[Harp-L] RE: Greetings from Blues Week at Augusta Heritage

["Dorothy Riddle" <driddle289@xxxxxxx>]

Hi friends,
Blues Week at Augusta! Wow!  I got home (Phoenix) Tues. night after a couple of extra days rafting on the New River in WV.  This was my 3rd year at Augusta.  It's becoming clear why folks are returning there for their 25th,or so, year.  I branched away from harmonica a bit to take the beginning piano classes this year...fun new stuff! But I had to come back to my "support group", Joe Filisko's Harmonica Performance Mini-Class.  To hear Joe say that he and Allen (Holmes) "had my back" as I struggled to put the timing of "Juke" into a straight 12-bar format was well worth the price of admission!  I agree with your assessment that Augusta Time should have more hours than the normal day. One night, I looked at my watch after Gospel Choir practice, it said 2:00AM, but it felt more like 9:30PM, so on to the Ice House for a bluesy last call and then some jammin' on the porch.  Augusta gives me my electricity for another year 'till I can get back!  Thanks to all the harmonica instructors: Iceman, Joe Filisko, Phil Wiggins, Rhonda Rucker, Terry Bean (luv ya man!), Andrew Diehl, Allen Holmes.  Thanks to all the supportive students, and to all the Augusta staff.  See you next year!  www.augustaheritage.com 
"D"