“A Blast From The Past” Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, December 2003 — Image by kenne
Sadly, several of those playing in this Ken & Mary’s Blues Project house concert are no longer with us — those were the days with some of the best blues ever coming out of east Texas.
kenne
Jonn Richardson, Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore — Image by kenne
We have thought more about Houston lately and our many “blues” friends. Since moving to Tucson from The Woodlands, we have stayed in touch via the Internet, social media and other electronic media. Friday, we learned via Facebook that our good friend, Mary Harris (aka, Ken & Mary of Ken & Mary’s Blues Project) was in the hospital after having a lung collapse — gotta be hard on breathing! The news is good, she is resting and getting better all the time.
Each time we go to Houston visiting family, we tried to include friends, which is not always easy. So, Ken & Mary are a “must see,” because we love them and they are soooo connected to all our blues friends in the Houston area, therefore we try to schedule trips around Ken & Mary’s house concerts. (Sometimes we can only schedule lunch.) We could go on and on with superlatives, but we will let past and future posting on the blues and Ken & Mary do the talking.
When time allows, we stream KPFT on Sunday morning, listening to Mr. & Mrs. V, who we are pleased to say have been a part of our circle of friends for almost as long as we have known Ken & Mary — our circle has grown to include blues in Tucson and Phoenix, with the likes of Marty Kool , KXCI, and all the great blues Bob Corritore brings into Arizona at his “Rhythm Room” in Phoenix.
This morning, we were streaming KPFT, knowing the the V’s would mention Mary’s hospitalization. We stepped away from the computer for a moment, when returning we heard Diunna Greenleaf singing one of our favorite Diunna songs, “Growing Up and Growing Old.” Given Mary’s situation, having heard Diunna sing it on several occasions, plus having the CD, I kept saying to myself, “myself, I thing I videoed her singing this song when she and Jonn were here at Plaza Palomino’s Rhythm & Roots Concert Series, Tucson, Arizona, and the Bisbee Blues Festival. Hoping that I had not lost the clips from their time here in September 2012, my Sunday became an “age like fine wine” project, in more ways than one.
Here’s the video, dedicated to Mary — hope we continue to hear great news on your recovery, Mary!
kenne & joy
George Bearishill, Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk jamming at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October, 2013 — Image by kenne
Video by kenne
Mary Bonk, Guthrie Kennard and George Bearishill on the stage at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project. — Images and video by kenne
People who love live music in a “house concert” format in the greater Houston area are aware of the work Mary and Kenneth Harris have done for the last 20 years. When it comes to house concerts it’s difficult to beat the live events they conduct in the piney woods of east Texas.
Julie Bonk
The headliner for this fall’s event was Guthrie Kennard with Julie Bonk.
Ken and Mary first heard Julie at Camp Stupid at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2012.
At one point in the evening, Julie did a solo singing one of her songs, “Just Through Loving You.”
kenne
Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — Image and video by kenne
As a previous posting stated, Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk were the headliners in Ken & Mary’s 20th year of the Blues Project at their place in Porter, Texas — what a night!
I have additional images and video I will be posting “on down the road.”
A big thanks to Ken & Mary for continuing the tradition of providing great live music in east Texas.
kenne
Ken & Mary Harris, 2008, The 2013 Edition is This Saturday — Image by kenne
Jonn Richardson and Rich DelGrosso were the 2011 headliners.
The PorterDavis Band at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project in East Texas, October 17, 2009. — Image by kenne
PorterDavis Band at Austin’s Threadgill’s south during SXSW, 2009.
Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Rich DelGrosso with their Band — Image by kenne
Surrounded by family and many friends, last night Joy and I experienced blues in the woods at Ken and Mary’s 2011 Fall Music Festival in Porter, Texas. What we saw was more than a moment can capture, more than we can tell you, more than words can say. Still, I will be sharing more in later postings.
kenne
Ken & Mary Harris with Kenne & Joy Image by kenne
Joy and I are on a special trip to Houston to spend time with family and friends and we are being blessed with great fall weather — the folks here need it after the summer they have experienced. (We brought it with us from Tucson!)
One of the things we will be doing while here, which will include both family and friends, is attending our great friends “Ken & Mary’s Fall Music Festival” — for over fifteen years called “Ken & Mary’s Blues Project.” As announced in a previous posting, this year’s music will be provided by two friends and super blues musicians, Rich DelGrosso and Jonn Del Toro Richardson. Their latest album (Time Slips By) deputed #4 on The Living Blues Radio Chart back in February. As always, there will be other musicians sitting in as the evening goes on.
kenne
Sonny Boy Terry & Michael Durbin at Conroe’s Corner Pub — Image by kenne
Related Postings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4uWrGveAnc
http://kenneturner.com/2011/05/11/video-of-the-week-jonn-richardson-rich-delgrosso/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v8pX_sTVYk
In the spirit of the Season, I’m again posting a video recorded at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October 2009. I have been fortunate to see Sonny Boy Terry and Rich DelGrosso play together on many a occassion. Together they create a natural down-home feel that is best exemplified by their rendition of Amazing Grace. This was the last tune they did before the next band. Darkness had settled in and the resulting video is a little dark, so I included some still photos along with the dark video footage to give the viewer a better feel. However, it’s the audio that really counts. This tune is always a request of Ken & Mary at their house concerts.
kenne
Ashton Savoy, Moe Hansum Band, AJ Murphy, Ken Harris and others at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October, 2002 —
Image by kenne
Moe Hansum Band, Ashton Savoy and others at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October, 2002 —
Image by kenne
Ashton Savoy and Colin Brooks (The Band of Heathens) and others at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October, 2002 —
Image by kenne
John McVey & Sonny Boy Terry – Image by kenne
In a previous posting, I noted that Sonny Boy Terry and John McVey preformed a Kenneth Harris’ retirement party, May 28, 2010. Here’s a video of one of their bluesy songs.
kenne
Image by kenne
At Ken & Mary’s Blues Project Spring Fling, Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers performed several tunes from their new CD (Wrong Is What I Do Best), one of which is “I Need Me (A Whole Lot More Than I Need You).”
kenne
Image by kenne
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project is all about a love for music, music with plenty of down deep feeling, and there is a fine line that separates genre’s of good music. So, it’s not surprising that Ken & Mary had Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers at their Spring Fling event. What a joy! Hey, how could you not love her, she loves to blog.
kenne
