newton, IA and can't wait. Bejae is one of my favorite song writers and a great guitarist; when Jackie joins in on bass you just can't beat it. Our next stop was the Famous Dave's Blues and BBQ Fest in Minneapolis. What a great one day, free fest!!! Check it out next summer, it is a beautiful venue in a park of fountains in down town Minneapolis. Great music and of course lots of BBQ. We had the privilege of spending the afternoon listening to Big Time Sara from Chicago tell us stories about working with some of the blues greats. Sara told a tale of JB Hutto stopping a performance because he lost his diamond tooth. He told the audience that the show wasn't going to happen until the tooth was found. So everyone got down and started looking. The tooth was retrieved and JB played on. The line up at the fest included Eddy "the Chief" Clearwater, Ron Thompson and Sir Mac Rice. Our friend Harold Tremblay played with his band The Sumit Stunt Pilots, they were great. Harold is a REAL harmonica player and a joy to listen to. We spent a weekend on Madeline Island at Tom's Burned Down Bar. This is in Lake Superior and truly Superior. Then we did a show for Kristy at the Creekside in Davenport. Kristy has been a member of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society for years, she worked at the River Music Experience and now owns the Creekside. Kristy has plenty of good music so drop in if you are in Davenport. The same weekend we played a show at Isabella's in Dubuque. This is a great sounding room and they are hosting some fine music. They also have a poetry and a speak your mind night. The last week of June we headed for California, what a trip. We drove straight out and arrived in Santa Rosa just in time for Joe to do Bill Bowker's radio show. Rayne Wolfe at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat had done an article on Joe and our tour, so with that and Bill's radio spot we had a good turn out a the Tradewinds in Cotati. This club has music 7 nights a week. Joe's old buddy and fellow guitarist Phil Ajioka came down and sat in on a couple of songs. It was his 60th birthday, although he sure don't act that old.
PHIL AND JOE BOOGIE AT THE TRADEWINDS Next we headed to Point Reyes Station to play the Old Western. We did a little spot for Jeff Morrison's show on WKMR radio and that brought some people out to the Old Western. This bar has been in business since the 1800's. Craig and Emily our favorite bar-tenders took great care of us. Jerry books the club and came on down to hear us play. Point Reyes and Bolinas are both in a nature reserve and this is our favorite place in California. It is very hilly with lots of forest, animals and ocean. On Sunday we headed up to Guerneville, CA to do a show at the Stump Town Brewery. Deanna and Mark, owners of the Stump Town, had read the article in the Press Democrat and emailed to see if we would play their place, so we booked it at the last minute. We played on the large deck overlooking the Russian River, just picture book perfect. Then they let us camp out right on the shore below their deck. Joe woke up in the morning and there was an Osprey flying right down the river. What a dream. Last summer we met a couple of guys from the Mill Valley area. They had heard us on KPIG radio and came down to Bolinas to hear us play. Anyway Don and Steve offered us a place to stay, so having a day off we headed down to Steve and Joann's home right down the street from Don. They put us up (or should I say put up with us) in their guest house by the pool. Steve is a great cook and did BBQ for us. Don came over and entertained with tall tales about musicians. Meeting people like these guys is one of the perks of being on the road. What nice folks, good food, drink and conversation. It don't get no better than this. Can't thank them enough. Next we were off to Bolinas for the 4th of July!!!!! What a party. We took Highway 1 from Kentfield to Bolinas. Between Stinson beach and Bolinas we saw seals sunning on sandbars out in the bay. We pulled off and watched them with our binoculars. We are going to have to buy another pair, it was embarrassing wrestling the binoc's out of Joe's hands, while tourist drive by. The 4th of July events get going early in the morning, everyone heads to the beach for the tug-of-war. There is a very narrow inlet on the Bay between Bolinas and Stinson Beach. They have an annual tug-of-war every 4th, seeing which bunch of nuts is going to swim with the sharks. Bolinas has won 8 years in a row and did not disappoint us this year, winning both the ladies and men's tug. This is very serious business, not to be taken lightly. Honor is at stake. We all headed back to main street for the parade. Bolinas is a very small town about 3 blocks long with a very narrow main street. The crowd of spectators barely left room for the parade to make it's way down the center of the street. It is definitely an everyone participates event. There were Mardigras Girls, including the Brazilian Rio Queen of Madigras. Joe has decided that Iowa parades need to get rid of the tractors and go for the naked ladies. There were folks with Bush and Cheney masks chanting, "IMPEACH NOW", while passing out peaches to the crowd. The Bolinas Navy was represented by a Kayak on wheels. This was one fun parade.
