Iowa's only
publication dedicated to the arts & culture/Aug 2007 Issue 8 Volume
5
Lansing couple talks
about life, fate, & being on the road.
BY Aryn Henning
When times are good, fate drives faster than a Hudson
Hornet on a highway with no limits. Feet stomp, handlebars get
sawed off, & two people marry music & love to create some damn fine
blues. In 1982, when Joe Price met Vicki Ewing, the universe was
just so positioned.
25 years later Joe & Vicki combine their playing to
create a dynamic, hand-clapping, swinging style of blues that shocks
you right out of your seat.
From their quiet home near Lansing, Vicki adeptly
manages the band with computer skills picked up at a job in a button
factory. With the dawn of the internet age, booking became
easier and Vicki now joins her husband as a full-time musician.
For Joe, Iowa Blues Hall of Fame icon, there was
never another profession.
"I can not go without playing." says 56 year-old Joe.
who's been playing since age 9. He always has his guitar
within reach, ready to learn from just about anyone - his Waterloo
mailman, even Chicago blues legend Earl Hooker.
At age 12 Joe saw Earl Hooker appear at a
neighborhood record store. Hooker played his 45 record, then
showed the dozen people there how it was done. Hooker's advice
to young Joe was to vandalize a bike.
"Earl had a slide he used, but he said if you cut off
a bicycle handle - that works pretty good, too." Joe grins.
Joe's music took off after moving to Iowa City -
first with the Rocket 88's then with the legendary Mother Blues
Band. During the sometime-long breaks with the band Joe
moonlighted. He brought "Grandma," a National steel-body
guitar (procured from a man called Watermelon Dan) to a Waukon gig.
There, he met Vicki a Waukon native.
Vicki was tending bar & during a break, the crowd
chanted, "Let Vicki play!". She got onstage; Joe was blown
away. A year later he moved to northeat Iowa.
"No, not because of me," Vicki laughs.
Vicki's mother, a church organist, exposed Vicki to
different types of music early on and for Vicki, performing goes
back to "Motown moves" with her mother & sister at church &
community events.
Her life intersected with Joe's just as a wild era
had sputtered out. "In the 70's, everybody was mixing up all
them durgs & alcohol & driving 75 - 85 miles an hour. If you
had a good car, you went a hundred," Joe says.
"Now we drive so slow we got passed by a garlic truck
in California," Vicki says wryly. "We were getting lost so
much, we thought if we slowed down we could see the signs."
"We got Telluride Blues & Brews Festival this year.
You can't even submit to Telluride," Vicki says. They
often play Midwestern fests and they're no rookies at these events -
Joe has played more times at the Mississippi Valley Bleus Festival
than any other musician.
Things are pretty great for the Prices, but it's a
lot of work. "Self-employment, I don't think, ever gets easy."
Vicki says. "You always got to be thinking ahead."
Both are working on new records. "I want him to get
record of the year with the International Blues Society." Vicki says
adamantly. Neither claims to want stardom. They just want fun.
"For us, we want people to dance. We want
people to talk. We want people that we know worked hard all
week to enjoy themselves. It's not about us," Joe emphasizes.
"It's about them, ain't it?"
Vicki nods in agreement. "Yep, sure is."
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DESIGNATED DRIVER A
POEM BY PETER ENGEN
well,well,well......could'nt have been a better time, or place for
that matter, to receive the album. The city gets at you, gets
into you, under your skin and into your language, you can't let it
sit and you can't wash it off. I found, however, that you can
blow it completely away with another hard-boiled record from Joe,
the molten core of country blues. Shit, I hear an alligator on
fire, I hear an electric eagle screaming, I hear the ground crying.
I hear the whole of Iowa schuffle and stomp. I see the river
starting to bend. I smell the air, the woods and the earth
that raised me. I see the midnight glow of the strip lift up
and shine through winter. I see the familiar hills of my home.
I play washboard, slapping my stomach with my hands in the shower.
I shake my ass in my briefs at breakfast. I'm on a river boat,
rolling, just rolling, and you know what, that's glorious.
Joe wanted me to share
this picture of him and Hubert Sumlin with you. We had the
chance to meet Hubert at his show at Famous Dave's BBQ in
Minneapolis. I know a friend of Jim Ronans took the photo, but
I can't remember who, so if you are out there let me know and I'll
give you credit were credit is due.
WHAT'S UP?
Joe and Vicki Perform for Governor Chet Culver at his
inaugural celebration held at the Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City.
The photo was taken by our friend Sandy Dyas.
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EMAIL FROM BARRY
Our friend Barry Sharp of Iowa City forwarded an email he
received from his buddy Jim. It was fun to see how people find
us:
I was playing around on my computer, cleaning up old programs, and I
went thru my favorites list to update it and I came across a link to
Amazon.com. I had been there a while ago downloading some free
MP3's. So while I had the link I checked out what was new and ended
up buying some downloads for like .99. Anyway I was in the Blues
section and it was broken down into smaller sub-sections. I clicked
onto Delta Blues and started to browse, when I saw Joe Price!
Pretty Cool!! The album was called 25 Below and I downloaded every
song but one. In checking, the album has a ranking of 14,798 in MP3
albums, but has a ranking of 54 in MP3 Albums>Blues>Delta Blues.
After I was done, I clicked on Joe's name and it listed another
album, Designated Driver, in the MP3 album section. So of course I
had to download more songs. I then followed a link and found 2 more
albums in the CD section (with no downloads), one was "The country
side of Joe Price" and the other was a CD you gave me, Request. Way
to go Joe!! I know you told me you went to Memphis with Joe for
that Blues event he placed 2nd in. I can see why, that boy can
play. So you probably know he has CD's for sale on Amazon.com, but
I was surprised, happy and proud.
We recently performed at the "At the Plaza Blues Fest" in Albany New York. We had the pleasure of seeing Ann Rabson perform there. Ann is a member of the group "Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women". She does perform solo too. Check out her stuff.
NEW PROMO PIC
 THIS IS OUR NEW PROMO SHOT TAKEN OUTSIDE OF THE 400 BAR IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN. PETER LEE IS THE PHOTOGRAPHER. HIS STUDIO IS AT 1331 NE TYLER STREET STUDIO 232.
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