GARY CLARK,JR.

An experienced world-traveler, Mr. Bopp was just short of tracking
down the president of the airlines in search of his missing camera
bag while Gearshifter took on a generally depressed demeanor as
he stared at the empty baggage carrousel going round and round.
All of his luggage was missing. (Ok, all one piece of it.)
IT’S NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANY MORE
The next morning, I came downstairs at the hotel in search of coffee
and breakfast. I was greeted by a slightly scruffier Gearshifter – still
in his travel outfit – eating a bowl of potato chips and drinking a
beer. He was pondering the fate of his luggage.
This pondering lasted for another bowl of potato chips and two
more beers as the rest of us woke up to caffeine and muesli. (Later,
he had the “worst beer I’ve ever tasted” from his room’s mini-bar.
Upon closer examination, we informed him that it was actually a very
expensive – if mini – bottle of brut champagne.)
On our first night of shows, we arrived early at the concert/film
venue and took all the guitars back to the green room trailers. They
were outfitted comfortably with chairs, tables and – wait for it
– beverages. Yes, the first night, mixed in with the bottled waters
and soda cans, there was a surprisingly tasty selection of beers in
all of the trailers.
To be fair, our musician-friend Gearshifter was nervous. Back in
Mississippi, he rarely plays outside of his hometown, and he’s only
been overseas one other time – about five years ago. Fortunately, he
is a man who can handle his booze.
You may have noticed above that I said there were beers back
stage the first night? Well, let’s just say that after…uh…“someone”
finished all of them off, they didn’t restock for the second night.
Still, and this is the honest truth, Gearshifter played amazing
the first night and second. The first night he attacked the blues, diving
in headfirst from the get-go. The second night was a slow, slow
burn but every bit as effective.
THE BALANCE OF THE “WE JUKE” TRIO
Aside from an aversion to non-soul food, Harmonica Bean is turn-key.
You wind him up, point him towards the stage, and he takes over. He
is an energizing performer who loves his people. Holmes, on the
other hand, wins over his audience with his mesmerizing, deep blues
groove. He brings Bentonia, Mississippi, to wherever he plays. And
you believe it. We concluded each night with the trio of Gearshifter,
Holmes, and Harmonica jamming out a song or two together.
Initially, there was some trepidation (and a lot of trash talk) about
this encore jam since only Holmes and Harmonica had played
together previously, and Gearshifter’s style might be considered relatively
more modern. But, the excitement (or was it tension?) that
resulted really pushed it over the top, making the encores truly
memorable highpoints. Once the encore applause died down, we
screened the film featuring these fine bluesmen and others, and the
rest is history.
For more on the “We Juke Up in Here” film and caravan tours,
visit www.wejukeupinhere.com.
BLUES REVUE 29