California in February

This time of year is always pleasurable when making the trip to Northern California to perform at the Tattoos & Blues Festival in Santa Rosa. I have been performing here since 2002, and each year some new opportunities seem to reveal themselves. It seems that this always marks the rite of passage to the approaching spring seson. The Pro Jam at the Tradewinds Bar in Cotati has really taken off thanks to Donny Mederos and his band, The Blues Defenders. This year, at the festival, my rhythm section will be Dave Channell's Fire & Wheels Band. A nice network of musicians has been formed out here, also thanks to my friend and great guitar player, Steve Gornall. Without his help in making the yearly trek to the west coast would not be possible.

Before heading this way, I made a lot of friends at the yearly Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis. I hope to work those contacts very soon as a way of taking my 40 year career to a new level. It is dark and lonely work, but somebody has to do it. Until next time!

Key West

It's been a great week in Key West while the rest of the country was getting nailed by horrible winter weather. Sloppy Joe's is always a fun gig, as well as picking with my friend, Barry Cuda, at B.O's Fish Wagon for the weekly Friday gig. Opening for Put 'N Bay legend singer/songwriter Pat Dailey is always a treat. Today is Superbowl Sunday, but I'll be playing at Sloppy's from 5:30-9:30 during the game. We'll have a good time regardless.

I just finalized the finishing touches of the new soon to be released Americana /Roots/Folk CD, The Rainbow Up Ahead, This is so much different from anything else I've done, and there is not a cover song on it. I'm very proud of that fact. Some of it is kind of Georgia oriented, but that's OK.
I had a great time writing and recording the songs, and so we're going to run with it. It will be released on February 15, 2011, just in time to attend the Folk Alliance convention in Memphis. Heading back to winter (or so they say) in Atlanta tomorrow. Until next time.

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

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