The Moodies, as they are called by fans, put on a spectacular show with triple projection screens behind them reflecting the history of their careers. Fronted by Justin Hayward and John Lodge, with our great seats we were able to snap a great photo of this duo in action.

Trinity Hotel
Step through the corner French doors and feel yourself instantly transported back to the late 1800s when the building was originally built as a bank. Restored in 2007, the Trinity Hotel is one of the finest dining establishment and hotels in Carlsbad. The first stop when entering town can easily be the Hotel because every Monday-Saturday, the public is invited to a free wine tasting to try the many New Mexico wines that the Trinity serves. Not to mention, they offer an amazing menu with dishes like Calamari served with Wise Guy Spicy Marinara sauce, Surf-n-Turf and Chicken Piccata. Wine selections are vast; we tried a bottle of Montepulciano from Luna Rossa winery.

Josh McCabe and WTB Assistant Editor Elizabeth McLellan

Carlsbad Caverns
Our envision for the Caverns was to not only revisit a childhood memory but to take it a step further and delve deep into the subterranean area on hands and knees, with helmets, kneepads and a headlamp. Spelunking was the vocabulary word for the day, and come hell or high water we were going to be spelunkers. Well, turned out that the eight-man convoy had been filled up, and we had to take an alternate route down into the caverns, but spirits were not broken because we took the Natural Entrance down, which was steep, slippery, dark and took nearly 45 minutes. The cave tour was exciting and thought provoking. You find yourself thinking about: How brave were the people that built the trail? How dark it is without the lights? How many lights are in there? Where do you think ‘that hole leads’? How deep is that hole really? Where are there other caves like this that may have not been discovered yet? Experiencing a difficult guided tour is still in the planner, but for those who have yet to take the Natural Entrance into Carlsbad Caverns, I highly recommend the journey.

Photo taken by Josh McCabe

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park
This event-filled weekend would not be complete without a trip to the top of the Ocotillo Hills to visit this zoo and botanical garden, which displays animals and plants in their native habitat: the desert. The sun was warm, and the animals were friendly, well as friendly as zoo animals usually are. There are birds of all sorts; fourteen species of snakes; a Gila monster; hoofed animals: bison, pronghorn, mule deer; bobcats; and one of my favorites to check out: Mexican gray wolves. One of the neatest attractions in the Park: a cacti and succulent greenhouse featuring plants from all over the world. Being one who does NOT happen to have much of a green thumb, succulents entice me and are the perfect plant for me to grow. The State Park was topping on the cake for an informative and exciting weekend where discoveries were made, laughter was effervescent and life was celebrated.

Photo taken by Josh McCabe

He was ripe and rough and wooly as he sat there by the street,

With a battered old guitar, open case, there at his feet.

Between his legs was a cardboard sign, hand-lettered and it read,

“Any song sung for a dollar and no refunds” is what it said.

Well I had an extra dollar & I said “Like to hear you sing,

Play a song of love that’s forever lost and the sadness that it brings.”

So as I dropped the dollar, he chuckled softly at the moon,

“I’ll play a song for you, mister, but you might not like the tune.”

He began to play that old guitar and a most amazing thing,

I heard a song start in my heart but I didn’t hear him sing.

The song, it sang of love and want and of the sweet caress,

Of a woman’s hair as it falls so softly across her breast.

It sang of love and laughter, when your lover was your friend,

I just stood there in that dirty street & hoped it would never end.

But subtly the music changed and I could hear him start to croon,

A hard and devilish melody as sadness changed the tune.

It now sang of lonely nights when in your bed alone,

You’re staring at the ceiling and wondering what went wrong.

With that hurtful, hollow feeling when you find you ain’t so tough,

I turned to the singer, “Stop! I’ve had enough!”

Just then the moon came out and brightly lit the street,

And what I saw gave me a chill that raced from head to feet.

The singer, he had vanished, there was nothing in that spot,

Except where he was sitting, the sidewalk, it felt hot.

You say you don’t believe me? Well frankly I don’t care.

I know that I could smell a sniff of sulfur in the air.

So friend, if you are ever walking down a lonely darkened street,

And you see an old street singer with his guitar at his feet,

Be careful of what you ask him, for the price may be too dear.

The devil likes to sing the songs that you don’t like to hear.      

Also, providing a home to the Midland/Odessa Symphony & Corale, Live on Stage, the Midland Festival Ballet and Midland Opera Theater, the Wagner Noël is able to showcase a diverse offering of performances. Without the Wagner Noël, many of the concerts they host would otherwise not be possible in West Texas.