BOLINAS 4TH OF JULY PARADE, NOTHING LIKE AN IOWA PARADE The rest of the day was full of food and lots of music. We ended up the evening playing at Smiley's Schooner Tavern. This is the oldest continually operating bar in California and there are 100's of reasons why it has been doing business for so long. Mostly I would say it is the cast of characters that inhabit the bar. Bolinas is most definitely a universe unto itself. Next we headed to San Francisco for 4 nights in 4 great venues with some really fine musicians. Chewy, whom we met on our last trip to California made it all possible. He is a really wonderful musician and person. He and wife Kim had seen us at Ireland's 32 and Smiley's last year. Chewy said, "Let me know when you are coming out again and I will book some shows in SF." He was as good as his word and spent 4 days preaching the Joe Price gospel. We want to thank Kim for turning him loose, since they have a brand new baby boy at home. We started out at the Argus. This is a very small, intimate space that remind us of the Main Entrance in Prairie du Chien, WI. Chewy's group "King City" opened for us and boy did they surprise us!!!! All the members come out of punk bands and they wanted to do something different. They play what they call cartoon music. It is a fast pace, jazzy very technical sound and did these guys nail it. It was just plain fun. Everyone is a top notch musician and able to dazzle. Our old friends the Fitzpatrick brothers, formerly of Iowa City, came down; it is always good to see them. Jeff had just gotten back from the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest in Davenport, a chance to visit Iowa & hear great music. He just went on & on about what a world class fest it is and what a perfect location on the river. The next night we played the Picker's Picnic Festival held at the Bottom of the Hill. This club was chosen by Rolling Stone Magazine as the best place to hear live music in SF. Can't say I would argue with that. Craig Ventresco with Meredith Axelrod kicked the night off with some music from the past. I am not talking classic rock, but tunes from the 1800's. Craig has perfected the chugging jazz chords and smooth leads. He was definitely Joe's favorite guitar player of the weekend, and that is saying a lot because we heard nothing but fine stuff. Meredith's voice was perfect for this music and just took you back in time. Next up was "Gaucho". This is a Django and Hot Club style of band. I must say Joe and I were both nervous about following these guys, they were sooo good. Of course King City did a blazing set also. What a night of great musicians playing great music. On Saturday we played the Rite Spot on Folsum. When we pulled up in front, I must say, the club didn't look like much from the outside. But walking through the front doors was like Alice going through the looking glass. Inside is a beautiful room in deep red, with wonderful art work on the walls, white table clothes and candles. Annie, the owner, is the "hostess with the mostess". She serves great food and good drinks. The room is a pleasure to perform in with warm acoustics. Scott Young a fellow Iowan from Keokuk opened for us. Can this guy sing, it was just a pleasure to hear him and he writes really funny songs. Scotts father was a choral director and taught him to sing. Training pays off, Scott can do amazingly beautiful things with his voice. He also does the best Popeye the Sailor I have heard. At the Rite Spot we met some wonderful folks, of course I cannot remember all their names, but Lydia sent me this pic of Joe and Chewy playing that night. I hope we see that gang again.
Our last night was at the Amnesia on Valencia. This is another club that has music every night of the week. Sol was behind the bar and made our visit so comfortable. Once again it was top notch music. All in all I would have to say that the live music scene in San Francisco is one of the best anywhere. We can't wait to go back. Tommy a friend of a friend of ours stopped in. He and Rick Zollo (Dave Zollo's father - Dave is a musician and started Trailer Records) are long time buddies, Rick had Tommy come see us last year at Ireland's 32 and Tommy came out again to see us at the Amnesia, thanks for the support Tommy! The temperature in San Fran leaves much to be desired. All the clubs have candles and I soon realized it was to keep the customers from freezing to death. The people are warm and welcoming and make this a world class city. On our return home we played a wedding for Dan Huck and his new wife Stephanie Elliot. The reception was held at the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah, IA. What a beautifully restored hotel. The reception room was fabulous. The Huck family are all die-hard Joe Price fans so we just had a really great time. We had the privilege of playing the "Homegrown in Iowa" concert series in Perry, Iowa on the 20th of July. This series brings together the musicians who appear in Sandra Dyas' new book "Back to the River - Portraits of Iowa Musicians." We shared the stage with two old friends, Dave Moore and Radaslov Lorkavic. On Thursday night we went to the Carnegie Library in Perry to see Sandy's photos on exhibition and to hear her speak about the new book. Friday we were interviewed for a film being made around the Music series and then that evening we played. A big thank you to Justeen Zimmer and the town of Perry for their support of Iowa artist.
