Shame On You Delta!

Delta did it again! My flight going out from Atlanta to Orange County last week had a broken radar instrument. The pilot then announces after a 30 minute delay that they can fly without it! All of the passengers groaned in unison. On the flight back, they were oversold. That happens frequently, but then they announced at the gate that the water system on the plane was out of order due to a broken circuit breaker. There would be no coffee or tea available, and restroom use would be limited on this flight. The kicker is that one lavatory on that plane was already out of order from a day or two earlier due to an unrelated problem. There is always an issue on this airline! It never quits! Now they have posted a $363,000,000.00 profit as a result of blatant and gross passenger abuse. The figures vary, but there was definitely a 19,000,000.00 4Q profit. This is disgusting! Not that making a profit is, but the way they did is. By gouging customers on unreasonable bag checking and re-booking fees. That's just the latest, in addition to the lost dog fiascoes, and the rude treatment of military personnel. Don't just take it from me. If you really want to hear the complaints, just read the posts on the Delta Airlines Facebook page, and the number of Facebook pages listed as Delta Airlines Sucks. The accompanied video link is a result of previously being jacked around by Delta ticket agents and gate grunts. Everything from confiscating a computer bag that was within size regulation, being charged excessively for checking bags, and even more so for having to pay exorbitant fees to change flights, as well as fees for assistance on the phone. Then they are actually considering charging for carry on bags, and possibly to use the restroom! It doesn't end there. The video says it all.

SHAME ON YOU DELTA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38w1wInRArA

Atlanta Snow Jam 2011

6 inches of snow overnight in Atlanta with more freezing rain and ice on the way. It's a beautiful sight if you don't have to get out in it. Plenty of food and firewood is on hand for the duration. Hopefully, the Atlanta airport will open up for my flight to L.A. on Wednesday for the NAMM Show. It's shut down right now. The song I just wrote for the Atlanta Falcons, GO FALCONS GO!, is getting around fast. The team is actually practicing today in the cold and snow. There's a lot riding for them this year. We're already selling downloads on that, and hopefully if all goes well when they play Green Bay, there'll be more. If not, the Delta Airlines video will be going up soon. No shortage of things to do, and while being snowed in, can probably get more done than usual.

Go Falcons Go!

Just wrote and recorded a song in Nashville in support of the Atlanta Falcons playoff hopes called
GO FALCONS GO! Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran with an online article for the song, which we are very appreciative of. You can check it out here :

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2011/01/07/a-musical-shout-out-to-the-falcons-from-hurricane-the-guitarist/

We're hoping that the Falcons can take it all the way! If you would like to purchase an MP3, send an email to roger@hurricanewilson.com for information.

Musicians Beware!

There's a shithole club in Macon, GA called Rivalry's. They screwed me out of a gig in June, 2010. We were already set up, and then we were informed that we weren't booked. They're reason was that the person that did the booking no longer worked there. That shouldn't matter, because according to agency law, the date was to be solid. That's what the judge said when he awarded us the victory in court. We're still trying to collect, and may or may not succeed. But we still won as far as I'm concerned. And we will keep badmouthing them until we do collect, and so other musicians aren't subjected to the same crap. If you are booked there, BEWARE!

Happy New Year for 2011

It was, and always is a pleasure to perform at the Hank Museum, to talk to you, and to be in
Montgomery for whatever reason. The highlight at the museum was to play
guitar with my good friend, Gary Gentry, songwriter of "The Ride".

2010 was a great year with many pleasant road and recording experiences,
includng teaching guitar lessons online for Watch & Learn, Inc., becoming a
regular performer at the Bluebird Cafe's Sunday Night
Writers' Night in Nashville, visiting Jorma's Fur Peace Ranch as a guest
back in the spring, and of course, the duo tours with Willie "Big Eyes"
Smith. We were also able to sucessfully sever ties legally with a distributor (SMD) that only
wanted to pay when they wanted to, and to win a decision in court against a club (Rivalry's in Macon, GA) that didn't want to pay.

There is much good to look forward to in 2011, including the video to be
released shortly on the song Shame On You Delta. I'm looking forward to
seeing many friends at the NAMM Show in Anaheim later this month, in addition to
finalizing a few already pending endorsements, attending the Folk Alliance
in Memphis in mid February, and flying to Key West and California that same
month for a few gigs.

A number of festivals close to home this year are in store as well as some
others , and some short tours on the road. While many artists are being
forced to stay closer to home as a result of the economy, I'm very fortunate
to be doing it by choice. The new CD will be a Folk and Americana style CD,
which will annoy the already annoyed Blues folks even more. I find that
annoyance extremely humorous, and especially so to the ones that have cared
to launch personal attacks because they disapprove, or more realistically,
are probably just envious of someone who is just doing what they
enjoy doing.

Of course, we'll still continue to promote and put it out there, and for those of those
that like it great! And for those that don't, that's even better. The
encouragement we receive far outweighs any negativity, so that's a good
thing.. It's been said that it doesn't matter what they say about you as
long as they talk about you, so please keep talking! Right now, I would
just like for the Falcons to win the Superbowl. Score at halftime 14 - 0
over Carolina. .Check that. 21-0 in the last few seconds.

