So the last several days have been hectic around here. My wife has been finding some great deals on Craig’s List on furniture that we desperately need. The furniture we have survived many years of wear and tear of four kids and me! So Saturday we bought a new Thomasville entertainment center, big and heavy and tonight with the help of some co-workers and Peter we got it in the house and standing up! There for a while the standing up part was in doubt! Also my wife bought a laptop, so now I have a computer that’s faster than an abacus! Anyway all that took away time from reading, listening and writing. I have been listening to some artists though that I will be writing about shortly. One blues artist Eric Steckel, who I heard the other night on Bluesville on XM and then came home and listened to his album Havana. Which I really enjoyed and then I download and have listened to parts of another album. Also a folk artist Stephen Simmons whose album The Big Show has gotten a few listens!
Speaking of folk artists, I was really saddened when I came home yesterday and a lunchtime read that Bill Morrissey had past away. I know that he had been battling both depression and alcohol over the last few years, but lately he had been touring and seemed to be doing better. I’ve been a fan of Bill’s since I first heard “Handsome Molly” on a compilation CD of folk music released by Windham Hill in 1989. The first album I bought of his was a cassette copy of Inside and loved it, still do! His album Songs of Mississippi John Hurt is on my top ten list of all time favorite albums. I did get to see him once live at the Sunset Concert Series in Haddon Heights and he was great! Here is a fine obituary from Boston.com Grammy-nominated folk artist Bill Morrissey dead at 59. The other thing that upset me was when I saw the years of his life 1951-2011. He was about a two months younger than me!
Here’s Bill performing John Hurt’s “Candy Man”