SANDY DYAS IN FRONT OF CARNEGIE LIBRARY IN PERRY, IA. A LARGER THAN LIFE POSTER OF BO RAMSEY ANNOUNCES THE EXHIBITION.
Radaslov, Vicki, Joe and Dave take a bow at Perry
May 2007 On April 28th we hosted a benefit for Vicki's sister, Connie Rocksvold. Connie was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. Our son Keni joined us playing drums. Friends and family donated auction items, food and support. This was a huge success, we raised over $5000. To everyone we give a big thank you for your help!!!!!!
We did our first show at the Baxter Bike night hosted by O'Krilly's Steak and Pub in Baxter Iowa. They host music every nice Weds. of the summer and people ride their motorcycles down for some BBQ, music and beer. The event is co-sponsored by the South Skunk Blues Society.
Next we did a concert at Aunt Annie's Quilts in Avon, MN. Lucy runs the quilt shop and her and her husband with the help of friends host concerts. They had great food and drink. I browsed the beautiful quilts Lucy creates. Our friends Mark and Rose with their crew showed up, what fun.
The next weekend we spent close to home at the Main Entrance in Prairie du Chien and George's in Iowa City. Fockel, owner of the Main, sat in with us on some very fine guitar. He played Joe's ResoLectric and loved it!!! If you are a guitar player you should really try one of these guitars, we just love ours. Rick Ciccalo the mayor of Washington, IA sat in on the upright bass with us at George's in Iowa City. If you've been to George's you know we were pretty crowded but it's a guaranteed good time. On the 18th we played T-Bocks in Decorah. Standing room only and lots of dancers. Just what we like. On the 19th we played the Starlite in LaCrosse. This bar has a definite 70's theme, with turquoise blue tucked leather and orange globe fixtures. I keep waiting for Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to walk in. The last week of the month we headed west. Our first stop was the Taos Inn in Taos, NM. We had so many old friends and some new ones at this show. Of course Doc and Rebecca brought the whole crew down. John and Jeanne Combo from Phoenix showed up, what a treat. We will be doing a house concert at John and Jeanne's Phoenix home next February. We met artist Pat Woodall and his wife Carmen, you can view Pat's work at Pat Woodall-Fine Art. Next we hit the 8th Avenue Tavern in Durango, CO. Phil runs the place, he was hot at pool that night and hot on the harp. We ended May at The Silver City Blues Fest in Silver City, NM. Got to see our Iowa Friend Julie McIntyre and meet her family. We met a great musician, Alice Stuart from Washington state. She can really play guitar. We played right before John Hammond. John remembered Joe from a the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest about 20 years ago. He was impressed with the way Joe got everyone dancing. A big thanks to Faye McClamont and the Mimres Art Council for having us. Alison Trombley provided us the pictures below:
April 2007 Wow another month flies by and did we have some fun. Steve Henning from Davenport hosted a great birthday party in Davenport. He gets younger everyday. The Horse Shoe in Calmar was a small town Friday night good time. We had the pleasure of giving a concert in Winona at the Blue Heron Restaurant. This place has a big city feel in a not so big city, good food and good sound. In Wykoff Minnesota we preformed at their new art center. This is located in the old St. Killians Church. It has been redone beautifully by Judy and Joe. They moved back to the Midwest from California and heard the church was up for sale. They fell in love with it and created St. Killians Art Center. What a gift to the community. It was really a good turn out and it was sure nice to see everyone get out of the house and have a community get together. We had a ball opening for Greg at Cambridge and Rochester. He is so good. It was fun too because Greg was playing an old flying V that he found in an antique store in Kansas City. Sounded great. It is always such an honor and pleasure to share the stage with GB and we hope we can do it again. We ended the month at a new restaurant in Dubuque, DaVinci's. This is in the old Christian Scientist church and is absolutely beautiful. For a real upscale evening try it!!!
