North Atlantic Blues Festival,Rockland ME

Wow. This is the biggest concert i have ever played. I was told 8500 people. This is a class operation from start to finish. We drove all night to get here on time for our 1:00 slot. We did get a few hours sleep before

our show. We had a blast and the audience seemed to react to it. It if funny i can only see back 20-30 rows and everyone else is a blur. They had a great DW drum kit like mine and the stage crew was all over helping us. I am off to Italy tomorrow. We have 9 shows in 10 days there. My wife Ruby and my daughter Dalen will be there to see 3 shows. i will write more later upon our return. Many more cool things on the horizon... Stay tuned.

Dave K... The Luckiest Man Alive.

Chans, Woon socket RI

Very cool spot. This has been the premier club in this area for 25 years. Met some young blues heads. My life long friend Joe C and his friend Kelly came to see us. Thanks Joe. More later

peirmont NY

As always this is a killer gig. Small club, intimate club. I met a young blues fan/guitarist named Matt. Felt a ghosts presence. More later

Thunder Bay Onterio, Canada

I have been looking forward to this gig for a while. I have never played in Canada and it looked like it was going to be a pretty big show. The drive from Superior WI to Thunder Bay was very cool. We did have to roll pretty early though. I am learning how to sleep sitting up in the van. This is a skill they do not teach you at Berkley School of music although they should. Our drive included crossing the Canadian border. I am told by my band mates to expect any number of complications entering Canada. We allowed 1 hour extra in our travel time for this. Before we got there we got all our ID and documents in one place ready for them. We all have current passports and we also have work permits set up by the booking company. We rolled up to the gate and were asked a few questions by the border agent. When he learned we were musicians i thought, here we go. He asked if we had work papers. We said we did and he said have a nice day. If I were a border agent and a van and trailer full of ???? us, i would want everyone and everything out onto the concrete. What do i know. I guess we do not fit any profile they teach about in Canada. We are really harmless you know. We had time to the hotel for a few and get ready for the gig. IN the hotel lobby was a local paper with a front page story about the Blues Festival. We showed up on the festival grounds and made our way backstage. The festival is right on a huge bay/harbor of Lake Superior. They provided a spot for us to pull in directly behind the stage and 5 stagehands descended on us to help. This fest is really well organized and the people were falling all over them selves to help us.... Very cool. I was directed to the drum staging area to set up. I peeked through the curtain to get a look at the drum kit that the band before us was playing so i could see what i would need. As i pulled the curtain back a little i am struck by the size of the audience. They seem to be grooving to what this band was doing. I notice that Joe, Bnois and Paul also had a wrangler each to help out. They had a big row of amps and gear for us to choose from. I got my stuff ready in a pile. As soon as the other band finished they helped us get in place. The drum kit they had for me was a brand new Pearl Brand kit up on a big drum riser. It had everything i needed and then some. My wrangler helped me get it going as the sound guys moved the mics around and tested my monitor. A stage hand brought me towels, water and a fan. I could get used to this. Everything ready and here we go.... Joe counts 1-2-3-4 (Drum intro)1 triple 2triplet 3 triplet 4 triplet, Bnois sings "Too hot, Too hot, you know it had to cool down"...... Yea this is fun. I always settle down a few measures into the first song. Now I look around and start to soak n where I am and what I am doing being careful not to get caught up in it and loose my place. It is impossible for me to describe all the feelings while we are rocking out in front of all those people. Lets just say it is great and worth all the work getting there. Our set at a festival is a mix of our old songs and the songs for the new album. On this day it is a one hour set. The hour goes really quick. We do one encore and head off stage. The crew helps us get our stuff off. Wow that was fun. Joe and Bnois head over to the merchandise table and sign autographs. The 2nd picture is the line of people still waiting to get autographs after a half hour or so. I wonder around the site and talk to Roger Naber one of the owners of the Blues Cruise. I get some of the sandwich's they provide for us backstage. I eat my food with guitarist Sue Foley who will be performing soon. I talked to some local police and then we head to the hotel. all in all a very cool day. I am blessed to be able to make music at this level.

Bevs Juke Joint

Bev's Juke Joint, Superior WI, Saturday night. Superior is right on the shore of Lake Superior. This looks more like an ocean than a lake. Bev's is a great little bar run by a Blues lover named Bev. Go figure. She put us up a great old hotel nearby. The patrons, all locals, dug what we did as Bev danced behind the bar as she served up the drinks. The walls have autographs of all the nation acts that have stoped by to perform here. It was great of her to have us. Bev has punk bands play during the week to help pay the bills but her heart is absolutely into the blues. We signed the walls and off we went. We will be back at Bev's next month after we play a festival in Duluth MN just across the lake earlier in the day. This will be the first time i have done 2 shows in one day with the SJK show. We had to hit it very early (8:00AM) in order to get to Thunder Bay Ontario Canada in time to play at 3:15. Sleepy
Thanks Bev!!!!!

Famous Dave's Bar B Que.. Minn, MN

After 2 days of driving we arrive in Minneapolis. We get loaded in to Famous Dave's. This place is very cool. It is done up inside like a Chicago street. Very well done. The stage is huge and is made to look like a loading dock. We come back to get started around 8:30 for a 9:00 downbeat. The house was pretty much full. We launched on our first set. It went pretty good but nothing was coming out of my monitor. The monitor helps me hear the rest of the band. The main thing I need to here is Bnois's vocal. I never have trouble hearing the guitars. I like the way my drums sound coming out of the monitors but i can play without it. I met some cool people on the break. One of the people i met was Cassie. Cassie is a young lady that loves the blues. It gives me hope to meet people like her. Cassie's parents have been SJK fans for years. Our second set went well and I had a working monitor this time. Break down and off to bed. Famous Dave's is a very cool place with great fans. I would be happy to come back anytime... In the morning I drove by the treatment facility I went through 20 years ago (October 13, 1986). It was very moving to see it. I totally remember walking out the door at the end of the 30 day program and being very scared. Staying clean for 30 days in a facility is one thing. Staying clean on the outside, forever is quite another. I have remained clean and sober ever since...I am glad I made the effort to visit there....... Off to Superior WI

Home for a while

We left Colombia Pike and drove strait back to Dallas. We were all anxious to get back so we all agreed . Upon returning home i........ It was great to be home for a few weeks. I had an arbitration hearing the day I got back. It went very well for us. My daughter, Dalen turned 21 while i was gone. We all went out to eat at a great Mexican place. I watched her order her first legal drink. I hope liquor never turns on her like it did to me. I spent some quality time with my wife Ruby. I miss here so much on the road. I went to my other job and got caught up. I spent time with my parents and helped them clean up a spare room. Ruby and I went to the Irvine Lake Blues Fest. Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Tommy Castro. What a line up. As soon as Tommy rolled up we were able to go back stage and watch the show from there. I got to talk to Walter and Coco. I told them Joe said hi and they both lit up. Coco said how can you not love Joe Kubek? We got to spend some time back stage with Tommy and Chris his drummer. It was a great show.
on July 4th we had a party at our house and watched the fire works from our roof. I got on a plane at 11:00 that night and arrived back in Dallas at 8:00 AM. I got a shuttle to Joe's house and we rolled out at 10:00 Am for Minneapolis MN. It was really great to be home but i am glad to be on the road again. This is going to be in interesting month.