Jimmy Reed Highway, Jimmie Vaughan

I went to see A show call the Jimmy Reed Highway. It was held at the Dallas House of Blues. The band included Jimmie Vaughan, Omar Dykes, Kim Wilson, Lou Ann Barton and a great rhythm section. Anson Funderburg opened up the show. This is a tribute to Blues Pioneer Jimmy Reed. The shows are in support of an album by the same name released last week. Guests on the album include Delbert McClinton, James Cotton and Gary Clark Junior. It is a great album, pick it up. The show was very cool and they all looked like they were having fun. They played for almost 2 hours.Their interpretations of these classic songs was moving. Very simple arrangements with lots of room for the music to breath. Jimmie's guitar playing is the perfect compliment to these songs. Kim Wilsons harmonica playing and singing was full of passion and soul. Omar can sing! It was great to see Lou ann and her parts were beautiful. Lou Ann and Omar did a duet on "Natural Born Lover"...WOW After the show i got to go back stage and meet Jimmie Vaughan and Omar Dykes. This was a huge thrill for me. I have been a fan of Jimmie's and Stevies for years. He was very sweet and we chatted for a few minutes. We have a few things/friends in common that we discussed.The green room started filling up with friends and family as i made my exit. Very cool evening indeed. I am the luckiest man alive...LMA

Pearl, Dallas Texas

It was great to play in Dallas for a change. I have not played here since i have been with Joe. I did play at Pearl once before at a Hash Brown jam a few months back. Very cool bar with a top notch staff. Above you see Roger, Joe's guitar tech and Margret and Coi, Joe's sister and brother in law. There were many of the bands friends and fans in attendance. The bar was packed and all went well. I got several compliments from people that had not seen me play with joe before.I felt like we were really grooving on the new material. We have been playing it on the road for a few months and tweaking it as we go. We go in the studio next week to record it with Bruce from Alligator Records. I feel like we are ready. After the gig i went to eat at a Waffle House. It was 3:00 AM and the place was quiet and almost empty. I was a little fuzzy as i had been up for 22 hours, flown in from San Diego and played a gig. After i ordered all of a sudden the SRV song "The Sky Is Crying" came blasting out. It shocked me as it was a very unexpected thing to hear break the silence. After that the Doors song "Break on through to the other side" came on... Wow i need some sleep.

Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City

This took place on August 18. As you can see i am running a few weeks behind posting. I had played at Knuckleheads once before in December. The ownership (Frank and his wife) are very cool and know how to make performers feel comfortable. There was nothing i needed that was not readily available. This was a 3 day festival of sorts held on their outdoor stage. I had been especially looking forward to this show because my wife, ruby,(a saint)was coming in from San Diego to see us. We have friends in KC we met on The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise 3 years ago. Tim and Jennifer are huge blues fans and we have a LOT in common.Ruby and i stayed at their way cool house. It was nice to sleep in a real house with my wife for a change. This show was packed full of great acts. Ruby, Tim and Jennifer had great seats in the wings next to the stage. They also hung around backstage with us before and after the show. i was glad to see Zac Harmonon the bill who i know from San Diego and the cruise. This guy has great energy on and off the stage. Also on the bill was Candye Kane. She is from San Diego and we know her most excellent guitarist, Hiene Anderson. Her son is her drummer and i have been watching him gain experience over the years. I dug seeing and talking to him. Candye was sweet to ruby and I. It was great to see them.
This was a very cool show for me. Great audience also. The food backstage was to die for. These people know Bar B Que.
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Remembering SRV

Today is the 17th Anniversary of the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. He died with just shy of 4 years sober. His sobriety date was October 13, 1986 (The same as mine). I have heard many great stories from close friends of his about what a sweet man he was. Smokin Joe Kubek told me a story last week about seeing Stevie in a bar in the 70’s. Joe said there were 3 people in the bar and Stevie was playing as if there were thousands….I hear his music and see his image every where I go. I have been told Stevie worked his program as intensely as he played his guitar. He helped countless others and carried the message, He will be missed. I happened to be with his brother, Jimmie Lee Vaughan, last night after a concert at the House Of Blues in Dallas. He too is a very sweet man. I thank the universe for sharing people like this with us…….. I honor the privilege of sharing my music with people. On my drum skin is written “Thanks Stevie”. I think of him EVERYTIME I play. I encourage you to live every day as it might be your last. Tell the people you love that you love them. Practice random acts of kindness. Pass on what has been so freely given to you.
I love you!

Miss you Stevie.

