Adam's plea
Adam's plea
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Great news, and a plea for help

I've got lots of news to share, but I'm going to keep this email short and sweet on the front end, although it's going to stretch out on the back end.  To wit:
§Sir Rod & The Blues Doctors will be releasing a new live album on or about May 20, 2022;
§We will be releasing it in conjunction with the second annual Sterling Magee Memorial Birthday Celebration, which will take place in Gulfport, Florida on Friday, May 20, in the same venue where we appeared last year;
§We are in the process of organizing two tours this summer--one in Florida in May in conjunction with the Magee celebration; the other in July from Atlanta to NYC and back.
I'll have details on the Florida tour in my next email; it's in fine shape, mostly because we've got a terrific Florida booking agent.  I'm writing you today because the band needs YOUR help in making the East Coast tour in July a success.
That tour as presently constituted looks like this:

7/15/22:  Lansdowne, PA - Jamey's House of Music (SRBD, details TBA)

7/16/22:  Piermont, NY - Turning Point Cafe (SRBD, details TBA)

7/19/22:  New York, NY - Terra Blues (SRBD, 7-9:30)

That's not a tour; it's a small handful of gigs that offers no hope of breaking even, with a big empty space between ATL and the first gig, and an even bigger empty space between the last gig and ATL.  I've got leads on several additional dates, but nothing confirmed. 
An all-points attempt to fill the gaps would do the following:
1)  Clarify the tour duration and available dates
2)  Seek suggested blues-focused venues from local blues folk
3) Broadcast our willingness to route the tour through your town and--crucially--to play house parties.
I'll address each point in turn.

1)  TOUR DURATION AND AVAILS:
We plan to leave Atlanta on Monday, July 11, although that is flexible.  We plan to arrive home on Thursday or Friday, July 21-22.  Our current avails are:
7/11-14
7/17-18
7/20 and possibly 7/21

2) BLUES-FOCUSED VENUES 
If you live anywhere along a plausible route that we might take from ATL to NYC and back--and there are a handful, and I've taken almost all of them over the years--and you've got a local blues club or watering hole or juke joint that might conceivably book us, please email me at asgussow@aol.com and hip me to that club or clubs.  If you've got a personal connection with the venue, by all means tell me what it is.  Give me contact info.  Dump it into an email and hit "send."  I won't reply personally, but Alan and I WILL follow up on what you send us, and we'll be immensely grateful.  If we do land a gig in your neck of the woods thanks to your help, you may be sure we'll give you a signed CD and shake your hand warmly.

3)  HOUSE PARTIES
We are a fully contained unit and can travel, if needed, with a full PA system.  (We did that last summer.)  Which means that if your town lies along our route, we have the capacity to show up at your door and play a house party.  Local blues societies often sponsor such parties.  Sometimes they guarantee a band a certain amount versus the door--with the door generally taking the form of suggested donations (often $20-25 a person).  COVID life made house parties iffy for the past two years, but they're possible now.  You supply the house; you invite the guests;  we work with you to make the party a success.  If you're potentially interested in hosting such a party, please email me at asgussow@aol.com

BOTTOM LINE
A successful tour consists of many moving parts.  Sometimes the multivariate calculus, especially without the services of a booking agent, is just too damned difficult.  But I know YOU, my harmonica-crazed brethren.  I know that a hundred or two hundred of you lie on that golden East Coast crescent hovering in the sky between Atlanta and New York City.  If you've got some useful intelligence--including the linked itineraries of mid-level blues acts that route through the territory in question--then please contribute to this crowd-sourcing project. 
FWIW:  I would be DELIGHTED to route into upstate New York and/or all the way to Boston, so if you live in Syracuse or Hartford, don't despair.  Share info!
That's all for now.  I'll have lots more news soon.

On the run,
Adam





402 Meadowlawn Drive Oxford, MS 38655 www.modernbluesharmonica.com asgussow@aol.com

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