Ken & Mary’s Blues Project with Ashton Savoy & The Moe Hansum Band (10/18/02) — Image by kenne
— kenne
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (11/16/09) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Archie Bell, Ken and Mary Harris (May 20, 2017) Image by kenne
Video by kenne
Hi everybody
I’m Archie Bell of the Drells, from Houston, Texas
We don’t only sing
But we dance just as good as we walk
In Houston, we just started a new dance
Called the Tighten Up
This is the music we tighten up with
First tighten up on the drums
Come on now, drummer
I want you to tighten it up for me now, oh, yeah
Tighten up on that bass now
Tighten it up, ha, ha, yeah
Now let that guitar fall in
Oh, yeah . . . (click here for all the lyrics)
Computer Painting by kenne
The Blues Project
They called it a project,
a Blues Project, but really,
it was a party — a party for
family and friends to share
happy times, talk about living life,
and a love for good old blues music.
Once this party began
there would be no stopping it,
even when forced undercover
of rain, friends laugh and
talk about déjà vu the
evening had become.
Just sitting on the front porch
doing that front porch thing
telling stories now embellished
by all the good times dancing
and singing the night away
in the woods off Old Houston Road.
The Blues Project may be over
so listen if the night will lead you
to the music, the stories told
and smile a smile one more time
for each Project was just a rehearsal
for what our tomorrows will bring.
— kenne
Kenneth Harris shares the story of how Ken & Mary’s Blues Project came about. (May 20, 2017)
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — The Last Waltz
Computer Art by kenne
Down the east Texas road,
there is rain in the wind
as the musicians’ setup
for an evening of the blues
with friends gathering
the last time at
Ken and Mary’s Blues Project,
the best house concert ever.
In recent years we’ve missed
some of the concerts in
the woods having moved
to the desert southwest,
then last February we received
word of the “Last Waltz”
for the Blues Project —
plans were made to immediately.
With Coleman cooler,
yard chairs and
cameras in tow
we walked over old
bottle caps toward the
Blues Project stage,
to be greeted with
hugs and kisses — Welcome!
Mary announced the food
was ready and Ken shared some
background on the beginning
of what became the Blues Project.
Not long after the music began,
lighting lit up the darkening clouds
with thunder adding to
the magical evening.
Other than an occasional
drop or two, the music played on
until, as if the plugged was pulled,
the dark sky began to fall.
A rain delay was called
as the tarps were brought out
to covered the equipment.
Using our smartphones
we could see radar showing
the rain would be lasting
for an hour or more.
As has happened in the past,
the musicians gathered inside
to continue an evening of music.
Most of those who remained
were inside or on outside porches,
knowing the best of the evening
was yet to come —
jamming the night away
on a hot, humid night
in the piney woods of east Texas.
It may be the last waltz
for the Blues Project
but that don’t mean
the party is over,
the music still plays on
and on, and on — may
we stay forever young.
We’ve got to go, but our friends will stick around.
— kenne
— Billy Gibbons
Images and Video by kenne
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (On a humid east Texas night the rain forced everyone to move inside) —
Images and Video by kenne (Flickr Images)
Memories of East Texas keep drafting— kenne
Darkness settled over Ken & Mary’s Blues Project as Sonny Boy Terry and Rich DelGrosso finished their set, October 17, 2009, Porter, Texas.
Original Stage at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (August 2005)
“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
East Texas Blues (Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, August 20, 2005) — Image by kenne
— from “Lone Star Blues” lyrics by Delbert McClinton
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