Dave K

Zoo Bar, Murphys Blues Bar , Blues On Grand

Back to the Zoo Bar Lincoln NE.
We played here a few months ago. Great blues bar. This was an early show that started around 6:00PM. This is common in this area. I think it is a great idea. People want to get in bed early on a week night. We had a killer crowd with many of the same people that were there last time. I am starting to know some of the faithful fans. This was a fun show.


Murphy's in Omaha NE.
Murphy's is also a great club. This was an early show also and a great crowd. They really seemed to like the new material. Many folks asked to buy the CD that had the songs they just heard on it. Sorry.. not yet.

Blues on Grand, Des Moines Iowa.
This club won a Handy award for club of the year a few years back. The owner is a hoot. This bar has had every blues act you can imagine there. The crowd was very involved. Now that i was used to the early shows this one hurt. I had a great time playing and Joe and I split a Pizza after the show. I got back to the hotel around 2:00 AM Sleepy indeed.


No photos.. My camera was broken.

Bay Front Blue

This is a huge festival and very well organized. They have been doing it for years. Every detail was totally professional. This was one of the better back line drum kits i have played on. The crowd really responded to us and we had a blast.

We played at Bev's Joint later that night across the bridge in Superior WI. Many of the Fest crowd came there. The room was full of energy and i had a great time. I was tired from 2 gigs in one day but when i am on the stage all the fatigue goes away. At the 2-3 encore Bev grabbed her guitar and hopped on stage with us. If anyone has pictures of that please send them to me. Bev is the best. All in all it was a great day. I have had many this year.

Tour 8-07

Wacanesha MI

Great fest. These photos were supplied by great friends/fans Cassie (See Minnesota blog) and her parents Randy and Paula. Thanks for all your support. I got to hang with Bruce Igular and Shamekia Copeland after our set. I was weepy as we drove to this gig as we drove right past AlpineValley WI. This is the site of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Death 17 years ago.

Torre Alfina 2

We did get to eat dinner with Mossimo. He is the fine gentleman that put this tour together for us(Man drinking 2 beers) He was really funny and very cool to us. He is Monolo's boss and is was fun to watch them interact. Pretty funny. This gig was sort of surreal. It was in a town Square next to the castle and an old church. They had a light show shining on both. At sound check Joe asked for them to find something to set the amp on to raise it up off the stage. They brought a beer keg. We fell out laughing. The crowd was mostly older people and they did not know what to make of us and our Texas Blues. A core group of younger people did get it and we rocked them good. Then..... it was over. WOW. 9 gigs in 10 days all over Italy. I most say i am privileged to be in this band and i love to watch Joe and Bnois every night. Bnois is a really funny guy and i like haning with him. Joe and i have a ton in common and i feel close to him. We sat and chatted for a while and back to the farmhouse. Ruby and i get a room together, cool.We get up very early (i forget when) and drive to Rome airport. Ruby and Dalen catch a train to Milan to return to the US. After some trouble checking our instruments we catch our plane. We get to the US and our connecting flight is delayed, delayed, delayed, canceled. AHHHHH. I need sleep. They give us hotel vouchers and we spent the night in Ohio. Early the next morning we catch planes home. The band to Dallas and me to San Diego. I really want to thanks Joe and Phyliss Kubek for helping me have this wonderful experience and facilitating Ruby and Dalen's Italy trip as well. This was a very exciting trip for me and a dream come true. I have officially rocked Italy. Thanks also to my new friend Monolo and Mossiomo.

A week off in San Diego and back to Dallas. We have a tour up the middle.

Torre Alfina Blues Fest, Viterbo Italy

Ruby and Dalen take a train from Rome to meet us at this gig. I really appreciate all the effort they went to to get to 3 of our gigs. I am the luckiest man alive to have such a great family. My stepson Chad got to stay home and run the family buisness. I thank him also. The hotel we all stay at is a 300 year old farm house. The owner is very sweet and takes care of all our needs. We go over to the venue for sound check and find it is in the shadow of a castle. Go figure. Back to the farm house and then out to dinner.

Pontina Rock Blues Festival.....Latina, Italy

Up early again, drive to airport. this time we fly to Bologna. Third morning in a row i wake up in this airport. Sleep deprived we load into our van and drive to just south of Rome. We stop at Burger King on the Auto strata. Some times you just need a burger. BTW the scenery everywhere we go is beautiful. There are ruins and very old buildings every were you look. Very cool. We get to the hotel and take a nap. YEA. Sound check, a great dinner (Seafood pasta) and off to the gig. This was a smaller venue with a crowd that warmed up to us and begged for more. Into bed for a full nights sleep, finally.

