Winter Blues…The Cure for the Winter Blues…But not the Common Cold
I apologize for the absence of posts recently. I think I’m finally rejoining the land of the living after being out for the count due to a nasty cold that hit me last Friday and has finally subsided. Needless to say I spent my weekend frequenting this really great hang-out that was about as local as I could get…MY OWN HOME. That’s right, just as the groundhog was venturing out of his hovel into the open cold, I decided to retreat back into mine.
However, before succumbing to in my Nyquil induced lost weekend. I did manage to get out and about on Thursday night for the first concert of the Monroe Library System’s annual Winter Blues series. (By the way I’m also convinced that Thursday was the very last day that the weather was actually bearable to human beings. It’s finally starting to let up today!)
My husband and I decided to check out the Rev. Robert Jones in concert at the Navarre Branch library on Thursday night. We’ve been fans of his since he was the host of “Blues from the Lowlands” show on WDET, 101.9 the Public Radio Station in Detroit. In the past few years he became a Baptist minister and abruptly changed the his show to an gospel format called “Deep River.” While I like the show in its current form, I have to admit that because of this recent about face I had become a bit skeptical. I was worried that he had become one of these musicians who becomes religious and then swears off any secular music and was afraid that his concert in Monroe would be too “churchy” and not “bluesy” enough.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, it was refreshing to hear him address this very subject right off the bat. He did admit that more of his music was gospel now and that there were some people who absolutely COULD NOT handle his appreciation and for both blues and sacred music. However, he was also very candid about the fact that the blues, gospel music and rock and roll were inescapably intertwined; that sacred music was always constantly shaping and reinventing secular music and visa versa and that it was absurd to think that you could every separate the two! I appreciated his take on this
The evening ended up being a wonderful blend of music, history and deep spirituality. He even sang a song about his 15 year old daugther Anisia (who was named after his grand mother) that was so beautiful it even made my husband tear up a little bit.
I’d like to say that the Blues Series is one of Monroe’s best kept secrets except that… well… it’s not a exactly a secret because it’s been around for 20 years! Okay, okay I shouldn’t be too hard on myself for not paying it much attention at its inception. After all It was 1988…I was only 9 years old and I was probably just entering into my ”New Kids on the Block” period, so let’s just say my level of appreciation of quality music was somewhat limited back then.
However, with that said, I’ve only discovered what a great find this is within the past few years (since I moved back to Monroe) and even then I don’t think I truly appreciated how good it is until now.
Sadly because of my cold I wasn’t able to make it to the Acoustic Big Gig on Saturday night with the Uppity Blues Women. But I’d love to hear about hightlights from folks who were there.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Hi Sarah!
I pulled my wife and some of our friends to the concert on Saturday. It was really good.
The first thing that we loved was that new LAZBoy Center. That place is awesome. It has changed a lot since I took a bunch of summer classes there a decade ago.
Oh, and it was COOOOLD. Whoo-Whee.
The music during the first half was just incredible. We loved Madcat with his harmonica and the mandolin player from LA was just great (sorry, I forget his name). And I could just imagine Cephas and Wiggins sitting on the porch and just playing the hours away.
The only thing that kept the concert from being GREAT was the technical difficulty during the second half. They had big-time problems with the sound system. And I think that the Uppity Blues Women really like to set a mood as they play. The technical issues put a damper on that.
Still, we had a lot of fun.
And it’s a good way to introduce out-of-towners like our friends to the Monroe Community.
February 12th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Hello Sarah,
I was at the Blues Concert a week ago Saturday and it was awesome. The La-Z-Boy Center is just an awesome place to catch a show. The acoustics and lighting are just out of this world. You hardly believe you are in Monroe.
Coming up Friday night in the La-Z-Boy Center is Leo Kottke. He is one of the best guitar players in the world and the tickets are only $20.00 - which is pretty reasonable. He was in Ann Arbor a couple years ago and tickets were $35.00. I know the tickets are selling fast. I have some friends who just bought tickets and they are in row “P” and there is only a few rows behind that, so they are almost SOLD OUT! Good news is, there is not a bad seat in that theater.
If you are not doing anything Friday and you are over your cold, I would highly recomend this show. If you don’t attend, you will be missing one of the great ones.