Tribute to Fats

Jim and Linda

Robert Albury and Cliff Sawyer

Robert and Cliff began the show and before they were ten minutes into it they had folks nearly weeping with a stirring cover of Marvin gaye's "What's Goin' On"

Louie and Kenny

These guys deserve to be first because without them there would be no waffles and no chicken and no chicken and waffle gospel brunch. Louie was working on saturday night to make this happen and Kenny came back from New Mexico a day early for the same reason. These guys blow my mind.
photo credit joanne

"I wish I knew how to quit you"

Little Ed and The Blues Imperials

Little Ed, brother Pookie, Mike and Kelly bring their road-tested, blistering Chicago blues to The Parrot for two big nights with a sound check tomorrow. The boys have folks up and dancing from the git go.

Tom Robinson's Easter

So it's Easter Sunday night and Tom Robinson's manning his regular shift at the Parrot.
Tom Robinson, who we already know has more costume changes at home than a Rockette.
But no, Tom shows up in a white t shirt with nothin' but a miniature cadbury easter egg.
Tom, come on....you coulda' done better...
You coulda' been a contender...
You say you couldn't find your bunny suit after Wilma...OK....but couldn't ya just grab some bunny ears at Walgreen's on the way in...even Leigh had her ears on tonight...come on Tom...for us...would it kill ya to at least get some little cottontail thing goin' ...

Vince Welnick April 13-14

Harper and Bobbi

Harper and Bobbi, his wife/road manager/partner get ready to head up the road to their next show. Scotty wishes them well and Harper checks out the new green Parrot sign. More on that sign later.
Anyway, our thanks to Harper and Bobbi for some great shows and we'll see them in December.

You Tell Me

I'm not sure why this Conch Tour Train seems to have been intercepted by this police car. You tell me.


As it turns out the train was part of some sort of a breakdown or minor fender-bender and while they were waiting for a replacement train to finish their tour of Key West a few folks wandered into the bar, heard Harper's afternoon set and actually missed the rest of their tour and even returned for the nighttime show at the bar. Serendipity I guess.

From Boogaloo to Dijeradoo

Harper wraps up a three day stint at The Parrot tonight. His shows were very well received. He likes to work the room, has a great band with him. Accomplished blues harp player and a powerful singer and brings a tribal/cultural with him. Great act.

A Gulag For Five-Toed Cats

This is a developing story. Over the past few weeks it has been revealed- -both through on site inspections and an exclusive interview with a Hemingway House groundskeeper which was held in an undisclosed and top-secret location over several pints of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while listening to a blues band-that the celebrated and much-photographed 5-toed Hemingway cats were having their movements severely restricted and being kept in near-lock-down conditions by the staff at that famous tourist attraction.
It seems that the cats were either: a. straying to far from home at night.
b. deciding they didn't want to come home at all.
c. returning home at dawn but not before procreating with cats with a lesser toe count
and thus diluting the gene pool and producing cats that no one would want to pay
to see.
d. victims of ruthless poachers bent on kidnapping the famous felines and bringing
them back from their vacations as a kind of Hemingwayesque trophy. (note the irony
in that)
e. totally paranoid about any or all of the above.
As a result of these fears various sytems were installed in an effort to curtail their nocturnal movements. I could be wrong but I think I remember seeing some sort of plexiglass barrier being mounted atop the brick wall that surrounds the property and I seem to remember thinking "what the hell is that all about" or "damn that's ugly". At any rate that barrier failed, I guess the cats hopped over it. Next were the shock collars. It turned out the cats actually liked them and would pass through the beam several times before heading out for a night on the town. back to the drawing boards and out came the misters, those fine-spray jets that are placed around outdoor restaurants and the like to cool the air but the theory here is that cats would do anything to avoid getting wet and thus make the mist-barrier impenetrable. Well I guess that didn't work either for now in addition to the misters, which can be seen as a fine spray to the right in the photograph, it seems they have installed some sort of mesh or wire that is visible on the left in the photo that now makes the once-handsome estate look like Omaha Beach. At any rate, as a kind of disclaimer, this is what we gathered so far from hearsay and we really can't vouch for the veracity of any of it but we do know this: The Hemingway House is a great place and we recommend whole-heartedly it to anyone who asks us how much further it is (three blocks) and they sure are some handsome and distinctive cats they have there.