March 2007 We did a cooperate party for Badger Corrugating at the Lacrosse Civic Center to kick off March. We had a good time and if I was looking for a job I think working for these folks would be ok. JR's was the first Saturday of March and as usual it was a good time with some good friends. JR sat in on guitar he has a touch for the blues. His father Pete Rose was in the band the Buckaroos many years ago, I used to go dance to them all the time. Jody's got the music in him too. Fockel and Teak, owners of the Main in Prairie du Chien, came out for a date. It was a typical musicians date, Fockel threw his guitar in the trunk and they came down to JR's. We hit the ski resorts in Keystone, CO again this winter. We play the summit house which is like a million feet in the air. We have to get our stuff on a gondalia to ride to the top. Not easy because they hate to stop those things. Once we are at the top we have to throw stuff off while moving. We also played a new resturant in Dillion, The Red Moutain Grill. Guitarist Moe Dixon, came down to hear Joe play slide. It was great meeting him, he feels like an old friend. Moe just purchased a ResoLectric with our encouragement. He says he is playing slide everyday. Nothing for inspiration like a new guitar. I tell folks buy the best guitar you can afford. Joe says "Hell, buy the one you can't afford." On the 16th we played the Main in Prairie du Chien. It's hard to explain what this place means to the musicians in the area. They have hosted live music for over 30 years. Joe and I always look forward to playing there, we just never get tired of it. On Sunday we headed to Chicago, we started the day playing on WNUR Radio the Ron Lewis show, what a great host. Next we went over and played a great club, Bill's Blues in Evanston. Nancy Emrich that does the booking is a big fan of Iowa music and we thank her and Bill and his wife for having us. We had some die hard fans show up and we have photographic proof!!!
The Creekside in Davenport was our next stop. Kristy Adams runs this place and despite the fact she was not going to have live music, she has turned it into a great music venue. Kristy has been a member of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society and worked at the River Music Experience, she just can't get away from the Blues. We saw a lot of members from the MVBS and want to give them a big thanks for their continuing support. The last weekend of March we did a show at the MShop in Ames. Our good friend Bajae Fleming and her partner Jackie opened for us. They are so good and always a pleasure to hear. Our buddy Gene and his daughter from DesMoines were down, along with brother John and his gang of blues bandits. The next night we played Marty's a Luther College in Decorah, IA. Dave Lester blew a little harp. We had lots of dancers, including my nieces Amanda & Allie and my nephew Skylar. We ended the month with a bang at the Root River Saloon in Lanesboro.
February 2007 Winter is wearing on, this year it actually feels like an Iowa winter. We started out the month with a bang. We shared a show with the "Smokin' Bandits" at a great new club in LaCrosse called "The Animal House". We met Gregg Hall, their lead guitarist a few months ago at a private party. We really liked his stuff, he was playing solo that night. These guys draw a great crowd of people with good reason and it was sure a treat to open for them. We'll be doing it again!!! Our next show was at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. The 400 has been a main-stay of music in the Cities for many years and Tom gave us a golden opportunity when he offered to have us share a show with Spider John Koener and Tony Glover. They are the real deal when it comes to folk music. It was just a joy to hear them perform and to hear stories about the days when Bob Dillon roamed the streets of Minneapolis. Ben Ramsey and Dave Huckfeldt, music duo "The Pines", came down for the show and then we went to Dave's house for some beer and tunes. The Pines have just signed with Red House Records so please look for their new release.
