I made it back, and as you can all see from the photos of my mother’s house and the view, ‘twas not easy leaving.  I spot-welded to the terrace, relaxing in the sun and eating.  A lot.  No really, I love Turkish food and I ate pretty much non-stop.  Kokorec, a stuffed sheep’s lung sandwich, is one of my favorite dishes, and I managed to eat a few of those.  I even brought a serving home with me and put it in the freezer for my birthday lunch in December.  When it comes to food and my birthday, I think ahead.

I know I missed some great music while I was gone, but all the wonderful music we have coming will help make up for it.   This week we have Lethal Lisa on Thursday night, and this chick knows how to rock a house.  Johnny O Band returns Friday which means Ladies’ Night!   That band knows how to draw the feminine energy, and the dance floor gets crowded.  Saturday night the Rhythm Allstars return, with the talented Russ Musilek at the helm.  They put on a great show, so join us. 

Next week is a biggie.  Monday night is a special show with 2009 solo/duo IBC winner, Little Joe McLerran, and for those of you who missed him last time, don’t make the same enormous mistake twice.  I think the best description for him would be that he’s a young Johnny Long (who’s also coming back soon!).  He was recently in the Persian Gulf, and apparently made quite an impression.  I found this BEYOND wonderful news both for the Blues and for U.S./Middle East relations:

There is an Arabic expression that David Berntson picked up on his recent tour of the Gulf States: Insh'allah, "if God wills it." The blues musician from Tulsa, Okla., found himself making use of it frequently in the run-up to a concert at the King Fahd cultural center in Riyadh last April. Public concerts are virtually unknown in Saudi Arabia—let alone performances for mixed audiences of men and women—and here was the Little Joe McLerran Quartet, an American band specializing in an upbeat and highly danceable form of the blues, on a tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Up to the last minute, the musicians were told there was a 90% chance the performance would be banned.

"On the day, they called and said the show will go on," Mr. Berntson, the group's harmonica player, recalls. "The audience was supposed to be segregated, but they mingled toward the end. Because of the bright lights we couldn't see them, but we were told some of them even got up and danced." Mr. Berntson says the significance of the event struck him only later. "Afterwards, when we were up in Oman, some diplomats said we accomplished more in a week than they have in years."

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