Jason Ricci Blows April 19th

"Genre-Bending Harpist Jason Ricci at The Green Parrot".

"His name is Jason Ricci. He plays harp like I can't explain–except to say that I have not heard the ghost of Butterfield in awhile." Blueswax magazine

Fiery, passionate, and sometimes compared to Government Mule, The Derek Trucks Band, and other crossover acts, the genre-expanding harmonica virtuoso Jason Ricci and his band return to The Green Parrot on Wednesday, April 19th beginning at 10 pm.
Blues Access magazine says Ricci is "one of the very best harmonica players of his generation… his musical talent …is too great to be denied…. shaking the hips of audiences while rattling the dusty firmament of the Blues/Rock , they're rapidly attracting fans from the Jam band and Jazz scenes as well as adventurous Blues lovers."
Jason Ricci has already seen and experienced more than many players do in a lifetime. At 21, he performed the 10th Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas. In Helena, he won the Sonny Boy Blues Society Contest beating out Michael Burks among others. He lived for a year in Mississippi with Jr. Kimbrough's son David Malone Kimbrough and was a member of Junior's band gigging regularly at established clubs and Mississippi juke joints joining often joining R.L. Burnside and family. In 2000, Ricci won the Mars Music store's nationwide Blues Harp Blow-off beating over 1,000 other competitors.
Besides being the only professed gay harmonica player on the blues circuit, Ricci is also one of very few players pioneering a technique known to harp enthusiasts as over-blowing. Over-blowing enables a harmonica to play anything that a guitar or any instrument can play allowing the player a complete three-octave chromatic scale.
The Green Parrot Bar is the Southernmost Center for Culture, at the corner of Southard and Whitehead Streets, and at www. greenparrot. com. For additional information call 294-6133.

Vince Welnick April 13-14

The Grateful Dead’s Vince Wellnick with Gent Treadly at The Green Parrot
Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Wellnick returns to The Green Parrot with The Gent Treadly Band on Thursday and Friday, April 13th and 14th beginning at 10 P.M. with a special 5 P.M. “sound check” on Friday.
Welnick is best known as the keyboardist for The Grateful Dead from 1990 until Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. After Dead keyboardist Brent Mydland died of a drug overdose in 1990 Welnick auditioned for the spot and got it, taking over what may have seemed the Grateful Dead's most fatal position. (founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and Keith Godchaux both preceded Mydland in both the gig and death),
Since Garcia’s death Welnick has been involved in solo efforts including the band Missing man Formation and a brief stint with Bob Weir’s ratdog.
Don’t miss these three chances to see Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Vince Wellnik at The Green Parrot Bar.
The Green Parrot Bar is your Southernmost Center for Culture at the corner of Whitehead and Southard Streets.
For additional information call The Green Parrot at 294-6133.

Harper: From Hoodoo to Dijeradoo to Boogaloo

From Hoodoo to Digeradoo Harper Brings Down Under Blues
to The Green Parrot

Innovative Australian singer/songwrtiter/harmonica virtuoso and digeradoo performer Harper returns to the Green Parrot Bar on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, November 10 th, 11th and 12th beginning at 10 PM with a 5 P.M
.
"sound check" on Wednesday and including a special night of acoustic music featuring Local guitarist Larry Baeder
on Monday night.
Harper is fast becoming one of Australia's great musical exports. Besides being the first non-American to sign with the prestigious independent Blind Pig blues label he has created quite a buzz throughout the USA. During his tenth and most recent tour his energy packed, power driven stage performances made him a favorite in such major festivals as The Rochester International Blues Festival, the Milwaukee Summerfest and The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. Super group Journey caught one of Harper's shows and were so blown away that they invited him to play with them on their next tour.
Recently in his homeland, Harper was awarded the Male Vocalist of the Year Award as well as the Song of the Year Award for "I Swear I'm Innocent" at the Australian Blues Awards. Described as a cross between John Popper and Dave Matthews Harper's inique combination of the blues harp and the digeradoo has created a truly Australian slant on the roots music genre.
. Harper " Green Parrot Bar, the Southernmost Center for Blues, at the corner of Southard & Whitehead streets. For additional information call 294-6133.