Imagine This

OK, I'm finally up from my nap!

Teresa James at the Blues Music Awards

I didn't really stay asleep for six days but honestly those 10 & 13 hour road trips are rough on the ole aching back. LOL. A-a-a-a-nyway ---

I promised a rundown on our trip to Tunica, Miss. to the Blues Music Awards. So, on Tuesday, we followed my uncle (Teresa's dad) to a friend's house in Kingwood near Houston to leave his car. (We would drop him off in Sulphur, Louisianna on the way back and his friends would take him back to Kingwood.) After dropping off the car, we took Jack to my mom's in Houston for dinner and a short brother and sister visit. Then back to Huntsville for the night.

Up early Wednesday morning for the 10 hour drive. Found Tunica. Found the Grand Hotel Veranda. Found Terry and Teresa and had some dinner at the Grand Casino. Amazingly -- no gambling that night -- too tired.

Next morning - early off to visit the Blues Museum in Clarksdale. But first, true to my DH's clever techno skills, he managed to lock Uncle Jack out of his cell phone. Of course, no one knew the password to get back in so we made a short stop to AT&T (though his service is Verizon) where the nice folks got it all fixed. (The thumbs up and down means thumbs up. It is from a typical Teresa joke - she's known for her fourth grade jokes -- remind me tell you that joke sometime.)

Clarksdale is a quaint little Mississippi River delta town that boasts of being the birthplace and world capital of the blues and location of the famous Crossroads intersection of Highway 61 and 49 – the heart of the delta and the soul of the blues.

So, we arrive at the museum where, of course, they don't allow photos. So I have just this one outside.It's just as well they didn't allow pictures because I was terrible about taking pictures the whole trip. The only ones I got home with after these were mostly some of a rusting tin building that I thought I might use somehow in my art - natch.

Hey, remember that T-shirt I was coveting with Teresa's lyrics on it? Well, their size XL was equivalent to our size 4 or 2!!! I had to forget about it. So, I bought a tee at the museum instead.

 

After the museum, we had  a great southern lunch at a little cafe within walking distance, The Dutch Oven (Bldg. on the right in the photo on the left.) Then back to Tunica to get ready for the evening. (While I got ready, DH went to the casino - I told you he would - and won enough to pay for our trip! How could I gripe?)

The Blues Foundation Music Awards Dinner was top notch.

(Photos by Blue Storm Music's Arnie Goodman)

We had floor seats at a table with my cousin, Teresa James   and her husband, Terry Wilson; her fan club president, Sarah; and fan club member, Mary; and the very talented Doug MacLeod (one of my favs) who was up for the Acoustic Artist of the Year award. The only pictures from the banquet were by the officially sanctioned photographers - which was of course, not me -- thank goodness or there would be no pictures! You can see them all here.

Teresa did a fantastic job -- as usual - in her performance. She sang with the popular and talented Tommy Castro who won Entertainer of the Year and best Contemporary Blues Album for his Painkiller which you can hear on his MySpace.

Along with his band, both Teresa and Terry Wilson (Teresa's husband and incredible guitar bass player) were invited to perform. Also, the winner of the Instrumentalist - Horn award, and another one of my favorites, Deanna Bogart, played and sang with them. She is a wonderful pianist, saxophonist, and singer. You can hear some of her music on her MySpace. To say the least, Tommy Castro and his band with Teresa, Terry, and Deanna created a fantastic performance!

 

          
(L to R) Tommy Castro, Deanna Bogart, Tommy's band & Deanna, Doug MacLeod

Now if you have stuck with this post all this time to hear whether Teresa won her award or not -- may I say thank you!  Actually, Teresa was the new kid on the block at this 28th Blues Foundation Awards and wasn't expecting to win her first year nominated. The winner in Teresa's category, Contemporary Blues Female Singer of the Year, was the award winning soul singer, Bettye LaVette, a 62 year old veteran blues performer. She not only won in this catagory, but was also up for Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for her The Scene of the Crime. 

In the meantime, Teresa had fantastic exposure and made many, many contacts with producers, festival organizers, and the like who sought her out after the performance. She was thrilled with the outcome and we were thrilled to be there with her.

Teresa LIVE

Wow! There is nothing like Teresa -- live! The trip was fantastic and I'm exhausted. I'll give ya the highlights after I get some sleep!