JOE AND I WITH SPIDER JOHN
On Feb. 9 we helped our good buddy Dennis Fowbe celebrate his birthday. He is the president of the South Skunk Blues Society and he hosted a fund raising party with us and the Hot Tamales. What a good time!!!! We had the best Enchiladas in the world. Whistle Binkies in Rochester was another blow-out. It had been sometime since we had played up there so everyone came out. Our friends Eric and Tasha even made the trip from Minneapolis. Peter Lee, who took our new promo pic, treated us to a BBQ dinner before the show. What a night. Next we hit Checkers in Cedar Rapids. PJ the owner of Checkers has hosted "Blue Sunday" for years. He does it for the love of the music and we can't thank him enough. Ralph and Jerry came up from Iowa City, out enjoying their retirement. If you live in the area try to take in a Blue Sunday at Checkers. We headed for St. Louis on Feb. 15th for a show at Bill Christman's Studio. Bill does sculpture with a sense of satire and humor. We just loved his work. He shows at the City Museum in downtown St. Louis and took us for a tour of this remarkable art venue. This is a place were children laugh and run; and the parents enjoy the magical art. It is truly a destination for the entire family. We had so much fun.
Bill's Studio is eye candy for the soul. Filled with his artwork, he designed the entire space. He opens it every Thursday night for a live music performance. During the summer months he has a fantastical beer garden area that will soon sport a 9 hole mini golf course. This man's imagination has no end.
MY FAVORITE PIECE OF BILLS WORK. I'M A HEDONIST AT HEART A LOOK INSIDE THE STUDIO DURING OUR SHOW On Friday night we played at BB's Jazz, Soups and Blues in Downtown St. Louis. John May one of the owners gave us the tour of their new remodeling that is in progress. They have opened up the ceiling into the second floor, which will now house a bar. You can sit up there with a drink and have a balcony seat for the music down below. They will also add a second story veranda over looking the St. Louis Arch in one direction and the new stadium in the other. This will be a real feel of the French Quarter. Be sure to check out their calendar, you might want to make a weekend run to St. Louis. Take in some music, eat wonderful food at BB's and then visit the City Museum. That would be our recommendation! We ended the month at the Captain Merry's Inn in East Dubuque. They treated us so fine! The heated toilet seat almost gave Joe a heart attack. Bill and Dee Dee hosted Bill's birthday bash that night. Some fans from The Busted Lift also showed up along with our old friend Greg Eggers. We played pretty much acoustic so the show had a real "in your living-room" feel.
JOE SETS UP UNDER A CHRYSTAL CHANDELIER OUR WONDERFUL BARTENDERRESS "T" MADE THE NIGHT A CAPTAIN MERRY'S MERRY!!!!!
Unfortunately, a major winter storm blew in and we were forced to cancel our last two shows of the month. That is something we have only had to do a couple of times over the years. We rebooked Isabella's in Dubuque for June 8th at 8:00 and are in the process of rebooking The Sunset Tavern in Black River Falls. We want to thank Chad at Isabella's and Scott at the Sunset for being so understanding. I guess we will spend the rest of Feb. snowed in.
January 2007 New Years kicked of at the Irish Shanty in Gunder, Ia. I missed the show, sick with that cold virus that was making the rounds. Joe said he had a great time. Thanks to Kevin and his family for having us. On the 10th we headed up to St. Cloud, MN to do a concert for the Granite City Folk Society. These people are serious music fans and it is really fun to play for them. The club has been in existence for over 25 years. John Forsyth, the owner of Bo Diddley's Deli, hosts the concert series. He was telling us about having Greg Brown play there in the 80's and 20 people were at his first show. They had the pleasure of watching Greg's career grow over the years. Joe was sitting at the bar and all at once he says, "Vicki, look what's sitting on the shelf." I leaned over and took a peek. There was a small Harmony 12 string guitar. No strings, no bridge and just what Joe has been searching for. I just shook my head, I couldn't believe it. The planets had shifted course, the stars had come into alignment and Joe had found the instrument he's been dreaming of. Thank goodness John was kind enough to agree to sell the thing, Joe would have driven us all crazy otherwise. Ian Campbell from Australia was the first performer of the night. He is a humorous song writer and story teller, I sure enjoyed his stuff. Charlie Roth stopped by to say hi and invite us over to his show when we were finished. So after we packed up we all drove down the street to the pub Charlie was at. This was our first chance to see Charlie live, we really enjoyed his singing. He has a great voice.