And with concerts by two well-known names in Blues in the month of January alone (Greg Allman & B.B. King), you can also expect to see the Oak Ridge Boys, Los Lonely Boys, Cedric The Entertainer, The Moody Blues and Buddy Guy before the end of the 1st quarter.

But the Wagner Noël doesn’t just stop at concerts and events; they also house the entire music department for UTPB, for both learning in the classroom, as well as a providing a separate, dedicated venue for student recitals.

For more information about upcoming shows or to purchase tickets at the Wagner Noël, go to www.wagnernoel.com. We also recommend signing up for their e-mail list. By doing so, you’ll get to take advantage of pre-sale tickets before they’re made available to the general public!

And for more information on the organizations that call the Wagner Noël home, go to:

Midland/Odessa Symphony & Corale www.mosc.org,

Live on Stage concert series liveonstage-pb.com,

Midland Festival Ballet www.midlandfestivalballet.org, and

Midland Opera Theater, www.midlandoperatheater.org.

Chef Bill Bloom

serves approximately 4-8

Recipe provided by Private Chef, Bill Bloom

• 1 med onion, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb. smoked bacon
• 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1-2 med sized sweet potatoes, peeled & cut in cubes (approx 1 lb)
• 2-3 med sized pears, peeled & diced (approx 1/2 lb)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Cook bacon, remove and let rest. In bacon grease, sautee onion and garlic with bay leaf until brown. Add pears and sweet potatoes and sautee for approx 5 minutes, then slowly add chicken stock. Cook until potatoes are soft. Puree soup until smooth. Add heavy whipping cream. To thicken, vigorously whisk in a either a corn starch slurry or roux a 1/2 cup at at time, while bringing to a boil. Finished consistency should generously coat the back of a spoon. Let simmer for another 3-5 minutes before serving.

Corn Starch Slurry: equal parts water and corn starch

Roux: equal parts flour & oil

Chef Bill Bloom
chefbill.bloom@gmail.com
432-349-2946

“For more than 50 years, Guy has been an invaluable American treasure, linking a proud but often under-appreciated American musical past with a new generation of master musicians destined to keep the Blues alive. Guy belongs to an era that pioneered the blues, working alongside such legendary figures as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, B.B. King, and Little Walter. Yet he’s been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who’s picked up an electric guitar in the last half century, including Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Slash, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer.” Source: Kennedy Center website www.kennedy-center.org.

“Without Buddy Guy, the Blues, not to mention rock as we know it, might be a heckuva lot less interesting.” -Guitar Magazine

“By far without a doubt the best guitar player alive.” -Eric Clapton

“Buddy is an elder statesman to the Blues.” -Bonnie Raitt

With his music, “Buddy Guy has made a bridge between roots music & rock-n-roll.” -Morgan Freeman

Far West Texas Far Out Blues Program
www.marfapublicradio.org
Marfa Public Radio (KRTS 93.5 FM). Monday’s from 7:30-9.
Hosted by JP Schwarz, he plays both Texas and traditional Blues.

The BluesMobile
www.thebluesmobile.com
San Angelo 101.9 FM. Sunday’s 11-noon
Abilene 100.7 FM. Sunday’s 5-6 PM
Lubbock 101.1 FM. Sunday’s 9-10 PM
The BluesMobile (formerly the House of Blues Radio Hour) is a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Elwood Blues (a.k.a. Dan Aykroyd).

And for late-night lovers in living rooms, night owls and those working the graveyard shift, tune into:
Blues Before Sunrise
www.kacu.org
Abilene Public Radio (KACU 89.7 FM). Sunday’s from Midnight to 5 AM.
Hosted by Steve Cushing, the show is syndicated from Chicago. Showcasing Blues as part of our cultural landscape, Cushing primarily focuses on Blues heritage.

For coverage maps of any of these stations, go to radio-locater.com.

Jon “Doc” Meeks

The crowd was loud, red-neck and half drunk. The smoke was so thick, you could have cut it and served it in squares; the floors were sticky and the formica tables were that color of puke yellow that you see in cheap diners and old editions of 1955 House Beautiful.  Cigarette burns and stains had long ago merged into a weird tapestry of funk and none of the chairs matched. All things considered, it was turning out to be a a pretty good night though. The tips were startin’ to pile up in the gallon pickle jar scrawled with a Marks-a-Lot rendition of “Tips” on it.

It happened when we were on a break–musician’s code for takin’ a smoke and gettin’ a drink between sets. I saw an older gentleman sitting at a back table sorta staring into space with tears running down his cheeks. Well, in a dive like Thelma’s that ain’t too unusual. You see a lot of that when bad memories and booze mix together, but mostly it was women we saw break down at the bar, so this was a lil unusual and caught my gaze.

