New great little Harp amp

On a whim I decided to give the Fender Mustang 1 a try as a possibility for my new Harp amp? It's a really small amp but I have to say I love it. The Fender Bassman model with a little tape delay and noise reduction and this thing growls. Loud with very little feedback issues. Looks like this one will be going with me to Memphis.

On another front I just recently found out the way I've been cleaning my harps is not good for them. So over the last few days I've taken each one apart and cleaned it thoroughly. Also replacing a few reeds and tuning each one. Boring stuff unless you're a harp player.

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Busy Saturday!

Yesterday was a busy Saturday.  First I played at a reception in Catawba, NC for Deborah Kincaid Cox's brother Mark and his new bride Leminda.  It was a 3-hour event and those in attendance were so kind and attentive... especially Deb's husband Dan.  He had come to see me at the Hometown Opry and had bought 2 CD's while he was there.  When I arrived he had my Sounds Like Me CD blasting from his truck as he prepared the BBQ for the event (which lived up to its award winning hype... it was the best).  How cool to drive up and here your music playing.

Then last night from 6-9 I played for a not-so-surprise surprise birthday party for Lynn's step-sister Melinda.  It was my gift to her for her 50th birthday party.  She's been through so much lately after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing chem o for several weeks now.  Lynn and I wanted to brighten her spirits a little by having live music there at the party.  But she didn't need to be brightened.  She's handling her challenge with style and grace and many of us could learn a great deal from her.  Read more about her journey at her blog, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/melindafargis.

Got up early this morning even though we got home and in bed late last night.  I've been working on my studio trying to install a new wrap-around desk for a long time... actually I've been procrastinating even getting started.  So this morning I moved my old Bose L1 out to another side of the room to make room for the desk and moved a bunch of filing cabinets out of the way.  Now to get on to the hard part of assembling the thing... that will be later today I hope.  First church at Celebration Church here in North Wilkesboro and then this afternoon I plan to complete that long overdue step.  It's important to my practice time because I need to do this before setting up the full live setup in the studio to practice and record.  If I don't do it before setting up I'll never get to it.

My IBC Bio At Blues.org

My International Blues Challenge bio is posted on IBC athttp://www.blues.org/#ref=ibc_current. Scroll down the Solo/Duo section and look for Piedmont Blues Preservation Society. Thanks Lynn for such a great picture of such an ugly old guy. :-)




Here's my bio:
Hailing from the mountains of NC where bluegrass is king, the acoustic and electric blues music of Owen Poteat sits nicely between this foundation and the influences of the old and new kings of rhythm and blues. Over four decades this influence has created a diverse musical soul that is made to entertain. Whether it’s the stage of a hometown opry or that of a sold out festival or blues club, his music finds acceptance, love and appreciation. Like a human energy drink whose liveliness never seems to end, this one-man four-piece band is really just one guy singing his heart out while sitting on a old wooden box drum, stomping it and a snare with his feet… while playing guitar and blues harp with all his might.   www.OwenPoteat.com


Geez, has anybody noticed that there are only 81 days!  Where has time gone?

Great time with the guys last night at PBPS Blues Jam in Greensboro

I promised myself that if I ever got to concentrate on just music I'd spend more time bonding with and being friends with other great musicians.  Last night was just that. About an hour and a half drive for me to Zions Bar and Grill but it was worth it.  My first set was me on guitar with the guys... sang most of the songs and had a great time.  Then from then on I was on harp with whatever group of guys got up there.  A lot more singing.  What a great time.  There are some really great undiscovered musicians in this area.  We even had a full Hammond B3 organ with Leslie... cloud nine.  Thanks PBPS and Zion for making this happen for us.  I won't be able to go back every week but plan to try to get down there at least twice a month.  If you're in the area you should too.  You can never stop learning and can never have too many music friends.

Great Time At Hometown Opry

Wow. What a great time yesterday at Hometown Opry. It was so cool to be on the radio for 2 hours... Thanks Steve. The crowd was so awesome... Thank you guys for buying so many CD's and for all the love you showed me. Also thanks to Charter Cable for your support. Really cool to see me on TV... that was always a dream. Also, thanks Mike for the hospitality and opportunity.

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PBPS Official Winners Announcement Page

I just noticed the PBPS website now has the announcement of the winners.  You can view this announcement at this link.

Busy but great weekend

We had a very busy but great weekend.  Friday I played for an event at the University of SC in Columbia.  It was for a resident appreciation event for the Woodlands complex, off campus.  Man to have lived in a place like this while going to college.  It was so first rate... huge with all the amenities one could ever hope for. I had a great time playing for these folks and made lots of new, young, friends.

Saturday was the official trick or treating day and I was off... kinda.  :-) I spent a big portion of the day choosing and preparing songs for my portion of the day at Celebration Church on Sunday. Carrie and Jeanna came over Saturday night for hot chocolate and marshmallows roasted over the fire...  then more practice for Sunday.

Those of you that have seen me know my setup for one person is huge... a lot to carry in and a lot to drag around... so I'm always looking to downsize when I can.  Lately I've been doing a lot of reading on old Cigar Box stomp boxes and guitars... and decided late Saturday that making one would be pretty easy and it might be an alternative for smaller gigs instead of carrying my boxdrum and snare setup.  So after Carrie and Jeanna left I started experimenting with ways to do this.  I ended up with a cigar box setup that worked well.  It had one of my kick drum mics inside and sounded great.  For the snare I ended up using a small tambourine on a kick pedal stand.  All in all, I thought a great setup for smaller places.  It all fit in one, rather big, rolling bag I have so I was happy.

Sunday morning started early, especially since I stayed up to 2:00am practicing and tweaking the cigar box.  setup.  My setup time was at 7:30, yes in the morning and my sound check for the 9:30 event was at 8:30.  I was one of 5 folks from our church providing music entertainment while over 300 volunteers were being honored with breakfast.  I love being able to use my music in church and quickly said yes when my friend and worship leader John Lewis called me.  I the last one to perform and I wasn't sure how everyone would react to my brand of music.  John had been clear that he wanted me to do "my stuff" and not water it down so my song list included 2 Paul Thorn songs and one of my new songs.  I started out with I'm Still Here by Paul Thorn.  They all started clapping along and were hooked.  I thought, cool... this is going to be great.  Then I played one of my new contemporary Christian worship songs, We  Do Not Deserve Your Love.  Compared to the 1st song it was very intimate and the Godin sounded like a dream.  The place was whisper quiet and again I thought... cool, well received.  Then I ended with Paul Thorn's Mission Temple Fireworks Stand... a song about a man that quits a big church to run a tent revival and fireworks stand on the side of the road.  I love the song and the place went wild.  The music at our church is very upbeat and non-traditional, but this one pushed the envelope and I was afraid it might push it too far... but no, it was great.  For me it's always great to give back and be a part of the music at our church.  By the way, if you're in Wilkes county, be sure to visit with us sometime.  If you like my music, then I think you'll fit right in with us there.

So back to the cigar box.  I think I'm going to stick with the box drum and snare.  Old dog... new tricks I guess but I missed it yesterday.