Sically Italy

We catch our plane to Sicaly. We meet our ride to the hotel. A small welcome party is set up for us with snacks and drinks. The hotel is walkinbg distance to the venue. The stage is set up in the town square in front of an acient church. (Lots of churchs here). I walk over with Monolo to check out the drums. We make an arangement with the opening act and head back to the hotel. Monolo insists i taste a local food dish. I had tried to get this in the Bologna airport but he told me to wait till we get to sisally cause that is where the come from. It was killer. It was like a croket made of corn bread with beef, peas, poataos and grayinside. Thesee folks can eat, i repaet. We have a little rest (stress little) then a wonderful dinner in the hotel. We walk over to the gig. This entire town square is packed with people. I was told 3500 by the promoter. We work our way to the backstage tent. The opening act finishes up and we launch. WOW> these people really respond to us right off the bat. The energy grows as we do our set. As we end the main show the crowd was frenzied. I lost track but we did 3-5 encore songs. The crowd was going insane. It was very energizing especially since we had had very little sleep in the last few days. People were trying to climb onto the stage and the security people had their hands full. When we finally ended it was nearly impossible to get off the stage as the backstage area security had fallen apart. SJK and Bnois were signing autographs and having photos as they struggled to get to the tent. Paul and i were getting mobbed to a lesser degree. I signed a ton of stuff and had a bunch of photos take. The girl in the photo insisted on several photos with me so i insisted on a photo of her. After this photo her boyfriend insisted Paul pose with her on their Vespa scooter. This was by far the best gig in a string of really great gigs. I love theses people. Sleep.....not just yet.

Sardina, Italy

We took a flight from Bologna to Sardinia. We met our driver, Laura, and headed off for a 2 hour drive to the gig. (Recap... No real sleep yet) We get to the hotel and rest for an hour or so. Off to sound check. The gig is right on the Med Sea. It reminds me of San Diego. The people on the beach were grooving to our sound check. Back to the hotel and another great dinner. We ate with the opening act, Key Scott, from LA. I little more rest in the room and off to the gig. It went well and it was cool to play right next to the water. Back to the hotel. Sleep....A little. We leave the hotel around 4 am to drive back to the airport to fly back to Bologna. We start feeling like the movies groundhog day and terminal mashed together.

Cuneo Musica Fest, Italy

This was held in a tiny town square. The hotel was insanely cool. It was ultra modern built into an extremely old building. The mural was upstairs near a reading nook. This is Manolo looking eye to eye with ? Our chef was preparing beans in the courtyard as we relaxed before the gig. My room had a huge copper bathtub in the middle. The gig went well. Our host told me 900 people live in the town and they have 13 churches. I asked how old was the oldest church. He said only 1100 years old. HUH Unfortunately we did not get to stay in the hotel as we had to drive to Bologna after to catch a plane to Sardinia in the morning. Sleep was attained in the van on the way. Sleep is highly over rated.

Perugia, Italy Day Off

We spent or day off looking around the town of Perugia. Manolo drove us up ther from the lake. We did some sho

ping, sightseeing and spent an hour sipping expresso in a sidewalk cafe. Very cool town.

Transimeno Blues Fest, Perugia Italy

Killer gig. This stage was on the edge of Lake Transimeno. After sound check we had an incredible dinner at the little restaurant at the lake campground. Dalen and Ruby took a Taxi from Perugia to the gig. This crowd warmed up to us quickly and was loosing their minds at the end. My daughter did help to get them up and dancing. She took this picture from the stage during and encore. Our tour manager, Manolo was a huge help in every move we made. Love that guy.

Chieti, Italy

This gig was in a 700 year old fort. It had slots in the

walls for arrows to be shot through. The crowd was large and responded well. I gave some drumsticks away to fans that begged for them. Next time i will bring extra sticks to give away. I had to rig the house drum set to meet my needs. Great gig. We went to a British pub after the gig for dinner.

Italy gig 2

This gig my daughter Dalen and wife Ruby came to. They can to 3 gigs and got to see all the great spots while i was drumming my ass off. The pig did not do so well. Did i say there people know how to eat. Beutiful scenery in this region and a great crowd.

Italy 07 Bergamo

We are back from an incredible trip to Italy. The weather, people, food and lodgings were great. Our Road Manager Manolo did a fantastic job of moving us around the country an meeting our every need. We did 9 shows in 10 days. I am still tired. The first show was in the north in an area called Bergamo nears the Swiss alps. We stayed at a 300 year old mill converted to a hotel. Very cool spot. Our instruments did not make it on our flight so we had to run back to Milan to get our stuff off the next flight. The hotel has its own trout farm The trout above was unlucky enough to land on my plate. These people know how to eat and some. The gig was in a community park and went really well. The host took great care of us. The crowd dug what we did. I discovered Italy has no drinking age. HMMMMM. I did not sample any of the local wine.