Joe performing for Granite City Folk Society Joe with his new guitar after Kevin Dohse repaired it. We couldn't stay to long though. We had to start making our way south so we could be to Hancher auditorium in time for our sound check the next afternoon. We had the privilege of performing at the Iowa Governor Chet Culver's inauguration celebration. A friend, Rob Sand, who grew up in Decorah listening Joe, worked on the Governors campaign and inaugural celebration. He was kind enough to ask Joe to be a part of the show. We sure were proud to see this young man in such a responsible position. Can't thank you enough Rob.
JOE AND I PERFORMING FOR THE GOVERNOR AT HANCHER AUDITORIUM IN IOWA CITY. We new several of the other acts. Brother Trucker, a Des Moines based band performed in the lobby for the VIP reception. They sounded great. Our friends Pieta Brown and fiddle player Al Murphy both from Iowa City played the main stage. Al has the sweetest fiddle tone in the Midwest. The head-liner was soul man the Reverend Al Green. Boy did he have the place jumpin'!! As we were walking through the Green Room on our way out at the end of the event, we got to meet the new governor and his wife. They thanked us for our show. Governor Culver told Joe he could sure pick a guitar. It was an experience of a life-time and something Joe and I will never forget. There are places on the planet that some people believe channel the energies of the universe and magical things happen. Folks seek these places out like the Sonora Desert of New Mexico or cliffs in the Rocky Mountains. Up were we live it is the Painted Rock south of Harpers Ferry. In the music world one of those spots is Byron's in Pomeroy, IA.
When you pull into Pomeroy you would never guess that this is a magic music destination. Pomeroy is a very small town (700 residents) in central-western Iowa sitting in the middle of a corn field. Most of the buildings on Main Street are boarded up. The post office, the Kaleidoscope Factory and Byron's are the only businesses with "the lights on". (Every magical town has a kaleidoscope factory) The first time Joe took me there I just couldn't believe anyone was going to show up. Saturday Jan. 13th we did our annual Bryon's concert. People begin coming in about 8:45 and by show time the street is full of parked cars and there is no place left to sit down inside. They come from other area small towns for a night of friendship and music at Byron's. No one complains about the ticket price. They are just thankful for this place. Byron host these concerts on the strength of his gentle personality. He loves live music and has infected area residents with his music fever. Every musician we know loves this place. Byron is the kind of guy that meets you at the door and asks what you need to drink. He even had clean towels for Joe to wipe his face with. Byron says, "I know how Joe sweats when he's working." The club has gained such a reputation for music that Byron was telling me Arlo Guthrie may be doing a show this year. The magical part.....they contacted Byron!!!! We had a great time playing, people dancing, drinking and have fun. Check out Byron's website. You may want to stop by and enjoy the energy!!!! Jan. 20th we did our winter concert at Saxon Hall in Brownsville. This is a restored stone building; big timbers, iron work and great people. Byron's serves a wonderful pizza, I think they give the Roadhouse over in De Sota a run for the money!!! Up a flight of hand hewn stairs you'll find the concert hall. Lots of friends from the area showed up and we got a surprise phone call from Rob and Deb Mann. They are usually at our show when we play in Brownsville. They are vacationing in Arizona or Texas, someplace warm and called to tell us why they weren't at the show. Laura and Mike brought down some Lansing folks and old friends from the Popcorn Days in LaCrosse showed up. Washboard Sam and Farmer Frank played some scrubb board. Lisa Blue was there. I hadn't seen her in many years. We even did some dancing. Jan. 27th We did our annual show at Oak Center. We had a duo Al and Ann open for us with some old time country tunes that had my feet tappin'. We had a good crowd and a good time. Steve works hard at these concerts and it shows. Glad to see all of you out and about. Kia and Steve were there and Danny S. showed up too.
This is Oak Center. The concert hall is above the old General Store. It's break time during the show so people buy refreshments, including beer, fresh popped pop-corn and cookies. The gentleman walking toward us in the picture is Steve the owner. All in all the year is off to a good start!
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For Bookings contact Joe Price 563-586-2654 or jpblues@acegroup.cc 1957 Doehler Drive Lansing, IA 52151 |
My sister Connie center
Keni playing drums
Chris and Julie
Baxter
The Bikes at Bike
night
Joe & Vicki
with Lucy and Mopar
Julie McIntyre and Vicki
Joe
gets them dancin'
Joe
& Vicki
Joe @ the everyday circus City Museum
Bill Christman & Joe
