Maryport Blues Festival 2007
Saturday Afternoon 28th July 2007
www.maryportblues.com

First on were Italian blues band Family Style. Some tasty guitar and harp solos featured in this enjoyable set which included Looking for a Woman, Diving Duck Blues, Bacon Fat, and a good rocking version of Jimmy Reeds Baby You Don’t Have to Go.

A real family band coming from a small town near Milano (Italy) called Arluno, Family Style were formed in 1994 by guitarist Marco Limido, with younger brother Franco Limido on vocals and harmonica, cousin Davide Bianchi on bass and the fascinating Stefania "Pretty Baby" Avenali on drums.
 

Next up were UK based Out of The Blue consisting of Eddie Tatton - Guitar, Jonny Dyke - keyboards, Simon Sparks - Bass, Nigel Lobley - Drums, all providing solid support for vocalists Wendy Martin and Kevin Thorpe. Songs featured during the set included New Woman New Man, Jungle Woman and Stormy Monday. Eddie Tatton played some good guitar solos during each number.
 

Born in the United Kingdom, Harper’s musical journey began early, performing in brass bands playing the trumpet and euphonium. At the age of ten, his family moved half way the world to Perth, Western Australia, and his father introduced Harper to the harp. In Perth, there was a thriving blues and folk scene. The blues had a rawness, an honesty and a passion of the soul which spoke to Harper deeply. Then, like every blues lover, Harper began his journey backwards to discover the deeper roots of the music. "But Harper did not stop his search with the blues. It was a chance meeting with a Hopi "Dan Running Bear" in Colorado, that led him down the path to rediscovering the music of his homeland. Fascinated with the spirituality and culture of the American Natives, he found the same qualities present in the Australian Aborigines of his homeland. On adding the native didgeridoo to his music, Harper says "It is a sound I grew up with, so it seemed natural to add it to my songwriting particularly when the lyrics related to the plight of the Aborigines in Australia. When I added the didgeridoo to the more traditional blues instruments, it worked. The deep woody qualities and its haunting drone seemed to enhance the emotional quality of my stories. The didgeridoo is a spiritual and healing instrument, and it seemed blues music accepted it with open arms."

The session with an interesting mix of blues based numbers featuring harmonica and didgeridoo from his latest album Day By Day. Songs included in the set were I’m Going Home, Does Anybody Really Care, One Day (about George Bush), Give Me the Money, Down to the River and Get Out of This Mess.