Thu Oct 16 2014

Watched “The Search for Robert Johnson” last night. Twice, in fact; once while I was making and eating dinner, and then again because I saw that I was missing some details along the way. It’s a British documentary (yup, British) from 1991, with John Hammond (Jr) narrating, traveling around Mississippi looking for people who knew the man. Kind of hokey, a little contrived, and didn’t really do much to demystify the story, but some good stuff. Especially seeing the real Willie Mae hearing the recording of Love In Vain Blues for the first time. Nice to see Honeyboy Edwards and Johnny Shines in the flesh. Poor Honeyboy is pretty old and shaky, but still sings well. Not sure how reliable his memory is. Interesting that he doesn’t repeat the story so often attributed to him about Johnson's death, in which he supposedly smacked the bottle of whiskey out of Johnson’s hand, admonishing him never to drink liquor from a bottle he didn’t open himself. Still, the less dramatic version actually felt truer and sadder, especially the part where Hammond asked if anyone had taken him to a doctor, and the response was “no, because doctors need money.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First lesson with a new student: always fun, and at the same time always a little nerve-racking. A good challenge. Interestingly, this one had seen The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists at Washington Hall. Cool. So I went in with a certain cred, which probably helps. Her friend had found my postcard down at the café, so that was money well spent. It’s a dance. I need to swiftly ascertain what I have to work with, and what the student’s aspirations are. A lot of times I then have to deal with the gaping chasm between the two. Not so much today on that front, thankfully. While the particular aims vary from student to student, it is all the same basic ball of wax. I can’t just run everyone through the same routine and process, but in the end it is kind of like a room with a whole bunch of doors. Which door works for this student?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Suddenly sunlight, accompanied by a very friendly temperature. Didn’t see that coming. Had some errands that I had planned to drive, but the weather suggested otherwise. Walked up the hill for an overdue haircut, then down to the bank and the grocery store with a stop off at a café where I sat in the sun with an Americano and the Wolf biography. Pretty perfect. On a not unrelated subject, I came home and bought the “London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions” on iTunes.

Late afternoon Skype lesson and then an evening for myself. Why couldn’t the weekly blues jam be on Thursday?