My God will it ever stop? Must it rain every day?
OK, the National Weather Service tells me we have had seven (count ‘em seven) days without rain since March 1.
Gee, one whole week out of 20. That means rain 95 percent of the time since March roared in like a drunken, wet banshee.
Time for somebody to fess up. Who pissed off God? Was it you? Couldn’t have been me. Rain makes my arthritis act up so I’ve been hurting too much to be a good boy.
Continue reading …Part of settling down for a new (old?) life here in Floyd County means letting go. Step one ran today on Capitol Hill Blue, a web site I started on a whim back in 1994.
Writing a final column means giving up one thing to start another. Maybe it also means I will have more time to write here. That could be good news or bad news, depending on your point of view.
Continue reading …Had to run down to Roanoke last night for some printer ink cartridge and decided, just on a whim, to drive back via Rocky Mount and State Highway 40.
Hadn’t been in Rocky Mount for about 40 years and was surprised by the vibrancy of downtown. Unlike some towns in Southwestern Virginia (Pulaski and Radford being two good examples) downtown Rocky Mount is not dominated by empty storefronts.
The 30-mile drive along the twisty Route 40 was both pleasant and lonely. Didn’t encounter a single car or truck on the way.
Continue reading …Another blast from the past wandered into the studio today. Actually, she came by to pick up a photo I donated to a church auction. I hadn’t seen Connie Harris since graduating from high school in 1965 but recognized her the second she walked in the door.
That doesn’t happen often. On too many days, I walk right past people I grew up with and don’t recognize them. Most of us have changed too much. But Connie hadn’t changed that much.
Yes, it had been a long time. Our 40th high school reunion is just a year away.
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Caught Sally Walker as the singer of "Little Diva and the G Strings," a jazz and blues group, at Oak Grove Pavillion at Zion Lutheran Church Saturday night.
Lord, that woman can sing the blues…and jazz…and I imagine anything else she sets her mind too. Her rendition of Peggy Lee’s classic "Fever" sends chills down your spine.
A lot of mournful blues comes out of that little package.
My first visit to Oak Grove. It won’t be my last. A pleasant place to catch good music on a balmy Saturday evening. Kudos to Zion for offering this venue for music in the county.
Also the first time I’ve heard Sally Walker sing. Won’t be the last time for that either.
Floyd has always been known for its musical talent and Sally is an outstanding addition to the local music scene. It’s good to see the growth of good blues in the area, from Scott Perry at The Pickin’ Porch to Sally Walker and other groups that appear at local venues like Oak Grove and Oddfellas Cantina.
Proves there more to the Floyd music scene than just good Bluegrass (and the Bluegrass is pretty damn good too. And FloydFest is coming up in a couple of weeks, offering even more musical variety for the area.
Continue reading …Speaking of Sally Walker, I’m sitting and writing this in the Cafe del Sol Coffee Shop in the Winter Sun building in Floyd, enjoying some java and logging into the ‘Net via their Wi-Fi network.
Yep. That’s right. Wi-Fi in Floyd. Cafe del Sol owners Sally and her husband Frank got all the aspects of modern coffee house ambiance right: good java, an eclectic menu, comfortable seating and Wi-Fi.
Give it a try. It’s worth the visit.
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Mention music and Floyd County in the same breath and most people think of the Friday Night Jamboree.
True, Floyd is home to some of the best Bluegrass around but there’s a sizable, and excellent community of Blues musicians as well.
Like Scott Perry (above), owner of The Pickin’ Porch on Willis Avenue and a frequent performer in venues like Oddfellas Cantina. Scott sings the Blues and sings it damn well.
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