On the Road with Blues Legend, Henry Gray!!

All things went great for my first two gigs with Henry Gray and the Cats this month.  We started out in Helena, Montana during a snow storm and ended up in Manchester, New Hampshire watching the fall colors go crazy on the trees.  Both shows got the crowds dancing like crazy and we were told that was a rare event for either city!  Cephas and Wiggins were also on the bill in New Hampshire and they rocked the house with an acoustic duo that brought elements of Piedmont and Delta Blues into play.


Henry Gray is a class act all the way and never tired during either show.  Constantly pounding out the Boogie Woogies and killer Chicago blues tunes, many of which he played the piano for on the originals!  His take of the classic Worried Life Blues by his mentor Big Maceo is mesmerizing and all of the Howlin' Wolf tunes (Henry played with the Wolf for fifteen years) were truly inspiring.  The rest of the Cats (Andy Cornett on bass, B.B. Bruce on Harmonica and Earl "The Bishop" Christopher on drums) have been with him for over thirty years and they kept the backbeat alive and authentic in true Louisiana Blues fashion! Both shows were sponsored by the NEA to feature National Heritage Awards winners Henry Gray and John Cephas.

It was definitely hard to tell if I was having more fun playing guitar or watching the show at times - it was such a rare form of good authentic Blues.  But I did play, and we all seemed to click from the get-go.  It was an honor to share the stage with these guys but it was fun as hell, too!
Our next show will be in Baton Rouge this Saturday at Buddy Stewart's Rocktoberfest at 3:30pm.  Then it's off to  Raleigh, North Carolina to play the Loafer's Beach Club for the shag dancers!  Hopin' to do a lot more shows with Henry Gray and the Cats in the future!  I'll keep you posted fo' sho'...

seeya,
Marty

Hangin' with John Cephas after the show