He didn’t look like a bum, being clean and well dressed, so what the hell, I thought? I wandered over and said “Why so down, partner?” I really expected to hear a story about lost love and the woman that had broken his heart, but instead he said “I have outlived my music”.

“Shit!” That was a new one and piqued my curiosity, so I sat down and order up a round of drinks.

WEB-EXTENDED CONTINUATION…

“Outlived your music,” I asked?

“Yes”, he said.

I admit I must have looked a bit puzzled because he looked at me and said “Pal, you ain’t gotta clue on what I am talking ’bout. Lemme tell you a story.  I am a musician, too. I play guitar, a fat gold Epiphone Emperor.” I knew the instrument–a very expensive jazz guitar.

“I’ve played with the big bands–Dorsey, the Count and Miller. I played with them all and when I had saved up enough money, I bought my own club in Memphis just before the war.  I named it the ’Starlight Ballroom’. I had a Big Band, horns, bass, piano, ya’ know…all the good stuff. When the war came, Memphis was in a boom cause a the huge Naval Training Facility there and the Ballroom was packed every night. The men were young and full of the war-time frenzy eager to have a good time because you never knew what tomorrow might bring. The girls were pretty and were determined to send their warriors off to the fighting with memories to help them when times got tough. Seemed like every week we’d a have a weddin’ on the bandstand because a couple a kids done met at the Starlight and fell in love.  We played 6 days a week–every night, and man we were tight! After a while, we didn’t even need sheets to tell us where we were, we just knew.  When Snakehouse Brown stood up to do his horn riff, the band would lift him up and I swear Gabriel couldna’ sounded better.

“After the war though, things changed. Big Bands wadn’t as popular no more and most folks just wanted to get on with their lives and try to forget the horrors of bloody conflict and missing loved ones. The crowds got smaller and smaller and television came in with the Lawrence Welk show so folks could get the Big Band sound at home. I don’t understand it but, I remember when I got the band together and told them I couldn’t afford the club any longer and I would have to let them go. We had a going away party that night and drank and told stories, played a few numbers for old times sake, and late that night I locked the doors and cut the power for the last time.

“The building was sold to a Hollywood film chain and a movie theatre opened up as soon as the screen and chairs got put in. I went there a few times but it wasn’t the same.  I didn’t entirely quit playing my guitar, though. I played a few gigs in a supper club and the like every now and again. But then even those faded away, nobody wanted that ‘corny, Big Band stuff’ no more. Beatles, Garth and Ten Inch Nails…that’s what it’s become.

“Sometimes I come out to Thelma’s have a few and see what passes for music these days and when you played ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’, memories came a flooding back. All the tears weren’t sad, though. Some were for joy. But my friend, it’s a hard thing when you live longer than the music you love.”

I nodded my head as if I really knew how he was feeling and wished him well as I headed back to the bandstand. Break was over. Every now and again, I’d glance over to his table and see his fingers playing chords on the table. Later, he was gone, out the door into the gravel parking lot and, I suppose, home.

I often recall that fella and what he told me. That fella was Tom Bennet, Sr. And as I get closer to the way of the flesh, I see more and more that the music I loved to play has become ‘old hat’, too. Funny, how things work like that.

Editor’s Notes: This article is based on a true story and this conversation actually occurred, however, the names of places and people have been changed, with the exception of Tom Bennett, Sr., whose name we have permission to use by his son, Tom Bennett, Jr. Additionally, in keeping with the dialogue of the actual conversation, we left the miscall of Ten Inch Nails intact, which is actually Nine Inch Nails.

About The Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, is THE organization dedicated to preserving our Blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting Blues education and ensuring the future of this uniquely American art form. Founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has 4500 individual members and 200 affiliated local blues societies representing another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world. Its signature honors and events are Blues Music Awards (held in May), International Blues Challenge (held in late January), Keeping the Blues Alive Awards (presented during the IBC) and the Blues Hall of Fame.

For more info on the Foundation, its programs & membership info, go to www.blues.org.

About The Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, is THE organization dedicated to preserving our Blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting Blues education and ensuring the future of this uniquely American art form. Founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has 4500 individual members and 200 affiliated local blues societies representing another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world. Its signature honors and events are Blues Music Awards (held in May), International Blues Challenge (held in late January), Keeping the Blues Alive Awards (presented during the IBC) and the Blues Hall of Fame.

For more info on the Foundation, its programs & membership info, go to www.blues.org.