Show Me Blues 2011

Well organized with local highlights like Kim Massie, Show Me Blues has once again won me over.

Kim Massie, although sick for her performance (nausea), sung her heart out and did amazing. Everybody loved her, as they always do.
The Friday night band was good at playing authentic blues music, but could have probably tailored their set more toward performing for dancers. I still enjoyed them.
Steven Watkins, no surprise, played great sets. Due to his relationship with Kim Massie, I don't think that event can function without Steven :) Nor should it!
The DJ battle took a lot longer than expected, but I think that's okay. The DJ choices for next year will be great! It was a tie between Tyler Robbins and a very handsome man whose name I knew last week. The other DJs for the event did really great too! I like how much jazz-blues is played when I travel east.

The Saturday activity - St. Louis City Museum. I brought Michael and Evelyn with me to this event specifically for this activity. It was so fun! It will be more fun when she's older, but we had a great time going through the cave tunnels with her, 6 month pregnant belly and all. I worked really hard to stay in shape throughout my pregnancy just for this museum and it's tunnel-climbing. What a BLAST! More pictures will soon be posted on my facebook profile!

I got the DJ right before the band on Friday, and the band breaks. I love to DJ band breaks! The energy is always so high in the room! The downside this time was that because the band wasn't accustomed to playing for dancers, they didn't understand that they needed to give me a warning before they stopped playing. It was kind of a shocker to be watching the clock thinking "the scheduled break is in half an hour," and then hear the band say "we're gonna go take a break now." AH! Okay! *run to the front of the room, open of the laptop and quickly find an awesome song* Unfortunately, the first time this happened I was in the bathroom. I came out to a bunch of people saying "everyone's looking for you!" THAT was exciting ;)

Sunday night dancing started at 6pm and ended at 6am! WOW! And it was awesome. I got the DJ the very last set, so we were there till the bitter end, which is a set I want every year! The last hour became a total party hour. The sun was coming up, it was the end of the weekend, and we'd all passed extremely tired and gone straight to crazy!
My set list from the weekend:
Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Take a Little Walk With me
Ernestine Anderson - Please Send Me Someone to Love
Josh White - Woman Sure Is a Curious Critter
Mikel Lander and Merideth Moore - Ramblin' Man
Ray Charles - I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
Big Mama Thornton - Sometimes I Have a Heartache
Tommie Lee Bradley - Walkin' After Midnight
Koko Taylor - Piece of Man
Atlantic Jazz - Evenin'
Fiona Boyes - Mercy
Lowell Fulson - Everyday I Have the Blues
The Fabulous Thunderbirds - She's Tuff
Elvis Presley - Steamroller Blues
The Yardbirds - Take It Easy Baby
Muddy Waters - I Just Want to Make Love To You
Luther Allison - Little Red Rooster
The California Honeydrops - Rain
Sam Lay - I Gotta Find My Baby
Esther Phillips - Double Crossing Blues
Susan Tedeschi - It Hurts Me Too
Louis Armstrong - When It's Sleepy Time Down South
Louise Hoffsten - Love to Love You
Taj Mahal - Statesboro Blues
Asylum Street Spankers - Song With No Words
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham - Midnight Mama
Etta James - You're Gonna Make Me Cry
Shuggie Otis - Sweet Thang
The Allman Brothers Band - It's Not My Cross to Bear
Fiona Boyes - Good Lord Made You So
Mark Hummel - Black Night
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Rockin' Chair w/Louis Armstrong
Gordon Webster - Mo' Better Blues
Eva Cassidy - Stormy Monday
Josh White - One Meat Ball
Stevie Ray Vaughan
James Cotton Blues Band - Love Me Or Leave Me
Louisana Red - Sad Night
Delta Moon - You Got to Move
Lou Ann Barton - One Good Man
Louis Armstrong - La Vie En Rose
Andrew Odom - Farther Up The Road
B.B. King - Blind Love
Etta James - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Wildsang - Come On In My Kitchen
Johnny Copeland - Down on Bended Knees
Irma Thomas and Jimmy McCracklin- Tomorrow
John Lee Hooker - Down Child
Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas - Sixty Minute Man
Ellen Whyte - Over My Shoulder
Shuggie Otis - Gospel Groove
The Bodice Rippers - Bad Girl
Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch - Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby
Billie Holliday - Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
Mavis Staples - Step Into the Light
Blue Harlem - Drown In My Own Tears
Betty Harris - Cry to Me
Solomon Burke - You're Good For Me
The Jackson 5 - Whatever You Got, I Want
*Birthday Jam to F*** You*
Kristin Andreassen - Crayola Doesn't make a Color For Your Eyes
Rising Appalachia - Honey Baby Blues
Blues Man Group - Sing Along
Cake - Let Me Go
Quix*o*tic - Anonymous Face
Soup Dragons - I'm Free
Marc Broussard - Home
David Keogh - Firecracker

The gem song I heard for the first time was one played by Steven. I can't remember the artist, but the title of the song is "I Left My Baby." The original was done by Count Basie.

Traveling with a toddler and pregnant belly? We made it our family summer vacation together. Eva was still under 2 yrs, so she sat on our laps on the plane. . mostly Michael's since mine is so small. We were extremely fortunate to have an assigned babysitter - the main organizer's daughter, Natalia! Natalia was at the dances and would randomly entertain Evelyn for some time while we danced. She also slept on the floor where Evelyn was sleeping on Friday night, and stayed home with her on both Saturday and Sunday night so that we could put her to bed and leave her. The best way to travel with a toddler to an event you want to sleep in at is to travel somewhere with at least a 2-hr time difference! In Seattle, she goes to bed at 8 and wakes at 8. In St. Louis, that stayed the same, except the clock said 10! WOOT! So, we got the pleasure of dancing late, together, without worrying about her. Then we got to sleep! (In the past, she wakes up right as we get in and want to go to bed. That sucked.) Traveling pregnant? That was my last trip on a plane until SFFX. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't easy. In addition, pregnancy causes the immune system some stress, so it was really easy for me to pick up whatever floating virus was on the plane.

Thank you, Jenni, and Jeff, and Natalia, for the amazing family weekend we have! I can't wait for next year!