Happy New Year!

Roger

Online Guitar Instruction
http://tinyurl.com/hurricanewilsonguitar
Presented by Watch & Learn

Hurricane Wilson Radio
www.tinyurl.com/2aobmss

ATTENTION CLUBOWNERS!

This was something I found very much to the point and something that should be shouted out very loud!

Dear Bar/Club/Venue owner,
It is NOT the job of the band you hire to bring in your clientele. It is our job to entertain your clientele and make them wish to stay all night long, reveling whilst buying your food and drinks and swelling the coffers of your fine establishment.
I am so tired of hearing "how many people can you bring in?" The answer is "who knows?". If you hire the Rolling Fucking Stones, and don't promote it, how many of their buddies are going to just happen to fly in from London and New York because they had nothing better to do than to come and hang out with Mick and Keith? Atlanta is a big place, so if I'm playing 40 miles from my area, I can't really expect many of my local fans to drive across town. What have YOU done to inform people in your locality, and who are perhaps familiar with your venue, that you hired a great band that they should come in this Saturday to see and hear them?
It is a grave mistake to hire cheap "garage" bands who are still developing their "talent", but have lots of friends and little girl friends who think it is SO FREAKIN' COOL that their buddies are in a band and will come see them anywhere they go. Yeah, you might get 20 of their friends in for a night, but any regulars you might want to keep will bail after their first out of tune, poorly executed and WAY too loud musical "expression". Are their 20 friends going to be there next weekend when another band plays? No chance.
If you have decided to buy a club and wish to make an income, then you should wisely promote your establishment through advertising, and do everything you can to develop a reputation as having great live music, if that's what you want your location to be known for.
If you want to run a sports bar-great! Buy lots of flatscreens and have team nights, special sports themed events, etc. All the sports fans in your area will come in and have a great time, and will look forward to coming back, dragging along buddies from their place of work and from their neighborhood with them. You don't need a band.
If you'd like to run a restaurant-wonderful! Hire talented kitchen staff and focus on providing great food and atmosphere. You'll get plenty of return business and your satisfied diners will tell all their friends and family about you. You don't need a band.
But if you've decided that you want to run a club where people come to party, dance and listen to great live music, then you'd better get the "live music" part right. Carefully screen and hire GOOD, PROFESSIONAL bands at a fair price, and the folks who wander in (remember, it's not the band's job to bring a built in audience) will have a great time listening to entertaining live music. They will tell their friends about the great band that played at the "XYZ Club" last Saturday, and when you, Mr. Venue Owner, put out some advertising, they'll spot that and think they'd like to go back and have a good time again this Saturday as well. But you'd better have a decent band lined up, or it will be the LAST time they ever come back.
There are many notable clubs around town that are well reputed for providing consistently good music. Any given music lover in their vicinity doesn't need to check to see who's playing; they know that whoever the band is, they'll be GOOD. The music lover will simply hop in their car and go. And, assuming that the band IS good, the music lover will stay all evening, contributing handsomely to the venue owner's retirement fund and pledging to be back the following weekend to do more of the same. Oh, and these clubs ADVERTISE...
If you are a new establishment, then I'm sure that you want to do everything you can to capture and keep a well heeled clientele. Hiring lousy bands because they promise to bring in 20 of their friends is a very short sighted approach. Particularly when their friends all spend a whopping $8.00 each all night. The folks in your area that you'd be better off cultivating might just walk in to check out the "new place", be assaulted by the yowling, out of tune "band" on stage and not only will they hastily depart, they will quickly tell all of their friends about the "new place" and how badly it sucks! Definitely not the most desirable word of mouth promoting.
So, in summary: if you want to run a "music joint" then hire good bands, advertise that you hire good bands, pay the good bands well so that they will want to come back, and lo and behold, pretty soon you'll be on the map as a GREAT music venue.
Oh, and one more thing if I may..."tabs" in lieu of decent pay don't mean jack shit. Your generous "$50.00" bar tab sets you back $7.00 or less. Also: if the band you are considering gets excited about $50.00 worth of "free booze", you are headed for possible trouble my friend. Just give me the $50.00 cash and I'll pay for my own Diet Cokes, thank you verymuch, and as a bonus to you, I won't get drunk on my "tab" and try to dry hump the doorman's girlfriend on stage during the 3rd set.
Thank you for you kind attention, and I'll be stepping down from my soapbox now...

• Location: Everywhere
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Hosting Pacific Street Blues on SUnday, December 19 at 9AM CT

I'll be guest hosting one segment of Rick Galusha's Pacific Street Blues program on 89.7 The River in Omaha, NE on Sunday, December 19 at 9AM CT. Pacfific Street Blues won the Keeping The Blues Alive Award in Memphis last January during the International Blues Competition. I had the pleasure of hosting while on the road a number of years back, and to get the chance again is a real honor.

http://www.facebook.com/l/59976S_pUg4IosU24xlWKL3SUpQ;www.897theriver.com%20