Spitfire Arms, Windsor, NS

Bearly's House of Blues, Halifax, NS

Like the sign says,"Bearly's House of Blues and Ribs." Dave says the ribs are very good. The stage hardware is a little battered, but we drag in our own mics and stands and had the system sounding pretty good in short order. Dave's name is not up on the chalk board. Posters are hard to find. When the billing is messed up, I never have a good feeling about what may follow...


Joe Murphy came out to say hello. Great to see him in good health and spirits. We swap CDs between sets. There sure are some great players in Atlantic Canada. Joe is one of them. Other friends come out, too. Shirley Jackson is here. We chat for a while, but she ducks out before I can get a photo. I guess the newspapers got the billing right, anyway. That's good. I sent them press releases. Harry Manx and Steve Marriner are doing a show just down the street. Perhaps we'll see them tonight. We're starting about an hour later than them, so we may have a bunch of visitors by the second set.

The Store is open! We sell some CDs, but decide not to do a raffle tonight.

It's very nice when friends and fans show up from other cities. Tonight we have a whole bunch out that caught the National Steel Tour last year at the Blues and Beyond Festival. And there are quite a few folks here that caught our concert in Fredericton, at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival last week.

Dale and Paul come early and stay to the end. They hosted us to dinner last night, and we had a great time hanging out playing records, cds, and swapping blues stories. You can see that Dale is fashion king tonight in his National Steel Blues tour jacket!

Dave and I play two 90 minute sets tonight, digging in deep for a while with some serious blues. It's a good crowd and they follow us along. We have a great time, but before we know it the night is done! I never do get to meet Mimi, I just get a pay packet from the waitress. After hotels and gas we've pretty much given Halifax a free show. Good night.

Road to Pugwash, NS

It's a great place to stop for a grilled lobster sandwich. The Rev. Dr. Alexander Maclean ministered here for a short time about 1856. Ann Murray is said to own a home along this road. There are no shot glasses that say "Pugwash" on 'em.

Sell Out Show at Mt. Stewart, PE

We stop by Back Alley Music on University Ave., in Charlottetown. Yeah, this is the place with the albums, cassettes, 8 tracks, and used cds. Dave sold a couple of CDs on the street as word got out about his WCMA win— so of course we need to stop and BUY some more music to listen to in the tour truck. Magic Sam, Blind Willie McTell, and Lonnie Johnson are available, so Dave puts his new earnings to work and buys them. We also pick up a cd which claims to have a previously unissued Blind Blake track on it. This could be interesting! But now we're off to Mount Stewart, PE for tonight's show. The Charlottetown daily has printed a big color picture of us and run a story, and the CBC radio drive show is going to feature us as well. So, we're hoping to see a reasonable crowd out for this Monday night show.


It's a pretty cool little venue. We roll in about three hours early, load in, set up, sound check. We have time to go to our rooms for a snooze before dinner and show time. Can't wait. I spent the morning working on the blog and doing press, so I'm eager to get on with doing a show! First we feed. The food here is top notch. These folks really know how to do it. I have the seafood chowder— amazing. Yes!

It's show time and the place is full to capacity. They are friendly! It's gonna be a good night.

Dave, they're friendly! Honest!

Well, I think so!



We have a great night. The show is relaxed, and Dave and I have a ball. Below is the lucky winner of the Tour Jacket Raffle! Congrats! We try to leave one of these behind in every town.

Big Dave Wins WCMA Blues Award- Recording of the Year!

Congrats to Big Dave McLean, winner of this year's West Coast Music Award (WCMA) for Blues Recording of the Year! "Got 'em from the bottom" is a great, acoustic blues record, and had many nominations. We were in rural PEI last night, without internet or cell service, so we didn't get word until we got to the internet cafe in Charlottetown a couple of hours ago! Dave is very happy. I gave him half my muffin— it's good if you get an award you can eat! Holger Peterson picked up the actual hardware last night in Brandon, MB. Sincere thanks to everyone involved. All the nominees were strong contenders.

Tonight we're off to the Trailside Inn in Mount Stewart, PEI. Get ready!!

R&R in Breadalbane, PE