Meanwhile, I found some more YouTube featuring Teresa -- so have a listen while I sleep.

Teresa on the "Blues Cruise":

Come Up and See Me Sometime

Teresa at Kulaks, L.A.:

Trouble With Angels

 

Teresa at Cozy's, L.A.:

I Know Handsome When I See It, But I don't Know When to Leave It Alone

Rehearsal and Recording for Teresa James and The Rhythm Tramps - Live:

Tryin' Not to Laugh

Teresa at The Howling Cayote, Houston

Nobody Rings My Bell Quite Like That Come Up and See Me Sometime

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers!

And speaking of mothers and YouTube, remember this one?

Take Me to Tunica

Woohoo! Jerry and I are off tomorrow for a five day trip to Tunica, Mississippi to attend the Blues Foundation Music Awards.

Tunica is about 25 or 30 miles southwest of Memphis, TN. It boasts being the beginning of the blues trail in the middle of where "the blues" was born and where southern hospitality gets its name.

Whatever possessed us to go to such a place for such an event?

My cousin, Teresa James, is the sum total of the impetus for this excursion. She has been nominated for

Contemporary Female Blues Singer of the Year!

Teresa James, singer/songwriter/keyboard

Teresa's 85 year old dad, my Uncle Jack, lives in Hillsboro, Texas and will be making the trip with us. Even though this will be a 9 or 10 hour driving trip, we plan to spend the time singing, listening to music, arguing over who knows the best shortcuts, and reminiscing about the great times our families have had together.

Oh, by the way, Tunica is also the largest gaming resort area between Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Don't think I don't know that my DH is hoping for some quality time in the Grand Casino - but he is playing it on the down low.

Teresa and her husband, Terry Wilson, live in Canyun Country, California where they both make their living writing songs, composing and editing music, and playing and singing with their band, "Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps."

Terry is a base guitar player and singer who is quite sought after himself -- often by big name artists looking for local band members to play in performances. He has quite a list of film credits for serving as music editor, song writer (like Sitar Dude for Dude Where's My Car?), composer, music performer, and even actor in a couple. Check out his filmography here.

Teresa, is the lead singer and keyboard player -- her jazzy, boogie accompaniment rivals the best - actually, it IS the best! Teresa and Terry perform all over the world. Teresa has also used to sing and write songs for movies and TV. (like "Sittin' By the Side of the Road" written by Teresa James and Terry Wilson and performed by Andie MacDowell for the movie Michael, starring John Travolta. Also, the theme song for TV show, Step by Step with Suzanne Somers.  (just to name a couple you might remember.) Funny anecdote - Teresa said when they called to ask her to write a song for Andie MacDowell to sing which was supposed to be a really bad song because her character was a failing song writer, Teresa answered, "Well, sure, I can write a bad song as good as the next fellow!" Teresa went on to coach Andie Macdowell in her singing of that song for the movie.

You can see Teresa and the band performing at two venues on You tube for a little taste of her great sound:

• Two songs and some great keyboard here - Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps - Live Rhythm & Blues performance in Houston, Texas, USA at The Howling Coyote 11AUG2007. (Jerry and I were there for this one!) Listen for that great keyboard.
• A clip from one of their cruise performances here - Teresa James from Rocking the Boat.

And  check out "Come Up and See Me Sometime" performed on an IndieFeed audio podcast. You'll hear the super keyboarding here, too.

I have it on good authority (Uncle Jack) that Terese will be singing twice at the awards banquet - one of her songs, I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (Listen to a snippet here) - as well as a duet with one of her friends, Tommy Castro, who is up for male singer of the year and who's band is up for band of the year. Yikes, that's good company, no? Jeepers, I'm getting excited just writing about it.

Hey, I sure hope Jerry wins enough in the casinos to buy me the Blues Foundation's new pink t-shirt to support the arts. On the back . . . they've used a title line from one of Teresa's songs, "Since I found the blues, I've been in the pink!" from their newest CD release, The Bottom Line. (This is the first time the Blues Foundation has used a woman's lyric on their merchandise.)

OK, you guys have a good time and play nice while we're gone.  Meanwhile, you can check out the latest news on Teresa and Terry and their music friends here. You can find her CDs on iTunes and Amazon as well as on her website.

See ya when we get home.